peterw

On 19/09/2021 at 01:54, Peter Griffin said:

He is a quality player, only 23, had a brilliant playing relationship with Emi and has that something special about him. Without question he would improve our squad. If he is attainable at the right price he would be a great buy and has lots of potential to increase in value. Who knows? we may need extra depth for Europa Cup next season

A Norwich mate of mine says he's good if your knowledge of Norwich is just watching highlights. Gives the ball away far too much and caught out of position far too easily. Not for me.

When I were a lad I was quite good at football and did wonder what I'd do if called up for Ireland (maternal grandparents) rather than England. I decided then that I couldn't play for a country where I have no feelings towards other than a generla nod as the birthplace of grandparents. However, if I were good enough to have turned pro then the game has little to do with emotional attachment in the main so who knows. If cash wants to try and get to Qatar I suggest he does go down the Poland route. Southgate is stifling England and picking Cash for these upcoming games would serve no other purpose than to thwart any long-term plans at international level.

14 hours ago, villalad21 said:

Success for me in football terms is trophies, no no.

So if Villa win the Carabao Cup this season but get relegated, for you that translates as a successful season?

It was a mishit cross - didn't he actually come out and admit as much?

On 20/09/2021 at 13:54, Peter Griffin said:

We lost 3-0, yes we were great in the 1st half but TT changed tactics in the 2nd half and won the game. 

Doesn't mean one coach didn't out-think the other. We were on top at the start of the second half also until the error, at which point Chelsea could just manage the game without having to attack. Chelsea didn't change tactics but personnel.

I remember it all of the time in the 80s and then it dies away for a while. I heard it made the odd comeback in some games I've seen but not that fussed about it.

let's not use (Villa fan) Potter as a convenient excuse to not give Smith praise. He out thought Tuchel and out thought Benitez. He said that Everton wouldn't come to use with 3 at the back and I honestly think he doubled bluffed them into playing a system he wanted them to play. They were quite narrow and we just tried to play around them. Pushed higher second-half on the wings and got our rewards. In what other games would you see the wing-backs replaced by wingers (okay 60 mins and 85 mins in, but you get the point)?

and many wonderkids disappear too. Other players develop later. One size does not fit all.

When Dennis Bergkamp first went to Arsenal many questioned him and his ability until he scored his first goals for them v Southampton (I think) - maybe he got 2 - in around October/November. It just took him and many other new players at clubs, time to settle in. Here we have an 18 year-old at his 'first' first-team squad team who is trying to play with older players, fit into a whole new system than that he is used to, having to earn the trust of the players, management, fans, and then produce the goods. Its a lot to ask of any individual never mind a young kid. 

We should just relax a little and let him, Jedinak, Ipswich work it all out together.

I think part of the problem is that we yearn for a leading centre-half not in the McGrath mould as that would be nigh on impossible, but in the mould of great centre-halves that are imposing and lead a team. Sides with them tend to be hard to beat. Mings has it up to probably 85% of his game - and yes that's just a random number - so the outpouring of angst and anti-Mings stuff (maybe 'anti' is far too harsh) is the disappointment that we have probably our best centre half for quite some time but that he's just not quite top TOP quality and we want to drag him there, as he would drag us there if so. I am a fan of Mings and think he's been a hugely influential figure for us from the Championship days, and he has improved wholly from that half season - that is palpable. He has also won 12 England caps because of that improvement. I think just about every Villa fan secretly or not, had a moment of panic knowing the whole of Europe would be watching him against croatia and Scotland in the Euros, and he was actually rock solid. You may argue that he had little to do, but what he did was excellent. Its also easily forgotten that although we lost 2-0 away at Belgium Mings actually played well that night.

For what we have on our books there is no better centre-half pairing than Konsa-Mings. It was also a centre-half pairing that kept many clean sheets last season. We may lose some more over the next few weeks so the panic button will be being smashed by many. But calm will eventually prevail and our best and most experienced players will guide us through it all to calmer waters as we propel ourselves up the league. The leader of whom will be Mings.

