Match Preview | Leicester City v Aston Villa | Can AVFC Bounce Back? Maatsen Starts? Steve Cooper

[Music] hello everybody Welcome to all Villa no filler please remember to like And subscribe subscribe if you love The Mighty Villa and you can't help but laugh at Birmingham city Bean down there in League one um look the rules are if you don't subscribe apparently you're a blue fan I didn't write those rules someone else did don't ask me you I just heard a rumor anyway here we are Aston Villa they've just lost 2-0 to uh Arsenal sorry to remind you of that but we are looking now to bounce back the Villa's fixtures are uh what you would call a little bit nicer than the opening two fixtures West Ham away and Arsenal at home um difficult opening to the season and um did very well to get the three points away at West Ham and then Arsenal at home I think if Ole Watkins had taken either one of them chances Villa would could very well have come away as winners and beaten Arsenal three times in a row uh shame he didn't do it but I thought it was a tactical um master class from Moon I uh kind of went exactly sort of as I sort of said talked about here on this podcast last week in the Arsenal preview in that um the inverted fullback uh it wasn't zinchenko it was jury and Timber as a few Arsenal fans to told me was likely to happen um he would he was the one who came into the center um and uh the right hand side was where Arsenal as always seemed to be at their most threatening um and uh odard Island as I described it um astonvilla did a fantastic job in keeping that that you know keeping it cut off there were like a John mcin was like a ship going around the island just keeping keeping that Island away he can't communicate with the outside world but unfortunately when John mcin came off um you know his positioning was really good so the pass wasn't ever really on into odard uh particularly in the first s of 65 minutes but there was just that spell leading leading up to trad's goal or the first goal um that uh I think when mcin came off where Ramy came on and there were one or two little spaces that opened up and it was odard making that pass as we talked about into B Baya Saka getting in behind and he pulls it back and then as look would have it bounces off Morgan Rogers straight into the path of Tran so I think Villa did a great job I think we did everything we could do obviously apart from conceding the goals but I think if Villa had taken the two chances that came uh the first chance coming from a fantastic press from Villa um Leon Bailey getting on to Gabrielle um Villa could easily have won it something else worth noting as well with that inverted fullback was that whenu and Tim came inside what was interesting to me and I kind of wish I'd been in the stadium to see this I wish I'd been in the stadium to see what Villa's buildup play was like cuz oh things are going to adjust this season football is always about Evolution you don't stand still Alex Ferguson never stood still pep guardiola's never stood still Uno emry will not stand still because obviously other teams get used to how you play they have a game plan for it and um eventually work you out so you have to just keep on evolving uh that's partly signing new players but it's also adjusting how you build up how you defend all these kind of things um so yeah I think with Villa uh what was interesting was that when we pressed Arsenal Leon Bailey would kind of be in the front two with uh OE Watkins at times and Morgan Rogers would sit behind the two of them sort of central to them and be a little bit deeper and what I think was that was doing I would love to talk to Professor Rai about this my God what I would how I would bore the life out of that man I bore the life out of watching this and listening to it believe me I would bore the life out of that guy asking him question after question after question but I think with Rogers just sitting a little bit deeper it meant that the inversed fullback would come inside and what was happening was it was crowded wasn't really anywhere for him to go became kind of ineffective really and I wonder considering inversive fullbacks and now the the invogue thing Liverpool have been doing it Trent the you know um Arsenal obviously were doing it was zenko Timber the weekend and I think they'll do it with C Fury uh Man City do it but they tend to usually have a center back who comes forward in um Jon Stones so um I wonder if what un Em's done is a sort of template for how to deal with inverted fullbacks we shall see we shall see as the season develops and whether other teams try and emulate it where the vill ourselves try to do it the next time we have to play a team that attempts it um but next game is Leicester city that's who we're here to talk about uh interesting game actually I think there's a there's a temptation to look at that and think you look at their squad and you think ah come on Villa should be winning that and Villa are pound-for-pound the stronger team but Steve Cooper is a very canny manager who has caused us many a problem before we've played Cooper three times once under Steve G where we drew one all and um you know uh Ashley Young At A moments of magic um scoring a goal from a million miles away but Villa were rubbish in that game we were rubbish it was at the city ground somehow came away with a one or Draw uh it surprised when I say that Aston Villa and stevenh Gerard were rubbish let me reck the point we were rubbish under him um but then Steve Cooper has played against un's astonvilla twice before again at notingham Forest uh where we won 2-0 and that game came in April of 2023 now if you remember that was during the time when Aston Villa were on an absolutely