Written by Damian Thursday, 16 April 2009 12:21
I´ve just read two interesting headlines that were both different stories but point to the same thing, so while I fancy that the thing both articles come to is going to happen, it makes for an interesting question, which I thought I´d ask in a poll.
The first headline was that Harewood could be recalled from his loan spell at Wolves and the second was that Martin O´Neill hinted that Nathan Delfouneso could be starting.
What that suggests to me is that Gabby will not be available for selection and is probably not fully fit and that one of these two players will be starting.
It also suggests that the manager isn't going to change the formation to 4-5-1, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 or whatever you want to call it, but I don't think that such a bad thing if you are going to play with John Carew as I don´t think his strength is playing as a lone striker, although now I come to think of it, it might actually be quite interesting to see and it would mean our midfield is tighter and that Barry is given a little more freedom. It won't happen and I'm taking this down a path we've gone down too many times now, so I'll move on.
The question is, which one would you pick to play in place of Gabby? You do have some things to consider; Delfouneso is a talent and he has scored for us when he's had the opportunities but on the other hand we're playing West Ham, a club Harewood used to play for and you have to fancy he is a confidence player and that he might be high on it at the moment.
It's not as easy as just picking a player, I nearly did and then I thought better of it and changed my mind and this is an important game for us, one we need to win.
So, you are the manager of Aston Villa and you get to decide. Pick to the right and we'll see this time tomorrow who the winner is.
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no10
said:
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... can i put a.young up there with carew,barry on left and bring in reo in the middle or gardner |
Damian
said:
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... That maybe isn't such a bad shout .. Young might need a change and he can certainly beat a man .. if it's the last man then maybe he stands a chance of getting something .. would prefer, I think to see Gardner in the middle though |
Robbie Wells
said:
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... To start, i'd say the Fonz, but as an impact sub i'd go with the Hare. I don't think i remember seeing Harewood when he starts, he's non-existent. The Fonz isn't the best at the moment, but i'd like to see him get a start to see what he can do. Personally, i'd go with big JC up top with Webcam, Jimmy on the left and Nige on the right with Stan and Baz in the middle. Sorted. |
Robbie Wells
said:
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... Oh for cock sake, i was on that call for so long that my post became redundant as no10 has already written my ideas down. This is why i hate work. |
Matt-The-Villan
said:
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... I would use: Friedel L.Young C.Davies C.Cueller N.Shorey J.Milner S.Petrov N.Reo-Coker Barry A.Young J.Carew DONE!! |
Michael
said:
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... might aswell plat delfouenso, thats whate he is there to do, and young players only get a chance in these situations so i cant see why we would bring harewood back, just take a chnce with him - ferguson did it with that young kid and look at him - 2 match winners in 2 games. although harewood might be high on confidence, what will it do to nathans if we play a player who is half way out the door. |
Christian
said:
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... Let's not try and second guess MON and his crazy selections. For all we know the player returning from loan to be put up front alongside Carew is Stuart Taylor...  Of the two, I'd like to see Harewood start rather than Fonz. I'm still a bit unsure about him, I know it's way, way too early to judge him but he's not set the world alight yet- he just looks like a mediocre young player. I hope I'm wrong... My choice would be the same as No10 and Robbie. I'd have Gardner in the side (he should've been in weeks ago) and push Ashley into a more forward role. |
jacetheace
said:
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... Monday,Tuesday,happy days etc etc the fonz up front with big Al at the back he must be better than Zat . |
Ramon Maklouf
said:
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... If you play a striker with Carew, you play Delf.. Simple as. Carew and Hare are too similar to play together. I'd play: [from L to R] The Brad Shorey Davies Cuellar L Young A Young Barry Petrov Sidders/Reo/Gardner Milner Carew. I think we Carew as a target man, this 451 could work. Whilst he doesn't have the pace of Gabby, we all know that Carew can get into good positions. He is an ideal target man, and if he holds it up and feeds his wingers, we know he can get into the right positions to finish off well worked plays. I'd drop Barry if we play 442 and give Gardner a go. I mean, if he's going in the summer, what do we have to lose? UTV! |
no10
said:
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... dont think you can drop barry, he will be playing out of his skin to get a transfer to the pool. |
Peter Dragoonis
said:
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... Matt-The-Villan has it spot on, i would play exactly the same. although young wouldnt necessarily play off the shoulder but would have a free role. he did a few times towards the end of last season and tore teams apart. |
