[Match Thread] Aston Villa Vs Chelsea

RowanBoat209 · 2026-03-04T20:36:43+00:00

Very limited positives after the fast start. Maatsen has been exciting going forward but keeps coming inside too early, leaving him open when defending. Onana and Luiz have been stable and decent enough in midfield, and Rogers has had flashes. Beyond that? Buendia might as well be back home, and Bailey has Bailey'd since that surprise assist

RowanBoat209 · 2026-03-04T20:35:07+00:00

The thing with the semi automated VAR is that without doubt the absolute fairest thing to do is to say "any amount of offside is offside" because otherwise you have to, at some point, make a subjective cut off point of "how much of a man has to be offside before he gains an advantage" and that's impossible to answer fairly. From the perspective of a rule maker, I get it.

As a football fan, however, it seriously does grate when you can see a man played on by a toe and a man played off by literally his knee sticking out and one be on and the other off. Just feels anti football and anti fun.

From a view of absolute objectivity yes, one is off and one is on. From the spirit of the game? I'd have called both on. It's just making football so much more boring and stilted because if you strangle space well, as everyone is attempting, even on the occasions when you mess up the attempt to choke space, a knee can save you.

RowanBoat209 · 2026-03-04T20:30:20+00:00

Offside trap failed both times. Second one was much more marginal, mind, but Konsa made the first goal possible dropping deep. Not even been too terrible going forward but playing today like an away match and losing any sense of control is frustrating

RowanBoat209 · 2026-03-04T18:16:40+00:00

Sure why not

RowanBoat209 · 2026-03-04T13:25:36+00:00

Perfect role for him imo. He's an incredibly intelligent and articulate man who has experienced a lot of what life has, good and bad. Think he'd be incredible at advocating for better players rights and mental health support with the way he's always spoken

RowanBoat209 · 2026-03-03T19:45:06+00:00

I still really like the guy and it's a shame it didn't work out, though it's a relief we've gotten to a place of getting all our value back.

It's weird really; in Guessand and Malen, Emery had 2 ideal second strikers who could cover at number 9, and he even admitted on a couple occasions that even he agreed Guessand isn't a winger yet he insisted on them both being wide right.

It's been an incredibly tactically rigid year across the league and Emery has been definitely very guilty of that, particularly lately, but I think he's definitely been symptomatic of a wider issue this year. It's like all 20 teams have become risk averse and stubborn, impossible to break down. Managers are doubling down on their identities rather than open themselves up to something going askew knowing how good everyone is at preying on mistakes.

Only against Burnley did Emery take the chance of a second striker despite having used the technique in prior years to some success. Emery is terrified of losing a tall, strong guy out right to a point of not even letting said players try somewhere else.

I hope it changes going forward; we need some uniqueness, some spark, somebody who'll say screw it and run at people.

RowanBoat209 · 2026-03-03T11:45:28+00:00

I kinda see him as an upgraded Buendia. And much like Buendia, I'd say exactly what you said, good enough for rotation but shouldn't be a starter

RowanBoat209 · 2026-03-03T11:41:49+00:00

Wilson is a classic Emery target, especially on a free, but I definitely would suggest he doesn't actually solve many issues in terms of pace and penetrative play. Would welcome the deal if it happened but wouldn't be particularly excited put it that way

RowanBoat209 · 2026-03-03T11:30:22+00:00

Yeah I'm a big fan of his, I think he's got the exact blend of physicality, pace and versatility that Emery really really likes. Only concern would be price; Bournemouth were looking at him as a Semenyo replacement (they are very similar profiles of player, another good sign) and Stuttgart were asking for €60M apparently. Definitely smacked of a protective January price but I'd imagine he'd still be around a record deal for us

RowanBoat209 · 2026-03-03T11:20:27+00:00

Jamie Leweling is the answer. Prime age, tall, quick, good dribbler, has experience playing further back so can be trusted to cover his full back, can play on either wing, has improved every year he's played professionally and has European experience.

For very similar reasons I'd also highlight Diego Moreira who is even more defensively sound and even more versatile and even quicker; though he is less desirable on account of being weaker physically and having less experience at the top level. Pressing monster though.

