ChesterDad

Very sad really - Bert is genuinely one of the most gifted footballers I have seen. 
Absolutley ridiculous what this man can do with a football, and I acknowledge this is a view held by a shrinking minority but in my humble opinion - he is more Gifted than Bailey - it’s my only disappointment that Unai could not give him more minutes.

I really hope that he can stay in England, but I doubt this very much

He took a little while getting up to speed, when he first came to the club.

I have no doubts he will be back to his best very soon. 

1 minute ago, Tom13 said:

What does this tweet even mean? I feel it's worded horrendously. And if it means recruitment for Al Ettifaq then obviously there's no way Steven would want him seen as they fell out.

Did they fall out? - however I doubt given the $$ signs both of them would swallow their pride if so.

I hope this is not so. Bert’s abilities should be showcased on a much more prestigious stage imo 

Absolutely no thank you - Why would we want a petulant overhyped inconsistent footballer.

I want Bert to get more minutes than sign Zaha - Bert can do things, Zaha could only dream of. Yes Bert is also inconsistent, so what’s the point in trading places 

On 08/01/2024 at 09:11, Stevo985 said:

But none of that is regarding the high line. 

We struggle against teams who play a low block. It's not unique for this to be a thing for good teams.

Not playing a high line won't change that.

 

The high line isn't just about the defence. It's so key to how we play with the ball as well. So yes, I do find it perplexing that people are questioning it

I say again - are people really questioning the validity of a high line? I’m sure you would agree that it’s anxiety provoking in so much that if it goes wrong, the opposition are quite likely to get a shot away? In the course of a match, people’s anxieties are naturally running higher than normal, so a high line is quite easily going to give rise to this, when it sometimes gets compromised.

3 hours ago, Villatillidie95 said:

Woke up today with a feeling we will draw Sheffield Wednesday away. 

Nope it will be Liverpool or Man City away. Put your house on it.

2 hours ago, mrchnry said:

Just had the third kit delivered. A post Christmas present to myself. The quality of the shirt is way inferior to Kappa. It feels really cheap. Thank god Castore will be gone next season. 

Sorry to hear this - has it been confirmed they are gone?

Baggies at VP for me please.

2 hours ago, Tom13 said:

Yep, I'd sign him.

Me too - he will come good 

Just now, Stevo985 said:

The high line is literally the reason we do so well. We’re as good as we’ve been for decades, and it’s because of how we play. 
 

How anyone could be questioning it after a year of Emery and how well we’re doing is beyond me. 
 

It works. It works really really well. Why on earth would anyone want to change it?

I’m not sure I know anyone who wishes to change - but you can’t deny it’s anxiety provoking at times. Bit like a rollercoaster - people know it’s gonna scare, but still enjoy the ride. 

10 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

I can’t believe we’re over a year into Emery’s reign, sitting second in the table, with one of the best defensive records and goal differences in the league… and people are still questioning the high line

I don’t think anyone intends this to be a criticism of Unai at all, but equally I can understand that some people do not like the anxiety provoking moments that the high line induces at times 

Dougie or Ezri for me 

2 hours ago, MaVilla said:

tbh, my opinion is that will be great to get him off the wage bill in Jan, or the summer when his contract expires.

i believe he earns in the region of 70-80k a week, thats unreal for a bit part player who may as well be called Bertie "sick note" Traore.

i accept he had some fun moments of skill here and there, as well as the odd important goal, but he has been a very poor signing overall.

I’m sorry you feel this way. In over 50 years of watching Villa - I can say that Bertie is possibly the most naturally gifted footballer I have ever seen at Villa, not the best footballer - that’s Paul.

But Bertie can do things with a football that very few others can do. Yes he is inconsistent, no he is probably not drilled into the ways of many of todays stereo typed players, but he is a gifted genius and I personally love every minute he is on the pitch

He is still such a joy to watch - He must be absolutely ridiculous in training to play against.

I’m such a big fan and would love to see more minutes for him.

1 hour ago, Zatman said:

He has got some assists and has defensively been fine but is too one dimensional with the ball for me

I feel you are being a bit harsh too - he has been fine this season, we are just very lucky to have such a fantastic replacement 

13 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Wonder if he'll be fit in time for Afcon... so he can go get injured again?

