Team for Villa

[Northampton_wolf]

Stick to the same or do we move back to 4.

Given there dismantling of Brighton , id say same again, with B Traore to come on again with his energy(thought he was great)

Sa
Semedo dawson Kilman Gomes Ran
Gomes Lemina
Hwang Cunha Neto

or as suggested

Cunha Hwang Neto

Id expect bellegarde to come straight back in for bournemouth

 

[MotorWoden]

Stick to the same or do we move back to 4.

Given there dismantling of Brighton , id say same again, with B Traore to come on again with his energy(thought he was great)

Sa
Semedo dawson Kilman Gomes Ran
Gomes Lemina
Hwang Cunha Neto

Id expect bellegard to come straight back in for bournemouth

Same team and same tactics as Saturday for me, but play Hwang in the centre and move Cunha wider.

 

[Sketchead]

I'd probably keep the same team. Villa are no Man City but they're in good form and will expect to dominate this one, so probably one for us to stay in shape and hit them on the break.

 

[Wolf316]

Don’t change a winning team.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

Same team.

Villa are vulnerable to the counter. Their high line is so risky and there has to be opportunities for us on the break.

We also need to treat them with the respect they now deserve in terms of the setup, not standing off etc. They're a top 6/7 team, so a back five is the way to go against the better sides in the league.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

I think it's hard to go away from this team, for one thing we got our best XI players on the pitch. It's a bit sad against Villa, but I do think we need to be humble and admit that we need to contain them first. What we do need to make sure is that we've got a plan if we go behind that doesn't involve playing a high line.

 

[Jawwfc]

Good time to play them with a Europa game on Thursday and having lost the 1st game they will need to field a stronger team.

As we were Saturday don't change a winning team.

 

[SuperGran]

Same team please Gary

 

[TelfordWolf]

Same team again.

I would expect a return to 4atb with Bellgarde back in once he’s finished his suspension.

 

[The Wolf In The North]

A man would either have to be very brave or very stupid to change a team and strategy that worked to perfection.

 

[Jd132]

Got to be the same again. We should just sit back and offer no space in behind us whilst exploiting the space in behind them.

 

[Northampton_wolf]

Same team again.

I would expect a return to 4atb with Bellgarde back in once he’s finished his suspension.

Agreed bellegarde for bournemouth makes sense

 

[WolfLing]

This is potentially going to be a very different game to City.

Villa's success against Brighton came by doing a similar thing that we did to City, albeit not as extreme!

They won't attack us as much and will sit deeper than City.

If we set up the same, there will be very little space in behind for either team.

Have a feeling this one will be 0-0, or decided by either set pieces, or a long-range screamer!

Has to be the same team though surely. Maybe a game where Sasa can make his mark from the bench?

 

[old wittonian]

This is potentially going to be a very different game to City.

Villa's success against Brighton came by doing a similar thing that we did to City, albeit not as extreme!

They won't attack us as much and will sit deeper than City.

If we set up the same, there will be very little space in behind for either team.

Have a feeling this one will be 0-0, or decided by either set pieces, or a long-range screamer!

Has to be the same team though surely. Maybe a game where Sasa can make his mark from the bench?

Or decided by the usual VAR **** up going against us.

 

[Minimalist]

Same personnel and shape.
Dawson to do the same job on Watkins as he did on Haaland .

Would still prefer Neto on the left, and would be interested to see Hwang central with Cunha to the right. But couldn’t argue if it stays the same.

 

[JohnB]

Same team but Doyle back on bench (for Hodge) and Bueno (for Jonny).

 

[Stafford]

Think Gomes has to offer more in an attacking sense if we are going 5 at the back.

 

[Plovdiv Wolf]

Sa
Kilman Dawson Toti
Semedo Lemina Gomes Ait-Nouri
Neto Hwang Cunha

Our strongest team by far

 

[geowolf]

Alex Ferguson said of ManU in their heyday that any side that beat them would invariably lose their next game. I guess a big challenge for the coaches is to get the players into the right state of mind following City. Think we’ll stick with the same XI but really have to put sustained pressure on that defence of theirs.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

Sa
Semedo Kilman Dawson Toti RAN
Gomes Lemina
Neto Hwang Cunha

How can you change that team??

 

[OLDGOLD]

Sa
Semedo Kilman Dawson Toti RAN
Gomes Lemina
Neto Hwang Cunha

How can you change that team??

My one slight concern is that that will be exactly what Villa expect....

 

[bod101]

Sa
Semedo Dawson Toti RAN
Gomes Lemina
Neto Cunha Hwang
Sasa​

 

[lets all have a disco]

Same team ...

My one slight concern is that that will be exactly what Villa expect....

