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TomC

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  1. TomC

    Douglas Luiz

    TomC replied to LondonLax's topic in Villa Talk

    While I won't be surprised if Man City or Arsenal throw silly money at him, I don't see him leaving until at least the summer if he leaves at all. I just don't think that we'll sell in January when we're fighting for a CL spot. And if we get a CL spot, we can take the money and increase his contract. It's clear he likes playing for Unai.
  2. TomC
    We'll be seeing that from City next week. I will be interested to see what Unai does tactically in that one.
  3. TomC
    If you have a subscription to the Athletic, the article is definitely worth the time to read. The bottom line is that we don't run a particularly high line. Not only, as quoted above, is our line's average position the 7th lowest in general, but our average position is the 6th lowest when the flag goes up. It just seems that we run a high line because we're so good at moving up at the right time. Tanswell goes through various triggers that time when we move up. Another subtlety that I had never noticed...our defenders are almost always turned sideways when running the trap so that they only have to turn 90 degrees if the ball gets behind them, but also only have to turn 90 degrees if they need to move up. He gave one example of a goal we conceded on a through ball where both Cash and Konsa got caught facing forward and had to turn 180 degrees to recover, giving the attacker the extra jump he needed to get clear to score. Tanswell is a good observer of tactics. I enjoy his articles. EDIT: Forgot to mention...Emi is in the top 1% of goalkeepers in the so-called Big 5 European leagues for the number of defensive actions outside his penalty area. That confirms the obvious...he's a big part of what makes our trap work.
  4. TomC
    Exactly. As I've said before, the best way to simplify the rule is to judge it based only on foot position.
  5. TomC
    Like I said, Detroit gets no respect!
  6. TomC
    To most Americans, Birmingham is a city in Alabama. Or, if you're in Detroit, it's a posh suburb north of town.
  7. TomC
    Born in the States, no connection to Brum...Villa by choice. I refereed basketball games in college (sorry, at university). When they had a shortage of soccer (sorry) referees in the spring, I got suckered into doing it even though I knew very little about the game. Eventually, I started watching professional matches so I could learn the game better and improve my refereeing. The year was 1992-93, the first year of the Premier League, and they had just started showing matches over here...back then, it was just one match per week, plus highlights from the others. Villa were in the title race that year, so they showed Villa quite often. I loved that team's attacking style...Saunders, Atkinson, Dailey, Parker. Admittedly, it took me a little while to appreciate good defending and Paul McGrath, but eventually, he became a favorite too. It probably helped that I'm from Detroit which, like Brum, is historically an industrial-heavy town that often doesn't get the respect it deserves. I think that I identified with that. I've been loyal ever since, through two cup wins and relegation. I've seen Villa play over here, but never at Villa Park. I'm planning on finally making the pilgrimage in April.
  8. TomC
    This doesn't surprise me. We hang out on VT because we don't have many other Villans around to talk with.
  9. TomC