unbelievable run of form we uh it meant when we beat Forest uh in that game it meant that we went four games successive uh successively won I think it was just after we' beaten Leicester 2-1 with that trior goal um but what I remember specifically about that game you know was that naan Forest packed the center of the pitch right and didn't really press us that much and Villa looked a little bit sixes and sevens bearing in mind that Aston Villa was so good in that spell you know in the run to Europe um driven by the signing of Alex Moreno and Jacob Ramsey coming alive Jolly Watkins scoring goal after goal after goal um in that run nzi and Forest were definitely one of the tougher games um at Villa Park as well because again you you go into it high and confidence you think it's going to be quite easy it was one we only scored our first goal quite some way into the first half second half didn't couldn't score in the first half couldn't really create any opportunities because Forest smartly packed up the center of the pitch just made it difficult for Villa to play through them um and there were one or two occasions where Forest tried to beat The High Line but were constantly caught offside through a onei again how do I remember this stuff um so what what's going on in my brain why do I remember this stuff um but then in the second half tricky trior as we call him ber tror uh he scored a great reaction goal it came from the ball coming to him knocks it inside and then what the hell John Joe Shelby was doing passes it straight back to tro bangs it in the bottom corner so that came from a forest mistake Villa wor the opportunity good um but you know um Forest would think they should have defended that better and then we didn't score again until last minute of the game well into injury time it was a great goal again trior down the left gets it inside uh comes all the way to Watkins passes it to Ramsey Ramsey holds it holds it holds it pulls it back Watkins takes it past Defender and chips the keeper uh to continue his red hot goal scoring form but Steve Cooper then beat us 2 nil last season uh I think it was in November of last year and if you remember correctly Aston Villa W on a great run of form we've not really done anything wrong since uh the opening three games of the season when we lost 5-1 at Newcastle and 3-0 at Liverpool after that Villa were brilliant didn't really lose a game uh but then we went to the city ground and this is what I remember happening Na and Forest went into that game with um the crowd behind them right they knew the crowd was going to be loud proud and in that first 20 minutes what was tending to happen with Villa a little bit at least in the first half last season I remember even when we were in great form is that sometimes Villa in those opening 20 minutes were a bit slow to get going and sometimes the opposition team if they just wented us in the first 20 and got an early goal and then sat in deep that could create problems for ason Villa and that is exactly what Nottingham Forest did they got in down the left uh I think it through tofal pulled it back to the edge of the area which looked like someone from the training ground it was something Steve Cooper it felt like he spotted the vill would get their Defenders maybe into the center and actually just leave the space in in in the center just off outside the area and that's where AA ran into brilliant finish great finish um XG probably wasn't very high on it but they got the goal they needed they got they used that momentum of the um crowd uh and uh once they got that early goal they then just sat in deep and went to a 451 and Villa passed it around and passed it around and passed it around SE More than 70% possession didn't really create a chance nothing really particularly to WR home about Zola had one decentish chance but not a great one and then in the second half it was a great ball against W Watkins who went for the header but mistimed his header and um nothing came of it and the problem was you know Forest sat in deep we couldn't really do anything they bunged up the middle of the pitch again like Steve Cooper does to Villa and then uh uh second half same thing happen again crowd up for it they get ball down the left I think it was elanga who was causing a lot of problems on that day and they'll come back to alanga pulls it back I think to uh I can't remember the player it was now um Millo maybe uh whoever it was they took a shot from a long way out Emmy Martinez with a very rare mistake don't know what he was doing Palms it into his own net 2-0 and from there again not even Forest sitting deep they have the crowd behind them and Villa Pass and Pass and Pass can't get anything from it but the reason I mentioned a Langer there and why it's interesting is because I think it might relate to potentially what Leicester might try and do to Aston Villa this weekend now if you remember last season there were some teams who sat deep against Villa and tried to hit us on the break and we had problems dealing with it zinsky mustar at Villa Park sat in deep and we couldn't score a goal against them until the 95th bloody minute through John mcin notum Forest repeated the trip couldn't get a goal against them all game and they got the goal exactly when they needed to and it just meant they could fall into that defensive four five1 shape they wanted to do and then keep trying to catch us out the high line over and over again Sheffield United at home last season nil nil until about the 87th minute then Cameron AR scores against us and we fortunately got a late equalizer in the 97th minute through Zolo so a few teams showed last season that if you can sit in deep and work a chance against Villa that you take