Countering until Christmas - now where do I go from here

[beverage1982]

Hello tactics hive mind.

Another year, another Aston Villa save. I usually start with my team and try to recreate the current tactics. This has seen me take in everything from martin O'Neil to Steve Bruce so these days with Dean Smith are a welcome refresh.

Like Deano I started the season pragmatically at Villa, eschewing last seasons press-heavy possession football for more of a counter attacking vibe. We've ridden our luck - ludicrously at times if I'm honest, and the uploaded league table below will show you where we stand as we tuck into our Christmas day dinner. 

I think you'll agree, not a bad season so far. We've principally relied on defending deep and hitting teams on the counter, which has proved ludicrously easy given the utter disregard they have seemed to treat us with. Even in a loss to City we had 3 or 4 one-on-ones with players busting through the lines to rush through on goal.

How have I done it? 

This is the tactic we've been using. 

 

I actually started the season with a flat 4141 with Grealish as a WP (a). This was mainly due to absolute fear and also some experience of the 4141. The football wasn't great however and we relied on individual moments of brilliance to get the job done. However I evolved it and after reading just about every post on the forum devised this. 

The focus is to play off of big Wes up top (I wanted to have him as a TM but it just didn't work so I reverted to DLF) with players rushing through to pick up the scraps and through-balls. The pce of Trezeguet and El Ghazi has been vital as has Super John McGInn's long shot brilliance. I've been disappointed defensively and we've given up a lot of goals to long shots and sometimes crosses, which I need to address, but overall I'm delighted. 

For big games I've also tweaked a lot. The Mezzala has often become a DLP (s) with Grealish moving wide. The ideas is to plug things up and hope for the best which has worked. 

But here's the thing, it won't work for long. I already noticed in our last match teams are getting wise to our ways so I need to come up with an effective plan B. I've decided that a return to the press / possess way may be in order so have devised the following:

It's a slight variation on my original tactic with more emphasis on keeping the ball. I haven't gone all in on possession however as it's still the Premier League and we aren't that good yet. 

What's next? 

This is why I've turned to the forums, mainly as writing this down will help me focus. It will also enable me to pick your brains for advice. Does my plan B make sense, or do I need to adjust it further? 

January transfers will be a big part of what I do as the squad is very thin, particularly up top where a Wesley injury put me in trouble before Kodjia decided to score a few vital goals. I also believe that I'm not making enough of set pieces so if anyone has any good tips for that I'd hugely appreciate them.

Anyway that's kind of it for now. As I say I really wanted to get this out there to spark hopefully a fun discussion. Hopefully the tactic will help some people too as in preseason and on the Beta I was pulling my hair put trying to find the right fit.