nepal_villan

We really needed those 3 pts.  Shocking VAR.  Should have been a comfortable 3-4 goal win for us.

Presuming this is not a hoax letter, the mere fact that such a document is circling around is an indictment on Heck’s leadership. 

Perhaps the slow buildup has run its course.  Teams seem ready for it and we tend to get stuck in first gear and can’t pickup the pace as a result. 
 

The system might pay dividends when you’re the challenger but is not suitable when you’re the protagonist. 

We’ve been unlocked.  Talented teams press us and quickly counter down the channels.  Talentless teams play a low block. Unai needs to evolve our system accordingly. 

7 hours ago, villa4europe said:

Yep surely the answer is when you see "he'd been at baggies since he was 9" "he'd been at baggies since he was 11" that tells you where our academy has failed 

Harrison's been here since 2019, so have to believe the 9 & 11 year-olds from 5 years back are already in the Villa Academy setup. It will be a failure of our talent identification & recruitment if we sign any player that joined the WBA academy after 2019.

53 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Deals like this is why I wasn't bothered at all by Lange and McKenzie leaving. They didn't do a good job.

He was a £3-7.5m player and we whopped £15-20m down on him. He'd just come off an awful season. It was mental.

And we paid him over £12m since he's been here

100%.  Lyon fans were laughing to the bank when they heard how much we paid for him. I was told by a reliable source close to the Chicago Fire the fee for Duran was about £5-8m more than they expected. I know we loved those "out of the blue" signings under Purslow and Lange, but they came at a cost.

We've questioned (me included) the likes of Bailey, McGinn, Douglas Luiz. etc. in the past. Diaby will come good. There is clearly a player there.

Worst case, Xabi Alonso will buy him once he becomes the next Liverpool manager.

3 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said:

It has been a bit deflated since Sheff Utd. I am sort of annoyed with the players. They played themselves into an unbelievable position. It's up to them to grasp what was in our hands. The manager cannot do everything.

Disagree here. Teams have figured out our slow build up and lack of high press. We need to evolve our system accordingly. 

22 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I kind of get people saying this, but at the same time, it appears a simple thing like having Bailey instead of Diaby in the side with the same " tactics " from the beginning, may well have seen a totally different game.

1v1 comparison is not fair in my opinion.  When Bailey came on he was playing on the wing and we were much faster in our play.  When Diaby was playing he was more central and we were playing very slow.  Id like to see what Diaby can do on the wing with us playing much faster.  

Worry a Martin Oneill type collapse is coming. Teams have figured us out and we are impotent in the final third.  Diaby as the second striker does not work. 

Part of why I have reservations about this potential deal is because it's not just about the merits of the purchase but the opportunity costs.  The money we spend on Rogers is money that won't be available elsewhere. It could be the difference in going for a very good 35M player or a top class 50M one in the summer.

I'm also a bit stumped as to why we completed the Azaz sale before getting the Rogers deal across the line. That's just negotiation 101, no? -  especially if Rogers has been in our sights for some time, as several here are claiming.

18 minutes ago, alreadyexists said:

£15m is absolutely nothing these days. 

It adds up quickly.  Still a decent amount for a Championship player whose football CV looks slightly above average. 

5 minutes ago, GingerCollins29 said:

If we get past chelsea and then leeds/plymouth, likely to be playing one of liverpool, city or utd in the quarters

Maybe we'll win the lottery and get the winner of Wednesday/Coventry/Maidstone.  Anyway - Chelsea first!

Totally agree with the JPA one.  I love the guy, but he gets far more adoration than his performances deserve.

My shameful moment was being so engrossed in a Villa match and continuing to watch it even when learning of a close relatives' death midway through it. 

Don't quite get playing a high line, but then failing to press the other team. Isn't that just a recipe for disaster? Would love to be educated on how this tactic is supposed to work.

The types of things Madueke did tonight is what I was kind of expecting from Diaby.  Looks like Emery sees him in a different role.

This really seems to be on Emery, opposed to the players. You can't let them come at you and also hold a high line.  You either need to sit back and play a low block or press and play a highline. 

Our lack of press is really suicidal. We're just letting Chelsea attack in waves.  Really hope Emery changes things around in the 2nd half.

Not sure if this has been posted, but linked is some brand development Dragon Rouge agency did for Southampton. They were the same agency that developed the round "Purslow" badge. Quite like what they did for Southampton and makes me feel that they were really hamstrung by a very rigid brief from the Villa management.  

5 hours ago, MSvillain said:

‘I trust my wife but I’ve just put a tracker on her phone in case’

i trust that both our data analysts and lifelong football minds Monchi and Emery have done their research over people who have maybe glimpsed at this lad for 180 mins at most.

That’s not a good example mate.  Maybe something more like —> I trust my wife’s decision to send the kids to private school, but I feel the public schools are just as good. 
 

So Monchi and Emery will never get a signing wrong?  

Emery deserves our trust but that should not mean we can’t form our own opinions.  From the times Ive seen him,  to the comparisons with JPB (including the asking price), and the opinions of some Championship experts, it’s just not adding up for me. 
 

also a bit perplexed why we did not use Finn Azaz as leverage to get this deal over the line. 

Not sure how anyone can label a player Napoli is willing to pay EUR 10M for and is a Belgian international as trash.  

If you do the math, it really has to be a monumental collapse for us not to finish in the top 5 spots.  Seeing the West Ham and Brighton results this week, does not look like anyone from the pack is going to make a strong 2nd half charge either.  

Feels to me like adding additional capacity  of 2,000 or so seats will be a complex undertaking that will still cost millions. Might as well go all the way instead of settling for a half-baked solution.

2 hours ago, Jas10 said:

Better than nothing, get it done and let’s move on.

His PL level salary is probably baked into the fairly low transfer fee.