And now we're getting closer to the point that Smith must be licking his lips at. Genuine competition all over the pitch which in turn should drive performances of players up, as they strive to keep hold of the shirt. Come off the bench? Earn it. I doubt Buendia will come straight back in against Everton (he might) but the message will be simple when he does come on - as to all subs - you have to take your opportunity when it arises. El Ghazi did that last season and got his returns. Now its for Bailey, maybe Buendia, Traore, Sanson, maybe Ings if he's dropped...take your chance because you'll be on the bench otherwise.

The difficulty for Barry is that Ipswich didn't expect to be in the position they are in. That puts extra pressure on the manager, not only to produce results but also to not look like he's losing his mind (as it were) by throwing in a young kid. That would be turned against him (Cook) as that he doesn't know what he's doing and hoping the young kid can bail him out. For all parties concerned what we need is bit of stability so Barry can then get some minutes under his belt.

On 12/09/2021 at 16:25, alreadyexists said:

Controversy for controversy’s sake.

 

Also, I’m at Leamington Food Festival and I think I just saw him. Didn’t have the balls to say anything, but 99% sure it was him.

On his own  or in the pocket behind Watkins?

19 hours ago, villa4europe said:

that there is my biggest bug bearer about this kind of thing

IMO tuanzebe didnt make an error...he got beat by great movement from a better player who cost the european champions £100m and a world class pass from their £50m ex real madrid central midfielder who's won the CL 4 times...

sometimes its not us 

not every goal is because of a villa mistake 

Then my friend you are not a reader of the game if you play football. The ball was played in between Luiz (I think) and Tuanzebe. Nothing wrong at that point as the defender then has time to react and the telling point is how the defender reacts to potential dangers. As it went in front of him Tuanzebe has then two options, to go towards the ball (which is a 50/50 decision as he didn't know exactly where Lukaku was) or to carry on running forward and putting himself between the ball and the goal hoping that it allows cover to then come across and snuff out the danger, whilst slowing Lukaku down. He did neither - as the ball went past him he stuttered and looked towards Steer despite it being too far out for the goalkeeper to commit. At that point a potentially dangerous situation became a very dangerous one. Because of that stutter it gave Lukaku the run on him and he was able to use Tuanzebe's sprint momentum against him, cut inside and he took the goal well.

Tuanzebe 100% made an error, and because of it he allowed a £100m player take full advantage of it.

I am most certainly not a finance expert and am just guessing...BUT...from an individual perspective the better off financially that you are, the higher the overdraft you may ask for and receive. With Villa getting a lot of money last season from finishing 11th (I'm not counting the Grealish money because we/I don't know how that is being paid but of course its there), we have better revenue streams, better sponsorship deals are we now not a more viable financial big business? With that in mind, it is possible we have just asked for the larger overdraft at a time when there is relatively low interest on those loans or overdrafts. Businesses are savvy with their money so if there is a chance of 'free money' to protect themselves (we could have a crap season) then having this overdraft may help next summer rather than being a pointer towards owners selling up. I genuinely don't know and all it takes is someone with an economics CSE to shoot my opinion down. I would also suggest that the overdraft is for Aston Villa and is a season insurance against the club which is why it is not being used for one of the many tributary companies around Villa.

Also, I can't see this as being a sign of the tap being turned off considering we have had bids of around £60m turned down for Ward-Prowse and Smith-Rowe.

Have to be honest - I haven't liked one thing that has come out of the Bailey circus since we signed him. There's a lot of background noise and wonkily affixed pictures on walls. He's more Ivo Stas than anything at the moment, with the sounds of laughing in the background. 

8 hours ago, thabucks said:

IMO Konsa is the better footballer, but we would find it harder to replace Mings and his missing presence would be felt more within the team and squad due to his leadership qualities and communication skills. 

