This SO SLOW build up from the back...

How many times did we see Luiz, Torres or Konsa taking a Sunday afternoon stroll with the ball at their feet until they get 40 yards from our goal and then standing still wondering who to pass to. And NOBODY is moving ahead of them ("don't give it to me"). And they end up passing sideways, or 5 yards forward to someone closely marked who just immediately gives the ball back or (especially today) loses possession. 

Trying to play the game at walking pace against a well organised opponent, apart from boring the spectators senseless, is doomed to failure. 

I feel we're pretty certain to do our all-too-frequent trick of starting at snail's pace, messing up when playing it out from the back and conceding very early. It's going to be all uphill after that.

On the other hand, I'm also expecting some magic from Zaniolo.

Could this be the first time McGinn has 0 votes for MotM?

Sorry to see him taken off, he always looks capable of producing a trick out of nothing which is what you need against a very well drilled defensive setup like Palace´s. He got a bit roughed up in the middle of the park, but he´s obviously smart and skillful enough to learn and adapt to that. Hoping for great things from him.

16 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I'm confused.

Did a Google to find Torres vs. Lenglet pace ratings and this article from 2020 came up

He's either got top end pace hidden in his locker, just takes long to pick up, of maybe it's just " explosive acceleration" he doesn't have, or use?

The further information I've found suggests he obviously knows how to play the high line, and isn't necessarily a slouch.

Needs time I guess!

https://ronaldo.com/football-news/top-5-fastest-la-liga-players-this-season/2/#:~:text=Pau Torres – 34.93km%2Fh&text=Surprisingly%2C it's a centre-back,this list in Pau Torres.

" Top 5 fastest La Liga players this season

Surprisingly, it’s a centre-back who starts off this list in Pau Torres.

The 23-year-old has established himself in the Villarreal line-up after spending last season on loan at Malaga. He’s started in 23 of the club’s 27 games, adding a goal and assist to his tally.

Torres’ induction into the first-team coincides with Villarreal’s improved performances. The Yellow Submarine is up in ninth-place in La Liga, already just six points adrift from last season’s haul.

The 6 ft 3 in defender is also quick on his feet and has even caught the interest of Manchester City. "

Found this from 2021 as well

https://breakingthelines.com/player-analysis/player-analysis-pau-torres/

" Standing at 1.91 meters, Pau Torres has an athlete’s body. Tall players have the reputation to be slow, but this is not the case for him. Especially since Spain employ a high defensive line, having fast centre-backs is key to protect the spaces left behind, as seen below. "

 

Perhaps he really is fast.  Maybe here it's just a case of confusion - wtf is going on, what am I supposed to do here? - that is slowing his reaction time - he's not performing instinctively, perhaps, as he was in Spain.

I hope it's something like that, rather than him regretting having made the move. He did take an awfully long time to sign on the dotted line....

4 hours ago, FLVillan said:

The attempted dribble out would have worked against 75% of teams, but surely he was aware of how well the Dippers press and defend from the front? 

I saw him do this trick of cutting back onto his right foot a lot in the videos I saw before we signed him. Even I thought he'd be pushing his luck with that in the PL. I have absolutely no doubt the Liverpool forwards were totally expecting it.

What struck me today is how quick he is. He took a couple of silly wild shots but we can forgive those because we were in Roy of the Rovers territory in terms of getting anything from the game.

I also thought he didn't do too badly with using his body and his passing with back to goal.  While he is obviously still extremely raw, with his recent appearances I am beginning to see how he could become very useful indeed.

Bought the VillaTV 19.99 yearly subscription half an hour before the game and I can't access it.

"Upgrade your streaming subscriptions"  wtf

"Still no official bid” according to Fabrizio Romano.  

If that's true, it doesn't look like this one will happen this window.

Shame, I'd love to have him, but I think we are in more need of one or two forwards.

Made a hash of some good opportunities again today. Must be doing something good in training for Unai to keep picking him.

Not a good cameo today but I don't think it was the right decision to bring him on at that stage in the game. Thought he did well when he came on against Leeds and I'm still hopeful he can play a part under Unai.

Wants to stay in Italy according to this:

https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2023/01/19/gerard-deulofeu-issues-blunt-response-to-aston-villa-links-after-agent-claims/

55 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

With respect, I think I have to disagree. Confidence is a very complicated thing with elite athletes and elite teams. In facts, there are differents kinds of confidences, some based on inherent talent, some based on achievements, there's coach and team confidence, and yes, there are with athletes, teams and coaches confidence "spirals" where confidence can go up and down and neither is actually necessarily predictive of long-term success, as weird as that sounds. Unless there's something physically going on with Bailey, the most sure-fire way Bailey's going regain his confidence (which can have a downside AND an upside, to be honest) is give him a chance to succeed within the supportive context of his team and coach's spheres. He's not on his own, after all. I think a few good plays and a goal would help him build the resilience he needs to weather the certain ups and downs to come with Villa. He's too important to us right now to take that chance away from him, even if it costs us a few points, IMO. That's my 2 cents anyway. 