you can make life really really hard for emy's Villa now I think one way to address that was potentially getting someone like a Felix as s Tha calls it the lock picker uh maybe Bender is at this season and I wonder if we're going to see buendia um uh this uh weekend against Leicester at some point um but we still don't really have an out andout profile player like that and if Leicester choose to sit in deep against us again I do wonder how Villa are going to cope with that but one element that is different to last season when you think back to all of those new draws all those draws or those the losses um When we struggle to break down deep line defense we didn't have a really really proactive fullback Matty cash isn't great at beating a man in the final third he simply isn't good at it and he tends to cut back pass inside doesn't like going one-onone with a player every now and again he gets passed he pulls the ball back into the area but by and large he's not a Defender who likes a fullback likes to take a man on Luca Dean again is a Defender who doesn't really get into the final third all that often and when he does it tends to just be a whipped ball into the center across Alex Moreno is a bit more of a dynamic forward back and you saw in the season before in that half season where vill were brilliant his dynamism down the left really helped and I think that with um Ian Matson that is an element that might be very very useful against a deep lying defense a defend a fullback who was a little bit more proactive now we're going to go that's enough for me talking down the camera for those on YouTube we are going to our old friend the Tactical pad and um for those listening on Spotify Apple wherever um I'll make this as listenable as possible as I as I always do um I think uh as well before I get into it look very close to 100 um reviews now on Spotify so if you can do that a festar review help helps us massively helps us keep on growing so if you like what we do that phone app Spotify five stars is massive for us I see more people have been writing reviews on Apple iTunes as well giving us nice five star reviews on there as I say those things help so much and I have to keep reiterating this just because it's if I don't say it you know doesn't get done does it so thank you so much for everyone who done it for us and uh can't thank you enough and for everyone who comments down below as well comments on Spotify wherever I really really appreciate it and love interacting with everybody anyway back to um the game at hand so I've got the Tactical pad up here and I've got the same Aston Villa team up as we saw against um uh Arsenal and I've got the Leicester team up that played against Tottenham and I think also had the same starting lineup against uh Fulham at the weekend where they lost 2-1 although the formation was a bit different to what they played against Tottenham they played a 42 31 against Tottenham and I think it was a 34 three they played at Fulham um now uh so as you can see for those looking I've got the same lineup as we had against Arsenal but I've got Ian Matson beside Luca Dean and I've got covich beside maty cash maty cash is injured he's out n delovic is going to play most likely unless Professor unai decides to bring in Diego Carlos to Center back and stick coner out to the right or you know noise levels are rising about L hroa from fireo uh we've talked about him plenty on this podcast I've done plenty of interviews please go check that out um he was on our scouting series amazingly scouted him so mchi thanks for listening and thanks please give us a five star review mchi um but uh we then talked to Joe Baker a Dutch Football journalist um who GES a great Lowdown on him if he turns up fantastic you can play center back and he can play right back and he's a progressive player as well who can also go into Midfield that versatility thing that Professor Uno likes but look covich I think he did a very very good job against um Martinelli he grew in confidence in the game I think trossard was a little bit more of a lesson for him in that trossard his movement was a little bit more um evasive than what Martinelli is martinell is a little bit more direct nalovic is very very young and I thought it was a very impressive showing for a player of his age obious has a lot to learn I think from what I've seen from the raw ingredients he has I really believe in the guy and believe he has a high ceiling and I think we just have to be patient with the fact he's young so there might be some mistakes coming at some point but look if he is the one who plays this weekend he's the one who plays this weekend and he'll be going up most likely against Bobby dewood over Reed who L ass signed from Fulham in the summer uh and I'm going to gamble here and say I think that Ian Matson makes his full F Premier League starting debut for the mighty Villa now this is the first game this season where Villa are expected to be the more ascendent team against Arsenal and West Ham arsenal we have to be more canny we have to accept that they probably are the favorites even though we beat them twice in a row last season their head the teams most likely to go for the Premier League titles this season um but so vill have to have a bit more of a game plan where we we try and nullify their great threats West Ham away again it's not a game where you Bly expect Villa to be the ascendent team all the time it's a game where you expect him some EB and flow where West Ham kind of have to take it to a little bit more because because they're at home Lester away Villa are playing against the team that's just got promoted we have to look at it and think we are going to be the more proactive team in this game