Hope so JV - the world deserves to see this magician in action .

Just wished Unai felt the same

16 hours ago, DJBOB said:

Just signed a new contract with them. No chance of that happening. 

Sorry I didn’t know this. Thank you

Hwang from the Dingles would be a great signing imo, I think he would offer a good deal of support and/or alternatives to Ollie.

Very technical and intelligent player and seems very humble and focussed. 

3 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

I was never thinking we could challenge for the title. But in reality us fans were only thinking that way, a maybe still are, just to cover our blushes.  Putting the forest game in a box, as we genuinely had an off day there, we defo should have beat that poor Sheffield United team and kept the 2 goal lead last night. Just those games would have put us 2 points clear at the top, 2 games that kinda just slipped through our grasp, rather than being outplayed. Even if we conceeded that Man U will always gonna beat us, we would still be a clear 2nd, that Sheffield game was the one that truely *****ed us.

Personally I think last night might be what proves to have the biggest negative impact on the players and their mentality.

I was not expecting us to beat Sheff Utd - Wilder is a cagey old sod, who loves nothing more than stealing points off the “ bigger boys” 

And we did claw our way back into the game and finished on a high, whereas last night was the total opposite. 
I’m hoping for a good win against Burnley and hopefully a stellar signing to add a bit of new impetus

32 minutes ago, sidcow said:

There is one major major difference. 

Bailey had a year playing under Gerrard.  Anyone playing under Gerrard looked awful and can be excused for that period if their Villa career. 

Zaniolo has played exclusively under Emery. 

That's a big difference. Zaniolo isn't suddenly going to be coached into better performances. They've been working on him for months now. 

I’ll grant you the Gerrard factor - but let’s be fair Bailey showed nothing whatsoever during this tenure - I would have expected a little more even during this dark spell.

Zaniolo yes of course has also been poor, but I see enough to suggest there is a player in there, and I am willing to give him time.

35 minutes ago, lexicon said:

Of course you agree with him, you're far more concerned with not being wrong than anything rational. 

Utterly bizarre post I’m afraid @lexicon  the original poster was correct on all points in my opinion, it’s totally bizarre that you choose to respond in the manner that you did. IMO 

6 hours ago, KentVillan said:

I thought we were lucky to be 2-0 up in the first place tbh, and it wasn’t so much a question of tactics or game management as a lack of options. Utd might be a shambles but they have a wealth of good attacking talent to throw at any game, always capable of results like this.

Was a game where Mings would have helped a lot tbh. But Pau also a big loss.

Trust Unai to fix things pretty quickly as players come back from injury.

I totally agree - plus Utd were due a win, just why it had to be against us though ??

3 minutes ago, quazzie goat said:

Think we were a bit limited tonight on selection. Full strength (minus Mings and Buendia) I think we hold on and win comfortably. Biggest loss for me was the composure of Tielemans and Torres, which is what we lacked the most. Digne’s injury massively disrupted us too. 
 

No blame on Unai for me despite the massive frustration of losing after leading 2-0. Think the players needed this result to show you can’t switch off and hide from the ball when the going gets tough. 

My only thought would be that he was late changing things up - how many of us saw this coming ? So an elite coach must also have seen this coming right ? But I also acknowledge that sometimes in football it’s hard to halt momentum regardless of what a coach tries to do

3 minutes ago, WHY said:

Bailey has improved no doubt but he suits the way we play. If Zaniolo is going to play wide he needs to be able to beat a man. Bailey even when he wasn’t great could do this, his decision making was letting him down a lot of the time, not his ability. 

I kinda think you are trying to justify that you like many of us waited for Bailey to come good - yet you don’t think Zaniolo could do the same ?

I see zero between the Leon Bailey who first came to the club and Zaniolo 

1 minute ago, Delphinho123 said:

I’m not being funny Chester, but you’re not exactly the oracle saying you thought YT would come good. Bloke was one of the best central midfielders in the prem a couple of years back.

Im all for your optimism with when it comes to NZ, but so far, he’s been pathetic - Sheff Utd goal aside. 

This is one of the oddest posts you have put up and totally missed my point by a million miles