The "what is wrong with this club" part 259 thread.

[Ad@m]

Very much this! It's sometimes hard to spot players hiding, but ours have become experts over the last few seasons. It's almost like its part of the coaching set up. We need players that make themselves available for a pass, even when we go a goal down. Most of ours seem to evaporate into thin air.

I blame Lambert for this. The first midfielder I saw hiding so obviously as a regular part of his game was Karim El Ahmadi.

 I don't get it, because Lambert is arguably the most technically qualified manager we've ever had with the badges he'd got back in Germany but the coaching under him seems to have ingrained the mentality we now can't shift.

[Meanwood Villa]

I blame Lambert for most things.

[pbavfckuwait]

Westwood, Bacuna are prime examples of the type of players we have filled our midfield with since sorry to say  Pubehead left, Milner was probably the last fit for purpose midfielder we have had at Villa park, we have all at times ripped our defensive players apart, but in all honesty what sort of protection have they had, our goalscorers have come in for plenty for a lack of goals, but apart from Benteke who could make his own goals, look at the service we have given them, a world class provider like N'Zog (hahaha), light weights like Gill.
A blind man can see it is our inadequate ability's in midfield and our lack of application to sort it, that has placed us where we are now and will continue to keep us at this level unless we address it very very quickly. Westwood is shite, but he at times has been least shite of the options we have to replace, see world star Gardner when not available or away on loan, not so much world star now we have had to use him.

[Matt Collins]

The Westwood / Delph / cleverly midfield three was definitely a decent premier league midfield

It wasn't creative particularly. What we needed was genuine creativity in the wide attack positions and from full back, plus a proper number 10 option to play against weaker teams

Instead we had guys like Andreas Weimann and gabby in those positions

[The Edge]

Two constants from our shite last few seasons - Westwood and Bacuna - are still in senior roles. It's no surprise to me that with their contributions, we're as solid as a paper aeroplane in a tornado.

Absolute bollocks.  Two of our better players this season.  It's their fault the whole fucking team collapse in the second half?

i know the result as soon as I see thier names on the team sheet.

Bacuna's done half decent so far but he's still not anything special. Westwood on the other hand has been his usual anonymous self. Honestly when are fans gonna realise the waster this man is? He's spent years making our midfield mediocre with displays of nothingness and it's time we finally got rid of him. We won't be promoted with him in our midfield.

The fans do realise what a useless player Westwood is. Question is when will the hierarchy realise it? He is not the sole reason we are in this utterly depressing situation but he has become a symbol of the club's current malaise. We have got only one crumb of comfort to cling on to. And that is in the shape of Tommy Elphick. Can he be the one to turn up at the training ground and lay the law down to the troops? I sincerely hope so.

I'm hoping TE decides to stop bangin' his Swede on an upright & does it on the bonces of some of our squad ponces. Better still, he starts banging a few heads together and issuing the riot act. Let's face it, RDM is never gonna do it (although SC certainly looks like he could dish it out). And how Westwood continues to deceive a succession of management teams is one of the great mysteries of our time. I can only think he's one of the world's eminent practitioners of massed hypnotism (ie more than one gullible idiot at any given time)  - although the majority of supporters evidently ain't so stupid as to buy such jiggery pokery. AAAAAAAAARRRGGGGHH!   

Jiggery pokery! ! Fantastic. Word (s) of the day.

Cheers bab. It's my life mission to make jiggery - and indeed pokery - a vital part of the modern vernacular. I also like widdershinnery, but I don't think the populous is quite ready for that yet. I'll keep ya posted on any developments though, obviously. 

OK mate 😀

[pbavfckuwait]

Matt C , Delph was not a bad player, but spent to much of his time with Villa injured, Cleverly, sorry played about 6 reasonable games for tactic Tim, so if that has what you have been able to name reference my point since pubehead left, I think it makes my point.

[old man villa fan]

The Westwood / Delph / cleverly midfield three was definitely a decent premier league midfield

It wasn't creative particularly. What we needed was genuine creativity in the wide attack positions and from full back, plus a proper number 10 option to play against weaker teams

Instead we had guys like Andreas Weimann and gabby in those positions

You obviously like Westwood but the 3 man midfield you mentioned played well for less than 10 games the season before last and that was when Cleverly raised his game and was linking with Bacuna at RB. That midfield was never PL level as it had a weak centre to it. We looked good when we bypassed midfield by hitting runners with long balls from the back or when Delph, Grealish and Benteke were playing in simple triangles.

