Have we got a good squad?

[onje_villa]

Actually thought Brad was much less effective last season that the one before. His form dipped for me but most fans didn't seem to notice. Still a good player though.

[The Villa Werewolf]

Why any Villa fan would want Grealish anywhere near the poisonous atmosphere of the England set-up is beyond me.

[Toronto Villa]

Why any Villa fan would want Grealish anywhere near the poisonous atmosphere of the England set-up is beyond me.

Thing is at the end of the day it doesn't matter what we want. The player will want it, and I would much rather he achieved it with us than not irrespective of what those consequences might be. If Aston Villa makes itself into one of those clubs other players want to join through the international team then nobody is going to complain. And it's a bit naive to think that it is only when they get together for their country that these conversations take place. A lot of them share agents, they all see what is happening at other clubs. Communication is free and easy. If we are better players will be less likely to want to leave and others will want to join.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

EDIT: Nevermind.

[jeowje]

The dream scenario: All new players slot in well- Joe Cole proves an astute signing and adds the needed, creative impetus, Jack Grealish gets game time and shows that he is every bit as good as we are daring to hope, him Joe Cole, and N'Zogbia become a combined hive of creativity- putting them on a plate for a red-hot returning Benteke who then bangs them in for fun. Vlaar stays and our new look defence is rock solid, with Okore and Senderos both pushing hard for that slot alingside him... Everything clicks and we go on a real surge up the table.

Or, the nightmare scenario- we realise that Joe Cole is indeed past it at the top level and keeps getting sidelined with injuries, Gabby and Weimann continue to look bang average and lost/disinterested, refuses to drop westwood despite him not offering enough and terrible set pieces, Benteke returns looking off the pace then gets injured again, Vlaar leaves on deadline day for Man Utd and Senderos then starts to look as awful as predicted by some, Grealish struggles to make an impact, is then infuriatingly pushed down the pecking order in stubborn favour of El Ahmedi and we start to look every bit like a championship side in waiting, as terrible home form continues...

In reality, it will most likely be somwhere in between.

[peter w]

EDIT: Nevermind.

This post was brought to you by the profound lyricist Kurt Cobain.

[*shellac*]

Smells like team spirit.

[Matt Collins]

There just has to be a player or two we could bring in on loan to improve our creativity. It's just about feasible that cole grealish and n'zogbia will improve us from last year but we'd be so much better if we could bring in some quality on the ball. We might start to get more than 40% possession sometimes too

[Holte L2]

The short answer is No.

We have 4 definite first teamers who are in Guzan, Vlaar, Delph and Benteke.

We then have Sanchez, Okore & Kozak who I am confident can reach the standard on a consistent basis.

Westwood, Lowton, Weiman and Bacuna have the next few months to prove whether they belong at this level or whether in the case of the former 3 it was just a very good 3months for them back in spring 2013.

Senderos, Cissoko and Richardson remain to be seen whether they can offer depth and consistency or here for a payday. Initial signs are promising but then again Stainrod, Six and Bertrand looked great on their debuts.

Gabby, Shay, Bent, Cole all strike me as (well) past their best and all are injury prone. And they really don't come cheap.

Baker and Clark are IMO hopeless at this level. Too many mistakes - most of them avoidable.

Bennett, Tonev, Helenius and Luna have been passed off for a while. Doubt they will be missed.

CNZ - I don't know. A sad inditement after £9 in wages received.

Grealish - I don't know. Yet

Great post.


If we could just add this creative midfielder we all know is required, then I'm content that we'll be ok until January.

[Matt Collins]

Yes. It's fairly simple really. We don't have enough players who are good on the ball, creatively, technically. Whether that's in central or wide areas

Villa have tended to have fewer of these players than we should have for a long as I've supported them. But the current squad is one of the weakest in that respect. Perhaps equalled by the GT mark two side

[peter w]

I'd like a right-back who can overlap, a central-defender with a tad more pace, a creative central-midfielder, and a wide player with pace and who can pick a cross. £100m or so should find what I want.

[Matt Collins]

Swansea's midfield today: shelvey ki Routledge sigurdsson dyer

A bit depressing but any one of those players would add to our creativity massively. You have to say it reflects bad club management that this is the case

[bobdylan]

Swansea's midfield today: shelvey ki Routledge sigurdsson dyer

A bit depressing but any one of those players would add to our creativity massively. You have to say it reflects bad club management that this is the case

I wouldn't be surprised if Lambert feels that now he has Richardson, N'Zogbia, Grealish and Cole as his creative options as opposed to just Tonev and Albrighton last season, that he feels that's enough options there.  Bacuna also looks like he's earmarked to play further forward this year and having Sanchez means Delph could also play advanced.  I'd imagine when Kozak and Benteke are fit, as we'd then have 5 frontline senior strikers we'll more often than not see 2 up front, rather than 1, meaning only a maximum of 2 creative/ wide players behind, possibly only 1 with Delph/Sanchez/Westwood in the middle.

[ChicagoLion]

If think we can put out an X1 that will give at least half of tis league a good game.
Guzan,
Hutton Okore Vlaar Sissoko

Delph Sanchez Richardson Cole Westwood

Benteke  with Senderos Grealish as back up. The rest are at best squad fillers.

[Matt Collins]

Five central midfielders seems a bit excessive