ak_27
said:
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... While I belive we should have moved Young up top with Carew and put Barry on the left a long time ago I would rather see Delf given a bit of a run in the team to see what he can do. How else is going to learn his trade? |
Ramon Maklouf
said:
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...dont think you can drop barry, he will be playing out of his skin to get a transfer to the pool. If recent form is anything to go by, Barry plays when he wants to play... MON wouldn't dare move Barry out of his beloved central midfield position guys.. But I guess it is asking IF were were MON for a day... I wouldn't mind seeing one of Alrbighton or Bannan fit somewhere into the team. They both played well in Europe... |
Donnyvillan
said:
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... My 1rst team, Guzan Young Davies Knight Shorey Nrc Milner Petrov Gardner Young Carew This gives Gardner chance to come forward Nrc can help out at back. plus Gardner can play right mid putting Milner left and young can have a free role much like the end of last season when he did so well |
David Tyler
said:
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... Take a look at the flicks from Carew at the Everton game - he wanted Fonz to anticipate them and gamble on running past the last man. AY has the awareness to do that but possibly at cost to us elsewhere - and he'll still join the attack quickly enough. Fonz is only real alternative - Harewood's motivation won't be right. AY and JM on wings must be more effective than one of the midfielders moving out right to cover pushing either in to the hole. |
Michael
said:
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... ...........Friedel......... Young.Cuellar.Davies.Shorey ...........Petrov.......... Milner................Young ............Barry.......... .........DaFonz.Carew...... |
Michael
said:
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... Fitzy_7 Gardner is a great squad player, hes never gonna set the world alight but he is too good not to have in your squad, hes like darren fletcher at man united, doesnt get much credit but does a good job when called up on, every good squad needs 2-3 players like gardner - if zat knight and harewood were like gardner then we would have alot more strength in our team. |
ak_27
said:
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... Fitz the about Gardner is how many times has we seen him play in his proper CM postion? I don't think he is going to be a great player but I would have him over NRC and Sidwell in the Centre of the park. |
bob
said:
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... why not change to 5-4-1 guzan l.young davis knight cueller shorey milner petrov barry webcam carew we know we can now score goals without gabby and peskey so why not shore up the leaking defence with 5? |
Donnyvillan
said:
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... Machine whats your 1rst 11.And whats up with mine? Apart from maybe swappin Gardner for Barry. |
Michael
said:
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... actually if im manager for the day then BYE BYE - Knight, Cueller, Sidwell, Salifou, NRC, Harewood, Heskey HELLO - Stuart Taylor, Jagielka, Lescott, Glen Johnson, Arteta, Tim Cahill, Joe Cole, Crouch, Owen, Friedel Young Laursen Lescott Bouma Cole Cahill Barry Young Carew Owen |
bob
said:
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...Bob playin 2 donkeys at center back is bad enough, theirs not room for 3. very true 4 if you include shorey but........... more bodies = less space for strikers we need to try something to stop the rot! milner n young could take it in turns joining big j up front when needed. we have nobody else unless you want to throw young clark into the situation, and by what ive seen wouldnt be a bad idea. davis cueller and knight would not be my prefered choice its what we have and utilising them effectivly is what is needed to stop the goals leaking. |
Donnyvillan
said:
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... Bob you might be right i just think Nrc deserves a chance to play as a def mid because he plays like he's got balls which i think some of are players are lacking when it matters. |
Smyth
said:
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... Guzan Shorey Cullar Davis L. Young Barry Petrov Reo-Coker Milner A. Young Carew Give Guzan* a chance to se what he's made of. *On the assumption we'll concede a few anyway. |
bob
said:
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... me too i like gardner and nrc but at this point in time are off the pace for being not involved so long, we need to make the best with what we have till end of season... then its time in the summer to experiment with players and formations depending on the coming and goings... |
ak_27
said:
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... Fitz i would def take him over Sidwell any day. NRC v Gardner is a harder one to call but going forward Gardner has a great shot whilst NRC is a better ball winner but can't pass. 50/50 but NRC has been given far more time in his favoured position and I would like to see Gardner given a few games in there to see what he can do. If im honest I don't think either are good enough. |
George Templeton
said:
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... I voted for Delfuenso because Carew needs the quick man to play off of. But I definitely like Matt the Villain's lineup the best. |
Simon
said:
