Aston Villa vs Watford Sir Graham Taylor Memorial Game

[in exile]

Me neither.
He and Lansbury are starting to worry me a little

[aj2k77]

Hourihane, Lansbury and Bjarnasson have the makings of another crap midfield. Grealish is going to have to have a stellar season if we are going up this year.

[Matt Collins]

Whelan looks very good though and Jedinak offers protection

But I'd prioritise a player who can score and create from the left or no 10 position if we can get someone else in

[tomd2103]

Whelan looks very good though and Jedinak offers protection

But I'd prioritise a player who can score and create from the left or no 10 position if we can get someone else in

A left sided player (as others have said Green might be better being used here and there as opposed to starting every week) and a target man striker for me.  The 'number 10' point is an interesting one because it looks like we might look to play with one but have let two players who play that role (Gil and McCormack) leave the club. 

[Matt Collins]

If we got a classy player who could play 10 or wide left it would mean green and grealish can both play but not every game and we don't need to play Lansbury there

I worry Bruce thinks Bjorn is that man. Maybe I'm wrong but so far he looks technically poor which isn't great for a number ten!

[tomd2103]

If we got a classy player who could play 10 or wide left it would mean green and grealish can both play but not every game and we don't need to play Lansbury there

I worry Bruce thinks Bjorn is that man. Maybe I'm wrong but so far he looks technically poor which isn't great for a number ten!

It points to a bit of poor planning if we are short in the 'number 10' role, for as I made the point earlier, we've already discarded two players who play that position.  He might not have wanted to stay, but for me that is Gil's best position, but we hardly saw him play there. 

[clash city rocker]

Was talking to a stoke fan yesterday and he was raving about Whelan. ..reckons he'll do a great job for us

[pauliewalnuts]

I keep seeing people saying they like Bjork a lot

I don't get it. I like his work rate and movement but he's shown nowt on the ball do us at all so far

Agree. Not seen anything to suggest he's going to be good enough. Will give him time as he's been injured but underwhelmed thus far.

[Toronto Villa]

He badly needs a goal. It's quite the skill to continuously get into good positions. Then again maybe the opposition know that they can allow him into those positions because his finishing is Tonev-esque.

[Mister E]

I keep seeing people saying they like Bjork a lot

I don't get it. I like his work rate and movement but he's shown nowt on the ball do us at all so far

Agree. Not seen anything to suggest he's going to be good enough. Will give him time as he's been injured but underwhelmed thus far.

he's very limited, and I've seen nothing to suggest he will suddenly find a mojo I suspect he doesn't have.

[passitsideways]

I keep seeing people saying they like Bjork a lot

I don't get it. I like his work rate and movement but he's shown nowt on the ball do us at all so far

Agree. Not seen anything to suggest he's going to be good enough. Will give him time as he's been injured but underwhelmed thus far.

he's very limited, and I've seen nothing to suggest he will suddenly find a mojo I suspect he doesn't have.

I don't think he even needs to show any particular "mojo". If he can get 6-8 scrappy goals from midfield, and have his running make things easier for others, he's an asset without having to do all the things you typically associate with a midfielder.

[Matt Collins]

I think he probably will score a few given the chance

I'm more concerned about the number of attacks that will break down when he gets the ball

[Sexual Ealing]

Going back to Hogan, I agree with everything you say SoccerHQ.  My point is that Hogan needs at least one service player to enable him to be effective.  The harsh truth is that we cannot afford or attract players who have the whole range of goal scoring expertise.  We got lucky with Kodjia but struggle for goals without him.  The days of a team being able to carry a Greaves type putter away of chances created by others are long gone.  I also agree that midfielders getting into scoring positions create the broken play in which players like Hogan thrive.  He is not athletic enough to create space for himself by himself.

I fear that without Kodjia and with our formidable looking defence it is going to be more nick a goal and hang on for the foreseeable future.

I agree on Hogan. He looks like he needs a partner or lots of creative players behind him that we can play through. He played upfront by himself for Brentford and his running in behind is good but his hold up play looks weak. Although I'd have said the same about Dwight Gayle last year.

I wondered if Bruce might go outright 442, especially if jack is out, and pair hogan and gabby. But it doesn't look like it at the moment. Don't think they've been on the pitch together in pre season?

On another note, Hourihane obviously has quality in this league - I'm hoping it's more than his shooting. He's looked one footed, one paced, weak in the tackle and not great at passing this pre season. It comes to something when Bacuna looks a lot better.

It's worrying that a tinpot outfit like Brentford could build a midfield that fed him - and continued to score after he left - but we, £X0,000,000 later, seem to have no clue as to how to do the same.

[Matt Collins]

Brentford were the most impressive team I saw play against us last year

Jota would be a lovely signing - though again tends to play on the right

[Sexual Ealing]

They battered us so hard that I couldn't even see what we'd done wrong. They were just better than us on every level. Brentford.