Dean Smith

[Zatman]

7 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

He looked decent. They have taken a big risk spending up to 40m on someone so young but they must have a lot of faith in him.

I think Podence and Neto are very good players too. Neto only 20. They have done superbly in the transfer market but then it helps when you have a super agent on the board and are able to snap up all the Portuguese talent! 

I think Silva was brought in to learn from Jimenez then replace him but looks a talent. I think in tougher away games they might throw in Adama up top

They are a bit like us last season when Wesley went down and will probably need a Samatta type punt

[KenjiOgiwara]

15 minutes ago, Zatman said:

I think Silva was brought in to learn from Jimenez then replace him but looks a talent. I think in tougher away games they might throw in Adama up top

They are a bit like us last season when Wesley went down and will probably need a Samatta type punt

You hate them don't you?

[Vive_La_Villa]

28 minutes ago, Zatman said:

I think Silva was brought in to learn from Jimenez then replace him but looks a talent. I think in tougher away games they might throw in Adama up top

They are a bit like us last season when Wesley went down and will probably need a Samatta type punt

Difference is they can just turn to Mendes.

[useless]

Wolves were being linked to Rondon over the weekend.

[Vive_La_Villa]

On 13/12/2020 at 21:34, Tomaszk said:

I can enjoy a game we don't play well and win.

I can often enjoy a game we play well and don't win.

I can never enjoy a game we don't play well and lose.

We aren't going to win every week so performance matters hugely.

Well that’s the thing mate. Some people only think we play well if we won the game.  

[StefanAVFC]

I read the last few pages, that's 20 minutes I won't get back.

But I do remember the same circular discussions about recruitment last season, mostly focused around Matt Targett. He's been ace this year, vindicated I would say. 

Best to just agree to disagree lads, the last few pages have made the thread unreadable. 

[PaulC]

19 hours ago, TRO said:

Luck is required in football....but the old saying is " you make your own luck".....There is an element of truth in that.

Of course and in games like Brighton and Southampton we contributed to our demise.

[PaulC]

6 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Well that’s the thing mate. Some people only think we play well if we won the game.  

I must admit I preferred watching the West Ham match to the Wolves one. The only thing enjoyable about that was the 3 points. 

[TRO]

6 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Well that’s the thing mate. Some people only think we play well if we won the game.  

well, you can't mean me, because I have already explained my position and even given you an example of Liverpool at home last season, where we lost and played well.

perhaps its the games where you think we played well and others didn't....it can happen.

so who do you mean?, so they can defend their view? or are you just playing to the predictable audience.

 

[Vive_La_Villa]

40 minutes ago, TRO said:

well, you can't mean me, because I have already explained my position and even given you an example of Liverpool at home last season, where we lost and played well.

perhaps its the games where you think we played well and others didn't....it can happen.

so who do you mean?, so they can defend their view? or are you just playing to the predictable audience.

 

I did mean you. Sorry.  You’re right. Just difference of opinion of us playing well. I didn’t think we played that well against Liverpool last season and deserved to lose. 

[villalad21]

24 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I didn’t think we played that well against Liverpool last season and deserved to lose. 

I agree.

It was a relentless pressure for 70+ minutes and they had 25 shots and a bunch of clear cut chances but poor finishing.

They just strangled us in our own half and we couldn't get out or catch a breather. Prime definition of creating your own luck. It's how SAF and Manchester United time and time again won so many games in the last 15 minutes. Not only is it physically draining for the opposition but it's also mentally draining.

[TRO]

56 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I did mean you. Sorry.  You’re right. Just difference of opinion of us playing well. I didn’t think we played that well against Liverpool last season and deserved to lose. 

VLV....I have no problem with your views.....they differ to mine sometimes and other times I agree with you.

If you have an issue, with my view, call me out, because I know on some occasions we agree as opposed to some, who would just disagree, if I just said a single word.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, PaulC said:

I must admit I preferred watching the West Ham match to the Wolves one. The only thing enjoyable about that was the 3 points. 