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... George, i was suprised at how much slower Delboy was compared to ash and dare i say Barry. Is he quick cos i didnt see it against Everton? |
Simon
said:
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... Does anyone remember NRC's fist game, pre season against Inter. He was awesome, covered every blade of grass and i thought, what a great buy. But in recent times he's been played at RB, RM and any number of position as Barry n Petrov have the centre. I still beleive he is a good player if in his favoured role. Sidwell on the other hand, has he had a good game? |
Fitzy_7
said:
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... yea i dont feel nrc has been given much of a chance of late anyone remember him at the start of the season he was by far our best player just needs a run in cm. as for sidwell i just hope he can show he was'nt a one season wonder at reading he has an eye for goal thats for sure but i dont think his all round play is good enough, especially to start i a 4-4-2 formation |
Steve Badger
said:
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... I'd definitely go 4-5-1 for this game. I don't see Fonz starting, it's the wrong time of the season for my liking. Fridel in goal, usual 4 at the back, usual 4 in the middle, but add NRC and play him where he's actually best ie driving forward. We miss this sort of run through the middle and if you think on at when he was at West Ham, it was his biggest plus. We've used Petrov to try and do it, but I don't see how he can do both that and play the holding role. If it doesn't work, you have options. 1) Move Petrov deeper to help out our rubbish defence as in 4-1-4-1, changing to 4-1-2-3 when attacking. 2) As above, but let Petrov push up (where he did best for Celtic) and NRC sits deep. 3) Petrov/NRC doesn't push up, Barry goes out more to the left and you give Young a free role behind carew. 4) Same as above, but NRC goes more to the right and Milner gets a free role behind Carew. You can swap Milner and Young, depending on how things are going. The point is you have two strong central midfield players all the time. Carew starts up front and if things aren't going well you bring on Fonz for the second half or 30 mins, taking off Petrov/NRC, depending and then go 4-4-2. Sounds like a plan B to me, but WTF do I know? |
Fitzy_7
said:
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... wasn't darren bent available in january. wouldnt he have been a far better option than heskey.. |
Steve Badger
said:
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... Maybe, but what would he have cost in fee and wages? (bearing in mind Spurs paid 16 mill and obviously stupid wages). A lot, I guess. I don't rate him as £10 mill and 50K a weeks worth, do you? |
Fitzy_7
said:
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... well its not me paying the wages or the transfer fee and chances are he would have made a bigger impact than heskey,hence helping us more and bent is also younger than heskey which helps |
Steve Badger
said:
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... Well, it won't be MON paying it either. But he'd be the one looking the mug when we're all saying "what a waste of money". Haven't we said similar about the 1 mill we paid for Routledge? Or Harewood? Or Sidwell? You get my drift, I'm sure. My point is, it's easy to spend millions. Until you have to actually pay it or justify it and put your job on the line. It's not Championship manager mate. With the strikers we have, I'd rather put the dough into a top midfielder anyway, fwiw, as that's where we're lacking most, imo. |
Fitzy_7
said:
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... where u pulling the championship manager statement out of?? all im saying is darren bent would have been a better option han heskey, we may even see him in a villa jersey in the summer who knows! |
Steve Badger
said:
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... Fitzy, My point was it's easy to spend money when it's not yours, that's all, it's not a dig. Fwiw, I think MON is under orders to not take risks. I believe Lerner will back him, if he is convinced about room for progress and the ability to be an asset. Look at MON's big signings, Young and Milner. Young is definitely worth more than we paid for him, by a mile. Milner, whatever you think of him, will not lose money, even if it comes down to years of service and not recouping the fee. I don't think Bent comes into that bracket myself and I think MON agrees. You can only lose on him, imo. That said, I've never rated Heskey, but was sucked in by the fact that many top managers rate him. With 20-20 hindsite, it's proved a disaster signing, but there you go. I'd like to know the facts about his signing and if the rumoured wages are true, he could prove to be a millstone around the clubs neck. MON apparently paid well over the odds wages for players when he was in charge of Leicester and Celtic. Gordon Strachan hinted at it, as did the geezer who took over as chairman at Leicester. I suspect now he can't because of Lerner and this is why we can't sign the big names. I suspect this is MONs biggest challenge. Hopefully he'll past the test. |
the villa don
said:
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... We all kno we was best at 4-5-1 so y play any different, cant think of any reason other than the reason he changed it in the 1st place, to fit donkey...i mean heskey in, he's injured, hopefully for the next 3 seasons so lets go back to what we're good at friedel young davies cueller shorey milner petrov reo coker barry young john carew carew i wish bouma was back though |
