Back off Andi!

[Bad English]

My favourite memory of Weimann to date is that great photo of him standing arms outstretched in before the Holte End. A football-hating, communist-leaning, grizzled old fart colleague of mine saw it and pithily observed "panem et circenses".

[Ads]

I bet he is the life of the party.

[Isa]

If both Weimann or Gabby were offloaded to the first bidder in the summer, I'd have no problem whatsoever.

[Toronto Villa]

If both Weimann or Gabby were offloaded to the first bidder in the summer, I'd have no problem whatsoever.

they need some confidence and better coaching and possibly another system to play in. Nobody was saying that about either player with some of the excellent and important goals they have both come up with. We know they can both do it. We've seen them do it, just not nearly enough this season. That's no reason to dump them to the first bidder.

[Ger Regan]

If both Weimann or Gabby were offloaded to the first bidder in the summer, I'd have no problem whatsoever.

they need some confidence and better coaching and possibly another system to play in. Nobody was saying that about either player with some of the excellent and important goals they have both come up with. We know they can both do it. We've seen them do it, just not nearly enough this season. That's no reason to dump them to the first bidder.

Weimann should be given a chance, but Gabby has had, throughout his villa career, hot streaks amidst extremely barren spells. He's way too inconsistent to be relied upon in my opinion, which is a shame.

[Concrete John]

If we persist with the 4-3-3 formation I'd keep both, but look for more genuine wide players as opposed to trying to convert strikers to play wide.

Gabby would then be our 'big hitter' from the bench.  Imagine bringing his pace on against tiring defenders in the last 20 minutes of a game?

[Ads]

I wouldn't want to see Gabby and Andi sold. They're decent players. I have no issue with better being brought in to supplement them, but why weaken the squad even further?

[Toronto Villa]

Maybe because I have a soft spot for Gabby, I'm probably a bit more generous to him than most. I think he still has a role to play, it just might not be every start. Having someone with his pace off the bench as an option though would be invaluable. Quite frankly no player should be an automatic start. Even the very best are rotated and one of our major issues is still our squad depth. We need to get to a point where putting Benteke or Vlaar on the bench isn't about their performance but simply to keep them fresh. When Gabby is jaded is not remotely as effective and it starts to highlight his limitations as a football player.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

If both Weimann or Gabby were offloaded to the first bidder in the summer, I'd have no problem whatsoever.

they need some confidence and better coaching and possibly another system to play in. Nobody was saying that about either player with some of the excellent and important goals they have both come up with. We know they can both do it. We've seen them do it, just not nearly enough this season. That's no reason to dump them to the first bidder.

Weimann should be given a chance, but Gabby has had, throughout his villa career, hot streaks amidst extremely barren spells. He's way too inconsistent to be relied upon in my opinion, which is a shame.

You could also say the same of Benteke this season, either he's full of confidence and scoring for fun or he looks a waste of space and doesn't look like he's trying. The truth is it must be extremely frustrating being a striker at Villa, given the lack of quality service received. I've often been left thinking Benteke must wonder what the hell he's doing here, wasting his time in a team that don't seem interested in playing football.

Like all strikers, Gabby, Andi and Benteke all thrive on confidence. Good teams know where their strikers like it delivered, often where they'll be before looking up to make a pass. Good managers also know how to build a system that works to the strengths of their strikers (see Houllier with Bent). Right now we've got neither. That's what happens when you play random football.

[sirlordbaltimore]

Works hard, gives his all but doesn't score even close to enough (ditto Gabby)

[Toronto Villa]

I think that's right Rudy. Last season when they were clicking, that front line (especially the growing chemistry between Weimann and Benteke) looked unbelievable at times. Some of the movement between them had us all very excited. I think Benteke's injury and form has adversely affected that and I think Weimann has lost confidence also. There have been a number of chances he's missed where maybe last season they were going in for him. He's got into a lot of good positions. It's entirely possible he hasn't been as commmitted to his craft that he needs to address, but we've seen him play well and work hard in games also. Gabby is an enigma. When on form he can be unplayable, when not you'll not notice him there because he doesn't have many strings to his bow. But I'd keep him in the squad for what he can do.

[Monty]

We're very quick to chunt balls down the flanks instead of keeping it in the centre, but instead of releasing Weimann and Gabby this often leads to them playing with back to goal close to the halfway line. They often try something fancy and rushed in these situations, usually giving the ball away. Both of these are symptoms of the deep lack of patience which infects our tactical setup.

[brian green]

My favourite memory of Andi is at Norwich last year. Gabby flying down the left wing and Andi trying to keep up down the middle of the track. Gabby smacked the ball across, Andi hurled himself at it and missed by a whisker ending up hitting the net like a giant fish.  Somehow typifies his great heart and lack of luck. He will come good.

[Monty]

With Tek injured I think it might be worth trying Weimann and Gabby (if he's fit) in a front two in front of a diamond midfield. Of all the good things he's done, maybe the most impressive part of Brendan Rodgers' season has been to show how to bring back the strike partnership: if they're both of the wing-forward type (rather than Drogba-ish targets or Bergkamp-esque creatives) then they can use their nip and movement to alternate drifting wide, while one stays in the centre. This compensates for the lack of width inherent in the 4-4-2 diamond, and I think Andi and Gab could do it. Holt could be the bench option.

The only problem would be that midfield. I'd be tempted to have Albrighton at the point of the diamond, supported by Delph and KEA (or Sylla if KEA's unfit) with Westwood mopping up and directing affairs. It would give Albrighton a bit of freedom of movement and he could also support the strikers with his decent pace. Of course, this is all assuming we can press and pass competently, which we can't.

[supertom]

I'd like to see Gabby become more of an impact player from the bench. He'll be getting to that stage now. He's too inconsistent to be starting every game but rotate him a bit or use him from the bench to try and change games, and I think he's still got plenty of use.
With Andi, I'm not sure how much the last two years, despite getting games every week, have actually hindered his development. He's an out and out striker at heart but hasn't been played there enough. Whilst it's helped his adaptability to play out of position so long, it's also hampered his potential to become a Premier League striker.
I hope whether Lambert is here, or someone else inherits the squad in the summer, that Andi will get a fair crack of the whip in his favoured position. But he's reaching a stage now where if he's not cutting the mustard at this level, it'll be best to move him on. Next season is absolutely key for him. But for a start, to help the boy, he needs playing in his natural position.

Both are well worth keeping for the next couple of years at least. It'll take that time at least, to build the squad up to a level of quality where players like Gabby and Weimann are surplus.