Yorke81

Such an unexpected performance, we had them under control all the match!!

3 points on Spurs, they have a game in hand but still have to play the top 3, while we only have Liverpool left. Good times

No intensity at all, lazy football and no will to go for it at the end. Very much not the Villa we have come to know the last year.

This tops the thrashing of Newcastle last season!! Absolute in love with this team, had a plan and followed it to perfection to run circles around one of the best teams around

For me Emile Heskey comes to mind!

Feels like the win against Chelsea last season, when we finally overtook them in the table.

A real statement.

5 minutes ago, villanmac said:

An unintended benefit of the high line is it keeps the back 4 and midfield switched on and focused it for the full 90. The midfield know they have to press the ball every time or the whole thing goes tits up and the back 4 have to always be perfectly in position.

When you play deeper you have more of a safety net and players can switch off more individually and get away with being a bit more lax at times. That starts individually and can become contagious to the whole side eventually. With the high line if you mess your individual bit up it's glaring obvious and so it keeps u honest.

That’s a really interesting take on it. No room for leniency, keeps everyone on their toes - and the benefit is obvious seeing the amount of goals we produce!

11 hours ago, Keyblade said:

Last day of the season, after we beat Brighton...on the coach they were passing by fans who were celebrating and JJ comments "it's only Conference League" only to get berated by Konsa. Was pretty funny, he was joking obviously.

It was actually arriving at Villa Park before the match and seeing the crowd waiting for the coach.

8 hours ago, Zatman said:

That the guy that played for Boro?

Yep same guy. Had a fine little career for himself as a player, but I guess he has really found his calling as an agent - considering he negotiated Dignes wages

1 hour ago, Thats2 said:

There was another play, I wish I could find a video. Lovely bit of skill to get in on goal, had the Newcastle defenders twisted in knots, but got a little too cute in the end and gave them time to recover. Eye-opening composure to create that chance, especially from a 17 year old. Has a touch of class to him.

Check the extended highlights at VillaTV, the chance is right there at the end. Great piece of skill, but got a little too cute with his shot at the end, which allowed the defense to recover.

9 hours ago, The_Steve said:

The Southampton writer for the Athletic Jacob Tanswell is moving from there to cover us. Anyone know anything about him? 

My brother is a Southampton fan. He really rates Tanswell, and will probably cancel his subscription with the Athletic since he is leaving and coverage will be reduced considerably.

4 hours ago, markc said:

Jhon Jader Durán will report to work with Aston Villa on August 1st.

His environment denies ongoing negotiations with Espanyol and with any other team for a loan.

 

 

Not sure what the environment bit means.

 

 

It’s not well translated, understand it as his entourage rather than environment

52 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

honestly, i dont think Hause is on anywhere near that, but yeah, i agree, we have some very average players on very good money.

a few weeks ago i listed 8-10 fringe/non starting 11 players we have, and together they were on roughly £500k p/w between them.

madness.

It really depends on in which category you put Digne

3 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

not sure if someone knows what this looks like injury wise?

 

 

I'm not sure this was the moment he got injured? He had a surging run forward, and was tackled halfway from behind. After that tackle he tried for a few minutes to continue, then rolled the ball out of play and sat down to be substituted.

Quite amazed by the turnaround this guy has managed. A few days ago when sponsors and the new shirt design was released, dual badge-gate, a lot of people (myself included) was instantly thinking he started out with a complete mess.

Some days later, a meeting with the Fan Advisory Board, and he has managed to turn the whole story around already. Now comments on here and the villa podcasts I’m listening in on, are hailing his sound decision to dial the big release a big down and get time to do his thing.

Seems like a guy who can really build community and momentum, I’m all on board

1 hour ago, duke313 said:

I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Phil. He could surly play that false 9 role beside Watkins, he literally couldn’t be any worse than Bailey.

There is a great positive momentum in the team right now, he better not come with that attitude!

Fun aside, I feel like he can still play an important role in an Emery team. 

I wouldn’t accept any other forward than Watkins!!

2 minutes ago, ender4 said:

@Paul33

@lp_villa830

@AndyClarke

@Bosnichs Muller corner

@Yorke81

No judgement but I’m intrigued what you think Emery needed to do better to get a ‘very good’ rather than a ‘good’ rating?

