Delphinho123 Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 Sigh. Another one who may struggle in the championship too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkiller1981 Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 can't run, can't turn, can't pass stuggles with the ball at his feet. another player i think that isn't good enough 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham t Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 1 minute ago, punkiller1981 said: can't run, can't turn, can't pass stuggles with the ball at his feet. another player i think that isn't good enough Yes, but when the season started ( and before our coaching staff 'improved ' them) the defence looked half decent! ATB. VLD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham t Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 14 hours ago, AVFCforever1991 said: He's basically a combine harvester That's not fair on combine harvesters..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farlz Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Engels will be one of the better defenders in the Championship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chips'ngravy Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 He's a decent defender made to look worse than he is by the high line Smith insists on employing. He clearly lacks pace so is regularly exposed when Nakamba and Luiz lose the ball high up the pitch (as they invariably do). Give the likes of Barnes half the length of the pitch to run at him and he's bound to struggle. The refusal to adapt tactics to the quality of the players we have available is my biggest concern with regards to Smith. You can't be that nailed to a philosophy when time and again the same failings are exposed as a result of it. It's tantamount to hanging some players out to dry. Engels seems like the kind of player that would thrive in a well drilled defensive unit. Put him in the Burnley side and he'd be one of their top performers. Unlike Guilbert, Nakamba, Trezeguet and a few others he does appear to be able to do the basics. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villaphan04 Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 An interesting case, Björn is. Clearly lacks the pace to play with a high line, but also has ability with the ball at his feet — passing wise. Just weird that Smith likes playing w/high lines and he tried to sign him at Brentford, and fancied him at the beginning of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
commander Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Was he injured? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Feet Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Duno I was thinking the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMAICAN-VILLAN Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 12 minutes ago, Hobbit Feet said: Duno I was thinking the same I'm wondering if he is none who can't take part do to vulnerable family members? Either way, something has been up with him and squad for a while it seems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Feet Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 48 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said: I'm wondering if he is none who can't take part do to vulnerable family members? Either way, something has been up with him and squad for a while it seems. Yeah true. Forgot about them rumours. But i swear Jack reposted a picture of him and Engles this week. I’m pretty sure Jack is central to the squad so if there was a problem he’d be involved so maybe it’s not what we think. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
commander Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 If he's not injured it's almost criminal not even having him on the bench Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabby Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Injured , Achillies 2 weeks from fitness 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Two weeks is probably at least five games missed in new money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Interesting that his Villa career started with much praise and positive comments , then sometime around mid Nov he became a poor player and a liability Was it an injury he hasn't recovered fully from , something happened between him and Smith ..or just that he got found out ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 4 hours ago, tonyh29 said: Interesting that his Villa career started with much praise and positive comments , then sometime around mid Nov he became a poor player and a liability Was it an injury he hasn't recovered fully from , something happened between him and Smith ..or just that he got found out ? I’m pretty sure around that time, Martinez said he wasn’t called up for Belgium as he was injured. Who knows perhaps he’s been playing since, without being fully fit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 (edited) On 10/03/2020 at 17:21, chips'ngravy said: He's a decent defender made to look worse than he is by the high line Smith insists on employing. He clearly lacks pace so is regularly exposed when Nakamba and Luiz lose the ball high up the pitch (as they invariably do). Give the likes of Barnes half the length of the pitch to run at him and he's bound to struggle. The refusal to adapt tactics to the quality of the players we have available is my biggest concern with regards to Smith. You can't be that nailed to a philosophy when time and again the same failings are exposed as a result of it. It's tantamount to hanging some players out to dry. Engels seems like the kind of player that would thrive in a well drilled defensive unit. Put him in the Burnley side and he'd be one of their top performers. Unlike Guilbert, Nakamba, Trezeguet and a few others he does appear to be able to do the basics. Not aggressive enough to interest sean dyche. Too passive and tentative. Edited June 20, 2020 by TRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 On 18/06/2020 at 15:44, tonyh29 said: Interesting that his Villa career started with much praise and positive comments , then sometime around mid Nov he became a poor player and a liability Was it an injury he hasn't recovered fully from , something happened between him and Smith ..or just that he got found out ? He dipped from the Man. City game when he struggled for one of the goals. I thought he looked like a real find in the early part of the season and really him and Mings has looked the best CB combination this season so not going to write him off, same for Gulibert who looked excellent in the first two months. Was also a rumour after Southampton game he disagreed with Smith about playing 3 at the back and so he didn't make the bench for a few weeks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaVilla Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 (edited) i still think he has the potential to be a very good player for us. Early in the season he looked really classy, he has had some struggles and injuries mid/late season, but i still think there is definitely a player in there. If we did get relegated and managed to keep Mings & Engels (ye ye i know), i reckon they would be the best central defensive pairing in the league, if we manage to get lucky and stay up, i still reckon Mings/Engels could develop in to a good partnership (i also think Konsa will develop in to a good player - he has shown at times that he's very capable) Before anyone starts shouting about "they cant be good with how many goals we concede", we need to look at the bigger picture, there were some heat maps of where a team starts pressing, and Villa were the worst team for pressing/defending from the front in the entire league, in fact we were shown to only start pressing when they got in to the final third most of the time, which puts our defence under huge and constant pressure. My point is, i would bet that statistically our biggest issues with defence, is that the team doesn't defend as a team from the front, anywhere near as much as even the average teams in the league. (so basically the problem is as much our midfield and forward line - as our defence) Hopefully McGinn being back will give us some more bite in midfield (alongside Nakamba). Edited June 20, 2020 by MaVilla 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 18 hours ago, TRO said: Not aggressive enough to interest sean dyche. Too passive and tentative. Obviously not a concern for Dyche with regards to midfielders, being as Westwood treats football as a non contact sport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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