and are expected to be and if we got more than 70% possession against um a really a quite a good Nottingham Forest team good players um under Steve Cooper then you have to expect the villain might have something similar at Leicester now the area that does interest me a bit is where um Fu and I Ian Matson are now if you go with Matson what you can expect in this game is that he's going to get forward a fair bit right like I say I'm quite interested to know how Villa buildup players going this season I think I sense the subtle adjustments and I'll be very very interested to watch that in person but as you can see with Ian Matson going forward it ALS o leaves space in behind and that was something no and Forest under Steve Cooper did pay close attention to last season and what was happening there was that Luca Dean wasn't really the more proactive fullback it was actually Matty cash who was going forward in that game and what was happening a lot was that elanga was getting in where that space was in behind and charging down the left and getting balls in and this time if he goes forward and let's imagine a Harry Winks or an indei or you know Oliver skip if he plays whoever wins the ball back you can imagine a world in which Abdul Fatu uh they hit that ball into him very quickly when matson's caught a little bit further up the pitch now Fu to me is a very very interesting player indeed I saw I watched Leicester versus Tottenham and in that first hour I have absolutely no earthly idea whatsoever how Tottenham were not 27 nil ahead they made it look like Leicester simply did not belong in the Premier League and I have never ever in my life thought more rapidly oh my God we're watching a team get relegated on the first day of the season but Tottenham did not take enough of their chances they took one in the first half through Pedro porro got a good goal whipped into the area and it came from the left hand side and it was down the left hand side where Tottenham were incredibly dangerous you had James Madison moving around I use John mcin as the character here uh moving around at will you had UD DOI moving forward all the time into the final third you had son hun Ming moving around in conjunction with um James Madison that left hand side just made life an absolute bloody nightmare for um leester however Leicester showed incredible resilience you know Tottenham for all their possession and a couple of chances the chances weren't you know totally guilt edged i' say salanki probably thinks he should have got at least one but it wasn't like you know absolutely easy chances all the way through and Leicester just you know stuck in in the game they kept going and eventually Christiansen got all the way into the final third he knocks a ball across and who does it come to you know it misses everybody but it comes to Fatar out on the left who'd found a bit of space and Fu whips the ball into the back post Jamie vardy scores ahead of that man jardy now fu is interesting because if you look at his stats from last season in the championship he's only 20 years of age um he scored he played 40 games in the championship last season as a teenager for Leicester he scored six goals and he got 13 assists and if you look at his FB ref stats something that caught my eye a little bit was his Progressive carries better than 89% of other attacking mids and Wingers successful take on he better than 93% of other Wingers and again if you look at him defensively as well he does a great job there you know he his interceptions are good his tackles good blocks clearances a I's one is is very high high number the looks to me there play is quite all-rounded and the reason I brought him up is because I mentioned that Tottenham game two players that really caught my eye in that game were fundu buan and Abdul Fu and I thought Fu all game even when Tottenham were at their most scary quite Frank Fu always look like a player who when he got the ball was going to do the right thing a player who was looking to make things happen and who Tottenham didn't have great ease dealing with so I talk about this area here where so if Ian Matson is getting forward and he is the more proactive fullback and if he starts that is who knows maybe Professor puts Luca Dean in and starts him again maybe he will but I'm taking a bit of a punt and saying Matson might get his first start and if he does does and he gets on forward a lot and operates in that area pushing into the final third getting the ball back and forth Villa just going to have to be very very aware of Fu I called it odard Island last week what would you call this um Fu in space Fu floating in space um you know Fu up there as a as a moon of Jupiter floating around the moon of Fu something like that out there in all that space in the great Eternal darkness of space and if he can just find that space and you know get to a final third put a ball in he's already got one assist from a fantastic cross into to Jamie vardy there's every reason to believe he could cause us a few problems as well in that respect so I'm just you know just bringing up a threat that Leicester can pose Aston Villa like you look at us there and you think in the center Tans and Anana will almost certainly start again as that pairing and the two of them have been really good against West Ham and Arsenal and have the makings of a top partnership and I can't help but think that they're going to you know they're going to have a lot of the ball um going forward and that Winson and Dei are going to have their work cut out trying to contain the two of them and won most likely will be made to come deeper and try and deal with you know Tans on the ball or Anana but the thing is again with buan not he's only 19 so