dont_do_it_doug.

Well I think he's a brilliant footballer in the making. Lovely first touch, quality in tight spaces, always ready for the give and go. He was all over the place tonight, but sadly had little to no service. Still got a couple of attempts on goal. 

Big fan. 

2 hours ago, AlwaysAVFC said:

I'm far from an expert apart from having had the op myself but while there will be different grades to the ligament damage, I'm not sure the operation would be any different. The ligament would need to be replaced with a new graft however badly it was damaged as the ACL can't regenerate.

Recovery as you say would be difficult to diagnose, all depends on having the right plan and the patients body and its ability to recover. Its not even just the ligament. I'm not sure what they favour for athletes but my graft was from my hamstring (which is typical) there are artificial ones and from the patella. So the hamstring needs to repair and then what I found hardest was building my quad up again after it losing its muscle memory and that's obviously an important part of leg strength and stability to avoid damaging the knee again.

Fair comment. I'll add a couple of things. 

I haven't actually seen it mentioned that it is the ACL that was torn. 

Secondly on recovery... according to Google (lol) the average return to action is about 8 months, which takes us into April. It's not ludicrous to suggest that with modern recovery models he could be back in 8 months, or even sooner. These days rehab starts almost immediately, and footballers have access to the highest level of sports science money can buy, from strength training to nutrition, cryo chambers, massages on tap and whatever else they need. 

Obviously this proves nothing on a case by case basis, but to hope for a return in March isn't *crazy* like it felt the post above yours suggested. It's ok to hope. If he's not back this season, qué sera. We get a quality footballer next season for the CL push. 

16 hours ago, stewiek2 said:

 

 

 

What in the name of sweet Unai is this? It's absolutely terrifying.

Mind you, they're encouraging children to cut their bits off on tiktok so what you gonna do. This is tame. 

46 minutes ago, tyklip said:

Went back to look for reports, but the club stated it was a "significant ACL injury." And it seems like most people understood that to be a tear. If so, it would be really hard for him to be available to play in a competitive match for a minimum of 9 months, most likely longer. Just no way to rush ligament repair. I would be absolutely shocked if he played any part in this campaign. 

Any ACL injury is significant. With all due respect, without knowing to what degree the tear nor the recovery protocol, you're not going to be able to diagnose a timeframe. 

8 hours ago, rjw63 said:

Comfortably our most underrated player. Not only is he absolutely brilliant on the ball, I think everyone recognises that, but his off the ball work leading the defensive line and conducting the transition is exceptional. 

I'm hesitant to call him world class, because of his physical deficiencies, however it hasn't really been an issue since game week 3 or 4 because how we set up doesn't require him to be anything other than Pau Torres. That said, he has adapted to the PL so quickly, we might be looking back on him in a few years as a club legend. 

32 minutes ago, Kiwivillan said:

Even with the dozens of tactics videos about Emery set up how we don't use traditional wingers

Hmmm Bailey tends to offer a fair amount of width. He's the only player we really have that Emery likes out there, he never seems to utilise Diaby that way.

Another winger, of the inverted variety, wouldn't shock me. Very few top level teams use traditional wingers these days in any case, they're a very rare breed. 

10 minutes ago, Villan_of_oz said:

Random....

19 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Think it will be a similar timescale to Diego Carlos from last season. He was back in the squad early March and then started to play from May.

Buendia being a forward player we'd probably see him sooner coming on as sub.

His injury happened around a month sooner iirc. Plus, as you say he's more likely to get time as an impact sub as a forward than a centre half who relies on his physicality. Not that Emi shirks his responsibility. 

With any luck we see him back in time to bolster the squad for the European knock out stages. 

On 09/12/2023 at 12:04, TRO said:

Results, can paint a distorted image, positively or negatively of the overall play.

it is the holy grail, but it can post a false narrative of a game.

 

I agree. However we looked like shit for most of the game. Fergie must have been able to see through the weedy bollocks and spot the flowers underneath, and I'm not even going to pretend to know as much about the game as Alex Ferguson. 

I had forgotten how randomly aggressive some VT posts can be. Maybe I do have a short memory!

