VillaCas

Bailey - hugely underwhelming

Bailey doesn’t look at all fit - totally off the pace this half

Looks lost and lacking confidence - I thought Pep was going to turn him into a world beater lol

He’s being completely wasted by/at City. Also unless he does something pretty impressive in the next half hour or so I think that’s his season done right here Three big games with the right result without Grealish, one big game with the wrong result with him - Pep’s won’t trust him again

Out of interest, does anyone know why Athletico and Savic especially , had a particular hated for Grealish? Same in the first match? Any history there?

I’m sure Jacks delighted. A front row seat to a big European QF match - what’s not to like …oh!

Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think Grealish is the player Gaurdiola thought he was. Personally I thought it wouldn’t work when it happened. You could see Grealish at Arsenal, spurs, United, even Liverpool but City’s system is too restrictive for a player of his type. i think Grealish will be pushed out of the England side by this too

As I said he’s not a Guardiola type player and was never going to be a real success in such a tightly defined role

Guardiola doesn’t trust Grealish in the big matches Its bizarre and ridiculous that he signed him in the first place as he was clearly not a Gaurdiola player Must be frustrating sitting on the bench while others earn your medals although I Don’t feel sorry for Grealish - reaping what he sows.

One of those games. Nothing went our way

Watkins needs to bring a bit more to the party - trying but not succeeding

Not a penalty? funny because it was a foul and a booking when Mings did it last week

Chris Nicholl and Gary Cahill would disagree

Please post photos later. ….Love a Salmon and Prawn Risotto

I think you’re right. He’s a gamble, but I’m not sure if we could have attracted anyone proven to take us to the next level. He does lack experience but new managers have to gain it somewhere. There is a chance he could be really successful and I’m sure his name will attract players that normally might give us a miss. We’ve got to give him until next season at least in my opinion.

I don’t believe it’s that simple - we probably need to change to be successful. I don’t see us cobbling something together for the rest of this season and then trying to make a massive change in the summer. I think SG will try and bed in his new system now (with minor adjustments) and bring reinforcements in the summer Whatever, we can’t keep calling for a change of managers every dozen games we’ve got to bite the bullet and accept that progress is difficult

Spot on. Our squad is a mess, some good players but no real strategy in mind. I don’t know if Gerrard will be the answer but without the points he’s delivered so far I think we could have been better in proper trouble this season - we still might be I think he will be able to stabilise us this season and push on next but time will tell People are incredibly impatient - it will take time to get this right

Thats not what the analysis said - it said that our players were not ideal for the system Therefore you either change the system to suit the players you have ( but accepting that the ceiling for this second-best system is lower) or persist with the system, spend the rest of the season getting the players familiar with it and bring in players to plug the gaps in the close season. I expect us to chose the second option with a few minor tweaks to accommodate the current squad abilities Obviously this is a risky strategy but maybe needed if we are to break through to the next level

Maybe he feels that the system which suits the current squad will never be good enough for top ten? Maybe he made it clear at his interview that to progress we would need to play a different way and bring in different players? Personally I think we are at least five players away from a top eight side

I like the formation that Gerrard is working towards with a 6, two 8s and two 10s. Unfortunately, our ‘best’ five midfielders are all 10s - Luis, Ramsey and McGinn are all better in the top third than they are at working the ball through midfield so the ball seems to end up at Mings feet again and again until he has no option than to launch it upfield. I imagine that a couple of these five will go in the summer to be replaced with a proper “8” and a long awaited CDM In the meantime we will either alter our style to the players we have and utilise Sanson, Ireogbunham and Troere or Bailey wide or persevere and hope that players get more used to their roles In addition to midfield changes, I’d expect to see a new RB and a new striker in the summer Once Gerrard has those changes in place there will be no excuses for a sub top 8 finish

It’s such early days for Gerrard - I’ll start paying attention at the start of next season once he’s had a fair crack We we’re poor today and so we’re Newcastle - a draw would have been fair Coutinho is miles from full fitness and will hopefully get much better. Ramsey had a quiet game, Luis and McGinn struggled. Cash and Watkins were quite poor

I think this is a really good point - because of his contract stance, his performances will need to be well ahead of the curve - fans will have less patience than with other youngsters. Its early days and whilst I’ve been very impressed with his technical skills his marked lack of pace is worrying (and although I get his laconic style, he need to show a little more urgency) with Traore and Bailey on the scene his minutes will be more limited.

I think he really needs a loan - my feeling is that he is getting minutes in big part due to his contract stance

He has done well when coming on and doesn’t look out of place - a huge achievement for an 18 yo However, I am concerned at his lack of pace which has been apparent a number of times - I’m not sure that this is something that can be improved greatly. This together with a very lethargic style can be a bad mix with supporters when things aren’t going well. Gareth Barry is the closest comparison that I can recall in ‘recent’ times but he had real strength and power to counter this - Carney will need to develop similar i can’t help thinking that his development is being hampered by his (agents?) stance on a contract - I feel we are being ‘blackmailed’ into playing him when his growth would be much better suited by six months in the cut and thrust of the Championship Very hard to predict how youngsters will progress - I’ve got my concerns but it will be interesting to watch - I hope with the Villa

Amazing getting Coutinho in and hopefully SG can get him firing! My worry is that this may be at the expense of filling the defensive / defensive midfield gaps we have As a minimum we need something at CB, FB and ideally DCM, and ideally players who will strengthen the first XI not just add depth It will be interesting to see how this pans out - do we make do with what we’ve got, take a look at Courtinho and then make our moves in the summer or do we bring in 2 or 3 more now. Europe looks a long shot from where we are this season.