From what I see of Westwood is he keeps the ball moving by playing simple balls wide but to players who are generally in less threatening positions than he is i.e. passing responsibility to others. I very rarely see him get involved in triangular play or quick one-two's, as he lacks speed off the mark. He is the typical player that flatters to deceive by being tidy in possession. Great for a defensive midfielder that tackles, picks up players, organises etc. but he doesn't do those things well and, therefore, his offensive game is not good enough. For a player that has played around 100 PL games, his game should have improved with experience but it hasn't. We have brought in a string of half decent international players but none of them have been able to play with Westwood and have then looked fair to poor and been moved on.

[SashasGrandad]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJsOtotjxka/

Is this what they do when they are supposedly injured? No wonder we are going downhill.  Another social media gaff?

[Chris Jameson]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJsOtotjxka/

Is this what they do when they are supposedly injured? No wonder we are going downhill.  Another social media gaff?

I'm not sure what he's doing wrong there?

[PeterWithesShin]

I assume it's the "sauced up" bit.

[passitsideways]

The Westwood / Delph / cleverly midfield three was definitely a decent premier league midfield

It wasn't creative particularly. What we needed was genuine creativity in the wide attack positions and from full back, plus a proper number 10 option to play against weaker teams

Instead we had guys like Andreas Weimann and gabby in those positions

You obviously like Westwood but the 3 man midfield you mentioned played well for less than 10 games the season before last and that was when Cleverly raised his game and was linking with Bacuna at RB. That midfield was never PL level as it had a weak centre to it. We looked good when we bypassed midfield by hitting runners with long balls from the back or when Delph, Grealish and Benteke were playing in simple triangles.

From what I see of Westwood is he keeps the ball moving by playing simple balls wide but to players who are generally in less threatening positions than he is i.e. passing responsibility to others. I very rarely see him get involved in triangular play or quick one-two's, as he lacks speed off the mark. He is the typical player that flatters to deceive by being tidy in possession. Great for a defensive midfielder that tackles, picks up players, organises etc. but he doesn't do those things well and, therefore, his offensive game is not good enough. For a player that has played around 100 PL games, his game should have improved with experience but it hasn't. We have brought in a string of half decent international players but none of them have been able to play with Westwood and have then looked fair to poor and been moved on.

I'd say it had more to do with us completely running out of steam after having both gotten out of the relegation hole we dug ourselves, and in getting to the cup Final. Arsenal would have pissed all over us regardless, but there was absolutely no intensity in those final few games.

The thing I don't get about Westwood is that we've had multiple managers now who keep on starting him - I remember people saying that Sherwood had sussed him out when he was initially consigned to the bench under him, but of course he made his way back into the team and was ever-present from the cup semifinal vs Liverpool onwards. I find it difficult to believe that so many experienced football men can have a blindspot for him. Maybe it's the ex-midfielders union, thinking about it - Lambert, Sherwood, Garde, Di Matteo, the lot of them, and they probably appreciated having a tidy player supporting them.

I thought Gana was supposed to be his replacement, but instead we tried playing him next to Westwood - he started off brilliantly, but I'm pretty sure he started being counted on to be more influential in the final third because there was nobody else who could do that, which isn't his game, and I think his struggles with that contributed to the narrative fans built up about how he was rubbish at passing. It sounds like he's had a great start to his Everton career as well, and I bet if he isn't ask to do too much, he'll be appearing in plenty of "signing of the season" lists come May.

[PeterWithe]

The players simply are not fit enough, when teams step it up against us in the second half we don't have the fitness to press them, we get tired, concede ground, lose our shape and then it backs to the wall trying not to concede the inevitable goals.

With our squad, even short of a few signings, if we increase the fitness levels we will be in with a good shout of promotion. I really think it's that simple.

[PeterWithe]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJsOtotjxka/

Is this what they do when they are supposedly injured? No wonder we are going downhill.  Another social media gaff?

I'm not sure what he's doing wrong there?

He's slouching, and wearing a tracksuit. Hanging is too good. etc, etc.

[Bad English]

Why is every other team, regardless of the level they play at, fitter than us? There is no excuse for it. Have any of you seen a team on the same pitch as us who looked less capable of playing for 95 minutes?

[PeterWithe]

No, it seemed to get better under Sherwood for a few games when Delph and Cleverley were playing well together but that was pretty short lived as well.

It really should be the easiest shortcoming to remedy.