    Title race 2023/4

    TomC replied to Jareth's topic in Villa Talk

    Is it likely that we'll win the title? No. Is it possible that we'll win the title? Like jayEm said, we'll have a better idea by December 9, but as of right now, I have to say, yes. And as long as it's possible, I'm going to hope.
  10. TomC
    I understand why they wait to put the flag up on a close offside, but at least three times today, Fulham had a player very obviously (2+ yards) offside and we still had to play on. It has gotten ridiculous. The stress it creates on the defenders can't help. It was refreshing to see the linesmen flag the obvious ones immediately against AZ on Thursday, so I think this may be a PL problem.
  11. TomC
    You and I will always disagree about Cash. I'm not blind to his weaknesses (concentration, final ball), but I just don't think one-on-one defending is one of them.
  12. TomC
    If we had stayed up 3-0, Unai probably would have put him in, but I can see why he hesitated given that Fulham had the upper hand towards the end. Not the best situation for your first match back.
  13. TomC
    I have to wonder if he has concentration issues. His problem used to be losing his mark at the back post, now occasional lapses on the offside trap. That said, he played really well otherwise. That tackle at the end of the first half should silence anyone who says that he can't defend one-on-one.
  14. TomC
    We rarely got out of second gear and didn't need to. McGinn was an obvious MOTM even before he scored the goal. He did it all today...passing, tackling, holding up the ball, getting fouled. Best performance by a Villan all year. Too bad Ollie didn't finish the late chance for a 4th because McGinn's work in creating it was immense. Konsa might have been MOTM on any other day and anchored the defence well. Tielemans justified his start and is looking settled. Emi, Cash, Pau, Kamara, Bailey, all solid. Diaby got into dangerous positions but his touch seems a little off right now. Ollie didn't get much service but took the best chance he got. Doug and Digne were relatively quiet. Unai walks on water.
  15. TomC
    Liverpool have had the same problem under Klopp. They usually have had a little more depth to deal with it than Newcastle or Spurs, but arguably at cost them at the last hurdle when they were going for the quad a couple years ago, and they've typically had off-years after their best seasons because they can't do it every year. Unai evolved his style mostly in Spain. People used to say that the Spanish and Italian leagues were slower than the German and English leagues because of the hotter weather. Maybe there's still some truth to it. Compare to Guardiola, contrast to Klopp. City play a lot slower than Liverpool do, which is why they've been able to sustain the success. It's not that Guardiola is "better" than Klopp tactically, it's because Klopp's system is more demanding physically.
  16. TomC
    Somehow I left him out of my list, but I agree with everyone who said Tielemans was very good tonight. You can see from his last few appearances (including as a sub in the PL) that he's beginning to settle here.
  17. TomC
    For the first 70 minutes or so, I thought that Emi, Lenglet, Digne, Kamara, McGinn, and Diaby played reasonably well. We were just frustrated by good defending. It's no coincidence that we got the winner after Doug came on. Other then Buendia, nobody in the team can unlock a defence like he can. I normally wouldn't give MOTM to someone who didn't play for most of the match, but he made the difference.
  18. TomC
    Agreed. We're playing some good football but just can't get the job done in the other side's box right now. At least we haven't given up any like we did against Forest.
  19. TomC

    Cameron Archer

    TomC replied to Zatman's topic in Villa Talk

    At the very least, McGinn, Bailey, Diaby, Watkins, Duran, Traore, Doug, Digne, Tielemans, and a healthy Buendia are all capable of it. They might not do it every time, but neither would Archer.
  20. TomC

    Lucas Digne

    TomC replied to villan-scott's topic in Villa Talk

    That's the fundamental difference between him and Moreno. Moreno likes to get behind the defenders and cut the ball back (or maybe run at the defenders). Digne is content to cross from deeper. When Moreno is back, the choice between them will depend on the tactics that Unai wants for the match.
  21. TomC
    With Cash playing the way he has been, it makes more sense for him to push forward and have Kamara slot back, particularly if the opponent is vulnerable on our right.
  22. TomC
    What a weird match...you would think that that Luton, after going down 1-0, would have chased the match, but they still sat back as if they knew it was hopeless and all they could do was hope to minimize goal difference in case it matters in the relegation battle. So this is what it's like being elite. I kinda like it. Beats being on their end of things. Good teams win the matches they should win...and, Wolves aside, we're doing that. I'm looking forward to late November/early December with Spurs, City, and Arsenal in four matches...it's time to see just how good we are.
  23. TomC
    Just saw that AFP is reporting that the Italian FA will not be filing charges against Zaniolo because they did not find evidence that he bet on football.
  24. TomC
    Remember when Pochettino was many people's favorite to replace SG? Look at Chelsea now. I know that Chelsea has many more problems than just the manager, but still... If it's true that we approached Poch first and he turned us down, that was a very fortunate rejection. (By the way, Unai had a better record at PSG than Poch did.)
  25. TomC

    Clément Lenglet

    TomC replied to Tom13's topic in Villa Talk

    Good point. I hadn't been focusing on earlier in the play. I still question whether he let up at the end of his recovery run. Anyway, he looked good other than that.
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