I understand your point and appreciate it...

However for me, the 3 points was the holy grail, but.....I also appreciated the doggedness of our work that led to the 3 points, was it pretty no, was it workman like yes, did it have substance, yes.....in stark contrast to previous seasons where we failed to hold a plucky Wolves team....and lost.

I don't think many fans thought we could pull that off.....I think you have to be doing something well to do that. Folk can either see it or they can't......after all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I respect, differing views.

[TRO]

8 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Difference is they can just turn to Mendes.

I would suspect there is a story to tell there?.....having one person so involved in all transfers.

There is no basis for my suspicion, just pure conjecture.

[onmeedson]

To me beating the teams around us is so important, because with our first 11 we can win games, but when we get into injurie's and bans and start having to use the squad it might be the games we look at and not the liverpools of this league. The win some lose some approach can be a big difference when you tally the point's up and you can bet the opposition will target games.

[TRO]

2 minutes ago, onmeedson said:

To me beating the teams around us is so important, because with our first 11 we can win games, but when we get into injurie's and bans and start having to use the squad it might be the games we look at and not the liverpools of this league. The win some lose some approach can be a big difference when you tally the point's up and you can bet the opposition will target games.

absolutely spot on......Winning also speeds up the process of introducing youth, without putting so much pressure on them.....last season we found it hard to do that as every point was hard to come by.

I really do get the folk who like the silky football, so do I, more than I make out at times, but to dig in and grind out, is sometimes essential and character building for the players.....and when you look back at a game like that, the willingness to deny and all that comes with that is heart warming for me.

 I understand during the game, we all like to see the fancy footwork and the superlatives that come our way......but 3 or 4 days later, when the dust has settled and no one wants to talk about the game, because its gone......those 3 little points are still there, shooting us up the league...Prospective new players will be looking at the table and know they are not joining losers or a win one lose one team...Winning builds us, it builds the youth too, it fills everyone with confidence, even the owners and manager and coaches.

I am not in anyway shape or form belittling performances, but they are like Bubbles, they fade in to the memory, they do build confidence too, but not like Winning.

Those magical 3 points stay with us for the long haul through the season, from game 1 to game 38.

We can't win every game, we all know that, but we can make sure the other team don't win either......and at Molineux, we did just that.

[Lord Willard]

Where can I find his press conference. Drives me nuts that they don't put them on the YouTube channel anymore

[Vive_La_Villa]

3 hours ago, villalad21 said:

I agree.

It was a relentless pressure for 70+ minutes and they had 25 shots and a bunch of clear cut chances but poor finishing.

They just strangled us in our own half and we couldn't get out or catch a breather. Prime definition of creating your own luck. It's how SAF and Manchester United time and time again won so many games in the last 15 minutes. Not only is it physically draining for the opposition but it's also mentally draining.

@TRO for some reason I completely misread your post as we played well in the away game we lost to Liverpool.  Which is why I didn’t agree. 

I totally agree we played well at home to Liverpool and no way deserved to lose.  No way was it relentless pressure. They kept the ball a lot but created hardly anything. If anything we created the better chances!  
 

@villalad21 I thought we actually agreed on something but then realised we were talking about 2 different games. 
 

Normality resumes

[sheepyvillian]

For what it's worth, I think we deserved at least a point last season against Liverpool. I can't think of one pundit who said we' didn't, even Mane came out after the game and said we were good. Just because it was all hands to the pump. That defensive effort deserved more. When Inter Milan best Barcelona in the champions league final, everyone was full of praise for their fine, rearguard action. Sometimes, I  love when a team withstands relentless pressure, it requires a disciplined effort from all and when successful it's a thing to admire.

[Sam-AVFC]

17 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

Where can I find his press conference. Drives me nuts that they don't put them on the YouTube channel anymore

I've not checked to see if it's there, but most of the stuff that used to go in YouTube gets uploaded to the Villa TV site.