I think that was worth more than 2 cents.

We're all disappointed with Bailey and perhaps feel sorry for him, but there's no room for sentiment in this business.  Unai clearly gave him the 90 mins to try to boost his confidence but it backfired.

After we bring in one or more forwards/wingers - as we surely must - Leon will be lucky to even make the bench for the rest of the season.

5 hours ago, nick76 said:

But I don’t think the defence or midfield was really that troubled, we completely dominated possession and yes they had a few chances but the midfield and defence weren’t really troubled for most of the match.  A stupid mistake between Olsen and Dendoncker, then failure to defend the start of a corner wasn’t about the team having played together before or not.

We dominated possession but as a team did nothing with that in terms of scoring goals, finishing the game.  Arguably that was advanced midfield and attack issue rather than midfield and defence.  Stupid mistakes were the goals rather than having played together before was really my point.

Stupid mistakes, agreed, but someone HAS to be in charge of organising the defence at every set piece. Looks like nobody out there knew whose responsibility it was.

Have to admit I was ready to ship him out after Liverpool, but what a performance today!  I am a convert.

6 minutes ago, useless said:

To be fair he did go on to do pretty well since leaving Everton, that was five years ago now, and not every Everton fan was negative, to be honest a lot of the comments reminded me of the way some Villa fans talk about Traore.

so still a No from me.

I like Traore but I don't think he's strong enough or consistent enough for where we want to be.  From what I've seen of Deulofeu's videos (can't really remember much of him in the PL)  and read from other posters who have seen plenty of him, I'm prepared to accept he might improve us a bit for a while.  But I'd prefer someone young and hungry, who's gong to make a powerful statement from day one. Not someone looking for his last big contract.

5 minutes ago, useless said:

His record in terms of goals and assists in the Premier League is pretty good, twenty goals and twenty for assists in 7356 minutes of football, and looks like he's been equally as good in Serie A, if not more so. And also he's the type of player that offers more than goals and assists, so can't just go by those stats.

Was going to say he was a favorite amongst Everton and Watford fans alike, but had a look at old thread on Everton forum and saw them complaing about his diving, lack of tracking back and pressing, inconsistency (comparisons to Barkley), constant references to him being out of breath in games and having 'paper lungs'.

Just what we need.

It's a no thanks from me.

1 minute ago, Villa 59 said:

Luiz had given the ball away every single time 

Absolutely shocking - downright careless half the time. Let's hope Arsenal take him off our hands in Jan

Sure we should have put the game to bed in the second half when we actually played some decent stuff in patches.

But if we're honest we have to be grateful for the sending-off -  no way we were coming away with anything at all otherwise.

Get a progressive manager in.

Get Jack back.

Consolidate mid table for a season or two.

Start bringing through our amazing youngsters.

And we'll be a match for anybody.

5 hours ago, Peter Griffin said:

We paid 15m, it is reported 20% of sell-on on profit, offered 25m. So that is (25-15)-(20% of 10m) = 8m gross profit.

From an FFP perspective, 3.75m a yr amortisation, so 11.25m amortised. 3.75m book value. 25m-3.75m = 21.25m accounting profit less the 2m 20% sell-on is 19.25m accounting profit for Villa.

Could you run through the middle bit again please?

Has the fat lady sung yet?  Seem to remember Arsenal used to be experts at getting deals done after everybody else thought that time was up.

10 minutes ago, useless said:

Under normal circumstances I don't think there's anyway we would be turning down £25m for a player of Luiz's ability, with less than a year left on their current deal, and that player supposedly wanting to leave. So I think there's more to this whole thing than meets the eye.

Care to speculate?

If he's trying to get out, there's no way he's signing a new deal and he's unlikely to perform very well (if even selected)

Only thing I can see is he gets to play further forward (where SG has known for a long time he wants to play ) now that we have Dendonker to hold the fort with Kamara, and maybe that would keep everybody happy.

I don't rate Luiz particularly and I'm quite sure SG doesn't either.  He has all the talent but not the right mentality and application. He's more likely to throw up his arms and fall to the floor than bust a gut trying to catch anybody.

Still, I would be staggered if the club sold him at this stage, without a top class midfielder coming in.