they' relying on quite a bit of Youth as well as experiencing vardy and COV decordova Reed but um bu not as well against Leicester him and um Fatar were the two players who caught my eye I thought buenon not again he looked like what you would describe as a canny player someone who works space he sort of can get into you know tight areas and retain the ball and find the pass or he can find space and he'll pick out the right player he tries to make things happen he's a good link man between the Midfield say Winks or indeed he putting the ball into him linking it to you know Jamie vard and there was one great move that Leicester made against Tottenham where cord de covy came inside buenon linked up with um I think it was Winks when not say found space here Jamie vardy ran on through because Cordova Reed had open the space of course by coming inside Jam vardy took that ball in from buenon and should have scored and you know quite frankly they could have beaten Tottenham against all the odds so um I I just think buenon not like I say is I think there's something about him that if Leicester are sitting deep and just trying to hit Viller on the break foru finding spaces an area where they can cause problems and buen andot just finding coming a bit deeper and finding the right pass over the top or a good through ball into a vardy could cause Villa problems you know the Highline we play vardy is a very experienced Striker does he have the pace to get him behind our defense anymore May well he won't have the pace he used to but he can he's still dangerous um and de over Reed of course as well again a very experienced Premier League player he can make things happen he was good against Fulham the other day and cost delovic you know he's a young and inexperienced player and Steve Cooper will be quite aware of that so you know there are threats that leester can definitely pose um but with Villa you know got to look at it and think Leon Bailey on Christiansen that is an area of the pitch where you really have to think Bailey must fancy himself going oneon-one with now Christianson is a sort of physical player and as he showed against Tottenham he can also get forward and put in some good balls um but it is a part of the pitch where you think Bailey they kind of form his in one-on-one out there that is somewhere where he can cause plenty of problems and then of course Morgan roggers he hasn't scored yet uh in the two games season um he's been I think outstanding in both games against West Ham and Arsenal and I can't help but think that his goal is coming uh and it could very well come this weekend and when one comes I think a lot will come and I think the interesting thing about Leicester as well is that you know if they TR if they sit deep which I think they likely will um in a similar way to Forest the season one other thing Villa do have if teams try and defend deep is that they have a player in Rogers who could score from Deep uh score from well outside the area he's shown it on multiple occasions and if you think of the West Ham game where he burst through their Midfield and got to the edge of the area and whipped one uh to the bottom corner that was saved by the West Ham keeper those are the kinds of goals that I think against the Deep line defense might come in handy you think back to last season as well against Chelsea where he scored from outside the area the goal against brenford again from the edge of the area Morgan Rogers has shown he's more than capable of scoring goals like that oie watkins's goal has to come as well soon uh John mcin uh I always think mcin is just automatically GNA be a starter because it's he's just what he is he's intelligent he's he's really good but Villa just have the kind of players who can cause a multitude of problems again and you know as as we all know Jacob Ramsey could come on for um for John mcin and um at some point in the game and again he not going to have the space to run into but Ramsey is shown he's a good link up player as well so he could link up well with Ian Matson John Duran as well we've got to come in if you want and Ross Barkley would be an interesting one I feel like Barkley might be good against a Leicester um just again he came on the other day against Arsenal just working play from Deep trying to pick out passes doing a good defensive job when players pressing from deep I think that's you know obviously where he's at but you look at villis SC and you think there's plenty there to cause Leicester problems um just the question mark of can you know how do we react now if we play against the Deep line defense of a low block as you know in football parament now we showed last season there with games where we really did struggle to break it down and you do Wonder could this be a game for a Benda could it be one where he comes in there and just you know F you know PL maybe comes in as the second Striker and maybe they move Ramsey out into the left at some point or maybe Wendy himself goes into that left position and does a little bit what Madison was doing for Tottenham against Leicester where moves around a lot Works clever passes with Matson coming in behind finds a ball you know whips a ball into Rogers or a mcin coming past or sorry Rogers or Watkins coming past the defender um I do think this would be a game where bendy it might be handy to see him come on uh and try and work some some of his old you know old magic because he's gonna have to play at some point this season isn't he and you know if we're struggling to break down Leicester do we have that sort of lot picker player well he's the closest profile to to it and I just wonder if a couple of little clever linkup plays between him and Matson and maybe him and Rogers