Greenfly

4 hours ago, penguin said:

How do they keep doing it?

Another unproven youngster leaves for a huge fee.

Because he played for Liverpool. You get prestige just for that these days.

3 minutes ago, SeanVilla said:

Really? Fair enough mate, we live in different worlds

You honestly think it's ok to verbally abuse somebody because they have a different opinion to you?

Just now, SeanVilla said:

Please make this statement when you see a negative comment about Southgate, and not just when our players decide to stay off Twitter 

It's the same concept. We're allowed to question why he wouldn't pick Grealish for his squad for example, but we're not allowed to call him a prick for it.

53 minutes ago, SeanVilla said:

Slightly controversial opinion:

I would never direct abuse towards a player as it’s pointless but...

At the end of the day, these players are getting paid 40k-80k a week whilst people are undeservingly being made redundant. Criticism is part and parcel of the game, although there is obviously a line people shouldn’t cross. If you can’t ignore/deal with it, then get out the club. You’d be doing BOTH the club and the fans a huge favour. 

We the fans don't pay their wages. Why does it matter at all what they get paid?

They're still human beings and they deserve to be treated as such. It's really not a lot to ask; criticize his performance in the context of the team, but don't make it about him.

Criticising his recent performances in the context of the team is one thing. Making personal attacks because of it is way out of order.

We wouldn't be in the PL without him, and he was part of the team that kept us in it. Our fans would do well to remember his contribution.

31 minutes ago, rayk said:

Because the other players signed seem a level higher!

It's virtually impossible to judge who's a higher level than who at academy level. All we need to know is they're all exciting prospects, every one of them.

8 hours ago, Dave-R said:

I dont think theres getting anything out of the bad bunch.

I got shot down before window for saying we needed to buy more than four or five players this window. I said more like double the amount and now here we are dangerously close to losing points because we dont have capable people to come off the bench to make the difference in games.

Yes we have a first team capable of winning games now or fending of ten men, but we do not have game changing subs still. Whatever work is done by the first team, it can all potentially be undone by players that shouldnt be near a subs bench.

Still a bloody big job at sorting out the mess.

No part of this is wrong, but it's a steady process. Last night demonstrated how far away we are from being able to challenge at the very top, but it also proved how much we've upgraded that first eleven so far.

This season is about consolidating our status as a PL team, rising up to the giddy heights of mid table mediocrity, and becoming a more attractive prospect for the sort of player who'll step us up another level.

You aren't wrong to suggest we need so much more work to get where we want to be, but it's too much to ask for it to all happen in one go. It'll take time.

14 hours ago, Tom13 said:

I hate Twitter sometimes

I think I get the point he's trying to make; ideally, Jack should be in midfield whereas Trez is an out-and-out winger. But a Villa team without him is inconceivable, and with Barkley around he isn't necessarily needed in the middle. Out of McGinn, Luiz and Trez, who would get dropped first?

Although Trez might still start anyway, because I don't think Traore is up to full fitness yet.

John Stones to Man City. I have no idea what they ever saw in him.

48 minutes ago, villan-scott said:

They generally only get about 50% capacity. The stadium holds 29000-ish and their average attendance last season before lockdown was around 15k. (After a quick Google)

They have a decent number of fans but they tend to only come out the woodwork for Villa games! 

I genuinely think most of them aren't even football fans. It's just an excuse for them to get tribal about something.

His main qualities that make us rate him are those that bring other players into the game. I don't think there was much hope of that happening today.

There were times when he was actually able to get the ball where it looked like they were never getting it off him.

9 minutes ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

Pretty crap. Slow, poor touch and awful defensive work. 

I understand why he was signed based on the football they want played, but I think what we needed more than anything on the right side was a bit of pace to go with work rate. So far Traore has showed little of neither. In fact he's looked embarrassingly slow. 

I don't think a bad performance means he's bad, nor do I think a good performance mean he's good. It's just a few matches, but it's not looking too promising so far. 

He's had moments of class to be fair, so I hope with better match fitness, gelling with the squad, he will over time at least prove to be a useful squad member. 

I don't think there's much point in moving really fast if the rest of the squad is slowing the game down. I really don't think we can judge him on this game at all.

Jota is a good footballer, but he's way too slow. It's a shame, really.

Konsa pretty much shut them out when he came on. It shows the gulf in class between the first and second string.

Watkins had a great chance as soon as he came on, but never really received any decent service after that.

I don't really know what to say about the rest.

4 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

How did Traore do? He’s the only player that started tonight that is expected to be in our first team this season. 

We all know the other lot are rubbish but we need Traore to be decent if we don’t want to see Trez again this season. 

He made some good passes, but overall he wasn't brilliant. It could be down to the lack of quality around him though.

We need more quality in that second string. I can't imagine any one of those players being game changers off the bench in a league game.

1 minute ago, R.Bear said:

Did some of you actually pay for this? There's free streams everywhere 

Not the best tenner I've ever spent so far.

I don't get the logic of Elmo being used as a CB either? He just seems to lack every quality required of one. Am I missing something?

Just now, Nigel said:

I noticed that.  Funny thing is i didnt think there was any need for an upgrade there.......

Neither did I. Shows what I know.

This is making me realise how much of a direct upgrade Cash is over Guilbert. Same sort of player, but superior in every way.

I still like the guy, but damn.

2 minutes ago, nick76 said:

How some of these are close to first team is scary

At least they won't likely ever be in the pitch at the same time in the Premier League. Hopefully there's enough quality in the first team to mitigate since of their drawbacks.

1 hour ago, BOF said:

In fairness it's far from all of them. Some don't give them a chance.  The confident ones are clutching at straws mainly. Us being complacent or over-confident. The amount of "joy"(sic) Fulham got from crosses.

They seem to have a lot of respect for us actually. I didn't think Stoke fans liked us, but apparently they do.

8 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

Truth be told, he doesn’t even like Villa very much in my opinion.

How so? I don't get that impression.

30 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

Like a Rash?

Genuinely don’t know why so much energy has been expended talking about this guy it’s literally never seemed likely. 
 

 

I think we all wanted a "marquee" signing, however you want to define that, as a statement of intent. Since we've signed Traore, who arguably fits that bill, and captured Barkley on loan, who certainly does, the need for Rashica is not as dire.

Other than that, he quickly became something of a meme on here at least. I don't think everybody who was hyping him up was being all that serious in truth.

I wouldn't be surprised if he slides back into midfield at some point this season; because of the improved quality around him he may not need to be shoved out wide to help him find space. The likes of Barkley, Watkins and Traore should be able to take some of that burden off him.

That is the only reason he was moved to the wing in the first place after all, right?