JPJCB

If they had a better manager than clueless ole I’d have my money on them

Genuine question: why does Levy not get the respect he arguably deserves for how he’s managed Spurs? We all look at Leicester as the model to follow but why does no one look at Spurs as a model? When he took over in 2001 they’d finished 12th in the league and weren’t seen as a major force at all. Since then, he’s turned them into a club which regularly competes for the top 4, at times has competed for the PL, and reached a CL final. And he’s done all that without an absolute ton of money at his disposal (unlike all the other money bag top 6). Do people just dislike him cause he’s a tough negotiator?

Haha true- though he scored the last one from the left not the middle

Agreed re his pace. I actually thought he looked more impressive on the left once Caleb came on where there were a couple of times where he burned his full back for pace. He wasn’t really as involved in the middle (not that I’m complaining given he scored twice)

I think people are just frustrated as there was a lot of hype when we signed him, with some suggestion that we’d bought him for way cheaper than his value, and yet we’ve seen no benefits as of yet. Missing pre season is a real missed opportunity in his villa career. No one expected him to settle straight away post jan but those transitions between seasons can make a big difference (see luiz pre and post the COVID break; Targett difference between 1st season and 2nd season). If he’d have been fit through pre season I’d have some confidence he might come good. Given he missed it I genuinely worry that he won’t ever get going for us as this season will be another off and on one and then he’s nearly 2 years into his vill career

Of the youngsters, gotta say that JPB looks most ready for the first team (despite not scoring any!). I can't quite put my finger on what's so impressive about him cause he's not quite as technical as some of the others (i.e. Chuk). I think it's mentality - he's got a maturity and composure that makes him look a bit older than his years. He's also very intelligent with his movement and vision

Decent half for El Ghazi, Hourihane, JPB. I'd like to see a bit more of Carney. Lovely touches when on the ball but not very involved

I think young going was the one I was most ok with at the the time despite how good he was for us. Barry was really gutting cause he was the first to leave of that era and city were basically our rivals, plus he had a bit of a “mr Aston Villa” vibe like grealish. Milner was annoying cause he’d only just begun showing what he really could do and then city ruined him by playing him RM- such a waste. compared to that I could understand young going more. He’d given us 4-5 years of top form and was going to a team guaranteed to win titles. Plus he never forced a move

That approach used to breed some classics from shearer: “he picks it up here, he takes it there, he scores it there”…top analysis Alan!

That made me feel really uncomfortable at the time. Not saying that Schmeichel intended it in this way but it looked particularly weird in the context of George floyd/racial connotations (see here: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/02/25/oh-god-whats-he-doing-ian-wright-blasts-foxes-mans-actions-towards-aston-villa-player/%3famp). In any case, agree with the original post that he seems to have become a bit of an arse

Watched the full game and it’s obvious he’s just not used to the rest of the team and how we play. He showed good moments- a couple of precision passes and excellent defensive work. But his influence on the game was pretty limited. We’ll start to see the best of him when he has the confidence with his team mates and to create. have a look at grealish’s first 3 games for city and you’ll see the exact same thing- couple of nice touches, a lucky goal but generally looks a bit lost. I’m confident buendia will come good

I’m not saying we need them. I think we should basically use this as another pre-season type opportunity to boost fitness/get the team gelling. Mings and Martinez need that based on their performances so far and buendia still looks like he’s lacking fitness

I think this is one of Smith’s great strengths actually. Someone posted here a while back a lecture he did on building culture (or something like that). It was clear from that he’s they type of leader who has the security in himself to know his own weaknesses and surround himself with other professionals without being threatened by them

This I wonder whether he should try to convert himself into a striker as he has a good eye for finishing, decent movement and reasonable (if not spectacular pace)

Need to use this to boost the fitness of some of the experienced crop as well as giving a couple of young uns. I’d actually go with a reasonably strong team for that reason: Martinez guilbert tuanzebe mings targett Sanson Luiz Chukwumeka Buendia JPB Wesley Subs: steer, cash, hause, j Ramsey, Bailey, Ings, a Ramsey, Nakamba

Wishes he’d picked us over the barcodes

Don't be fooled by their 11 - they still have Gayle on the bench who will score his regular inevitable goal against us

Yep this is the team- apart from potentially young for targett if the latter isn’t fit

If he’s injured it raises even more questions about the pre season prep. Complete mess with players now dropping like flies/ picked despite not being match fit

Source?

I believe it a bit more with Emi. As his interview the other day showed, he knows what it’s like to not be appreciated by the “bigger clubs”. He’s also already achieved massive success with his international team. Plus I wonder how much the standard of football really changes between PL and CL football for a goalkeeper. (feel free to quote this hubris when he joins city next year…)

Just an absurd post

If we’re done I can’t help but think this window was a missed opportunity for us to really show intent. The times have moved on from when teams could have done a City/Chelsea and net spend their way to the top. But this summer was an opportunity given the grealish money coming in plus the temporary relaxation of FFP (not that I can claim to understand how it works). So far we’ve just about replaced grealish in theory with a net spend which is negative. For me that’s not good enough and I’d have liked to see more ambition/statement signings with at least another couple of big names coming in (I.e like JWP). I might be wrong and buendia/Bailey/Ings will more than compensate for loss of grealish and/or we have big plans for January or next summer, but so far I can’t say we’ve made the most of the opportunity the grealish cash presents for us

Still a big fan of his but for me he’s the weakest link in our defence. Good on the ball and generally solid but he has a tendency to lose his head a bit (the sending off at home vs Man City was a good example). And he’s not adventurous enough going forward as others have said