The other day, I asked for more rumours and I still think we need to see more, but something better than a rumour is when a player you are rumoured to be interested in, starts talking about the club.

Steven Defour has been talking to Het Nieuwsblad about a possible move and he's basically said he's ready to leave his club.

Now, I like the sound of that and it suggests, even though we don't know how Aston Villa came up, that he'd be interested and if he's as good as they say, then maybe, with all this money we've got to spend, it wouldn't be such a bad idea.

I am ready to go abroad. But if Standard want me to stay, I'll stay. Standard will only want to let me go to a top club. Villa are fifth in the Premier League, three points behind Arsenal, and that's not bad.

They're an amazing club but Standard Liege must decide whether they are good enough or not. I still have a contract until 2013. But if Standard refuse an offer, they have to give me something in return.

Steven Defour, March 26th 2009

In other news, Gabby is back at the club after picking up a hamstring injury while with the U21 squad. While this isn't the best news we'd be wanting to hear today, he's got plenty of time to rest and him not playing this weekend isn't going to aggravate it even more.

Lastly, to 4-5-1 and I know some of you are going to sigh at this and I know I've banged this drum for a long time but I also banged the David O'Leary must go drum a long time too, but I was right then, so I just want a bit of slack on this formation thing.

The thing is, more and more people are coming out and saying the same thing now, even those that castigated me for it, telling me that we had to play 4-4-1 - well it seems even they are wrong too.

The formation we have to play, is 4-2-3-1, which is pretty close to what I was suggesting; 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 - based on what we are doing at the time. It is basically what the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal play and what we need to playing if we are to compete at that level.

But this isn't just my view, it's the view of Jonathan Wilson, who has even written a book on football tactics and he's written an article about why 4-4-2 been superseded by 4-2-3-1 here.

I know I go on about this, but we've seen the likes of Manchester City and Spurs beat us because we were a man short in midfield and I'm not going to mention why we got beat last time out or why if we don't revert to how we were playing earlier in the season, how we will get beat by Manchester United next time out.

Martin O'Neill has to see this, it baffles me why he doesn't, but I'm sure it's part of some grand scheme, or I am hoping it is.

Comments (32)

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John Flynn said:

... Off topic, If someone leaves a comment on O*eO*e and they dont have a registered profile can you still see there ip address?

Comment 1, made on March 26, 2009 at 4.51 pm

Damian said:

... Jaf Yes, you can. All IP's are logged when someone leaves a comment - I believe most systems will do that too ..

Comment 2, made on March 26, 2009 at 4.52 pm

fastbackace said:

... holy shit im first!!! WOOPIIIEEEEE

Comment 3, made on March 26, 2009 at 4.55 pm

fastbackace said:

... o shit. son of a newcastle fan. f... lol

Comment 4, made on March 26, 2009 at 4.56 pm

John Flynn said:

... Thanks for info, I think Defour would be great but only at the right price. So if Barry goes we should invest the cash in a replacement that is the finished article now, not in a couple of years. As we all know being an up and coming star in the belgian isnt the same as a regular in the prem!

Comment 5, made on March 26, 2009 at 5.01 pm

lucky4 said:

... Dont man utd play with 2 striker in a 4-4-2? would love to see us play 4-5-1 as we were great going forward when we played this formation! we will get thrashed at old trafford if we play 4-4-2! Please mon dont do it,i cant take watching another 5-0 thrashing!

Comment 6, made on March 26, 2009 at 5.19 pm

James Sutton said:

... Very interesting article damian and quite hard to argue against for the defencive and attacking options it can give you. We definately cant keep playing 442 because it just doesn't work with the players we have whereas 451 was how we had our success this season, lets get back to it now!!

Comment 7, made on March 26, 2009 at 5.41 pm

Ed said:

... Take a look at these - awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtLcptJyMQY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8QEN0PxtYE&feature=related He can score, that's for sure. We need an attacking midfielder better than Sidwell.

Comment 8, made on March 26, 2009 at 5.55 pm

Ed said:

... Sorry, I'll post those links properly this time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtLcptJyMQY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...re=related

Comment 9, made on March 26, 2009 at 5.59 pm

adam curley said:

... whos the player who ran and crossed in the first vid he looks decent too

Comment 10, made on March 26, 2009 at 6.03 pm

Paul Egan said:

... You can have all the slack you want, Damian! You were right about 4-5-1 before we started playing it and I really hope we go back to it. If we get some practice playing 4-5-1 against Man U, we'll have a decent shot of beating Everton and that will set us up nicely for the remaining (all winnable) games. The thing is, MON likes to pick his best 11 players and then see what formation suits them. I can't see him dropping Heskey and he'd be mad to drop our only likely goalscorer, Carew. Unless he sticks Heskey on the left (which wouldn't make a great deal of sense) or he picks up an injury, I can't see him going 4-5-1.

Comment 11, made on March 26, 2009 at 6.48 pm

Michael panizza said:

... 4-5-1: Friedel; L.Young, Cuellar, Davies, Shorey; Milner, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Barry, A.Young; Carew Simple.

Comment 12, made on March 26, 2009 at 7.04 pm

Ken Bonker said:

... Defour sounds like a right greedy sod with them comments, he's covered every possibility, and wants more cash if they don't sell him? grabbing twat. On the formation thing, looks like we're heading to similar systems from many years ago, 2 backs, 1 centre back, 2 half backs, 2 wingers, 2 inside forwards, and 1 striker, more or less an adaptable 3 - 4 - 3, attacking football was the norm then instead of some of today's boring stagnant crap. Take note Mr O'Neill.

