Aston Villa 3-1 Wolves: Verdict Thread

[sycophantia]

Some people will look for excuses anywhere rather than face up to the obvious, part of human nature. Soon or later they'll catch up, hopefully we don't leave it too late or make it even worse with an even poorer replacement.

 

[slink]

Early days but I'm getting Weghorst vibes from him, nobody will put in a half decent bid for him so he'll be staying by default.

Not even anything like Weghorst. His movement is very good and he’s proven that already. Headed chance at Arsenal, goal against Chelsea, assist against Newcastle plus his chance that hit the post, run for his chance yesterday. I don’t think he’s a clinical finisher so others need to step up but we also need to play early passes to find those runs and get players up with him quicker and in behind him.

 

[sycophantia]

Not even anything like Weghorst. His movement is very good and he’s proven that already. Headed chance at Arsenal, goal against Chelsea, assist against Newcastle plus his chance that hit the post, run for his chance yesterday. I don’t think he’s a clinical finisher so others need to step up but we also need to play early passes to find those runs and get players up with him quicker and in behind him.

He's clearly not a top class striker but so far I've been reasonably impressed, he's offered so much more than any other striker we've had since prime Raul, really adds something to our game imo. He could do with a few goals of any sort just to keep his confidence up and keep fans on his side. As Slink says probably not a natural goal scorer but think he'll get a few.

 

[The Bear]

What GON tells the media about the struggle of the fixtures, and what he tells the squad in private are probably two very different things. I doubt they're all shitting themselves just because they concede in a game, but the manager needs to help them out with tactical tweaks and subs when teams make changes.

 

[The Bear]

He's clearly not a top class striker but so far I've been reasonably impressed, he's offered so much more than any other striker we've had since prime Raul, really adds something to our game imo. He could do with a few goals of any sort just to keep his confidence up and keep fans on his side. As Slink says probably not a natural goal scorer but think he'll get a few.

He looks like he's strong and can win headers but I'm not really seeing anything else from him. He has no pace, can't beat a man, doesn't run in behind, and his movement is just ok.

He looks like the type of striker who will do well if you create plenty of chances inside the box, a bit like Hwang, but he hasn't shown any great finishing as of yet when presented with chances. I'm not sure he can mix it with pacey dribblers around him and link successfully with them in an effective way tbh.

I think it's another systemic thing whereby no big target man is ever going to look great in this team. I'd rather have someone quicker with better movement. It may be why a player like Guedes has got 3 goals in 2 games in the cups.

 

[sycophantia]

What GON tells the media about the struggle of the fixtures, and what he tells the squad in private are probably two very different things. I doubt they're all shitting themselves just because they concede in a game, but the manager needs to help them out with tactical tweaks and subs when teams make changes.

I honestly don't think he has ability to tweak tactics and find the right subs at the right time yet. Not that surprising given his lack of coaching experience. Unfortunately we simply don't have the time to wait for him to catch up. During our 'purple' spell middle of last season, I thought he'd bought himself some time to improve that part of his game but I'm not seeing anything so far this season to show that.

 

[sycophantia]

He looks like he's strong and can win headers but I'm not really seeing anything else from him. He has no pace, can't beat a man, doesn't run in behind, and his movement is just ok.

He looks like the type of striker who will do well if you create plenty of chances inside the box, a bit like Hwang, but he hasn't shown any great finishing as of yet when presented with chances. I'm not sure he can mix it with pacey dribblers around him and link successfully with them in an effective way tbh.

I think it's another systemic thing whereby no big target man is ever going to look great in this team. I'd rather have someone quicker with better movement. It may be why a player like Guedes has got 3 goals in 2 games in the cups.

Think your first paragraph is overly harsh.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Not even anything like Weghorst. His movement is very good and he’s proven that already. Headed chance at Arsenal, goal against Chelsea, assist against Newcastle plus his chance that hit the post, run for his chance yesterday. I don’t think he’s a clinical finisher so others need to step up but we also need to play early passes to find those runs and get players up with him quicker and in behind him.

He looks at his best running off the shoulder from what I've seen of him, not what you'd usually expect from someone if his build but I think he tends to look more clumsy when he's got his back to goal. His link up play looks better than his goal scoring instinct at the moment though - as seen when you compare his assist for Doyle the other day compared to going clean through yesterday. His work out of possession is good too, big work rate.

