avfc1982am Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 1 hour ago, markavfc40 said: The goals was just the icing on the cake. His defensive display today was superb and I was watching him closely and he really is the organiser at the back. Yes, I try to have a look at all the players for a few minutes at least each game instead of following the ball all the time, and look at their positioning, movement and general off the ball play. He does have a really good understanding with Okore that is starting to really look decent. I think the physical size of our back 4 is something which on the whole is far more solid than in the few years. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GENTLEMAN Posted February 6, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted February 6, 2016 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Finally showing the performances most of us knew he had in him. Had an awful start to his career, looks a different player now 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferguson1 Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Been great since the turn of the year and the goals are just a bonus. Think Cissokho has helped his performances though, as less covering for him to do. The back four we have in place now all look good to be fair and should continue until the end of the season. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigAl Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Glad to see him turning the corner after a bad start ,you can see the club actually means something to him with the way he plays ,he is a leader and we don't have many of them so it's important he stays . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdulaziz1 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 The best back four and cb partners weve had for the last couple of years. I really liked Lescott, hes one of our best players lately. His goals won us 7 points 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdulaziz1 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 When I was thinking about the Norwich game, I was thinking where the goals will come from. Then I thought of Leacott mainly, Gabby and hoped Sinclair could get something. Gladly thole two havent let me down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 52 minutes ago, abdulaziz1 said: The best back four and cb partners weve had for the last couple of years. I really liked Lescott, hes one of our best players lately. His goals won us 7 points His mistakes also cost us a lot of points as well. But I'm being a bit churlish. He really is massively better since the turn of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share Posted February 7, 2016 His mistakes also cost us a lot of points as well. But I'm being a bit churlish. He really is massively better since the turn of the year. I think that's a fair assessment. Though I will add a caveat that I thought he was generally "OK" all along under Rémi, who plays a fairly deep line. Whoever thought that Lescott would be a good fit for Sherwood's suicidal gung-ho style wants shooting, frankly. Though Gana edges it for me, there's a case to be made that he's been our best player since January 3rd. I think Okore gets more plaudits as the all action hero, but that is built on Lescott's assuredness. 3 clean sheets in their last 5 premier league games is impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 14 hours ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: I think that's a fair assessment. Though I will add a caveat that I thought he was generally "OK" all along under Rémi, who plays a fairly deep line. Whoever thought that Lescott would be a good fit for Sherwood's suicidal gung-ho style wants shooting, frankly. Though Gana edges it for me, there's a case to be made that he's been our best player since January 3rd. I think Okore gets more plaudits as the all action hero, but that is built on Lescott's assuredness. 3 clean sheets in their last 5 premier league games is impressive. Partly that and partly the attacking/defensive imbalance we had at the back with Hutton/Richards/Lescott/Cissokho. Defoe's goal for Sunderland (Guzan beaten at near post) highlighted it perfectly. Hutton and Richards pushed up for no apparent reason at the same time that Lescott and Cissokho dropped deeper for no apparent reason. It gave Defoe loads of time to bring the ball down and (too easily) beat Lescott and Guzan. Okore is more disciplined than Richards defensively. Not as good an athlete IMO, but has better positionally generally and isn't as rash. It means our centre backs are actually fairly solid rather than disjointed and makes a huge difference to the defence as a whole. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 okore coming back for me has been a vital reason why. clark and richards are pants next to lescott from what I have seen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 if only he wasnt asleep for the rebound/Leicester goal 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wezbid Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 On 06/02/2016 at 19:17, GENTLEMAN said: This is actually really interesting to watch. At the start he's very quiet, humble, unassuming with the other coach taking charge but as the video goes on it shows his leadership qualities clearly. He's prone to the odd lapse in concentration but overall he's a good defender. He was part of the WBA defence that was gobbling up clean sheets when Pulis came in last season. We tend to focus on the odd mistake rather than the overall contribution and with Lescott in that left side of the CB's he adds so much balance along with his leadership. I'm glad more people are starting to realise the good player he is because he's been slated on here before he even signed and was starting his Villa career with people already on his case. Keep it up Joleon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted February 8, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted February 8, 2016 (edited) As much as I think he's improved, he still does that thing a couple of times a game where he's a few yards behind the rest of the defensive line and it nearly always plays someone onside. That will cost us sooner or later. Edit: in fact, 1:43 on that Nike Academy video is what he should be telling the rest of our line! Edited February 8, 2016 by Stevo985 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I've slated the shit out of him this season but he has definitely stepped it up big time. Before he looked slow and lacking in concentration, now he's much, much sharper and much more of a leader at the back, he is playing very well. I also think it's no coincidence that he's playing much better alongside Okore rather than Richards. He is benefiting from having someone who knows how to play the position next to him, rather than a loose cannon with awful positional sense, Lescott simply doesn't have the legs to do the job of two centre halves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 29 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: As much as I think he's improved, he still does that thing a couple of times a game where he's a few yards behind the rest of the defensive line and it nearly always plays someone onside. That will cost us sooner or later. Edit: in fact, 1:43 on that Nike Academy video is what he should be telling the rest of our line! I think that's mostly down to his own failing legs! I think if the miracle did happen he would struggle to start next season, but he certainly appears to have another few months in him. What I found most interesting about that video was the stuff about the entire line taking responsibility for talking. I think that element has improved immensely now that Richards/Okore/Lesscott/Cissokho are the unit. All are experienced pro's and none are the shy retiring type. Also, I don't think people put enough thought into how game time consistency is such a big, big factor in a defensive line. As crazy as this might sound, if you were to tell me today that Amavi was 100% match fit and ready to go, he'd be on the bench or perhaps playing left mid. There aren't many defenders in the world that I would sacrifice the current make up for. Because it's working, they're working, together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunnski Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Credit to him, he has put in some big performances and scored some important goals. He still looks prone to errors but atm he is doing fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villan_007 Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I think Remi takes a bit of credit here. Has definitely put an arm around him, talked to him like the seasoned pro he is. Looked after him rest wise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Worth noting he was dropped until Richards got injured though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbop Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 (edited) I've mentioned this in the Micah Richards thread. If Richards is captain, playing CB, I would be shocked if he wasn't the one making the calls on when to push, when to drop. It would be a very strange dynamic to have your captain be bossed around at CB. Now that Richards is playing RB, he isn't the one making those calls, Lescott is, and Okore is listening to him and has the pace to make up those split seconds of hearing the call and moving appropriately. Just watch the video above, when Jolean shouts 'drop' he is already starting to sprint back. If Richards is at CB, making calls for Lescott, Richards has probably already moved 2 or 3 yards before Lescott has even started moving. Having the quicker CB in a pairing make the line calls is a double whammy. Also Richards has never done this in his career, so probably isn't very good at it (at the moment at least, I still hope he can become a great CB, mainly cos' I just love the guy as a person) It's no co-incidence that the 'destroyer' in a defence is usually slower, but makes the calls, think Terry and Carvalho, Campbell and Kolo Toure, Vidic and Ferdinand. EDIT: Forgot to add, all this contributes towards Lescott's upturn in form recently, and our better defensive record in recent games since Lescott started leading the line with an able deputy (Okore) next to him. Edited February 10, 2016 by Jimbop 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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