StanBalaban
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Everything posted by StanBalaban
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I'd prefer him too, but Sam Johnstone is vying with Guaita for the number 1 spot and is getting game time. It's works well for Johnstone to be at Palace, as he has a crack at regular football, especially as Guaita might be leaving. Our issue is that our number 1 is a dominant number 1. No one is challenging him. Why would Johnstone (or insert name) come here knowing he'll barely play? That's the biggest recruitment issue Unai faces if he were to replace Olsen.
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We should probably caveat that by saying this has emanated from "Twiiter rumour" (unspecified).
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It's not just as simple as 'our back up keeper is crap' though. When you have such a dominant no.1 keeper, it's a difficult position to fill, hence why Unai is content having Olsen in the role. He's far from perfect, but is an experienced full international. For a keeper to stand in for Emi without there being a sizeable drop in quality, you're looking for a keeper that would be able to play regularly in the PL, or top Championship side. With that in mind, how do you recruit a player of that calibre, with him knowing full well that instead of regular football at another club he should come to Aston Villa and rarely play. Given how seriously Unai takes the cups, it's not even a 'gimme' that he'll get to start those early games. What's in it for a good keeper to be a #2 at Aston Villa in lieu of being a #1 somewhere else?
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Irrespective of the number (and whilst it's a lot, it's still not enough players for the manager to not recognise the names, as seemed to be the case) these are players that are on the Chelsea payroll and have returned to the club from loan spells. I could be wrong, but I wouldn't imagine Unai would let resources like that go to waste by falling through the cracks.
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There was a clip circulating a few days ago of Poch being asked about a couple of Chelsea players that had been on loan, and he had no idea who they were. I don't know if someone is 'born' to be an elite manager, but you just know that Unai has worked his bollocks off to be the very best version of himself that he could possibly be. The work ethic and attention to detail, combined with the intelligence to understand football is unlike anything I've ever seen in a Villa manager. There's absolutely no way Unai would lose track of any players near the first team for instance. No matter what happens against better opposition down the line, I feel so fortunate to have someone working so hard to bring success to the Villa.
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SJM has always had the talent, but under the Scouse fraud it seemed that he was playing under a lot of pressure to bail the manager out. Always looking for a quick Hollywood pass to provide the 'manager' with a moment of magic to bail him out. He's said a few times now that he's always played under a British manager, and wishes he'd had someone like Unai much earlier in his career. Unai has slowed his game, and given him control over his play. In return, McGinn has lapped up every last bit of Unai's coaching and is probably our best player every week. Genuinely believe he could walk into any team sheet in the world right now.
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Plus after not giving Trent what technically should've been a second yellow, there was no doubt here. Only argument VVD could have had was that he went for the ball. However, it's a clear trip.
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Did he job by stepping in for Emi and helping the team get 3 points. Can't be that easy not looking rusty after months of sitting on the bench.
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Do you think the majority of our academy players dreamt about becoming an Aston Villa player? There's a few that grew up as fans, but most would want to play football for a living. Our academy gives many of them a great grounding to succeed in their career, but the players will want to play where they can. They're not clinging on to the hope that it's here - they'll want regular football with the best team they can get, along with a good wage. Elite sports is always going to be ruthless, but that cuts both ways. It's not always the big bad club. Many players will try to jump ship the moment a better offer comes along.
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This has been covered a lot, but when you have such a dominant no.1 keeper, it's very difficult to bring in a backup that is good enough to play regularly, but knows he won't. Anyone that is likely to come here knowing he'll be sat on the bench, will have flaws in his game. With Olsen, Unai has been able to work with him for 9 months now, so he knows how to step in and maintain our style of play. I honestly think some people think we could bring in a keeper near in quality to Emi, but expect him to be happy to sit on his arse except for the odd League Cup game.
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Pressure will be on them to go for the win, and their fans seem to expecting points from the game. I think that works well for Unai, as we know they're unlikely to just sit back. We'll need to be on our game but, if we are, then we should be able to find space to play through them. Hopefully Ollie can bury whatever chances come his way and I'm backing Bailey to score another.
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I think the difference is down to the execution, rather that whether it's traditional or not. Get the design on point, and it starts to matter less whether it's futuristic, traditional, edgy or safe. FWIW, one of the training tops would make a better home kit than the actual home kit IMO, and the travel gear is more than decent, so there's definitely some capability with the design team.
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Can clearly see he's been integrated into the style of play that Unai wants. Seems to be able to invite the press and find a pass, although I think he's more likely to release the ball earlier than Emi. If he plays on Sunday, I hope he's given the backing and confidence from the fans. As @luckyeddie said, the role of a second keeper is a difficult one for the club to get right. Especially when the first choice keeper is Emi Martinez. We have an experienced, international GK that knows his role and seems happy to play his part. He's made errors for sure, but what player wouldn't be rusty when asked to play once every 6 months or so? He's not some 38 year old, over the hill stand-in that many other clubs have. He will have benefitted from 9 months of Unai's coaching, so hopefully he just needs to get the confidence of the support to help him further if he's called upon.
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The pattern on the away kit is not a random pattern though. It's a showcase of all the lions that the club has used since 1874. I'm not saying they've executed it well, but it's trying to connect with our heritage and history. The 3rd kit should be an opportunity for the designers to show us what they can do. They've not covered themselves in glory, but I disagree that the 3rd kit should be bound by the same criteria as the home and away. The home kit has a bus seat pattern for sure - not that anyone can see it after 90 seconds of being on the pitch.
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I agree that the execution leaves a lot to be desired, it was more the sentiment that Villa kits (even the 3rd) should stick to their lane in perpetuity.
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But we always do have pretty classic home and away kits, including this year. They may not be to everyone's tastes, but they're hardly avantgarde. I think the 3rd kit carries the licence to experiment. Whether they've pulled it off is a different matter. BTW, how are neither Wolves nor Spurs 'classic clubs' though?
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Training range on the whole is pretty decent.
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He may indeed have been sold, due to us being a better team with better players ahead of him stalling his opportunity to get minutes. However, seeing how he's blossomed, he would also be in-line to come back.
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I don't think it's as much of a modern day football thing, but more so that we've not been a good team for quite some time. The better we become, the fewer academy players will make the grade unfortunately. Jack and JJ are the exception, not the norm. Look back at when Delfouneso, Chris Herd, Ciaran Clark, Liam Ridgewell, Gary Gardner were all good enough to get into the first team squads.
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Finances are the turn of the 20th century are quite different to football today in fairness. I agree with that statement for when it comes to the BK8 sponsorship, but give Unai a more financial powerful team over one that (subjectively) plays in a slightly nicer T-shirt all day long. edit: also the "Villa kit" of claret body and blue sleeves wasn't a Villa kit when it first came out.
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This is a bizarre comment. I understand that bus patterns aren't necessarily a good aesthetic choice, but what does being a 'classic club' have to do with a third kit (which, to my mind, should be a little bit 'out there'). Also, whilst I don't like either team, surely Spurs and Wolves are both 'classic clubs' too?
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Take that attitude and apply it to the Man U v Wolves game, and you can see why an injury time penalty isn't given at Old Trafford, which would have had consequences to the overall result. It's corrupt, but maybe not in the match-fixing kinda way. It's corrupt as it's there to protect the ref from additional heat from the managers of the big teams. Also, where's this audio that we're supposed to be able to hear after the game anyway?
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Unfortunately, until we become a team that plays regular European football, no top-tier brand is going to pay us the money that Castore have.
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Whilst it may not be a belter, it's pretty inoffensive to my eyes. Definitely not stirring up strong emotions either way.
