Aston Villa General Chat & Starting XI Thread

[Vid]

for Aston Villa chat

Villa Squad 2013/14 - Wiki page

Keepers
S Given
B Guzan
Jed Steer

Full Backs
J Bennett
A Hutton
M Lowton
A Luna
E Stevens

Centre Backs
N Baker
C Clark
J Okore
R Vlaar

Midfielders
M Albrighton
L Bacuna
B Bannan
S Carruthers
F Delph
K El Ahmadi
G Gardner
C Herd
S Ireland
C N'Zogbia
Y Sylla
A Tonev
A Westwood

Strikers
G Agbonlahor
D Bent
C Benteke
J Bowery
N Delfouneso
N Helenius
A Weimann

[Vid]

would any Villa fans please check the above players list?

[TheTon]

Keepers
S Given - (for sale, £1m - linked to Hull and Doncaster)
B Guzan
Jed Steer

Full Backs
J Bennett
A Hutton - (was Mallorca bound but screwed that up by being a greedy git. Villa desperate to get rid!)
M Lowton
A Luna
E Stevens - (available for transfer, will be gone before window closes)

Centre Backs
N Baker
C Clark
J Okore
R Vlaar

Midfielders
M Albrighton
L Bacuna
B Bannan - (transfer listed, was Blackburn bound but deal fell through. Will be gone before window closes)
S Carruthers
F Delph
K El Ahmadi
G Gardner
C Herd
S Ireland - (Villa again desperate to get his wages off the bill. Most likely a loan deal but Villa would rather sell and remove his ridiculous 65k wage all together. Problem is, he's too crap and everyone knows it)
C N'Zogbia - (linked to several clubs including Hull and Palace. Wages, again (thanks Martin ) the issue.
Y Sylla
A Tonev
A Westwood

Strikers
G Agbonlahor
D Bent - (most likely joining Newcastle, but Fulham in the race still. Will be gone before window closes)
C Benteke
J Bowery
N Delfounso - (transfer listed)
N Helenius
A Weimann

[blahblah]

Newcastle have two new forwards, but CP have been mentioned

[TheTon]

The Villa will most likely line up as follows....


-------------Guzan----------------

Lowton / Okore / Vlaar / Luna

---Sylla / Westwood / Delph--

Weimann---------------Gabby

--------------Benteke--------

Just one change (Tony Moon in for Joe Bennett) to the team that finished last season, and showed such excellent form and potential. Below is the second team, of which ALL are capable replacements not out of place in the Premier League. We have a squad, at long last!

Second team....

----------------Steer------------

Herd / Clark / Baker / Bennett

-------------El Ahmadi------------
-------Bacuna-------Gardner----

Albrighton----------------Tonev--

---------------Helenius------------

Also in the squad worthy of a mention - N'Zogbia, Carruthers and Bowery, and this is assuming Bent, Ireland, Bannan, Delfounso, Hutton and Given leave!

Pretty decent I think!

[Striker]

Pretty decent I think!

You'll soon be convincing yourself that a Europa League spot is in the bag.

[TheTon]

Pretty decent I think!

You'll soon be convincing yourself that a Europa League spot is in the bag.

Pretty decent in our battle against relegation, but all Villa fans believe the Europa league spots 6th/7th is where we should be aiming. If MON could do it...!

[blahblah]

But MON shagged the Club in trying?

If you defence holds up then top 10 is not unrealistic, imho.

[TheTon]

But MON shagged the Club in trying?

If you defence holds up then top 10 is not unrealistic, imho.

I know I sound biased but I honestly believe Lowton has the potential to be better than Johnson and Walker. He'll never get in the England team playing for us but if he became the United right back he'd be straight in. He really is a quite brilliant full back.

Vlaar is hit and miss. He spent most of the season injured, so if fully fit, he'll be a much improved player. Just his pace that concerns me.

Okore is supposed to be different class. Apparently Chelsea were sniffing about for his signature before we got him, but they were just rumours so can't be sure. Hope this kid proves to be as good as is suggested.

Final hope is that Bennett loses his spot to Tony Moon (Antonio Luna). Although Bennett started to show some signs of quality late on in the season, he has a lot of work to do defensively. Going forward he looked tidy, but at the back I think I could've taken him on and beat him (and I'm fat, old and crippled!). Luna has looked excellent pre season. Quick, attacking and a good crosser of the ball. I'll be looking at him in ff terms after the crappy fixtures are out the way.

Back-ups - Clark, Herd, Baker, Bennett. Any of Clark, Baker or Bennett could actually start the season in the first XI

[TheTon]

Villa team that beat Malaga 3-2 today...

-----------------Guzan---------------

Lowton----Vlaar---Okore---Luna

--------El Ahmedi----Delph--------

Gabby-------Tonev------Weimann

---------------Benteke-------------

Subs: Baker, Westwood, Helenius and Bennett all came on on 76 minutes.

General consensus is this will be Villa's starting line-up with one, possibly two tweaks. Westwood in for KEA is a guaranteed change and possibly Sylla in for Tonev.

Tonev looked a real class act today and was on set pieces. There is a good chance he'll start (most certainly against 'weaker' teams) but as we face Chelsea and Arsenal away first, Lambert may air on the side of caution and play the more defensive Sylla. It's a coin toss though.

Gabby looked a little rusty, Weimann was decent, but Benteke stole the headlines again. His first goal was different class, typical Benny power, his second a penalty that he won. Malaga just couldn't handle him. Doesn't matter who he is playing, he will give any defender in the world a headache. Okore scored an own goal but still looked good. Vlaar was excellent.

