Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa Pre-Match

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

There was a time when Villa fans used to appreciate their number 9's. There's obviously an element now with their childish nicknames where it's all about the bantz. They're soooo funny... in their own minds.
I hope Ollie bags the winner vs forest! UTV!

[Risso]

There was a time when Villa number 9s scored goals.

[Legion]

2-0.

[kippaxvilla2]

I can see us scoring 0 so it’s just a question of how many they score.

[Baldy]

There was a time when Villa fans used to appreciate their number 9's. There's obviously an element now with their childish nicknames where it's all about the bantz. They're soooo funny... in their own minds.
I hope Ollie bags the winner vs forest! UTV!

Sorry Abbeyfealeavfc, just my flustration getting the better of me.

To be honest, it is all not Ollie's fault. He was getting accolades galore, even selected for England, based on his workrate and running ability. He can be excused for thinking that's all he had to do.

The message needs to be rammed home that goals matter. Running towards the goal posts instead of the corner flag would be a good start.

[brontebilly]

I know it's not popular on here but I'd go back to two up front for this and play Watkins and Archer with maybe Buendia just behind. We'd still have the three in midfield which should be enough if their midfield is as bad as suggested.

But you know he would play Old Man Ings.

I think he will...drop Bailey and play Coutinho at 10.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

There was a time when Villa fans used to appreciate their number 9's. There's obviously an element now with their childish nicknames where it's all about the bantz. They're soooo funny... in their own minds.
I hope Ollie bags the winner vs forest! UTV!

Sorry Abbeyfealeavfc, just my flustration getting the better of me.

To be honest, it is all not Ollie's fault. He was getting accolades galore, even selected for England, based on his workrate and running ability. He can be excused for thinking that's all he had to do.

The message needs to be rammed home that goals matter. Running towards the goal posts instead of the corner flag would be a good start.

No problem mate. Tbh I'm just as frustrated with our performances and results as you probably are, but see it as a general malaise surrounding the club that no individual player is responsible for.
Hopefully next Monday night we can celebrate a Villa win and hopefully a goal from Ollie, so that he can get out of the rut that he's currently in following what was a good start to the season for him personally.

[Clark W Griswold]

0-0

[Baldy]

There was a time when Villa fans used to appreciate their number 9's. There's obviously an element now with their childish nicknames where it's all about the bantz. They're soooo funny... in their own minds.
I hope Ollie bags the winner vs forest! UTV!

Sorry Abbeyfealeavfc, just my flustration getting the better of me.

To be honest, it is all not Ollie's fault. He was getting accolades galore, even selected for England, based on his workrate and running ability. He can be excused for thinking that's all he had to do.

The message needs to be rammed home that goals matter. Running towards the goal posts instead of the corner flag would be a good start.

No problem mate. Tbh I'm just as frustrated with our performances and results as you probably are, but see it as a general malaise surrounding the club that no individual player is responsible for.
Hopefully next Monday night we can celebrate a Villa win and hopefully a goal from Ollie, so that he can get out of the rut that he's currently in following what was a good start to the season for him personally.

To me it's all about angles. The vast majority of Watkins chances seem to be from an acute angle, any Premier League goalie worth his salt will save 95% of those. Watkins needs to focus on being more central and creating better goal scoring angles for himself. See Haaland. Much improvement needed in the goal scoring column, if not, Archer must be 'bloodied' soon.

Leave the wings open for our more creative players and attacking full backs to get the ball purposely into the box. When attacking, McGinn needs to hover around the edge of the 18 yard box to either time a run, be available for a pass or pounce on the half clearances. He has a fantastic shot but we have barely seen a goal from him in two or three years.

Coutinho has lost the gift of cutting inside and bending the ball into the far top corner. He did it nearly every other week for Liverpool. Now he cuts inside and shoots straight at the goalie. He needs to practice, practice, practice his shooting. It is no good having a one trick pony who has lost his trick. At the moment, a luxury player we can't afford to have if his goals and assists column doesn't improve.

Buendia, in my opinion, is our most creative player. He needs to start more and be given licence to roam. 

When Bailey plays, he should be facing forward when he receives the ball. Currently, he gets the ball and plays backwards. His pace is wasted.

Up the tempo. Martinez needs to stop farting around on the ball and giving the opposition time to get back into defensive formation.

And so on.

There is so much more we can do as an attacking force. Defensively, in recent times we have improved and now the focus must be on improving our attacks. We have the tools required.

[frank black]

A six pointer!!!

Joking, I hope…(gulps)

Pivotal one for Gerrard especially if we lose. I expect us to win and do so comfortably.

[Three Spires Villa]

We will win 0-2 Ollie Watkins brace

[gnrpoison]

1 - 1
Steve Stone for them
Andy Townsend or Tommy Johnson for us.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

There was a time when Villa fans used to appreciate their number 9's. There's obviously an element now with their childish nicknames where it's all about the bantz. They're soooo funny... in their own minds.
I hope Ollie bags the winner vs forest! UTV!

Sorry Abbeyfealeavfc, just my flustration getting the better of me.

To be honest, it is all not Ollie's fault. He was getting accolades galore, even selected for England, based on his workrate and running ability. He can be excused for thinking that's all he had to do.

The message needs to be rammed home that goals matter. Running towards the goal posts instead of the corner flag would be a good start.

No problem mate. Tbh I'm just as frustrated with our performances and results as you probably are, but see it as a general malaise surrounding the club that no individual player is responsible for.
Hopefully next Monday night we can celebrate a Villa win and hopefully a goal from Ollie, so that he can get out of the rut that he's currently in following what was a good start to the season for him personally.

To me it's all about angles. The vast majority of Watkins chances seem to be from an acute angle, any Premier League goalie worth his salt will save 95% of those. Watkins needs to focus on being more central and creating better goal scoring angles for himself. See Haaland. Much improvement needed in the goal scoring column, if not, Archer must be 'bloodied' soon.

Leave the wings open for our more creative players and attacking full backs to get the ball purposely into the box. When attacking, McGinn needs to hover around the edge of the 18 yard box to either time a run, be available for a pass or pounce on the half clearances. He has a fantastic shot but we have barely seen a goal from him in two or three years.

Coutinho has lost the gift of cutting inside and bending the ball into the far top corner. He did it nearly every other week for Liverpool. Now he cuts inside and shoots straight at the goalie. He needs to practice, practice, practice his shooting. It is no good having a one trick pony who has lost his trick. At the moment, a luxury player we can't afford to have if his goals and assists column doesn't improve.

Buendia, in my opinion, is our most creative player. He needs to start more and be given licence to roam. 

When Bailey plays, he should be facing forward when he receives the ball. Currently, he gets the ball and plays backwards. His pace is wasted.

Up the tempo. Martinez needs to stop farting around on the ball and giving the opposition time to get back into defensive formation.

And so on.

There is so much more we can do as an attacking force. Defensively, in recent times we have improved and now the focus must be on improving our attacks. We have the tools required.

I agree about Buendia and our tempo certainly needs to increase. Also we need to get more bodies into the box to attack these "purposeful" crosses to distract defenders and offer up more space for whichever striker is playing.

[LeeB]

My concern with Buendia is that when he starts he's usually bright for about 15-20 mins then starts giving the ball away or vanishes from the game.

[paul_e]

There was a time when Villa number 9s scored goals.

Do you mean like Ollie Watkins in the last 2 seasons where he was 8th and 18th top scorer in the league?