FLVillan

6 hours ago, VillaCas said:

Anyone know where I can watch the match around San Diego / Carlsbad area?

There used to be a pub called The Shakespeare in San Diego.  Played all the matches.  Haven't been out that way in about five years, but I assume it's still there...

28 minutes ago, Xela said:

Imagine the manager having a say on the players we sign.

What witchcraft is that?! 

Rumour has it that Klopp has no idea who Liverpool will sign. Diaz turned up in an Amazon Prime box with a bow on it. 

The is complete BS!........ I've never had an amazon prime box with a bow....

8 hours ago, Aston_Villan4 said:

Should Villa have been given a penalty when Baileys shot hit Fofanas arm?

I was texting with a mate who is die-hard Leicester during the game.  I said if we were one of the Sky 6 it would have gone to VAR and been given as a penalty.  No doubt whatsoever.  He said I completely agree.  

On 19/04/2022 at 10:56, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I don't think people are referring to his grammar, punctuation and literature skills when they say this. lol

They are probably referring to how natural, honest and sturdy he comes across, as well as having some banter.

Modern " British " Footballers, Managers and Footballing English isn't good in the first place to begin with.

I think he speaks very well.... for a scouser... 

5'11" but a true monster...

I think we need two physically/mentally strong players to play centre-back and defensive central midfield.  If there's a decent striker out there that is willing to come to us (Jesus? Firminho?) then that should be the next priority.  Take the highest offer for Mings and Luiz (unless he signs a new deal by June, as he shouldn't remain at the club to run down his contract).  Also consider selling McGinn (at a massive profit) if FFP is a problem.  I'd keep Konsa, Hause and Chambers.

3 minutes ago, Rustibrooks said:

I'd be interested in him being one of our inside forwards, but he doesn't really score a lot. I like his versatility though and it gives us a bit of flexibility up top, I'd entertain this if we shift a few of our forward players.

I actually have always liked the lad (Jesus) and think that Pep's system/style just doesn't suit him.  I think if he were in a team where he was a central striker he would score more.  Not necessarily at an Aguero level, but he strikes me as a similar type.  

This won't be popular, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I think Mings will be replaced as captain, and quite possibly will be moved on this summer.  Here's my reasoning:  His defending in and around the penalty area is simply not good enough.  He doesn't get tight enough to opponents and gives them too much space/time on the ball.  He also drops off/blocks the view of the goalkeeper too much.  He is a good defender when the game is in front of him and does a decent job organizing and keeping the shape, but once the ball is past him and/or he is faced with 1v1 situations he is not very good at all.  In fact, I would argue that he is poor.  It's the "ugly" side of defending where he struggles and I think Gerrard will have seen this, both live and in film reviews.  Before Gerrard came in, Smith had dropped him for a game until he got back in due to an injury.  Let me be clear - I like Mings and he has been a good player for us, especially in the second half of the promotion season.  We would need to bring in a very good player to replace him and I have no idea if that player is out there and available.  But if he is, then I wouldn't lose any sleep if we can sell him on - his stock is high as a current England international and still being the right side of 30 years old. 

That 0-4 loss today looked like Liverpool were playing against a third division team who were just trying to keep the score down.  I don't know how they're even sixth... 

11 hours ago, villan-scott said:

They break yer’art Tom. 
 

mate. 

He literally looks like he's about to burst into tears.... 

6-1 Blackpool.... 

11 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Didn't Stoke finish three years running in top 10 with Hughes? They also were playing some nice football with Bojan-Shaqiri-Arnautovic for about 18 months.

Think Hughes just stayed there too long and giving the gig to Lambert in Jan 2018 remains one of the most bizarre prem managerial decisions in last decade.

Think more apt with Burnley is what happened to Bolton post Big Sam and Charlton after Curbishley. 

Your examples of Charlton and Bolton are better examples and are probably more definitive,  but I firmly believe the demise of Stoke started as soon as they binned Pulis.  Hughes inherited a solid core/spine and as they aged the team started to fall apart.  

