ToffeeWeb - Season 2008-09

The Mail Bag

Upbeat for the Villa Game

Good to see some hope. We are now back to our favoured 5 midfield due to circumstances. A lot of pressure seems to be building on Victor Anichebe but as someone pointed out he needs the midfield to get up there quickly to support him.

The concern now is that the middle 5 do not contain an anchor. They can play a bit and get goals but will have to defend well against the power of the villa midfield. This can be done but will need some work and thought. I am hoping for the best as the defenders are now doing their job.

If we start playing well again will DM ditch the 442. I think he sees this as the way to get into the top 4 eventually(i.e. more attacking) but has not trusted his defence or midfield to cope as yet. We are still looking for a younger more creative carsley.

We will have to see how the defending goes with a footballing midfield five. We were good at Spurs but they did not have any midfield heavies.

A further problem with the injuries is that he does not have any impact players from the bench. Hopefully he will give one of the young strikers a last 15 mins to give them a boost and even get a goal. New packages can spring a surprise against any defence.

So hopefully 10-nil for us...
David Leeson, Shrewsbury Posted 06/12/2008 at 13:31:15

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John Martin
1 Posted 06/12/2008 at 22:20:21

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We must win. If we score first, I think we will. Villa are not as great as the media would have us believe. They have pace but no magic in their team. We have Pienaar and hopefully Arteta who can do something unexpected.

Kevin Sparke
2 Posted 06/12/2008 at 22:56:03

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I?d be more confident if we were playing this at Villa Park.... Goodison seems to intimidate our team rather than the opposition.... Man Utd excepted.

Jason Lam
3 Posted 07/12/2008 at 01:22:52

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4-5-1 for this one me thinks. Pack the defense and don’t allow Villa the space for their speedy players. Fellaini with the winner!

Robert Moore
4 Posted 07/12/2008 at 01:35:26

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Good post, Vic will do the job!

Jimmy Crack
5 Posted 07/12/2008 at 03:23:47

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Anichebe with a hat trick.

You heard it here first.

Mark Pendleton
6 Posted 07/12/2008 at 08:34:00

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None of the "top" teams really play 4-4-2. They may play an extra or two on top of the main one up front but tend to deploy them out wide. Effectively they play 5-man midfields with a couple of VERY attack-minded players as they have better players in the middle. We haven?t really got good enough players to play 3 strikers in that formation.

Jason Dejar
7 Posted 07/12/2008 at 10:50:14

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Hey Jimmy, stop smoking your surname!

Gavin Ramejkis
8 Posted 07/12/2008 at 11:11:44

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Two reasons not to be cheerful:

1 - We are on Sky so we always play like a pub team and shite in front of the cameras;
2 - As hard as Victor tries he?s never going to be a world class striker.

Expecting a humping.

Brendan McLaughlin
9 Posted 07/12/2008 at 11:24:08

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@ Gavin

Was that a classic "Freudian" slip or just a typo?

Alasdair Mackay
10 Posted 07/12/2008 at 11:21:04

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Mark

Arsenal and Man Utd both play 4-4-2 and I imagine Chelsea will when Drogba is fully fit and ready to start alongside Anelka.

Villa will play as they did at home to Fulham with Petrov sitting deeper and Barry and Sidwell breaking into the box and Agbonlahor running the channels. I would not be surprised if we employ an identical system with Arteta in the deeper role (as at Spurs) and Fellaini and Cahill breaking into the box. This leaves Big Vic to run the channels.

I think it will be tight if two similarly matched sides play identical systems. Unless there is a really early goal which opens the game up, I can see one side niclking it 1-0. If it us, we are right back in the hunt for a top four spot.

COYB

Mark Pendleton
11 Posted 07/12/2008 at 14:09:00

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Man Utd don?t play 4-4-2. They tend to play Berbatov in the middle on his own and play a combination of Rooney/Tevez/Ronaldo coming in from wide positions to support. Arsenal have tended to play the same way aside from lately reverting to a more traditional formation since Van Persie has been fit again (and until he?s injured again!). I?d say the top few sides play 4-3-3 or attacking 4-5-1?s but almost never 4-4-2.

Matthew Lovekin
12 Posted 07/12/2008 at 15:14:34

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David Leeson... that younger, creative Carsley you are talking about, how about Manuel Fernandes! Oh bugger, looks like we missed the boat on Fernandes, again! Have you seen how well he’s been playing at Valencia?

Glynne
13 Posted 07/12/2008 at 16:03:17

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........................... we are in for a stuffing today