You can easily change that formation in game though....for a brief period or more, or not if required.... Toti to left back, Ran to left wing, hwang up front in a pair ... That's our best starting 11 and it is flexible...

 

[Contrarian]

I think it's hard to go away from this team, for one thing we got our best XI players on the pitch. It's a bit sad against Villa, but I do think we need to be humble and admit that we need to contain them first. What we do need to make sure is that we've got a plan if we go behind that doesn't involve playing a high line.

Villa had only 38% possession in their 6-1 win against Brighton. I think we need to move beyond this idea that dominating possession and not playing counter attack is some kind of sign of a club progressing in status. We've experienced it directly. How moving to 4 at the back and trying to control possession more, led to fewer goals and duller football than ever.

Though given that, I'm not sure that the same tactics that worked against City will work against Villa. Especially at home. Villa will be happy to let us have possession, which changes the entire complexion of the match. They will wait for us to make one slight mistake and pounce (that is more or less how they beat Brighton) - and we do still make too many errors. Even against City, some of their best chances came from us giving the ball away cheaply being too casual trying to play out.

Agreed that not letting them take the lead could be key - because Brighton appeared to leave themselves far too open when they went behind and got punished for it. Better to take the attitude that if you go a goal down, the main thing is not to equalise immediately, but to not concede a second. Going into the final 15 minutes a goal down, you have a chance against anyone. 2 or 3 down before 60 minutes, much less so.

Trusting that having got one over Pep, O'Neil is right now plotting a cunning plan to beat Villa.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

My one slight concern is that that will be exactly what Villa expect....

Why would it concern us? Make our ideas stronger than theirs. They will come to attack us we can counter them no problem we are good at that. Time we started believing in our own abilities once more. They made short work of brighton at vile park some fortress at the moment for them. Away from home they got done by Newcastle and polish side remember

 

[JohnB]

Think Gomes has to offer more in an attacking sense if we are going 5 at the back.

Not if both WBs push on (particularly Doc arriving late) - gives 5 up top and 5 defensively.

 

[TheConcourse]

Would be suicide to go four at the back and leave spaces against a team with so much pace up front.

Villa seem to thrive against teams that want the ball, and less so against teams that defend well and in numbers.

We have PLENTY of pace to worry them from a defensive perspective too.

Pressure on WB’s, Neto, Hwang and Cunha to perform.

We can beat this lot, but it has to be a back 3.

 

[maws]

Just get the ball to Neto! Neither of their full backs will live with him, if they’ve pushed on and the DMs are filling in he will murder them too. He’s got to be close to premier league player of the month for September

 

[Scallywolf]

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Exactly the same team again please, Gary.

 

[Glow69]

Stick with the same team!

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Same team

 

[King Henry VIII]

I agree that is best we stick with the same team, but surely the most important thing is that @berwickwolf gets ****ed the night before?

 

[floydstreet]

Interesting fixture

We are better sitting deep and using pace to counter
Villa are all about transition and counter attack also with pace

Could be a stand off

But fear if we go press press press , they’ll play through us and Diaby Watkins have a field day

I’d be fine with same team and frustrate Villa a but. A point would be decent and if we can draw them on we can counter. Think what Brighton did to us, basically stood on the ball until we pressed so they can then pass through the press and create an imbalance.

A but if that with passion and I am happy

Our home fixtures have been really tough so far,

 

[SoCal_Wolf]

If we go with a back three, then I would be tempted with a Doc start for more offensive nous around the penalty box. Keep it well-structured on defense, though, so I would be judicious with the press (but I would press when it makes sense). If it's tight later in the game, then I would bring in Sasa for Cunha, Bueno for RAN, and Sarabia for Hwang and start pumping crosses in the box...

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

I love that people still want to drop Semedo

Honestly hilarious

 

[IANWILSON]

Villa won't attack us like City did. They'll sit back and look for gaps. I'd say go back to a back 4.

 

[lets all have a disco]

if he changes formation and the players after our first decent 90 mins performance of the season in which ALL the players looked comfortable...then my new found optimism will disappear as quickly, as it appeared

We always needed a back 5 , especially at home at the start of the season with our hard fixtures ...we should have done it for Brighton and Liverpool....and will need it for Villa and Newcastle....it's our best route for points ..

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Villa won't attack us like City did. They'll sit back and look for gaps. I'd say go back to a back 4.

Why? So they have bigger gaps to find?

 

[bod101]

Why? So they have bigger gaps to find?

Why? Are we playing with less than 11 players?

 

[TheConcourse]

Why? Are we playing with less than 11 players?

You’d leave Dawson 1 v 1 with Watkins?