I think the comparisons to Leicester are lazy. I don't care and it doesn't make me sad, but for many various reasons it just doesn't fit. This is our 5th season back in the league, we're a much bigger club with a more balanced squad and a smoother upward trajectory on the whole, Gerrard aside. We're not really running on vibes, as that Leicester team did to a degree. it feels far more sustainable. 

And, we haven't won the bloody title. If we do, you could compare us to PNE winning the title in 1889/90 and I really dgaf mate. 

3 hours ago, Risso said:

Two or three of my Leicester-supporting friends were telling me his legs had gone.

Newsflash, his legs haven't gone. Great player.

He's 26 years old. I know he has been knocking about a while, but that's not plausible without a serious injury. 

His heart had left Leicester and let's be honest, he wasn't fit enough at the start of the season to play the way Emery needed him too. Dean Smith though, maybe. 

He's an unbelievable footballer. In the 10 role he reminds me of Paul Merson, probably the highest praise I can give. 

On 26/12/2022 at 21:28, avfc1982am said:

Quite brilliant the new system in the lower Holte for food and drinks. They've replaced the need to queue once with you now having to queue twice. Genius. 

Except it takes about a quarter of the time to get served. So who cares about the logistics?

3 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

Game management is such a standard part of a top coach's repertoire that it's hard to single anyone out. Time wasting isn't always cheating - it can mean safe passing patterns, sitting deep, launching the ball into touch, holding the ball up in the corner, etc. None of that is cheating.

If the referee handles the game properly, "cheating" always has a cost anyway, so you could argue it's all within the confines of the rules. We get most annoyed with cheating when referees don't book a player for a cynical foul or don't clamp down on shithousing.

Sure, you can mention lots of different aspects of time wasting that aren't cheating, but I'm sure everyone knows what I'm talking about. Even if they don't want to admit it. 

Being hypocritical about your own team and players is fine, it's all part of the game. I love it when my team do it and win, and I choose to begrudgingly respect the opposition when they do it. It's personal choice. 

5 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

Emery is a master of cheating? How exactly?

I don't want to get into a circular debate about what constitutes cheating, but I can tell you for sure that time wasting is against the laws of the game. As is diving, tripping and shirt pulling, among the many of other times players and managers you *do* like break the rules. 

Just now, Zatman said:

What has he done wrong? He is a bit arrogant but has never done anything really wrong in the game and arguably an honourable man for his dedication to playing youth players whatever club he was at

"He's a bit arrogant" is the understatement of the century. 

I'm not saying I haven't enjoyed his antics over the years, and pragmatic way his teams play. That's really not the point I'm trying to make here. 

2 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

He may have been a bit arrogant in the past, but does he cheat?

Obviously. There isn't a successful footballer or manager who wouldn't 'cheat' the game in order to win. Your own manager is a master at it, as you've already seen. As was your hero Jack Grealish.

As is with absolute 100% iron clad certainty, Louis van Gaal. 

3 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

I was out so I didn't see the game, only the pens, but found it cringe. Do take your point, but I hate Bruno tbh. The Dutch come across fairly likeable to me, much more so than Argentina. But again I didn't see the game.

Wow, time really has washed Louis van Gaal's image.

I think the Dyche slander is a farcical to be honest. He achieved more with Burnley than Eddie Howe did with Bournemouth. 

I mean obviously we should try and set any release clause as high as possible. But as with Delph (a better example) take whatever you can at this stage. 

13 minutes ago, Peter Griffin said:

25m release clause is not enough commitment imo and wouldn't warrant a signing bonus and pay bump. It would need to be at least 50m. If Arsenal rate him at 25m with 12 months left on his contract then with 4 years left he must be worth in excess of that. 

It's £25m or nothing? 

This IMO

23 minutes ago, nick76 said:

and ours was about 0.26 according to most sites, so the stat average score was 2-0 to Man City.  We overstored, they underscored.

Then it doesn't mean much of anything, obviously. Because we scored a good goal? You also cut the rest of my post where I describe the chances we had? 

I can't believe I'm having to argue that is was a good performance. It doesn't mean I think Gerrard is the right man to take us forward, only that there's at least some evidence now he can arrest the slide, if he can get his ego in check.