Reluctant Striker

It seems a very double edged conversation. My experience is a significant portion of British muslims (and probably gloabally) were against the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan from the start. Joe Biden was quoted as saying the people themselves need to want to fight. I don't think they do. I suspect many of the none terrorist ones are feeling fairly content right now.

Could be Watkins injured!

Villa team news: Watkins dropped! Mings new captain! Buendia at 10! Ashley Young left wing! No Bailey as yet!

Perhaps not as a starter in many games. John McGinn & Douglas Luiz will be tough to displace from the side. But Douglas Luiz may be given a few weeks considering the Olympics followed the Copa America. But then there is Marvelous Nakamba. The most defensive midfielder they have. They have got Morgan Sanson, who was a fair few million. Not really had a proper run of matches yet. Conor Hourihane was loaned out last season. Ramsey could end up in the side, if nobody else is brought in & they do go with 3 midfielders. Not a number 10 behind a front 3, or a 4-4-2. It could easily go that way. Plenty of talk that all the new guys will actually improve the side/squad. But they finished 11th last season after winning 3-0 at the Emirates & the famous 7-2 demolition job. Finishing with a win over Chelsea too. As that suggests, there were equally numerous times it looked like it was all going very, very wrong. I'd estimate anything from 6th to 14th is entirely possible. They should have enough goals & defensive solidity for that to be worst case scenario.

Bit of gossip going around as to what formation Villa may go with. They did chop & change from 4-3-3 to wing backs & back again to 4-3-3 over the last few seasons. Perhaps Southgate style, whatever seemed best option at that time against those opponents. Recently questioned on that topic, Dean Smith has been quoted as saying Ollie Watkins hasn't played out wide for a few seasons & that he didn't bring him to the club to play out left. I have seen suggestion of a 4-2-2-2 as I've seen it described. McGinn & 1 other sitting quite deep. 2 wider players roaming & supporting both Ings & Watkins. A proper old fashioned striker partnership? Will be very interesting to see what they go with for the opener & how it takes shape as the season proceeds.

Whoever might deserve more credit, they were a management & coaching team. I'm sure Smith learned all he could from Terry. And he was quoted recently as how he's learned from listening to Jack Grealish at times. I don't think he's a Fergie type from what I sense & hear of him. I guess Dean Smith has lost his ready made 'interim' replacement now too.

I am a bit worried having heard from Christian Purslow on Villa's Twitter. He talks of who they've brought in. The players who have established themselves from last season. And the kids. Was kind of still hoping for another name or 2. Overall, it's difficult to know what to make of it all. But it's the crazy finances we all know about & the culture that you must get to a winning club. Lineker on Twitter talking of it being like him leaving Leicester. Garth Crooks on BBC's Final Score every time asked to talk about Villa including the line 'he needs to get out of there'. You do get Tim Sherwood types who was at Villa briefly motivating Benteke that he could be at Real Madrid in a few seasons time. Perhaps because they didn't have the aspiration then to say they could be top 4/5 in a few seasons. The thing with professional footballers is probably that they live on the inside. I imagine the vast majority have never played for their club. And so have a totally different mindset to most fan groups. It should be obvious really when transfers have always happened regularly for many, many years. For some it is the money. That just has more zero's now that it did. Ashley Cole made that clear. Arsenal to Chelsea all those years ago & when he talked a bit about it much later. But Villa themselves have a track record of buying from more clubs than they sell to, in terms of prime age players. Ings & Buendia right now. Darren Bent in the past. And Blackburn Rovers way back whenever were like Leicester & Chelsea in the same entity. For some it's the trophies. See again Lineker with his long standing joke at Shearer at FA Cup games. It really is just a noisy merry go round. But for many VIlla fans I'm sure they thought Grealish seemed more Gabby Agbonlahor than Gareth Barry. If Grealish had gone to Real, Barca, Juve, or whoever abroad. Like before the Premier League was the place to be, it probably wouldn't grate so many so much. But make no mistake, to a core of Villa fans, being where City are is where they see the long term goal. Manchester ideally, Leicester at the very least. So I do predict long term resentment despite team-mates & club hierarchy trying to sound placating & dignified.

I'd like to think so. Either league position or getting a cup win. Potential starting 11: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, Luiz, McGinn, Buendia, Grealish, Watkins, Bailey And even if Grealish does move on. There'll be motivation there against Man City. And with these current owners, it's guaranteed to go on 2 or 3 hopefully well chosen players. Not plugging financial gaps somewhere, like when Milner, Barry & Young all departed to City, City & Man United around a decade ago. And the inevitable, painfully slow descent to relegation over the following few years. Kind of gutted John Terry has left. Feel sure he worked hard with the defence that went from leaking to one of the toughest.