Good result for Villa ahead of the tough start. Still not solid at the back, but enough talent to create problems. Doubt we'll get anything at Arsenal next week but it'll be a very good test for the Londoners, that's for sure!

[Curry Head]

Really keen on picking Okore for SDT but may wait until the first window as your team have a horrible start.

Not too sure if he has goal potential but I believe the Villa will improve this season and avoid any relegation battle, so I'm banking on Okore being a rock in defence a bit of a hidden gem. My only concern is the alarming lack of clean sheets but surely that has to change this year?. Heck I even thought of doubling him up with Guzan! However I recall some bad hammerings last season so I'll see how big Okore fares in these tough tests in the first 3 games and then decide whether or not to take the plunge.

[Foxtrot]

I expect Okore to become a regular fixture in he centre of defence as well as Luna at LB. Still don't see too many clean sheets due to our style of play.

Tonev is an interesting one. An exciting player. Took corners yesterday with either foot, the one for Vlaars header was an absolute beauty. I expect Lambert to go with a more secure MF trio of Westwood, Delph & Sylla against Arsenal but who knows he likes a gung ho approach.

[Foxtrot]

Here are the goals from yesterday. The defender that tried to get in Benteke's way for the first goal ended up in hospital with a dislocated shoulder. In hindsight Chris Smalling got off lightly!

http://www.malagacf.com/es/noticia/mal ... urn false;

[TheTon]

Aston Villa's 25 man squad finalised...

GK's : Guzan, Given

D's : Baker, Bennett, Clark, Herd, Lowton, Luna, Stevens (currently on loan), Vlaar

M's : Albrighton, Bacuna, Delph, El Ahmadi, N'Zogbia, Sylla, Tonev, Westwood

A's : Agbonlahor, Benteke, Bowery, Helenius, Kozak, Steiber, Weimann

Under 21's (selected names)

Graham Burke
Samir Carruthers
Gary Gardner
Jack Grealish
Jores Okore
Jed Steer
Michael Drennan
Daniel Johnson

[Midlander]

Okore is out for 9 months. We couldn't keep a clean sheet before, we definitely won't be keeping one without our only decent defender.

[TheTon]

Okore is out for 9 months

[sleuth]

Thats a gutter when you dont get to see a new player properly as a season long injury comes along.

Did you notice the look on the face of Benteke at the end of the loss to Newcastle>

If i had a pound for guessing his thoughts it would of been...

what am i still doing here i shud of gone to Spurs.

Benteke is my most used forward in the sun game being in 2/3rd of my teams as i think he is a beast, although he would be a bigger beast at another club.

[murf]

Did you notice the look on the face of Benteke at the end of the loss to Newcastle>

If i had a pound for guessing his thoughts it would of been...

what am i still doing here i shud of gone to Spurs.

Benteke .... i think he is a beast, although he would be a bigger beast at another club.

I agree. I thought he would have suited Jose's Chelsea. Not an exact Drogba clone but surely a better bet than the ageing Et'o'o'o.

[gazwood]

He's too good for Spurs. And I think they'll be kicking themselves too, fancy paying £26m for a 28 year old Soldado ahead of £25m for 22 year old Benteke (when he'll recoup £40m+ for us should he have a decent World Cup). And to think Levy is considered a decent dealer in the transfer market.

[Stemania]

Do Villa fans expect Baker to keep his place in the starting lineup for the near future?

(I asked the same question here).

[TheTon]

Do Villa fans expect Baker to keep his place in the starting lineup for the near future?

(I asked the same question here).

Yes.

[Stemania]

Much appreciated.

[Ashers]

Went to watch Villa and noticed a few things today that you do not see from watching MOTD

Benteke Looks like the new Le Sulk. Constantly moans at others players, is lazy and expects the ball to go to him, rather than working for it.

El Ahmadi is very slow and ruins Villa's best chances

Clark The rest of the team seem to avoid him and would not give him the ball when he was in decent positions.

Bacuna Is something special and can see a massive future for him.

[Foxtrot]

Went to watch Villa and noticed a few things today that you do not see from watching MOTD

Benteke Looks like the new Le Sulk. Constantly moans at others players, is lazy and expects the ball to go to him, rather than working for it.

El Ahmadi is very slow and ruins Villa's best chances

Clark The rest of the team seem to avoid him and would not give him the ball when he was in decent positions.

Bacuna Is something special and can see a massive future for him.

Agree on Bacuna, superb prospect. What an engine and nice technique too. Only 21.

Never been a huge fan of El Ahmadi, expect Delph to come back in for him against WBA.

To be fair to Clark he's not a left back so looks a bit out of place there. Both our LBs injured at moment.

[Ashers]

What did you think of Benteke?

My mate asked someone at the ground if Clarke has slept with one of the player's wife as no-one would give him the ball.

[big mon]

Do Villa fans expect Baker to keep his place in the starting lineup for the near future?

(I asked the same question here).

Yes.

Can you elaborate? Looking at Baker as a very cheap route into the Villa defence in FPL. Will he play for the next, say, 6-10 weeks?

[Ashers]

Aston Villa Squad 2015/16:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%8 ... .C._season

[Jagduracell]

Any Villa fans able to hazard a guess at their starting line up for this season (or even a rough idea as I haven't a clue)?

[gazwood]

Try here;

http://www.villatalk.com/index.php/topi ... ng-lineup/

[Jagduracell]

Try here;

http://www.villatalk.com/index.php/topi ... ng-lineup/

Thanks for this. Seems that Richards, Clark and Amavi are popular choices amongst the Villans for starting defensive berths for my suicidal Villa block!!!