First Team

[Clampy]

Clark's not a full back. Centre mid is where i'd play him if anywhere.

[Percy McCarthy]

Guzan

Lowton
Vlaar
Okore
Bennett

Sylla
Westwood
Delph

Weimann
Helenius
Gabby

I fear the worst with Benteke. Sad face emoticon.

If so Percy and he is sold then surely with the big money for him we would buy 2 or 3 others including maybe a striker other than helenius - lets hope he stays , but I am starting to fear the worst too.

Yes, but I probably won't have heard of them, so doubt I'd have much luck guessing who they'll be or who they'll replace.

[Concrete John]

1.  I can see no change in the Benteke situation to start 'fearing the worst'.  I expect him to stay.
2.  Clark shouldn't be sold, but he does need to get back on track after a poor season.

[eastie]

Clark's not a full back. Centre mid is where i'd play him if anywhere.

He can cover left back if needed - not great there but adequate if needed, he is versatile and will be useful as he can cover centre back or midfield too .

[rob_bridge]

Guzan

Lowton
Vlaar
Okore
Bennett

Sylla
Westwood
Delph

Weimann
Helenius
Gabby

I fear the worst with Benteke. Sad face emoticon.

If so Percy and he is sold then surely with the big money for him we would buy 2 or 3 others including maybe a striker other than helenius - lets hope he stays , but I am starting to fear the worst too.

What we have in our favour is that he is top dog and he'll get a very good pay rise.

Against us is that we don't know who is or will be interested. I suspect Bale or Suarez being sold could trigger a hostile (to us) approach.

The nagging doubt I have is Chavski as he is similar to Drogba in many ways and Mouinomouth is back there and may fancy him as an updated version. We'll see.

[Clampy]

1.  I can see no change in the Benteke situation to start 'fearing the worst'.  I expect him to stay.

It's gone quiet, but i'm not fearing the worst either just yet.

[Mister E]

Clark's not a full back. Centre mid is where i'd play him if anywhere.

He can cover left back if needed - not great there but adequate if needed, he is versatile and will be useful as he can cover centre back or midfield too .

Lambert doesn't need to "cover fullback" unless he feels he has a FB replacement. With the squad he has now he could play three at the back with two WB. This would work if we have injury / selection problems in left-defence.
If you check out the squad (Guzan, Siegrist, Lowton, Vlaar, Okore, Herd, Baker, Clark, Bennett, Stevens, Williams, Donacien, Bacuna, Gardner, Sylla, Westwood, Delph, KEA, Tonev, Albrighton, Johnson, Weimann, Benteke, Gabby, Helenius, Bowery, Burke) Delph, Tonev nad Bacuna can all play WB if required and we have Herd and Lowton as well.
CC will only play cover at FB if Lambert is deserate, I suspect.

How we play is going to depend on (i) who we're playing against, (ii) the desired formation / set-up and (iii) form and fitness.

It's a callow squad, to be sure, but there's physicality, guile and goals in there. The key will be our ability to stop conceding.

[Pete3206]

I don't really think that I could name a first 11, with 4 new players that I've never seen play before.

[paul_e]

1.  I can see no change in the Benteke situation to start 'fearing the worst'.  I expect him to stay.

It's gone quiet, but i'm not fearing the worst either just yet.

Quiet is fine:
-He's got three years left on his contract, we don't need to be panicking if he doesn't sign a new one.
-There's no reports he wants to leave with any foundation, just lots of speculation.
-There's no reports of offers actually having been made, just lots of 'preparing to bid' stories.
-There's plenty of reports from the last few months that he's very happy here.

I don't get why so many villa fans are so willing to believe he's on the way out, I also find all the "if he doesn't want to be here just sell him" comments a bit silly.

Until anything official is announced about a bid being accepted I'm completely ignoring anything written about him leaving.

[Villafirst]

I really don't want to lose Benteke but if he doesn't see the potential in this squad and want to be part of it, then let him have his move for as much money as we can get.  We've had our fingers burned too many times to not realise that footballers these days have absolutely zero loyalty.  It's the way the game has become.

But Villa hold the trump card with the 3 years left on his contract. They can demand £35-40M which may put most clubs off. I still think he'll be here for next season - he does seem to respect PL.

[ktvillan]

Clark's not a full back. Centre mid is where i'd play him if anywhere.

He can cover left back if needed - not great there but adequate if needed, he is versatile and will be useful as he can cover centre back or midfield too .

He is not even adequate in his main position of CB and is nowhere near adequate at LB.  If versatility means being poor in several positions then yes he's versatile.

[oldhill_avfc]

Although I do think Lambert is building a squad and not just a first team, I thought it would be interesting to see what everyone thought our strongest 11 is, in whatever formation you like, now we've signed a few players.  Obviosuly, this can then evolve as we sign more and start seeing them in pre-season.

Anyway, here's mine playing a 4-3-3-:-
Guzan

Lowton
Vlaar
Okore
Bennett

Delph
Westwood
Sylla

Weimann
Benteke
Tonev

I think that midfield three worked well the end of last season, so it's up to Bacuna to fight his way into it.  I've included Tonev as I've always felt Gabby would be a great impact player from the bench, but we've rarely had the attacking options to use him that way.
 

Unbelievably harsh on Gabby.

In the last three seasons when he's been playing as wideman/midfielder/floating striker he has a better goal scoring record than either Ashley Young or Tony Morley. 

What on earth is he supposed to do to warrant a place in what will likely be a mid table team?

[eamonn]

I reckon we're going to sign between three and five more players this summer so it's too early to speculate on our best side.

[villan from luton]

Clark's not a full back. Centre mid is where i'd play him if anywhere.

He can cover left back if needed - not great there but adequate if needed, he is versatile and will be useful as he can cover centre back or midfield too .

He is not even adequate in his main position of CB and is nowhere near adequate at LB.  If versatility means being poor in several positions then yes he's versatile.

I think you are wrong, not sure of his best position but there is a player in there.

[danlanza]

I really don't want to lose Benteke but if he doesn't see the potential in this squad and want to be part of it, then let him have his move for as much money as we can get.  We've had our fingers burned too many times to not realise that footballers these days have absolutely zero loyalty.  It's the way the game has become.

But Villa hold the trump card with the 3 years left on his contract. They can demand £35-40M which may put most clubs off. I still think he'll be here for next season - he does seem to respect PL.

Benteke is going nowhere. He may leave at the end of next season, if, and if he has as good a season as he has had in his first in the Prem.
One good season is not enough to make top clubs pay stupid money for him. 2 good seasons then we could cash in. It all depends on Benteke's mindset.
Is he willing to sit on the bench every other game for a top European side and take the cash ? Or his he going to put his career first, another season with us, score loads of goals and then be in the shop window for the best clubs in Europe ? Lets not forget that we could be a club in Europe at the end of next season. Young lads, growing together, playing together, playing bloody good football. That is us next season, so lets not just presume that Benteke is going anywhere. We found him, we have him on a four year deal. If any of the top clubs want him then they will have to pay and pay well to get him.
He will be ours for at least another season i think." No f'in Winky thing either"