or him and Ramsey might be what actually leads to us breaking Leicester down now something else worth mentioning about Leicester as well is if you look at Fulham the goal they scored there um it was a corner um taken by Buon not so he's got his first assist of the Season as well he got a few goals for Brighton last season bu not he is on loan from Brighton um but there's a corner in but if you look at the goal basically Leicester have a lot of big old players got a lot of tall players in there vestard a tall player Christiansen wal Fe you know big lad and Dei Jamie VY obviously you know he's Striker as well um and oler Skip if he plays as well they've got a lot of players a lot of physical players there who on a corner or on a set piece that can cause a problem for pretty much any defense because if you're big and tall and strong it's quite hard to deal with that and if you look at the goal they scored against Fulham the corner they packed the entire back post full of Leicester players b not just sends the ball in there and I have no earthly idea what Fulham were doing defensively because if you look at this is after the goal is scored the screenshot of it for those looking online you've got like a million fullen players all looking around at each other playing Scrabble or something you know arguing over whether um Qi key is a is is a word that counts whereas the entire leester attack is standing around there drinking Pac laders and one of them just put the pader down at the bar headed the goal in and wo f w face and then picked his pacard back up and started siing again bizarre biz are defending from Fulham on that but it is worth noting you know Leicester showed they can be D from the set pieces and if they pack the back of the goal maybe that's a way of getting around zone or marking because if a whole bunch of other players are stuck at the front post looking around you know playing chess together maybe it's an area where we lose a concentration think oh actually we supposed to be marking this guy Steve Cooper's a really canny manager uh he did a fantastic job in getting ning Forest into the Premier League after decades for younger listeners and viewers Decades of noing and Forest being away they're a massive Club Forest they are a team that you think of who should be in the Premier League for me at least and the fact they were away for nearly what it was more than 20 years you know was tragic for them really but Steve Cooper was the man who delivered them up to the Premier League and he kept them there I know they spent wildly and they got a points deduction so there's question marks about how they actually did it um but it's still a fantastic job what he did to keep them in the league and he's shown you know forget the jrro game he's shown on two occasions against duno emry when he made it hard for us by packing up the middle of the pitch um in the two-nil win we had against Nan forest in that run to the Europe and also last season when Notting Forest beat us at the city ground packed up the middle of the pitch deep line defense Midfield close to the defense and we really struggle to break through and if he does it again this weekend where he you know makes it tight in the middle maybe he'll throw in a whole new tactic maybe he'll catch a spice Sur prize and maybe a when an not doesn't start or a DEC over doesn't start and maybe he throws in an Oliver Skip and there's three defensive M I don't think that's what they'll I don't think that'll be the best tactic in but if they do that you know if they if they try and um just bu up the mid the Midfield and have W not come deep you know in here then winks and then Dei and Fu comes back does his defensive juice he's deod over re as well he's a really underrated player I think deod over re I like him you know he's he's a solid defensive player and he also gets forward very nicely so if you look at on the screen here if you look at it basically for those listening it's you know um look how tight everything is the Midfield is very close and all it takes is for buenon not to just find a moment get a ball into vardy uh you know if he's waiting on The High Line gets him behind or if matson's forward leester win that ball and Fu just gets in there you know gets into that space that's where they can cause I think Villa a few problems and so I think it' be very very interesting to see you know with Matson he was fantastic with he came on against um West Ham uh and you know his ball into Ramsey to create the goals brilliant stuff and I thought he did really nicely against Arsenal he came on as well uh when he got there was one occasion where he burst forward and he just looked way more Dynamic than Luca Dean which is why I suspect he's going to start this week end but it'd be interesting to see how Matson deals with that if Leicester are just sitting deep all the time what can he do what can he do to create something what can Villa do here you know are you know I talk about the Aston Villa Stampede Ramsey Rogers Anana Bailey Watkins Matson uh NAD delovic as well these are all players who run who can you know like maasa is looking on from the sidelines getting PTSD from what happened when Scar threw him down in the way of the the water buffalo you know getting trampled on stamp stamped on the Aston Villa Stampede The Villa Stampede that's what I call it so when Villa has space and Rogers and Ramsey and Matson and Jan and all these players have that space or into they just overwhelm you and the opposition defense turn into maasa getting trampled on but they're just all over you if Leicester don't give Villa a lot of space how react to that it's the first time this season will we have seen that um I'm intrigued to see what we do