 

[NicholasG1973]

The “little wolves” attitude from Gaz is really irksome and worst still people actually believe it.
Yes weren’t as big as say Villa or Newcastle but stop making us out to be Bournemouth or Brentford.
His pre match crowing about the opposition and how much better they’re is just simply makes our players feel 2 inches tall.
Also fans claiming he’s doing his very best, yes he is which is why he’s not suited to the role. To quote Sean Connery from the rock “losers always harp on about their best”

I’m completely with you on this, I fucking hate it.

All this small-time mentality, “them v us” bullshit doesn’t help us one bit - I’m sick of him making out he’s so hard done by.

All teams outside the top four lose their best players, Gaz - get used to it. And losing Neves and Neto were hardly fucking surprising, they’d been “leaving” for about three years.

Gaz, in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve got two Brazilian international first teamers in our midfield. And another one just in front of them. We’re not Walsall.

This group of players should be nowhere near rock bottom of the PL.

And so, unfortunately, it rests on the bloke that sets them up and tells them how to play.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

its bollocks basically

 

[slink]

He looks like he's strong and can win headers but I'm not really seeing anything else from him. He has no pace, can't beat a man, doesn't run in behind, and his movement is just ok.

His movement and his running in behind are two of his biggest attributes. His assist last week and his chance yesterday show that.

It’s definitely a case of being in the ground and appreciating his movement that you can’t always see on tv. I mean he’s not lighting quick but he’s fast enough too.

 

[Del Woppio]

His movement off the shoulder is good and intelligent, but he's not quick enough to turn into a clear cut chance for me. He'll always be pressured, and he doesn't look particularly strong in a one on one against the keeper anyway. I'd think he'd flourish with early crosses and first time finishes, but that's not how we play

 

[Alan]

We don’t necessarily need Jørgen to do the scoring himself tbf.

He’s been a good addition IMO, I think any negativity around him at this very early stage is more spillover from how shit other things are going.

 

[The Bear]

We don’t necessarily need Jørgen to do the scoring himself tbf.

He’s been a good addition IMO, I think any negativity around him at this very early stage is more spillover from how shit other things are going.

For me it's more of how much of a goal threat does he look? And other than the odd header that's been saved he hasn't really been getting many shots away or being in a position to finish off a chance.

I'm really not sure right now whether I'd prefer Hwang through the middle in his place as per last season. At least he scores goals and is a little trickier to deal with when he receives the ball in the box.

 

[sycophantia]

For me it's more of how much of a goal threat does he look? And other than the odd header that's been saved he hasn't really been getting many shots away or being in a position to finish off a chance.

I'm really not sure right now whether I'd prefer Hwang through the middle in his place as per last season. At least he scores goals and is a little trickier to deal with when he receives the ball in the box.

Got to disagree, I'd have Larsen every time over Hwang in every situation. Hwang is basically just a goal poacher, a decent one and nothing wrong with that but he's not what we need currently the way we play.

 

[The Bear]

Larsen has only had 7 shots total in 5 games (and 1 goal) Hardly great stats for a No.9 who has plenty of creative players behind him.

 

[Alan]

It would require a lot of tweaks to support, but on paper I’d be quite taken with Hwang and Cunha staying “near the hashes” (think dual #10s, kinda) with Jørgen as the focal point between them.

What we’d do for width at that point would be a major concern.

Re: creative players behind him, that’s sort of true, but our setup now is built around individual moments much more often than composed ones, IMV. So whilst you’re not wrong I don’t think that’s a failing on Jørgen’s part, not yet.

 

[Tredman]

Some people will look for excuses anywhere rather than face up to the obvious, part of human nature. Soon or later they'll catch up, hopefully we don't leave it too late or make it even worse with an even poorer replacement.

People are still defending Lage, we live in a world where a good proportion of people will never admit they’re wrong.

 

[Mel Evo]

It’s got to be Larsen by a country mile over Hwang. Hes looked pretty handy to me. All sorts of players will look a little lost while we wait for the weirdly obligatory period of persisting with shambolic leadership to come to a painful end.

Nearly changing topics, what is it with the following refrain I often hear: ‘I hope we don’t lose at the weekend or all the idiots will be out calling for the managers head’. What a weird group of people. I tend to hope we don’t lose so that we don’t tumble down the table, not so that my own odd support of a bloke I don’t know looks misplaced.

 

[Wilf Wolf]

I tend to hope we don’t lose so that we don’t tumble down the table, not so that my own odd support of a bloke I don’t know looks misplaced.

Difficult to tumble down when you are already at the bottom.