I don't think he is - a better defender maybe, but as a footballer I don't see much range in Konsa's passing nor am I particularly confident when he is either carrying the ball into the midfield areas, or being closed down in the defensive areas. In both situations I'd have him behind Mings and Tuanzebe.

On 07/09/2021 at 11:26, Risso said:

Mings, a ball-playing centre half? Eh?

Long punts up the channels is mostly what he does, isn’t it.

He's better than that though. We see this mostly as our style calls for him to pass down the channels for Watkins to run onto. Yes, he's no Franz beckenbauer but there are easily called-upon memories of his decent passing that have contributed directly to goals - diagonal long ball at Wednesday for Green to run on and cut back to equalise in a game we went on to win 3-1, down the wing and great ball across into the box for Trezeguet to score at home v Fulham last season (again to equalise in a game we go on to win 3-1.). Actually, bit of a pattern there...

Did we sign him from Wakanda FC?

16 hours ago, villalad21 said:

Can she play DM though?

 

Have we signed Jim Carey?

I think he'll have a great season for us. He's getting stronger, wiser, and better at his job. He's more of an interceptor than a tackler , surprisingly good in the air, skilful, and can pick a pass. he's what? 22? 23? plenty of time to develop and when he's fully up to match speed I think he'll be identified as one of our major players by next May.

On 29/08/2021 at 17:35, Laughable Chimp said:

Posting it here since I'm not sure where else is more suitable.

I'm still worried about our ability to create chances in open play. So far all our goals have been screamers or penalties. I don't think the rate at which we're getting both is sustainable. The fact that we're dead last in non-penalty expected goals(in both understat and fbref's databases) support this idea even though some teams above us have only played 2 games.

The thing is, I feel like we should be creating more chances considering how good our wingers have been at times. I think Buendia has been pretty good these past 2 league games, showcasing his ability to thread a pass through a defence and El Ghazi was rampaging down that left hand side against Brentford. But in both games I'm left thinking how at the end of the day, we didn't really create all that much in open play. Would this change with the addition of Bailey and Traore? Perhaps. But the fact that our wingers played well and still weren't able to create that many chances suggests to me that perhaps the problems like somewhere deeper or somewhere else.

I've mentioned in the past how I thought Ings has been isolated in the previous games and for much of the Brentford game this was true as well. As I've said, I've seen several times now where one of our wingers performs well in their area of the pitch and advances the ball but for some reason or another the attack breaks down soon after. How many times did El Ghazi get the better of his man at Brentford for example yet how many times did the move actually end in a good chance. Not many. Same thing with Buendia.

An interesting statistic is that Ings only received 25 percent of all passes targeted to him successfully in the Watford game and 39 percent in both the Newcastle and Brentford games. Both statistics are well below the PL average and his last season average. For some reason, that final ball is failing to reach him and I suspect that most of our attacks are breaking down at this point.

The problem wasn't so much thw width but it was the quality in the final third and in particular what we were getting from central midfield to be able to find those pockets of space. McGinn is good and transitioning through the lines and getting us moving - we didn't have that on Saturday, and Chuk and Young for different reasons were not able to do the job that you want from a number 8. buendia didn't create a great deal but he didn't have the usual triangles we employ, or that he could use to shift the ball quicker. Ings wasn't able to run the channels or drop deep for varying reasons (not his style; doesn't have the pace etc) but mainly because there were no runs from the central midfield areas to get into the space left by him if he did come out of the middle.

We noticeable had a press in the first half (when the keeper had it Ings often went and the midfield 3 then pressed and we usually got the ball back, but then everyone was looking for someone to run rather than moving the ball quickly and them getting into the box. I don't remember seeing Young, Chuk, Buendia in there that often.

So, its not really a worry just that when better players come back we will be able to the things that will make us create and dominate the centre of the park more often.

maybe the manager wants to get him in and around the squad to learn (as stated above) as much to play. Can only be a positive for the Player and for us.