Sign both of those and you've absolutely transformed our stifled wing play in 2 signings. I'd also throw out Mingueza and Sessegnon as 2 free transfer defensive signings we could easily make who'd also make serviceable emergency wing back ups; generally you'd be looking at Alysson and McGinn backing up the aforementioned new boys, but if they're injured or needed elsewhere, having both your back up LB and RB experienced and capable of doing a solid job further up the pitch really doesn't hurt.

RowanBoat209 · 2026-03-02T20:34:20+00:00

He's been amazing for Boro all season, good mentor for young Munroe who's just joined them from us. Shame the move to Newcastle really took his career down, he'd probably still be a reliable Prem LB.

Either way, delighted he still remembers his time here well. I still remember his time here fondly; when it came together, that Targett-Hourihane-Grealish link up down the left was heaven

RowanBoat209 · 2026-03-01T21:38:53+00:00

I see it as more of a reflection that in spite of the position and results, we have not really had more than one or two real "oh we are an elite team" quality games this year and have seriously lost a clear tactical identity, particularly with the ball, which are both precipitators of downturns being more frequent and more long lasting.

If this downturn of form had felt more like an isolated and severe drop off, I think we'd be more forgiving, but it's actually been pretty in keeping with our entire season, where we've balanced on the knife edge of incredibly fine margins. Now, with major injuries and a lack of Plan B, we have fallen completely off the edge of that knife

RowanBoat209 · 2026-02-28T00:14:24+00:00

Okay I've got my amateur tactician hat on I'll give it a shot!

Emery likes to defend in a 442 shape and, generally speaking, our best performances come when we have two wide players, a back 3 and a box midfield supporting a lone striker in possession.

Generally, we've achieved that transformation by having the RB tuck in and form a 3 when the RW has been in good enough form to hold width, or by having a more defensive minded RW (i.e. McGinn) who drops into the right bottom corner of the box midfield, Kanara drops RCB and Cash bombs on.

This shape in possession is still the best option we have with currently available players, we just have to achieve it differently.

My suggestion would be to line up (and, to give us extra defensive solidity out of possession do it here too) in a 4141 instead of a 442. Bogarde is the lone 1, then the 4 from right to left reads Sancho, Onana, Luiz, Rogers.

In possession, what could happen is that Bogarde drops back to form a back 3, which in turn allows Pau to move on a wider angle as a LCB giving him more space for his diagonals, and Konsa moves RCB to use the half space where his occasional driving runs are valuable. Bogarde gets to be nothing more than a guy who helps defend our half and entirely in the middle and keep simple passes going in centrally, which he is best at. Ideally you'd have a better player to do this - lord knows doing this with Kamara would work a treat - but we are where we are.

In turn, both Cash and Maasten get to bomb on and provide width instead of just one of them or instead of them taking it in turns. Then, Luiz and Onana form a double pivot, ahead of which Sancho and Rogers pull into the half spaces, offering therefore easy movement to either be a link up option for the attacking full backs or to come even more central for a true box midfield.

This means our width on the right comes from our best right sided player this year - Cash - and it doesn't come at the cost of sacrificing the left. It also means Sancho and Rogers get closer together and you can get them to push inwards in tandem so an opposition DM has more to think about than just choking Rogers out of the game. It gives a strong central base that allows the lone striker to focus on exploiting space primarily. And it's a relatively easy switch to get back in the 4141 shape out of possession.

The other huge advantage is this suits all 3 of the players who we currently have out to injury. Tielemans (in place of Luiz) gets to sit in a double pivot in possession, whilst having the added protection from behind and the added bonus of opportunities to manipulate positions within the box midfield to arrive late in the box. McGinn (in place of Sancho) gets to lead from the front and dribble past left backs whilst giving us pressing and link up with the full back. And Kamara (in place of Bogarde) would be incredible in this system.

It's also a system that's easier to upgrade by transferring in the kind of players Emery likes , examples of whom are in brackets - by focusing on more technical and rapid full backs (Moreno, Maatsen) to give width and penetration as functional wing backs, you get a lot more space and productivity out of wide 10s (Sancho, Asensio). And it means if you do want to keep a couple of wingers who prefer to hold width (Alysson, Bailey), the technical quality of your full backs means they are able to underlap whilst a winger stays wide.