Comment 13, made on March 26, 2009 at 7.12 pm

Nick said:

... Another thing about the 4-5-1 is it allows Young and Milner to get more involved as real attackers rather than just out and out wingers. These two are probably are most creative attacking talent and it was nice to see them in a more flexible role where they could come inside and even go past the striker. But I am very skeptical about MON going back to it, just as PaulE mentions. I cant see MON benching 2 of our 3 strikers. However both Gabby and Heskey could mix in well, on the wings or up front. It could work, it could also help us rotate a little bit more, which could prevent the tired excuse. I think we will see the 4-4-2 at Manunited. Hopefully Brad will play a blinder...

Comment 14, made on March 26, 2009 at 8.31 pm

Vijay said:

... can you please tell me how many times have all of you seen defour play??

Comment 15, made on March 26, 2009 at 9.26 pm

James said:

... Never seen them play. It's in Sudan right? Genocide, yes? Probably haven't got a team.

Comment 16, made on March 26, 2009 at 9.31 pm

Vijay said:

... we will finish 8th next season

Comment 17, made on March 26, 2009 at 9.40 pm

Andy Scarborough said:

... Ha ha ha, well done Nan. Darfor, capital of Sudan, On the genocide subject; should we get Miloseviç (Slobodan) back then?

Comment 18, made on March 26, 2009 at 9.50 pm

James said:

... Hey Andy. Long time no see. Milosovic. Now there was a man to terrorise any back four.

Comment 19, made on March 26, 2009 at 10.16 pm

Andy Scarborough said:

... Especially if he asked them (ever so nicely) to dig a trench behind them before he shoots.

Comment 20, made on March 26, 2009 at 10.20 pm

Andy Scarborough said:

... Good to see your face on the web again Nan.

Comment 21, made on March 26, 2009 at 10.21 pm

James said:

... Cheers Numbers. I've now got a little skit playing in my head of Andy Gray using that stupid Video Analysis pen to highlight 6 by 2 trenches at intervals across the penalty area. Arsene claiming he saw nothing.....

Comment 22, made on March 26, 2009 at 10.54 pm

Villa in Seattle said:

... It seems to me that the only time O'Neil used the 451 was when Carew was injured and we only had Gabby available upfront. He was forced into it. With 3 of his favorate forwards fit I can't see him putting 2 on the bench. I like the 4 2 3 1 idea with Petrov and Barry holding (how Barry is considered an attacking midfielder is beyond me)this could give new life to a midfield that needs some spark. Reo or Sidwell can battle it out for the middle spot with Ash and Millner doing their thing on the wings. Give Carew 60 minutes up front and then send on Gabby to run his ass off for 30 minutes. Doesn't really matter cause MoN is to stubborn to change, hope I'm wrong.

Comment 23, made on March 26, 2009 at 11.10 pm

Nick said:

... I have decided to not watch anymore youtube of the players we are rumored to sign. The last time I did that I saw a tiny guy in green flying through the air sideways while volleying the ball into the top corner of the net. Needless to say, I was eventually let down

Comment 24, made on March 27, 2009 at 5.02 am

James said:

... Nick I think you may have been watching Peter Pan.

Comment 25, made on March 27, 2009 at 5.56 am

Simon said:

... Would peter pan come to the villa? he'd be a good investment for the future and could win best young player every year

Comment 26, made on March 27, 2009 at 6.40 am

Martin Banks said:

... People told you we should play 4-4-1? Doesn't that give the other team an unfair advantage?

Comment 27, made on March 27, 2009 at 7.19 am | url

Michael said:

... he would probably end up being another jonathon blondel.

Comment 28, made on March 27, 2009 at 9.11 am

Michael said:

... we need proven talent, arteta or cahill if were gonna buy another midfielder. or even elano.

Comment 29, made on March 27, 2009 at 9.15 am

Nigel said:

... Good article, and of course I totally agree with 451/433. To say it baffles me as to why MON don't see it, would be an understatement! I can't remember being this frustrated about a formation, ever!

Comment 30, made on March 27, 2009 at 7.49 pm

Eoin Greene said:

... Every morning since January I wake up and think did we really sign Heskey. I am sorry but January has showed up Villa for what most people think us to be - mid table mediocrity with NO ambition. The rest of the season is a write off - we'll finish 5th or 6th - doesn't really matter to me. Forget the start of next season, by the end of the summer transfer window, if MoN does not do what he needs to do, then he will have lost my support. As for the Defour link - i admit to seeing him only 5-6 times but he looked different gravy. He has a great reputation - and we are crying out for a player like him. Sining him would be the biggest statement of intent/ambition of all MoN's and Lerners reign - and would go a long way to appeasing my doubts about where we are going in the next 3-4 years.... But again - Heskey, it makes me cry that he is a guaranteed starter for the next 3 and a half years..........the most non-threatening striker on the planet....and if someone says its not his job to score goals - I will loose it!

Comment 31, made on March 28, 2009 at 7.56 am

gunter said:

... i saw defour play 60 matches more or less i can truly say , if he is going to the villa , he will be a starting player every match for sure he can play attacking midfielder , defensive midfielder , controling midfielder everything you need in a midfielder

Comment 32, made on May 23, 2009 at 11.51 am