On 14/04/2022 at 14:48, ciggiesnbeer said:

good good I am happy with this.


 

Let's face it, we are never going to be popular with neutrals anyway, as proven by the pathetic love-in with all things Ipswich in 1980-81.  I'd much rather people say they think we're a dirty side than too nice.... 

I actually don't think Gerrard is making a radical change in terms of the types of players he wants.  He's tweaked the style by playing without traditional wingers - and let's face it, none of our current wingers (ElGhazi, Trez, Bert) have done enough to convince me they'd be good enough at another level anyway.  His signings are in line with what Smith was talking about last summer - those with some proven premier league experience.  The only player over 30 in the squad is Young, who is on a short term deal.  What he has changed, which makes perfect sense, is that he wants the reserve side to be playing the same system as the first team, regardless of results.  It's no use having a reserve team playing whichever way they want and then bringing players through who aren't ready for the style/system.  He has also not been afraid to blood some youngsters and send others on decent loans to ensure they're playing regularly instead of sitting on the bench.  Once we were out of both cups it made no sense to keep the likes of Archer, Davis etc around for the odd five minutes. 

5 hours ago, icouldtelltheworld said:

100% this. You get some very condescending takes towards Dyche and Burnley, but he and his players have done a fantastic job during their time in the PL

Stoke should be the warning to owners who want to see "better football."   They got rid of Pulis and replaced him with Hughes to "play more progressively."  People can say what they want about these so-called one-dimensional boring managers, but the way they do things allows their teams to punch above their weight (significantly).... If you gave the Burnley squad to any other manager they'd have been relegated before Christmas...

I think our recent fortunes have exposed what very often gets exposed in managers who were once top players.  Gerrard is struggling to deal with a group of players that don't have that same inner drive and steel that came naturally to him as a player.  So many top players have struggled to make it in the coaching world for the reason stated - they cannot relate to players that don't have the ability or competitiveness that they did.  

So.... Danny Ings.... 

58 minutes ago, Wurzel said:

For a manager only 5 months into a job, he is digging out the players publically quite a bit. It might work, or it might be the seeds of his own downfall, not sure which yet. One thing I do know is that we as fans should not be hearing about this in leaks or in post match interviews. Do not wash your dirty laundry in public.

 Looks to me like a tweet from a fan website coming from a newspaper with not a solitary quote... If he did say that inside the dressing room to players, good for him, and shame on the idiot who decided to share publicly what was said in the privacy of the dressing room. 

2 minutes ago, R.Bear said:

In terms of the money spent, he's very quickly becoming one of our worst ever signings. I feel there is zero chance he will be a Villa player next season and thank god for that.

Can't disagree that, to date, he has been a disaster.  Having said that, to say he has had a disrupted first season would be putting it mildly and for that reason I can see the club giving him the benefit of a full (hopefully injury-free) pre-season and see how he performs.  Can't say I'd lose any sleep if he were moved on though.... 

On 09/04/2022 at 18:45, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I know sounds " crazy ".... But hear me out.

What if we buy better players in key areas... And actually get better  ( Stranger things have happened )

Meanihg no matter who the Manager is, they will have better players.

He bought Chambers for 1.5 mill and there was a mini meltdown about him, yet now most are calling for him to start. Lol

Well said.  If we buy better players he will likely be labeled a "chequebook manager" by some, but BFR was labeled the same and he got us to our best league position and played some of the best football I'd seen at the Villa since the 1977-82 period. BFR brought in a shed load of new players and was famously quoted as saying when he took over from Venglos that we'd have been bang in trouble if we hadn't bought the likes of Richardson, Houghton, Staunton, Atkinson, Regis, Saunders, Parker, Barrett, Teale....

A manager saying that players need to perform to keep their place is hardly controversial.  And quite frankly, if said players are negatively affected by that then they are simply reinforcing the point that they don't have the required skillset or mentality to thrive at a higher level.  If that were me as a player my reaction would have been, "I'll show him I'm good enough." 

