Aston Villa v West Ham United Pre-Match Thread

[Mister E]

If he picks Delph, Sylla and Westie then I think the MF stands half a chance of competing.
The challenge is - obviously - dealing with the barrage we'll get at the back. Baker and Vlaar seem to me to be the best CB combo for this game, and perhaps Clark should go to LB, to add some height as well. If Clark is rested  -as he probably needs to be - then Stevens would be a better bet than Bennett (more defensive, a little more physical).

Well, I wrote this before I'd realised that CC had played and scored for the RoI last night. Maybe this will give him the much-needed confidence boost that will drag him back from flakiness to being a star-in-the-making.

[cheltenhamlion]

I think we might win quite comfortably. I have no idea why.

[Drummond]

I've been taking inspiration from the optimistic folks here.....

10 - 0 to them, Benteke to break his fall by landing on Weimann meaning both are out injured for a month. Guzan to hang himself from the crossbar by his shirt after catching the collar when he jumps and a shot will trickle in under his dangling feet. Bennett and Lowton will walk off after 5 minutes after receiving abuse, to be joined by Gabby, Vlaar and Baker. Lambert will sign a 10 year contract and McLeish and O'Leary will be his assistants. Oh and post match it will be revealed that Lerner has offered Faulkner shares and both are staying at the club long term.

Finally, Nicky Keye will be sacked for gobbling the General.

Either that or we will finally stop conceding so many corners and win a match as the team click.

[eastie]

I think we might win quite comfortably. I have no idea why.

Maybe its the bottle of whiskey youve downed?

[Mark H]

I have gone for a draw on the vote , but have a horrible feeling that Carroll and Nolan will take some stopping and Big Sam will have spent all week creaming himself over set pieces and our defensive record

[Richard E]

Could it be snowed off?

[eastie]

Could it be snowed off?

Not a chance.

[Phil from the upper holte]

Dunne to slot in

Slot in? Squeeze his fat arse in more like!

I've said draw but obviously im hoping for a win

[Phil from the upper holte]

Talking of big Sam

http://blog.paddypower.com/2013/02/06/aston-villa-and-paul-lambert-should-learn-from-this-tale-of-pato-banton/

[Mouse Potato]

Talking of big Sam

http://blog.paddypower.com/2013/02/06/aston-villa-and-paul-lambert-should-learn-from-this-tale-of-pato-banton/

Already posted on page 10

[Phil from the upper holte]

Sorryyyyyyyyyyyy

[Monty]

Probably been picked up on before, but I see Sir Brian thinks that the 4-2-3-1 could be a part of the problem. I agree, but there's no way in hell we should go back to that hellish 3/5 at the back catastrophe. I think a solid 4-3-3, where all the midfielders have to track back and at least one should be breaking late into the box. It would probably mean Weimann missing out, which is sad, but Gabby on that left hand side has been as dangerous as Zog recently - a surprise, considering how useless both have been for most of the last season and a half.

[sendô WHU]

Greetings Villains. It's been a little while since my last post on here.

Our early season form seemed to be built around a solid defence that was hard to break down and making the most from set pieces going forwards. Nolan's goals, although there were only a few of them, were key, and when he wasn't scoring other players were popping up here and there.

That seemed to fall by the wayside over Christmas. We struggled going forwards, and the injuries at the back started to mount up. The biggest miss for us has actually been the usually solid if sometimes mistake prone Collins. Him and Reid have formed a great partnership this season, and if he's back Sunday (such are the rumours) that'll be a big boost for us. Tomkins, whilst looking a good player in the making in past seasons, seems to have regressed this year. Hopefully it's just a loss of form but he needs to improve fast or he'll be off to the gas & electricity leagues next season.

Going forwards we're looking a little better of late. Carroll has come back, and Nolan has managed to re-locate his previously missing shooting boots. The win vs Swansea should have been more comfortable that it was, and we created enough chances against QPR to beat them 4 or 5 times over.

The main issue for us is these came in home games, where we're solid, competitive, direct and a threat going forwards. Away from home for most of the season we've been the opposite - fragile, lost for ideas, standing off of the opposition and sitting too deep isolating the lone striker.

As for you lot, admittedly I've not seen a great deal of you so I don't want to go too in depth with analogies dependent on football pundits with agendas and varying levels of knowledge. However the general consensus seems to be you're inexperienced and often naive at the back with too many young defenders, and not competitive enough in midfield.

I suspect Sunday's game will be a case of not who plays better, but who is less worse. Not who turns up, but who doesn't not turn up.

Allardyce will almost certainly go for a variation on his favourite 4-5-1 formation. Fulls backs dependant on who is fit - left back could be anyone from O'Brien, Taylor or Potts - and Demel at right back is still uncertain. Centre mid will be Noble and Diame, with Nolan the forwardmost looking to get forward and play off of the striker, who will most likely be Carroll. Wide players for me would be Jarvis to give us pace and width and to beat the full back and put in crosses, and Joe Cole for a bit of skill and creativity in the final third - something we've lacked massively since Benayoun got injured and toddled off back across London. Allardyce seems to favour Vaz Te though, for what reason I don't know, he often looks lazy, drifts in and out of games, doesn't track back enough and this season hasn't shown any of the magic he did last year. Maybe the Premier League is a step too far for him?

For you lot, the things that most worry me are the thought of Tomkins marking Benteke, and Agbonlahor running at any one of our pedestrian defenders. We might one day realise how slow we are at the back and counter it accordingly. With any luck it will be this weekend.

Either way, the key battleground will be the midfield, where I think we've got the edge. So I'm using that as an excuse to follow my heart and pluck for a 2-1 away win.

Good luck for the rest of the season.

[villajk]

Dunne to slot in

Slot in? Squeeze his fat arse in more like!

I've said draw but obviously im hoping for a win

The Goalzone with Tom Ross · 14,321 like this.
about an hour ago ·
VILLA: No new injury concerns. Richard Dunne has suffered a set-back though - manager says he's 'a long way' away.

[Drummond]

We'll need it. Thanks.

Would you mind forwarding that little summary on to Paul Lambert c/o Villa Park please?

It could be a goal-fest if Carroll and Benteke play to their strengths, though I fear you're right about the midfield.