Libor Kozak

[Phil from the upper holte]

I actually wonder if Sherwood rates Kozak? What must he think with us buying all these strikers?

Which strikers have we signed?
[answer quickly otherwise I might look stupid - thanks]

Ayew, I meant in terms of going for Addy, linked with Berbatov the guy from Blackburn, must be thinking what about me?

[Phil from the upper holte]

What past player would people compare him to?
From the descriptions he sounds a bit like Sheringham, an ability to drop deep, not a particularly good target man, slow...  Is that accurate/fair?

Hes not unlike a taller Darren Bent, finds space in the box and get shots away but somewhat limited outside of the box.

Did ok last night, I suppose we've not really seen enough of him yet

[SoccerHQ]

Ayew                                               Adebayor                                Grealish

Gabby                                              Kozak                                     Gil

What I expect our first choice attack to be with back up underneath.

It's worth remembering Tim has already changed the formation from initally 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 and then the 4-3-2-1 which I think worked best for us so I can't see why next season will be just one formation so all those players will get chances e.g. if we go 4-4-2 in some games at home I'd imagine Gabby and Sinclair would come in.

Horses for courses, he'll make changes when required so Libor could come in and start games when Adebayor has his can't be arsed spell of 5 games at some point of the season.

[footyskillz]

Ayew                                               Adebayor                                Grealish

Gabby                                              Kozak                                     Gil

What I expect our first choice attack to be with back up underneath.

It's worth remembering Tim has already changed the formation from initally 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 and then the 4-3-2-1 which I think worked best for us so I can't see why next season will be just one formation so all those players will get chances e.g. if we go 4-4-2 in some games at home I'd imagine Gabby and Sinclair would come in.

Horses for courses, he'll make changes when required so Libor could come in and start games when Adebayor has his can't be arsed spell of 5 games at some point of the season.

What about Sinclair?

[KRS]

Theres definitely a place for Kozak in the squad but we'd be in trouble if he's our main striking option to replace Benteke...but I very much doubt that will be the case anyway. As mentioned above, TS will definitely be changing formations during the course of the season (even if not during games) so they will all get games.

One thing to remember about preseason though is that Kozak has pretty much been our only option, he needs game time and we haven't exactly played any games against testing opposition. In a couple of weeks time we'll find soon find out which of these players are good enough.

[Toronto Villa]

Theres definitely a place for Kozak in the squad but we'd be in trouble if he's our main striking option to replace Benteke...but I very much doubt that will be the case anyway. As mentioned above, TS will definitely be changing formations during the course of the season (even if not during games) so they will all get games.

One thing to remember about preseason though is that Kozak has pretty much been our only option, he needs game time and we haven't exactly played any games against testing opposition. In a couple of weeks time we'll find soon find out which of these players are good enough.

we don't have to replace Benteke. We need to have other players that can collectively score more goals. Benteke scored 50% of the teams goals the past 3 seasons. That's not good at all and it means we relied on him way too much. There has to be much better distribution and our midfield and defenders also need to get in on the act.

[pauliewalnuts]

Theres definitely a place for Kozak in the squad but we'd be in trouble if he's our main striking option to replace Benteke...but I very much doubt that will be the case anyway. As mentioned above, TS will definitely be changing formations during the course of the season (even if not during games) so they will all get games.

One thing to remember about preseason though is that Kozak has pretty much been our only option, he needs game time and we haven't exactly played any games against testing opposition. In a couple of weeks time we'll find soon find out which of these players are good enough.

we don't have to replace Benteke. We need to have other players that can collectively score more goals. Benteke scored 50% of the teams goals the past 3 seasons. That's not good at all and it means we relied on him way too much. There has to be much better distribution and our midfield and defenders also need to get in on the act.

The problem wasn't that Benteke was scoring too large a proportion of our goals - it was that we didn't score enough goals, full stop. We absolutely do need to replace Benteke, as far as I can see, just as any team which sells their top scorer would like to replace him well.

We need to be getting another reliable striker and also more goals from elsewhere.

Go down the route of not attempting to replace Benteke on the basis of expecting the goals to come from elsewhere, and pretty soon we'll find ourselves relying on the likes of Gabby to weigh in with a few goals. I don't fancy that.

[Toronto Villa]

Theres definitely a place for Kozak in the squad but we'd be in trouble if he's our main striking option to replace Benteke...but I very much doubt that will be the case anyway. As mentioned above, TS will definitely be changing formations during the course of the season (even if not during games) so they will all get games.

One thing to remember about preseason though is that Kozak has pretty much been our only option, he needs game time and we haven't exactly played any games against testing opposition. In a couple of weeks time we'll find soon find out which of these players are good enough.

we don't have to replace Benteke. We need to have other players that can collectively score more goals. Benteke scored 50% of the teams goals the past 3 seasons. That's not good at all and it means we relied on him way too much. There has to be much better distribution and our midfield and defenders also need to get in on the act.

