KentVillan

Anyway, the good news is Mings now knows a move to a Big 6 side will guarantee him an England place, regardless of how he performs. The depressing reality of life as a Villa fan. I like to think Mings doesn't think that way (and that Southgate will be sacked soon, anyway) but he must be gutted to miss out.

I wasn't justifying Southgate's thought processes, but he was at that game I think? And we conceded 4 goals. FWIW I can't remember Mings being particularly at fault for any of them...

More likely to be the Newcastle defeat tbh

And "woke", which infuriates half the population.

Exactly the kind of thing that would see Mings ridiculed for months tbh. I'm actually open to the idea that Mings is only getting near the England side because there's a dearth of decent English CBs. But I do think he's very unlucky to not be in that squad. Gerrard partly responsible, but also Southgate's strange team selection policies that seem to be a mix of whether you play for Big 6, whether you smile a lot at England training camps, and how much shit the media will give him for leaving someone out.

Actively want England to lose now. Pints flying in the air and people singing SOUTHGATE YOU'RE THE ONE combined with the Christmas Drinks crowd. Lord give me strength

Struggling to deal with the conflicting emotions of Mings getting a deserved place in the squad (good news for him, bad news for Villa)... Southgate getting dog's abuse off fans of other clubs (great news)... but it's because they all think Mings is shit (bad news, why does everyone hate him so much). Need to lie down

I think people are getting a bit overexcited by us beating a Man Utd team that was missing Bruno Fernandes, had a lazy Ronaldo up top who allowed us to knock it around at the back, and has been mediocre away from home this season. Unai has clearly improved the performance already, but I want to see how he gets on with the away trip to Brighton, and then whether we can sustain form through a few games before believing anything better than 10th is realistic. Also an injury to Bailey or one of the back 5 could cause us some problems. Still a work in progress, but am optimistic now that we can look up the table instead of worrying about what’s going on below us.

I don’t think it’s his personality that is the issue. He seems like a nice, humble guy. But he simply isn’t a busy, pressing, hustling, tracking kind of player, and that’s probably what we want across the midfield and attack now.

Pete Waterman?

Having same problem - definitely not my connection, as getting occasional “site unavailable” messages as well when it loads.

I disagree, and pass completion % doesn’t take into account other key things like: - how quickly does he release the ball (ie does he keep the tempo going or does he slow the game and let oppo get set?) - how good is he at receiving the ball under pressure and not losing it at that point? - what is his range of passing? - how progressive are his short / medium / long passes? - is he picking the best option? On most of these, I think Sanson is better than McGinn, although I agree there’s always been an element of “the grass is always greener” with him. But he doesn’t do that thing McGinn does where he takes a couple of touches to get it under, lets two players press him, and then turns into a blind alley because he can only knock it off his left. That’s why I think people describe him as a more calm and composed player. It’s not a myth.

Can someone show me a CB who doesn't make mistakes that lead to goals. I would have said VvD before, but he's been a bit shaky this season. This season Saliba and Gabriel have looked exceptionally good, but it won't last. It's literally impossible. Also the Zlatan stamp, the tussles with Haaland, Ronaldo, etc. are part of what make Mings a GOOD player. He doesn't shirk a battle.

5th Lord Salisbury resigned under Chamberlain in 1938 (junior minister, though) and under Macmillan in 1957

David Davis under Cameron and May Herbert Samuel under Lloyd George and Macdonald Struggling to find any others!

Nice to see everyone getting along in On Topic for once. Pumping Utd at VP will do that!

Yes I’m not opposed to him. Definitely not a critic. Plus I get the impression the players like working with him. Just feels like a work in progress. Hopefully with Unai getting us more attacking chances, the set piece goals will start to come.

Good finishers have “loose ankles”. Your Solskjaer / Henry / Aguero types can find all 4 corners from any angle, and hit it with power, slot it or dink it. Bailey has this, I *think*. I don’t believe Watkins does. His standard finish is a power shot on target, but usually no real attempt to find the corners. But Watkins is a tireless workhorse, good with his back to goal, good under the high ball, and probably offers enough to be worth persevering with until we can sign a similar profile of quick, physical striker with a bit more technical quality (who will likely cost a fortune). He could end up being a squad player here for a few more seasons tbh. His attitude is good, and he causes teams problems.

“They have more DNA in common with CRABS than with you or me”

I think in fairness we watch every single set piece in match play, and while we’re not noticeably *awful* at them, we’re hardly the stand out team in the league. By the sounds of that interview, Gerrard was (correctly) delegating that to his set piece coach, so something wasn’t quite working. Anyway as @Tomaszksays, there’s value in just getting the simply / obvious / basic stuff right, so the good thing is they’ve spotted the problem eventually. Just a bit surprised it was a big revelation for a guy who supposedly spends all his time analysing this stuff. I don’t think we need to know the ins and outs of what he says to the players to have an opinion on it. One thing I did wonder is if the whole argument between Luiz and Buendia before the Digne free kick was a deliberate distraction (like Ashley Young taking the ball for Ings’s penalty). If so, very clever, and fair play to him.

I disagree a bit re Gerrard. Yes he could articulate his point a bit more politely, but his job (and our Premier League status!) was on the line and our set piece coach was making fans scratch their heads, too. Surely if that’s all you look at day in, day out, you can see that the walls are closer in the games than they are in training, and adjust for it? Bit surprised it took so long tbh!

Could argue that Kante pretty much did a Maradona at Leicester. Especially as he’s gone on to win another league title, Champions League and World Cup. It takes time to really appreciate the greatness of players. Also, I’d say players from the big nations tend to be slightly overrated and those from weaker nations underrated because of lack of World Cup action. Best, Dalglish, Hagi, Litmanen, Keane, Giggs, Bale, Ibrahimovic, now Haaland would likely all have international honours if they were French or Brazilian. Maybe chuck Luis Suarez into that mix as well.

I think if we look at career longevity and overall achievements, it has to be Messi/Cristiano Ronaldo, and you can take your pick from those two really. If we’re talking ability at their prime (eg over a 2 or 3 year period) then it opens up a lot more players. Maradona, Zidane, Ronaldo 9 and Ronaldinho were mesmerising at their peaks. I think there’s a good argument for Ronaldo 9 being the most complete attacking player ever. Also there’s a bias towards attacking players whenever people do these GOAT lists. Players like Beckenbauer, Matthaus, Gullit, Rijkaard, Sergio Ramos, Busquets, etc don’t really get enough credit for the enormous value they brought to any side in their primes.

Yeah I meant as in being negative behind someone’s back rather than talking nonsense. I fully agree with them!

It’s 34:30 into the 26 October episode if you want to listen. Antonio’s “grapevine” is most likely Bailey, as they play together for Jamaica, and were with each other a few weeks before Gerrard was sacked. I think Callum Wilson knows Mings and Targett. No surprise really to hear that… Mings, Targett, Sanson, Luiz, Buendia, Watkins, Bailey, Ings are all players who might have been talking shit about Gerrard - and probably frustrated that their chances of going to the World Cup have gone down the drain.