Have you ever given a very good rating to a previous manager?

Fantastic match, spot on with tactics and motivating the whole squad!!

But why sub in McGinn, I think that was a wrong move, that fortunately didn’t cost us anything.

8 hours ago, paul514 said:

Strikers are crap, still playing dani alves and thiago..... fred plays in midfield.

They have a lot of good players buy glaring holes in the squad, it isn't as strong as ours.

I don't understand why people can't see France easily has the best, were second and Spain trailing behind us.

We are talking about the same France (in full strength) that lost at home to Denmark some days ago?

(Sorry, cheap shot I know, but being Danish I just can't help it )

Why is that not a penalty?! Doesn’t touch the ball but clatters Watkins!!

This is the type of historical event where everyone will remember where they were the day Keinan scored a brace

Go for a third now please!!

Yeeeeeeees!!!

Very good cameo, strong in the link-up play and defended the ball well in most instances.

Seems to be enjoying his football these days.

9 hours ago, Monsieur Hazdazler said:

I think some of the fan narrative around Douglas Luiz has probably been one of the biggest irritants of this transfer window for me, especially on twitter which is not exactly the best platform for adult debate anyway. It seems like you either rate Douglas Luiz and want to keep him, or you think he's rubbish and want to sell him. Obviously you may be in one of those camps, in reality there's a massive middle ground.

I rate Douglas Luiz, I think he's a good player. He's a good distributor of the ball and keeps the game ticking over nicely when in the DM role, he's a solid defender without being exceptional in that role.  The problem that I have with Douglas Luiz and why I'm not against selling him is that he's not an exceptional 6 - he's a solid 6 capable in the role. He may well be an exceptional 8 but we've not seen much of him in that role for Villa. From what I have seen of him, I'm not convinced that his ability to pass the ball forward or create chances, or carry the ball forward are particularly strong compared to others we have at the club. McGinn (forward passing) and Ramsey (ball carrying) excel at those two elements, and Sanson has shown really strong abilities in his limited appearances to press and carry the ball forward as well. So would Douglas Luiz get into our team ahead of either Ramsey or McGinn? I'd hazard a guess he probably wouldn't unless one of them picked up a knock and he got a chance, but then he's also fighting vs Sanson for the place, who Gerrard has shown faith in by giving him opportunities.

If Douglas Luiz isn't our ideal 6 then we have to take one of the following routes:
1) He signs a new deal and contends with McGinn, Ramsey and Sanson for those spots in midfield, while providing cover at DM if we bring in someone new there. 
2) He doesn't sign a new deal and we can't get a new DM in, so he stays until the summer playing DM.
3) He leaves now and we sign a new DM, with Chambers acting as back up in that role.  

The problem with option 1 is that he likely won't sign a new deal if he's not getting on the pitch, the problem with option 2 is that we end up having to offload him in the summer for around 15-20million, or lose him on a free the following summer because he wants to play further forward and we can't offer that. 

In my opinion the clearest and cleanest option is number 3 - we get a good price for Douglas Luiz at 30million plus which is invested in an out and out DM who improves that position (not because the new arrival is simply a better player but because he's a better fit for the role). We still have McGinn, Ramsey and Sanson to contest the two number 8 roles with Carney offering cover there also (although I see him as more of a 10 in our system). If we can't make that work, we have to hold him until the summer and accept we take a reduced fee there as he's unlikely to sign a new deal. From a business point of view, taking a good deal now makes a lot of sense - it doesn't make Douglas Luiz a bad player or mean we are desperate to get rid of him, but simply it's the smart thing to do.

Great comment! Looking at option 2 and 3, your business point of view is focused on cold cash - sell now for an ok fee or wait till summer and get a rather deflated fee. However, the difference of having or not having Luiz as a temp at DM could also be the difference of mid-table boredom and fighting for fringe european places - what is the alternative if we sell him now without bringing in a new DM?

The prospect of pushing for Europe is a rather compelling business point of view in my opinion. It's a slim chance at best, but the upside would be much larger than the reduced value of Luiz due to his contract length being reduced by 6 months.

I of course trust in our management to take the right direction here

I would really like to see Chuck instead of either Ings or Watkins in that starting lineup… had a few good cameos, let’s see what he’s made of!