Aston Villa v Blackburn Rovers Pre-Match Thread

[Holtenderinthesky]

0-3. See them being way too strong for us.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

OS says Dunne out and Ireland a doubt tomorrow-Dead leg in training this morning

Houllier likely to make several changes.Sorry can't do clicky thing

Dunne should be out for being too fat and prone to making errors.

[pmk1981]

just watched G's press conference.  the more i watch him the more impressed i am,  looks like we have a good fitness coach so all this rubbish of us getting tired towards end of games will go,  new "continetial" traning... sound exciting..

im really looking forward to what mr h and his team can do !!

[WALTERS WARRIORS]

Just hoping the "First game for the new manager syndrome" kicks in cause after saturday v Bolton. We were shit ...1-0

[Rudy Can't Fail]

4-1 home win.

[Toronto Villa]

just watched G's press conference.  the more i watch him the more impressed i am,  looks like we have a good fitness coach so all this rubbish of us getting tired towards end of games will go,  new "continetial" traning... sound exciting..

im really looking forward to what mr h and his team can do !!

bloody hell have you ever changed your tune

no matter how much i try and accept this and be happy for houllier being her i cant !!  i just dont want him as our manager.  fuckin rediculous appointment.  he is not the man to take us further,  mid table here we come

[eastie]

 I hope GED abandons the 2 winger system of mons era and strengthens centre midfield with an extra man allowing ash to go back wide and switch to either wing , maybe using reo coker and petrov with Ireland in attacking midfield role

I look forward to a decent striker and midfielder coming in the transfer window as we are lacking in these positions , our style of play has been too predictable under o neill and 2 wingers leaves our midfield exposed too much - flexibility is the key a d GED can change tactics and options which is something mon rarely did!

[VillaAlways]

Which 5 numpties have put draw 

[pedro25]

East 19 if we drop a winger for NRC, allowing Ash back out wide then surely we still have 2 wingers, Ash and Downing/Albrighton.  The problem is we are playing with 3 wingers not 2.  You seem to suggest playing with 1 winger only, but surely we would be unbalanced this way, 2 wingers and 3 centre mids should leave us strong enough.

[not3bad]

the 11,000 Villa fans (and 37 Blackburn fans)

You reckon 37?  They must have bought that extra taxi.

[pmk1981]

just watched G's press conference.  the more i watch him the more impressed i am,  looks like we have a good fitness coach so all this rubbish of us getting tired towards end of games will go,  new "continetial" traning... sound exciting..

im really looking forward to what mr h and his team can do !!

bloody hell have you ever changed your tune

no matter how much i try and accept this and be happy for houllier being her i cant !!  i just dont want him as our manager.  fuckin rediculous appointment.  he is not the man to take us further,  mid table here we come

LOL

I was on my period then !!

[eastie]

No pedro,I'm suggesting reo coker petrov and ireland with just ash out wide,and 2 up front! Not in every game but a variation in tactics can be useful.

[Irish villain]

They will be out to do us over as revenge for the semi last year. However, we will be up for this game too with the players looking to impress GH.

It'll be a close game decided by a goal and I think we will win, 2-1.

I hope the defence play well so that Dunne will not be the automatic first choice. He needs to get out of his comfort zone, slim down and start playing for his place. He's been disappointing for club and country this season.

[Monty]

No pedro,I'm suggesting reo coker petrov and ireland with just ash out wide,and 2 up front! Not in every game but a variation in tactics can be useful.

That wouldn't work because Ash would get doubled and tripled up on. That was his big problem after his breakthrough year - teams decided just to number up on him because, with the greatest will in the world, Milner wasn't the same threat on the other flank so they didn't have to worry about us switching the play too much. With literally nobody but a full-back on the other wing Ash's impact on the game would be diminished to zero.

Besides, two up front is generally a waste if you're trying to break teams down, because you have two players with their backs to goal, their impact on the game limited by this. In an attack you want to be facing the opposition as much as possible, to be on the front foot where you can, and you have to move off the ball to get into these positions. One up front can be necessary to provide a focal point (although Man Utd, with their two support strikers, or Barcelona play with no out-and-out centre forward). Two up front is useful on the counter-attack, where you can aim at one striker while the other runs beyond, but when trying to break teams down it's counter-productive.

[JJ-AV]

We need a central midfield player and a centre forward.

Then any of Ash, Ireland, Gabby, Downing, Albrighton, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Carew can play around them.

But we need those two to build around.