6 minutes ago, Made In Aston said:

I've seen enough from him to know he is a good defender. His form isn't great but that doesn't mean he isn't capable of a consistently high performance level. 

Agreed.  There seems to an almost universal condemnation of Konsa on here after the spurs game, but I just watched the four goals again and I'll stick with my original assertion that Mings was abysmal in three out of the four, and arguably all four.  First goal he just stood three yards away from Son and stayed there while Konsa and Cash tried to get blocks and tackles in.  Second goal he did the same thing when 1v1 with Kulusevski - gave him time to take two touches and stood off hoping the ball might hit him.  Third goal was the exact same scenario, giving the same player acres of space to pick up his head and pull it back for Son while he stood three yards off him dancing back and forth. There is a threat on your goal - get tight and force the attacker to get his head down ffs!!!  Attackers should not be turning and getting two and three unchallenged touches in the penalty area.  It's basics. For the fourth he stayed square and wide as Konsa went to challenge Kane near the halfway line as Son simply ran into the space that he should have been automatically dropping into.   The fact that our right back was the closest man to their second striker when he scored from a long ball down the middle is laughable.  For all his faults and errors yesterday, at least Konsa was trying to defend, not standing off his man and giving him the freedom to do what he wanted... So many goals we concede are similar, with Mings dropping off and trying to be a second goalkeeper.  Martinez has his view blocked by him so often it must drive him bonkers... 

I think, long term Digne will turn out to be very decent.  He's come in to a side that is in serious transition tactically.  Next season will be the time to assess him properly.  His service quality is far better and he can get past a man.   Too easy to say he's no better than Targett, when Targett only ever looked decent with no fans in stadiums.  The same Targett who started the season very poorly and wanted to cut and run as soon as he had serious competition for his place.  He also spent his first season with us coming off injured just as much as Digne has....then miraculously recovering to play the next match.  Don't get me wrong, I like Targett, but he's not as good as he's being made out to be, and he clearly didn't want to fight for his place.... 

Granted, Konsa was poor and Chambers must be wondering what he did wrong.  But I see very little being said about how poor Mings was today.  First goal he stood and watched as the ball dropped, first off the Konsa header then again after the Kane shot.  He literally just stood to the side and watched Konsa attempt three challenges.  He'd probably tell you he was "marking" Son, yet when the ball came to Son he was too far off him as usual and gave him the time and space to pick his spot.  On the Kuvulescki goal, I just knew what was going to happen as soon as I saw he was 1v1 against Mings.  Once again, never got close enough and tried to be a goalkeeper instead of closing down the ball.  On the breakaway goal by Son, as the ball went up to Kane he should have been dropping off behind Konsa (central defending basics of one presses, one drops) to cover the exact piece of space that Son ran into. For me, he is by far the weakest link in that defence.  Unfortunately, we also rely on his voice too much to keep the organization back there as the others are like church mice.... It's a problem that needs to be sorted in the summer. 

4 hours ago, Dale said:

I'd be shook and pissed off if Gerrard took the captaincy off Mings. The bloke makes me proud of the club and is a genuine leader in a way that very very few individuals are. Him and Henderson are the two folks that come to mind in terms of captains in this league. 

I like Mings and think he is a really good vocal organizer and is essential from that perspective for sure.  Our defense struggles without him as they are quiet.  However, I also think he struggles with concentration at times and rushes of blood at others, especially when things aren't going well.  And his habit of dropping off and playing like a second goalkeeper costs us goals, when he should be attacking the ball and closing down.  A captain (leader) needs to be the one who keeps his head when all around him is chaos.  I'm not certain that we can say that about Mings.  The best two captains that I've seen at the Villa were Dennis Mortimer and Kevin Richardson.  Neither were especially vocal but vocal enough, and they were consistency personified.  Having said all that, we don't really have anyone in the squad right now that seems like a better option than Mings.