Villa H Preview

Well - people wanted a strong cup side, then the manager goes out and says various players didn't have the attitude to play in the game! Cannot really make it up right now, but hey ho onto an easy H win vs Villa.... HMMM

Two positives, Jackson off and running, with Bishop back.

So onto the villa. Tough side, well organised by Bruce - could be men against boys here frankly.

Played 3 - clean sheets 0. So I cannot see Villa failing to score.

Will we score? Not sure. I'll plump for an optomistic 1-1 draw, however can well see Villa winning this.

As for the line up -

Bart

Donacien / Nsiela / Chambers / Knudsen

Skuse / Chabolah

Edwards ( if back ? ) Nolan Ward

Jackson

Att 17100 helped by Villa bringing 2000.

 

I will be there, but I'm not feeling confident about this, or the Derby match on Tuesday, in the slightest. I do wonder if Hurst will drop some of the more disappointing senior pros (Knudsen and Ward spring to mind). Line up I'd go for is:

Bart

Donacien / Nsiala / Chambers / Kenlock

Chalobah

Edwards / Nolan / Ward

Jackson / Harrison

I predict a 2-1 loss and an attendance of 17,892.

 

Lot of weight on Chalobah for that Nuggets especially with Kenlock at LB - think we'd get torn to pieces with that.

 

I've overlooked Edun, a handy player who probably should start ahead of Ward. We probably need Skuse in there too, come to think of it. I know people want to see two strikers up top, and that's my preference seeing the troubles we have in front of goal, but when Hurst's gameplan and preparation has been around a long striker and a few attacking midfielders buzzing around, do we risk moving to a two up top system?

 

Yes, I think we take a risk now, play to attack, move the ball forward and get at them...anything gotta better!

 

Think we may well get a response from the players and actually go and win this.

Bart
Donacien | Chambers | Nsiala | Knudsen
Skuse | Chalobah
Edwards | Nolan | Edun
Jackson

2-1 home win with goals from Jackson and Skuse*



(*Yes you read that correctly)

 

Bart has made two critical errors already this season so perhaps Gerken will play.

If on the back of the brutal interview Hurst doesn't change at least 3 or 4 faces, his credibility will be diminished.

 

Not particularly. Hurst will have to give the opportunity for players to prove that they have taken his criticism on board and are capable of performing to a higher standard. If his post-match comments were intended as a source of motivation, then making wholesale changes will negate the point of using the media. I'm expecting a couple of changes, most notably Gwion Edwards and Cole Skuse coming back into the team, but I hope he actually provides the opportunity for players to prove him wrong.

 

Too bloody scarey to think about.

 

Some of the players won’t be feeling that way.

They can’t prove anything against Villa. They can perform better than they have so far, make a few mistakes and get walloped. Or Villa could have an off game and we could win.

So I think Hurst needs to make some changes now - not wholesale changes - to maintain any credibility.

What is the saying? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

 

Some of the players won’t be motivated about Hurst’s comments? True, and they’re probably the players we could do without. But we won’t know who raises their game if we don’t give them a chance. They can certainly up their application and dedication levels, that was Hurst’s main concern last night.

I don’t think we will beat Villa, but then I don’t think many people are realistically expecting a win considering they’ve won all three of their games this season and they comfortably beat us 4-0 and 2-0 last season.

Skuse and Edwards to come in, and maybe a reshuffle that sees one of Sears or Ward dropped, is what I envisage. I’d happily see Kenlock in the team ahead of Knudsen and maybe a focus on attacking, but I feel Hurst will target a point here.

 

With you here. You can't go on about lack of effort then not make changes or you look rather........................

He's even said himself we could get hammered here. Worrying times.

Concentrate on your job please Mr Hurst not having a song and ruddy dance.

 

Rearranging the furniture on Titanic comes to mind here.

 

I think Skuse needs to play still, reads the game well. Would free up Nolan more and perhaps Chalobah too.

Knudsen's total lack of effort tracking back / walking back in the highlights looks alarming. Wonder if Kenlock may get a go this time?

 

Absolute rubbish. Knudsen looks to be involved in everything good from an attacking perspective. There's a moment when the winger gets away - but Chambers should be covering and either a CDM dropping in or Donacien coming across. There's no point Knudsen sprinting back for that one, he'll never get there in a million years. Chambers has had a shocker - the CBs are having problems and the GK. The full backs look solid to me.

 

On the basis you think Keane was the best thing since bread was invented

All the SW club that went to Exeter slated Knudsen, Donacien, Chambers, Sears + Ward.

Donacien, solid? REALLY? He was better at RB than CB when he was awful, but still not good v Blackburn. Many singled him out as our worst player at Rotherham.

I would like to know how you've come to this conclusion?

 

I think Keane had a lot more potential than Mick McCarthy ever did, that's all.

I wasn't at Exeter, but it sounds like nobody covered themselves in glory - you mention five players.

On what basis was Donacien poor at right back against Blackburn or Rotherham? The only goal we conceded in those 1 and 1/2 games was from a mistake from Nsiala. Defensively in those 1 and 1/2 games we looked solid at the back apart from Nsiala vs Rotherham, played the ball out from the back, had a lot of possession and Edwards - linking up with Donacien down the right - has looked lively. So when he has not put a foot wrong the question is more how on Earth you've come to the conclusion that he's not been good.

Given that you weren't at Rotherham, what did you see for 55-odd minutes vs Blackburn? I saw a back four that was barely troubled and an absolute truckload of possession.

 

I think Donacien had a much better game against Rotherham than Blackburn. Against Blackburn, he was poor at centre back but average at right back. Didn’t look threatening when he pushed forward. Even though Blackburn were sitting back to protect their lead, Donacien managed to poke the ball from the byline right to the feet of a Blackburn striker who had a close range shot at goal. If it wasn’t for a remarkable save by Bart, that would have been 3-1 and game over.

 

I've not said he is a revelation Nuggets. I've just said he looks solid. There are areas of the pitch where there are real concerns. Defensively we need to cut out the mistakes from everybody - from the defensive midfielders to the goalkeeper. If Donacien has made one serious mistake in that 140 minutes of football that's at least one fewer than all the others.

 

Didn't strike me as solid against Blackburn at all.

Like Nuggets says re his suicidal pass too.

A couple of friends went to Rotherham and apparently 10 of ours were very decent but Rotherham got a lot of change out of him.

Early days but with Hurst's high risk strategy, hope a few can click.

What on earth has happened to Emmanuel!? Rotherham fans spoke very highly of him last season, and he played a level up from Donacien.