El Segundo
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Everything posted by El Segundo
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I'm probably in a minority of one here but I never really took to Ashly Young MkI. I thought he was over rated, dived too much, and a bit of a nob as a person. Much rather have this Emery version of Bailey, he looks like he'll make something happen every time he has the ball. Peak Barry would be brilliant in this team and might have the edge over Dougie. Yorke was world class, or near as dammit, by the time we sold him, at which point he turned into a full on nob with the volume turned up to 11. So Ollie for me, if nothing else then just for not being a dick. Loved John Gidman when I was a lad and watched him from the youth team all the way through. McGinn > Mortimer for me, better technique.
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Possibly Watkins best performance in a Villa shirt despite not getting a goal himself. Especially second half. His control was much better than usual and he was giving their defenders nightmares. That Rogers looks like a real player, a taller version of Ramsey. He and Tielemans were also excellent. Our goals all came from quality passing and great finishes. Very impressive after a hard week.
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We didn't deserve it but I'll take it. Bloody awful performance overall. Felt like our entire midfield decided to take the night off. Oh well onwards and upwards.
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Refs lost it
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The Italian national side isn't what it was, and frankly even then I'm still surprised he gets picked. It's a bit like when England kept picking Joe Hart who was garbage even before Citeh shipped him out. I suppose he must have shown some from for Roma or Gala, but neither seem too bothered about letting him go. If our spending is going to be limited by FSR and FFP then I would prefer not to gamble a chunk of it on someone who has fluffed pretty much every chance to impress that we've given him. I'd rather get Philogene or Archer back.
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MOTM clearly Emi. They played like us but at a higher tempo and I thought they were the better side overall. Ref was massively inconsistent, gave free kicks for being barely touched, then let robust challenges go and reserved his yellow card for our fouls only. We created virtually zero after the subs - Duran and Diaby barely got a touch, Zaniolo was his usual ineffective self. Not sure I fancy our chances with only a one goal lead but we probably didn't deserve even that - although, just seen the penalty incident again and it looks a clear pen.
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I don't think he lacks effort, he just doesn't seem to offer much else. Can't seem to keep the ball, doesn't really create anything, not much of a threat to the opposition, too often a bit of a passenger. No way should we sign him.
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Indeed - perhaps they could even call it "No-pride Park". Saying they will spend the most ever for a Championship club in the Summer seems odd. First, they may not even be in the Championship by then, so a little presumptuous. . Second, they can hardly spend it on players and stay within PSR/FFP limits, because their revenue can't be all that.
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When he's been missing before he's been missed, the midfield is always poorer without him. He's always had a problem giving stupid fouls away though. When he first arrived I lost count of the times he'd get caught on the ball and lose it and then concede a foul with a clumsy attempt to get it back. He's way past the getting caught on the ball habit (which Kamara seemed to inherit) but still seems to go into a lot of challenges like a runaway train, going straight through players. Citeh's second goal came from a needless free kick concede by Doug, very shortly after he'd conceded one in a similar spot. He comes across as not being able to learn from his mistakes in that respect and perhaps not the brightest of individuals.
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Two points absolutely thrown away, and possibly 4th place with it. Lost focus for a period yet again. It’s like they thought at 2-0 they could cruise a bit and you can’t do that in the PL. Emery has got to do something about that. Don’t think it happens with Mings there. Konsa’s worst game in years, offered little going forward, misplaced multiple passes, and lost the ball leading to the third. Just watched the goals back and have to give Pau much of the blame for the third, Diego told him to go with Wissa and he just stopped giving him a tap in. He was pretty poor for the second too. Bailey was off it a bit but was being double marked all through. Rogers reminds me a bit of Ramsey at times, looks a decent player and took his goal brilliantly. Ollie was living off scraps and did amazingly to get two. Finally, Luiz has to be one of the dumbest footballers around. Constantly gives away unnecessary free kicks by getting suckered in, but getting himself a yellow in the last seconds for a two game ban was moronic even by his standards.
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Frustrating because despite all the changes we looked ok first half and should have gone in level at half time. Instead we decided to press the self destruct button again. Luiz gave a stupid foul away just outside the box, they wasted it so he gave them a second one. Beyond dumb. Zaniolo should be ashamed of himself, pretty much jumping out of the way instead of holding the wall together. A weak challenge from Diaby led to the third, followed by another trip to the self destruct button by Chambers. You can't give gifts to teams like City.
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You just knew we would do something stupid to concede before half time. As if Douggie giving a needless free kick away in a dangerous place for the second time and risking a red wasn't stupid enough we then have Zaniolo doing a total bottle job in the wall. **** pussy.
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I don't think people who want to stay at VP are ignoring the issues, just that the same issues might be just as bad or even worse if we relocate. The references to other clubs spanking new stadiums failing to overcome similar issues illustrates the point.
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I don't think anyone is claiming the current site is perfect, just that there are already some advantages to it over potential alternatives. Does the perfect site even exist? Where has the transport infrastructure been designed specifically to cater for 60,000 + crowds every couple of weeks ? Etihad and Olympic Stadium possibly, but do they actually work any better in practice than other venues? The NEC, on paper, looks a good bet but the M42 is a nightmare at the best of times. The lack of trains and carriages could be addressed between the club and the transport authorities, and if it was maybe fewer people would go by car.
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From the Laws of the game on handball It's an offence if a player • touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger. A player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation. By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised Can anyone explain why or how this did not apply to the penalty we were denied?