James
said:
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... Right, unlike you clowns I didn't make my mind up straight away. Some of you picked your team after being MON for 20 minutes. I spent the day with the lads. Harewood's strikingly small head is all over the place. He's a non-runner. The Fonz looked OK in training, but afterwards I spent 20 minutes giving him a cuddle and talking soothing words into his ear. I loooked into his eyes and I'm not sure. A gamble. Coker's ready to kill. He's battered Barry all over the training pitch and he's beggin me for a start. I can see a bit of me in that boy. So I'm gonna go with with the 5 midfield with Coked up Coker making up the numbers. Big JOhn better deliver up front (he knows we're gonna fall out for good unless he keeps em coming. |
Andy Pepper
said:
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... Friedal L Young Cuellar Davies Shorey Reo Coker Milner Petrov Barry Young Carew |
Le Shava
said:
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... You could have Guus at the helm, it is the same shower of s**t running out on to the pitch. |
Steve Badger
said:
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... So Nan and Villapep agree with me, play NRC and Petrov????????? I'm not sure about Nan's answer (rolls eyes). Whatever, don't start the kid now. Fonz should get the start early on next season though, imo. Le Sheva, shut up mate and go on your own site for a bit. |
Steve Badger
said:
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... DAMIAN, You might want to consider this; www.vbulletin.com/?AID=10293998&PID=1523465 Whatever, tone down the background and bring the "reply" button back, imo. Oh, if you can, get some more smileys. Sometimes you need a wink to indicate you're joking etc. Thumbs up, thumbs down, blush, pint etc. Things seem to come across as total agreement or total argumentative atm, imo. You asked, I'm suggesting (thumbs up, wink, er... see what I mean?). |
James
said:
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... Just 40 minutes left in charge. I've got my feet up on the desk. A whisky in my hand and I'm putting in a cheeky little bid for Gerrard. |
Andy Scarborough
said:
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... Badger, your original team selection and comments seem to be about the best so far. I might consider allowing you to be MoN for a whole week! Nan, you can be team psycho. Yes, I mean PSYCHO. As for making up the numbers; you can't make up the Numbers. Damian, I do hope that you can get this blog up the level of your old (original) one. Those were happy days. Ooooh, we did laugh. Anyways, I'm off for a cuppa. |
Nick
said:
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... friedel lyoung cuellar davies shorey milner petrov sidwell barry ayoung carew We need to play 5 in the middle because we win with it. Playing any one of either Gardner, Sidwell or NRC would be better than playing 4-4-2 imo. I think you play to your strengths, we have some decent depth at cm right now (compared to our strikers) so we might as well use them. IF I had to pick a 4-4-2 and between Fonz and Harwewood I would pick Fonz, give him 60 minutes and then feed the hare. Although I wouldnt mind seeing Ashley Young up front with Carew, but that would expose our nonexistent depth at wing. However I think MON will start the Fonz if Heskey is not fit. |
dan
said:
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... barry is leaving end of the season, so i say drop him now and play reo-cocker and petrov in the middle. |
Nick
said:
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... But the real question is Who would play striker for us if we were like Everton were earlier this season and had no strikers? My selections; Zat Knight - We all saw his finish against Arsenal, he's pretty much John Carew in disguise. NRC - He's got a bit of pace and power. Just not sure about his aerial ability. Ashley Young - As one Barcelona fan dubbed him "The Lionel Messi of England". We would love to think so, but all dreams aside he can finish. Brad Friedel - He is big, strong and a powerful right foot not to mention a fantastic scoring record against London teams. |
David Tyler
said:
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... Donnyvillan - Just teasing. It was just dropping Barry for Gardner: Giving Gardner a chance is one thing but Barry is an England regular on merit and while I like Craig, he's not as stiff competition as the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Carrick et al. The rest is a bit of a style choice: I can see Guzan (the last few weeks have made me revise my view on Brad 1's shelflife) and personally would have Petrov as the defensive shield if going for your formation. |
Nick
said:
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...Ashley Young has unleashed more shots in total (66), on target (37) and off target (29), more crosses (121) and created more goals for his team-mates ( I just read this on the official West Ham site. It is the most surprisingly unsurprising stat that I have ever read. Did that make sense? |
than any other Villa player this season. Young has won more free-kicks (61) than any other Villa player this term.
Damian
said:
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... Badger Do you mean a forum? We're not doing that here, but there might be something starting soon somewhere else ...  - there is your wink, by the way nick_not_nicky Did I do something wrong? |
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