The problem wasn't that Benteke was scoring too large a proportion of our goals - it was that we didn't score enough goals, full stop. We absolutely do need to replace Benteke, as far as I can see, just as any team which sells their top scorer would like to replace him well.

We need to be getting another reliable striker and also more goals from elsewhere.

Go down the route of not attempting to replace Benteke on the basis of expecting the goals to come from elsewhere, and pretty soon we'll find ourselves relying on the likes of Gabby to weigh in with a few goals. I don't fancy that.

getting a reliable striker isn't the same as replacing Benteke. Not like Benteke was scoring 25-30 a season. Replacing his goals would represent having someone score on average 12-15 goals a season over the next three years. Yes, we need to score more goals, from everywhere, and in doing so it will allow our main striker to have a bit more freedom to score. As it was it became the Benteke show, and when the opponent shut him down or the supply route we couldn't score at all. That has to change. We need to have greater options and threat in other areas of the pitch.

[ozzjim]

If we sort out this Veretout deal and managed to pull off a deal for Adebayor and Michu too, then we would have a side with so many more players who are regular scorers but also creators of goals. It struck me that despite the people who said Ayew is not going to replace Benteke, he scored and created more goals and chances than his brother who people generally seem to think is a good signing at Swansea last season. Veretout scored and created more goals on both counts than our entire midfield last season in the league I think. Gueye playing holding midfield scored more too. Amavi from what I have seen so far is going to provide a lot more chances from the left than Richardson and Cissokho managed last season, so I think there is good reason to be optimistic that the players coming in are much more likely to contribute to the goal tally than us relying on that diagonal ball into Benteke and hoping to play from there. He was brilliant for us, but I hope we evolve out of his departure as a better team.

[KRS]

An important thing to remember is that this will be TS first full season and he's very much started to dismantle the squad that has performed so poorly in recent years and laying the foundations to building his own team this summer. When he took over from Lambert he inherited a shambles of a team devoid of confidence and creativity, and had to get the team playing to its strengths to get results...which was basically Benteke. This also included leaving out players such as Gil on the basis that in a short space of time, he developed a style of play to get us over the line to avoid relegation. Target achieved with the added bonus of a couple of days out at Wembley.

There were a few games under TS where we played some of the best football we've seen down at Villa for a while, and the common belief that was that high tempo passing game was just too much to sustain at the end of the season with players looking dead on their feet and the results tailed off when we reverted to hitting long balls into the box for Benteke.

If these new signings have been made with the intention of implementing that high tempo passing game then there will be chances created and goals scored across the park as the style of play and the players required are simply more dynamic. I agree that we don't need to replace Benteke with a like for like player...what we need is for someone to replace the number of goals that Benteke scored. We know we need to score more from midfield and with the new additions to the squad theres no reason why a few of them can't add 5-10 goals each, however we still need at least one forward that will score 12-15 goals without having tactics so dependent on the strengths of any one player. 

As I mentioned above, TS has already alluded to the fact that we'll vary formations and tactics (horses for courses) and I think we'll see more of the squad being used/rotated as the quality and competition for places improves, however we'll also soon start to see who will be our main goal threat once the players settle in and the team gels. I think we'll be more dynamic and versatile, but we do need one of them to step up with the number of goals that Benteke did score in addition to more players contributing...and at this stage, that player could be Kozak, Adebayor, Ayew or someone else.

[Matt Collins]

It's a very well completely dismantling the team but that can very easily go badly wrong

We'll need the players who are staying to play a crucial role - Westwood and Clark for example

[citizenDJ]

I do think you have a point Matt, but speaking for myself I'm pleased to see the team being completely overhauled. Because it was absolutely dreadful and full of losers. As well as bringing in some much needed ability I suspect Sherwood is also removing the stink of defeatism too.

[Clampy]

It's a very well completely dismantling the team but that can very easily go badly wrong

We'll need the players who are staying to play a crucial role - Westwood and Clark for example

This is the team that nearly got us relegated three times on the bounce. We needed to freshen things up.

[Ads]

Exactly Clampy. You cannot just keep wall papering and hoping it will rectify the structural defect in the supporting wall of a home. Sometimes you need to take a hammer to it and start again.

I keep reading that "we have lost the spine", when the reality is we have lost three decent players, quite easily replaced and one world class centre forward who has carried everybody else for three years.

[Villa in Denmark]

It's a very well completely dismantling the team but that can very easily go badly wrong

We'll need the players who are staying to play a crucial role - Westwood and Clark for example

This is the team that nearly got us relegated three times on the bounce. We needed to freshen things up.

Towards the end of Lambert's days, the  stench of defeat and acceptance of shiteness that was emanating from the squad and the club was overwhelming.  Quite apart from some players not being good enough, I think Sherwood has almost been forced to get rid of a good chunk of the squad, just to blend in some players who aren't conditioned into thinking getting shafted every weekend is how it is.