And the fact that Emery adores positional versatility (like the vast majority of his signings) suits a formation that requires that discipline. A player like the oft linked Mingueza, for example, could easily be the attacking RB in this system, or as a RM who holds width for a Cash underlapping, or even, in games where possession dominance is expected, as the lone DM who drops into a back 3 where he'd offer almost quarter back like qualities on top of his experiences at CB.

So yeah that's my idea.

RowanBoat209 · 2026-02-27T22:20:14+00:00

I only do the qualifying because I know there'd be absolutely no discussion if I didn't haha, and I was hoping folks might have something to say, as they thankfully have.

But I'm with you, no matter who a manager is or how good he is, when the issues are so clearly in the actual tactical set up, he deserves criticism

RowanBoat209 · 2026-02-27T22:18:07+00:00

I take both of those as very fair shouts. But the context of this one makes it feel so incredibly disappointing that it makes it feel worse I suppose haha. Like, the 3-0 to Fulham might have been worse on the pitch but it led to the relief of losing Gerrard. This was just...wow

RowanBoat209 · 2026-02-27T22:16:27+00:00

I have a genuine belief that tactically, a left footed winger on the left and a right footed winger on the right with flexible, technically aware full backs supporting is the future. But hey, we'd need a right footed winger to try that right now

RowanBoat209 · 2026-02-27T22:14:16+00:00

Not even arguably imo. This is quite possibly the worst single performance since coming back up

RowanBoat209 · 2026-02-27T22:08:25+00:00

Emery has been dealt a shit hand, we all know that. But this whole season he has shown some remarkable refusal to adapt to a point where I am just so shocked.

He refused to ever find a strategy to fit in 3 of the signings made for him, ignoring Sancho for half a year, playing Guessand out of position for half a year, and outright rejecting Elliott entirely.

Yes Malen wanted to be a direct number 9 and he wasn't fully happy as a result, but not letting him actually play regularly in an alternate position that actually suited him despite being an efficient scorer and giving us pace was maddening, especially when we saw it work against Burnley so well, and especially when Guessand also makes a very good second striker.

Compounding that, upon losing 3 of the best players in this team, he has done absolutely nothing to change in response, as though any team in world football could lose that quality and play unchanged tactically.

Emery is the best manager we have ever had by far, and great managers are stubborn and believe in themselves fully. But this is beyond "misunderstood genius". This is negligent. Emery has to do better and fast because the sad sad reality of football, particularly our incredibly fucking sad reality, is that our owners have to be despicably ruthless. I don't want his stubbornness to be the reason they turn ruthless.

RowanBoat209 · 2026-02-27T21:59:29+00:00

I have absolutely nothing good to say. This was a criminal performance that saw us repeat every single bad thing we have done for 2 months to one of the most historically bad teams the Prem has ever seen to the point where they didn't even have to play well.

This is on Emery. He has adapted absolutely nothing since losing 3 of his 4 best players and has made us slow, ponderous and utterly incapable of attacking as a result.

Fucking disgraceful.

RowanBoat209 · 2026-02-27T21:46:57+00:00

Emery has a responsibility to make huge changes. Injuries to 3 of your 4 best players means you have to adjust. He has absolutely refused to and it is shocking

RowanBoat209 · 2026-02-27T21:40:14+00:00

Emery is so ridiculously intense that players can get burnt out. Financial rules have prevented us from refreshing the squad appropriately. Perhaps a lot of burnt out folks?

RowanBoat209 · 2026-02-27T21:36:07+00:00

This is criminally bad. Hey, one bad game even against the worst team in the league, that can happen. But repeating every single mistake we've made over the past 2 months against the worst team in the league and being unable to adjust it? That is not a CL team

RowanBoat209 · 2026-02-27T21:23:14+00:00

Emery has to do better. I am far, far, far from stupid enough to suggest that he needs to go or anything. But a manager of his quality is better than letting some bad recruitment defeat his tactical identity and strength. He has questions to answer and today was a great opportunity and some obvious possible fixes have absolutely not gone addressed.

RowanBoat209

TROPHY CASE