uh and how we deal with it and whether it leaves to question marks about could we you know it's very difficult to find the right player in the transfer window it really is are we a a team that maybe has transitional players in abundance doesn't quite have a player that can just unlock a deep line defense consistently hence the jel Felix links but I think Morgan Rogers is more than that I think I think Morgan Rogers is more than just a transitional player is he yet his best on our space Maybe you've seen as well that Rogers the other day when he was gliding past Ram uh Dean Ry and Thomas party making fools of them Dean rice currently there staring into the distance looking at wondering firstly why did I get this haircut and secondly who the bloody hell was that Morgan Rogers guy I thought Villa had the pants pulled down by him he's bloody Zinedine zadan you know he he's he's Diego maradon he's absolutely potentially worldclass player Rogers I really really believe in him and I believe he can do it and and I think this could be the game where he shows I don't care about deep line defenses I'm going to work some space get a shot in from from distance there it goes or he'll get him for a header it's a tall guy or he'll work a pass link up with the L with Watkins making a run Ramsey making mcin whoever he is and um show that he's not just a transition Pike I don't I genuinely don't believe that that's just what he is I really don't and show that he's a player who can break through a defense and a a deep line Midfield or deep line defense and create whatever he wants um Leon Bailey think we're going to be a bit reliant on him to work some magic there against Christiansen I really think that's an area where Villa can cause a lot of problems out there if Bailey can get past him one once or twice maybe NAD delovic overlaps him and Matson sits back you know if NAD delovic is the one who plays if he bursts forward you know there was one occasion against Arsenal where he showed what he did against atletic Club in that uh preseason friendly where he burst forward into the final third and gave atletic B bal's um Defenders nightmares as we as he showed at Red Star on multiple occasions if you watch any highlights videos of him this guy is a physical Dynamo and he bursts on for down the right and if he can do that if he does it against you know if deod over re has to track him back and Christiansen um maybe get you know gets overwhelmed down the right this could be an area where vill find a bit of joy and you know then Matson has to sit back and wait while n delovic gets on forward and maybe that's where we see what nalovic can do in that he can beat a man send a brilliant whip ball in as you've seen in some highlights videos from red star or you can get into the final third get into the area pull a ball back to you know waiting Rogers or Watkins getting at the back post ahead of his man or something like that you know so I just think there's a lot of things I'm excited to see for vill I'm really intrigued to let me know what you think let me know what you think Villa are going to do let me know how you think Viller might try and break down a really intelligent manager in Steve Cooper who's gonna have a great a top game plan for V I'm sure of it Leicester are a resilient team as they showed against Tottenham they could have been blown away they weren't if Villa can start the game as Tottenham did the lesson is really do what we do what we did to West Ham but just score more goals if we create a bunch of chances we did against wasam take the chances and if we cond dominating the way that Tottenham did take the chances as well as simple as that and as we said you know down at the left hand side with the sort of the movement of a son and a Madison and UD DOI coming up from fullback vill can repeat that trick down the left then we've we've seen already this season that is an area where Leicester can be got at but I just think down the right you know they're quite strong deod over is a good defensive player Christian is a very solid Danish international um but if Villa can just cause Havoc down there with nich's overlapping runs or underlapping runs Leon Bailey with his one-on-one ability V have plenty there to cause trouble um so yeah uh let me know what you think let me know what you what think you think what players might start how Villa might approach this how you think Leicester might approach it do you have any concerns yourself or are you very excited about what Aston V can do I'm very excited I think V have a good run of fixtures now to go and get something but never underestimate any te in the Premier League and never underestimate a manager like Steve Cooper who you know knows what the hell he's doing uh and he's shown on two occasions when he bungs up the center of the pitch against Villa with Forest on two occasions he makes it hard for us and we have to be patient as we were when we beat them not Forest 2-nil uh and we have to be patient and work an opportunity as we failed to do at the city ground last season but I think this really team I think they were going to this game very very confident very annoyed about the Arsenal loss and looking to take it out on uh Leicester and um really looking forward to seeing what we do so yeah also worth mentioning that just after I finished recording this whole thing uh Lester went and um sprung a surprise um when uh various transfer reports came out that they had agreed a deal to sign Bal elus from gank uh he uh is joining on a 20 and a half million uh Euro deal um just want to quickly talk about that just because uh eleno um if you recall back in The Scouting series I did with Adam tinan from um avfc London Lions um we talked about plays