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Not sure about that. If Liverpool and West Ham play each other , the most points England can get in the QFs is 5. That's 2 for each win, plus 1 bonus for one team making it to the next round. With one team left, the most England can get for the semi will also be 5, and then 3 for the final if they win it. That's a max of 13. If they avoid each other the max points England can get at the QF stage is 10 - 2 for each possible win, plus 2 for each team making to the next round. If they both get through the most obtainable is again 10. If both get to the final there will be one bonus points plus 2 more for the winner. That's a potential total of 23 points. If they avoid each other and one of them wins but the other goes out at the QF stage, the successful team can still get a max of 13 points. As well as that, the unsuccessful team could still win one of their legs and get a further two points, so a max of 15 points. As far as I can see the only scenario with a lower potential maximum points than them playing each other is if they avoid each other but both go out. Based on that I'd say it's better for them to avoid each other. Yours nerdily.
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Generally thought to be better to be away first.
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Great win but kind of sad to see such a poor Ajax side these days. Not his biggest fan by any stretch but gave MOTM to Cash as he played well and without that goal line clearance at 1-0 the game could have gone very differently. Bailey back to his best after his dip on Sunday, and Diaby, finally, showing he can play a bit - still seems to lack confidence in himself though.
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The thread title refers to our future, not to where we were five years ago, or where we are now. Those details provide context and show that the juggernaut has been heading in the right direction for five years, with the odd detour, and has advanced further than most of us could have dreamed of in that time. I read the question as being whether even further progress is possible and the direction of travel sustainable. I'm not as optimistic about that as I was a few months ago, for various reasons. That's not a complaint, it's more an observation.
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Most clubs are in the same boat as far as increasing revenue and managing FSR/FFR goes. I suppose at least we have someone with a track record of high achievement in that area even if he is an absolute arsehole of a human being, as alleged, and as he sometimes appears. Since the turn of the year though I have had a couple of concerns about the current regime that have tempered my optimism a little. One is that Newcastle, Chelsea and Spurs, even Man Yew away and Luton away in the second half, have all shown that if you press us high and mark everyone else to prevent a longer out ball, we inevitably buckle. Emery doesn't seem to have an answer to this, and the more other coaches and teams see it happen, the more they will cotton on to it and apply it. In contrast Forest, Sheffield Untied and Man Yew and Luton first halves let us play our game and we were able to play through them and create loads of chances. In 2024, every team that's applied it from the start has beaten us comfortably, United overturned a two goal deficit in 45 minutes, and Luton almost did the same. Second it dawned on me yesterday that Monchi has not yet really sourced many signings who can be considered a success so far. Torres has been great of course, but I think Unai was always going back for him regardless of Monchi,. Tielemans has been good in patches, poor in others, but was a know quantity rather than needing to be identified by Monchi. Diaby and Zaniolo do seem to have been identified by Monchi and both have been massive disappointments, the former a very expensive one. Jury still out on Rogers, and the two young full backs of course. Don't know if I've missed someone but so far there's little to suggest we have secured the game changing recruitment guru we hoped we'd be getting. Add to the disappointment of the stadium expansion being shelved and our results taking a dip then I don't see our future shining quite so brightly as I did a few months ago. But still a million times brighter than just a couple of years ago,
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Didn't look to be much purpose to Zaniolo's play to me apart from when he chased back to prevent an attack. Going forward, his main role, he didn't make much happen at all. Diaby actually did bring the ball forward and get some crosses and shots in although much of it was poorly executed as is his wont. I just don't see why Zaniolo should get credit for effort alone, that's the very least we should expect. There's misplacing a pass and then there's misplacing a pass when under no pressure that gifts a goal to the opposition. Having got away with it first half he did it again. Neither were very pleasant to my eyes.
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That was earlier in the season when we had less need to rely on fringe or backup players, and when I think not many teams had worked out that we struggle against a high press and man marking - tactics successfully employed against us by Newcastle, Chelsea and Spurs since the new year. At that point we were competitive with more or less any club. And it's not just today, I'd say recent results and performances indicate injuries and suspensions have meant a bigger drop off in quality and mentality than it has for some of our rivals. Since peak mentality against City and Arsenal, we've bottled some big moments when the pressure has been on - e.g. the chance to go top against Sheffield united, the chance to effectively put ourselves beyond United's reach at VP, and to establish a decent gap between us, Spurs and United today. Doing it for half a season doesn't make you ready in my view, but I do agree we should not give up on it.
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It's not about coming on and just running around a lot though is it? We may have well have kept Trezeguet if we are to be satisfied with that. We need players coming on who can add some quality as well as up the energy levels. At the moment nether Diaby or Zaniolo bring much to the table in terms of effective contributions or end product. As for your Konsa comment, he played a poor ball out of defence to McGinn first half which we were lucky to get away with, as well the one second half which led to the goal. Defended ok but his playing out was ropey today,
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Today showed we probably don't quite have the strength in depth or the mentality for CL football yet but we shouldn't be giving up on it, especially as we can strengthen in the summer knowing we'll have some extra revenue. It's going to be harder after this season if the likes of Newcastle, Chelsea, and Man Yew get their acts together.
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Bailey should have been key for us to day but he looked either not fully fit or unwell or something, he just wasn't his usual self today. He still looked more likely to make something happen than Diaby or Zaniolo. Watkins seemed strangely reluctant to shoot. Gave Cash MoM just because he did some good things as well as some bad, whereas most others were just bad. Would possibly have been McGinn but he threw away any chance of us coming back with a stupid challenge, and we're now without him for three games. I actually think Emery needs to take responsibility for two things. One, we once again came out after half time half asleep and lacking focus and quickly conceded. It's happened so many times this season I've lost count and I think teams have cottoned on and step it up the first five to ten minutes after half time to take advantage of an obvious weakness. Two, sticking to your principles is all well and good but surely there's a case for going long if you've been closed down by a swarm of attackers - it's better to concede possession by hitting it long into their half than it is to concede possession in the final third trying to pass it out through them when the odds are stacked against you. It's cost us against Newcastle, Chelsea in the Cup and again today.
