flashingqwerty

Further, as we can't even get THEM!

Thought he came from Reading?

No idea what foreigners have got to do with my post - strange one that... But i agree, it isnt only us, its endemic in football in this country. Young players are given too much, too young and are made to believe they are great and its all at their feet, and only a very small number have the fight in them to overcome it. Back in the day, and some countries still do, pro contracts could not be signed until 18 and all players u18 got a maximum wage equal to social welfare or similarly small enough amounts. This would see the desire return to youth teams, as only those truly commited and hungry would stay on for a pro deal. All the praise given by multiple managers to Grealish nearly ended him: crashing his car, pictured out drunk between games, etc. cos he'd made it. Took being frozen out and the guidance of Bruce and Terry to get him back on track, and im still not convinced he is over it fully.

To be fair Trent, you also didnt think Albrighton was much good either and he went on to get a League Championship medal. Ive watched a lot of our youth and u23 teams, having been part of the youth team at villa myself in the mid 90s. My experience of the coaches at the time was that they fed into the players egos and gave them too much confidence, so that when it came to making the step up they thought they were already too good, and it would be easy. For me this meant that they no longer had the fight in them to train harder and look to improve further because they were being told how great they were and how easy it was going to be to make it. Cant speak for the coaches there now - but having spoken to people at youth level at the time, youth coaches were not doing that at other clubs. For my part, i was let go before the end of my first year due to injury, and more than 20 years later am still sufferring from it.

So many of our talented young players lack this basic hunger and drive that i cant help but think that the youth coaching has something to do with it.

Barone!

In 10 years time we will still be a mediocre champ side and the world will have forgotten an Aston Villa was ever 'a big club' (assuming it hasnt already)

Westwood moght be better than Hourihane as a player, but in our team he would look just as bad as he does not have the attributes we need in the same way Hourihane does not. We need a tenacious dcm with power and who is strong in the tackle who can protect the defence and let the other 2 cms take possession and hurt our opponents. Westwood cannot be that player

They can agree to sell him at any point, but he is not able to complete a move until his villa loan ends. Which cannot now happen until the summer.

If my understanding of tactics doesnt meet your standard, i guess you'd better inform Fifa, Uefa and the FA, as all of those things are included in the course material for the 'coach tactics' badge.

Well lets be specific then : the Vic Buckingham quote talk about retaining possession, which is a tactic the Johan Cruyff quote talks about high tempo and pressing, both of which are tactics Rinus Michels talks about not being too nice, which i interpret as having a mean streak and being overly physical - also a tactic the Pep quote on the face of it talks about working hard, which granted isnt a tactic. But when you look at the context of the interview that line is taken from he is also referring to pressing hard to force your opponent into errors, which is a tactic. the southgate quote is all well and good when you work with a squad of highly intelligent players, but its rare, in any squad, including man city and liverpool, that you can have 11 players on the pitch you can rely to play by instinct. Englands performances havent impressed me one bit, and i think theyve been incredibly fortunate to achieve what they have. The defensive errors throughout the world cup highlight that he practices what he preaches letting a fullback play cb on instinct and those instincts letting the side down perhaps had he given the defence more instruction those errors would not have occurred? Sufficed to say i dont classify Southgate as an example of a currently very successful manager.

Sorry Tro, you're backing up your argument that tactics have little importance with quotes about how important tactics are? One of us is missing the point - and im sorry to say its not me.

Clough may have been right in what he said in his era, but its not a coincidence that all the most successful managers in modern football are tactic focused. The game has changed, and as a club, we have not, and that is why we continue to struggle.

Ive watched loads of him at u23 level and for me, at that level, he doesnt look anywhere near as good asthe moore brothers, vassell or even gabby. I dont know what managers have seen in him to make them think he had a big future, but i certainly dont see it, and would be very surprised if he ever plays regularly at a decent level.

Its incredibly unfair to come to this conclusion. As a result of his injuries, hehas never had more than a handful of games in a row to get up to match speed. For players to adjust and gain form they need to play a steady stream of games in a fixed position in a team that suits their style. Hes never had this, and under Smith may get a run in a system that suits him and could show how good a player he can be.

If its an option, i"d sooner do that with Tammy

Tree?

Nyland - 6 - think he played ok, dont agree that he is in anyway at fault for their 2nd as its a foul and 2 hand balls Hutton - 5 - thought he was below par today Taylor - 5 - looks like a rabbit in headlights most of the time. Poor again today and urgently needs replacing. Chester - 6 - ok, nothing special and no major errors Tuanzebe - 6 - see chester Hourihane - 5 - some say he keeps us ticking, but i just dont see it. Most of the times i recall seeing him he was either misplacing passes or watching an opponent run 0ast him. Poor for me McGinn - 6 - well below his usual level but still ok Grealish - 6 - hopefully his injury isntbad. He was also way below his usual standard. Bolasie - 4 - i thought he was poor, predictable and wasteful El Ghazi. - 9 - continued his improvement under ds and is looking a class act at this level. Tammy - 4 - very very wasteful i would like us to either start trying hogan more often or to sign another goalscorer to compete with him, as right now if he isnt on form i dont think we have another good enough to fill his shoes

We could, or indeed should, have converted more of our chances than we did, BUT the challenge on the keeper for the last ditch eqialiser is a blatant foul. Yes, you can say the keeper was weak, but by the letter of the law any contact after the keeper has both hands on it is a foul, plain and simple, even without the obvious hand ball. I really hope villa formally complain about the incident and rodriguez is pinished with the 1 match ban for the red card he should have been given for deliberate hand ball. There was clear unnatural movement towards the ball on two separate occassions. That aside, i think a number of villa players were poor today. Overall, we were bang average, but still good value for a win which would have put us 6th. I am starting to think our bad start has put autos beyond us, leeds and norwich are too far ahead already i think

The only defenders in my lifetime i would put in McGraths class are Baresi and Maldini. Few others can come close.

As the saying goes "you can only beat whats in front of you" and we had no trouble beating boro yesterday. Long may that continue!

Its the kind of game where any keeper would have struggled. For me Nyland is only at fault for the fifth, and maybe the Lolley goal (still havent seen a good replay from behind the goal) I dont think any keeper would have stopped the other 3, these were down to poor defensive work. I think its clear we need to upgrade at CB and DM, defensively both Hutton and Taylor could have done more, so i would not be surprised to see a FB or two in Jan either. We were shipping lots of goals under SB too, but atleast now we are scoring freely. Still early, but damn if it isn't fun to watch!

Quick close it while we have 100% agreement!

Two players were marginally offside and interfered with play.

Wasnt cahill 23 when he left? Granted he was in and around the squad but he certainly wasnt challenging the starting 11. Just because a player hasnt reached his potential doesnt mean they wont. Look at vardy, he didnt make it in the prem until his mid 20s, people can realise potential later than others