that we hoped Aston would Target and Adam has amazing expertise on um players all over the world really and last year the plays he tipped end the ball moving on to top clubs um generally players a lot of people haven't heard of really uh within sort of you know General football fandom and uh this year the first player who tipped that he wanted ason Ville to Target all the way back in June was lrer um who obviously has been linked with us for about you know about a month after that he was linked with us and has been linked ever since um but El canus uh was also another player he mentioned that he wanted Aston Villa to take a look at um primarily because he's a a highly rated attacking Midfield player um he uh is a Moroccan International 20 years of age four key passes per 90 minutes uh Adam said that his Progressive distance uh is um the progress his Progressive passing distance is superb uh he has a high number of shot creating actions uh and he's also a dead ball Taker and given the fact that we've lost dougas Riz who was our uh dead ball taker that's what canuz can offer but also another key thing to note is that his defensive work rate is supposed to be fantastic for a number 10 his High Press uh is very good um and he's more intelligent um press such as the you know just waiting and waiting to pounce uh on a loose ball is very good as well um and he generally has a high win percentage in the final third I'm just repeating what Adam um said on the show so that all credit there goes to Adam tinan and you know if you were to look at canus and think all right where might he um come into the team you'd have to think [Music] um uh sort of around here where bu buenon not is the um Argentinian who we talked about and canus you know could come in as and play off off a vardy perhaps maybe he could even play as a false nine if you had to um but that given everything that Adam said about him the various stats you can see about him the very various um you know uh positive reports about canus yeah you have to think that's a positive signing for Leicester now I don't know whether he'll be signed in time um to play this weekend but it's definitely worth noting that they have just it looks like they've agreed a deal it's not official yet uh to sign a very very highly rated young player who if he does play against Aston Villa it would be a big debut coming from the Belgian League obviously you take those stats you think it's in the Belgian league so you know that's one thing is whether you can repeat that in you know Sia uh La Liga Bund Liga and in this case the Premier League it's a different experience you look at a player like sh de Kyra someone who went from being highly rated CL brouge he went over to AC Milan and really really struggled uh for a year but then he eventually went to Atlanta after a year of experiencing CIA and they had an absolutely fantastic time at Atlanta and won the Europa League with them um so Cano you know it's one of them may could it be one that he immediately takes to the league and he can transport those kind of uh underlying stats or or those actual stats he has in the Belgian league and take them on into the Premier League it feels like one of those players that has a lot of Roar ability and it's just the top teams have probably not taken a gamble on him yet and it's they waai for a team like a Leicester up you know a team that wants to stay in the Premier League playing at a high standard and see how they'll who gets on with year in the Premier League I think that's probably where he is right now and uh yeah if he plays against Aston Villa you got to think um difficult debut uh obviously it's going to take an a while to adapt to the Premier League but clearly a very very dangerous player as well and also don't forget Jordan IU former Aston Villa player he's around he offers something else as well um so he could be a player astonvilla have to look out for but we kind of know all about him don't we um from all his years at Crystal Palace and his um brief time at Aston Villa so yeah thought I'd mention that just before I wrap this up stop that share there on uh YouTube please like And subscribe please comment please let me know what you think please uh comment down below as well as I say it's not 100% certain how Villa are building up this season just yet as I say I wish I'd been at the Arsenal game to see a few things but the thing is with the Arsenal game it's a bit of a special case there aren't many occasions Villa part the season where Villa are going to be a bit more bit more Le less Progressive bit more hold out and just wait for the other team to come at us um and uh so this this weekend is the first real occasion in the Premier League where Villa will be the more expected to be the more proactive team and ascendant I think Lester will come hard in the first 20 I think they will they'll try and repeat what Forest did but Villa can absolutely take control of it we got the ball possession to we got the ability in possession to do that and if vill can not make the same mistake do against forested an early goal then just keep going keep going and just be careful what bu can do and be very careful for T what he can do if he's given a bit of space as I say keep an eye foru 20 years of age and buen not just 19 they're both very young in experienc but I think they're really really talented guys both of them and and F is definitely a player to watch this season for leester Freddy leester fans watching uh thanks for that hope uh you you didn't mind what I just said uh come on Villa let's do it let's get that three points Good Run Of fixtures coming up now let's go push for that LE title come on why not why not dare to dream up the mighty Villa [Music]