Danny Drinkwater

[brummybloke]

2 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

He did take out a player but that was definitely a mistimed challenge. It was like me at 5 aside trying to tackle one of the younger players.  My head thinks I can win the ball but my body seems to move in slow motion. 

But if he has done it on purpose to shake a player up then it will be a miss timed tackle. That's the whole point, get past me and you can have a bit of this, something we have lacked, a mean dirty aggressive streak, not leg breakers but something to leave their player thinking twice about doing it again.

[Delphinho123]

6 hours ago, Five Ken McNaughts said:

Never stopped talking, cajoling, directing... To Trez, to Hause, to El Ghazi... Biggest voice on the pitch (alongside Reina)... Played two diagonal balls around the 15-minute mark that were inch perfect... First time I had watched him in the flesh – pleasantly surprised.

He was much better last night. Once he is Premier League match fit, his feet will be able to do what his brain wants them to again.
I really want him to do well. He is a leader and I think he gives 100%. Looks as though he cares. 

If we can get him fitter and sharper, he could play a big role for us in this relegation fight. I think he'll really enjoy himself at Villa as well if he gets his head right. As good as Leicester are, playing in front of a packed Villa park is far more exciting for a player. 

[Didiersix]

I think he really helped Marvelous out, which is why you saw a better performance from Marvelous last night. Undoubtedly brings a better balance to our midfield. I understand why people think 'Luiz must start'... but I think tactically it is about right -  Drinkwater will keep it tighter and then we bring on a fresh Luiz when there is more space on the pitch. 

[wilko154]

I was disappointed with some of the reactions in the Holte End last night, from Drinkwater's first touch of the ball people were on his back slating him.

I thought he was good in the first half, a bit sloppy in places, but his movement and touches were good. He helped Nakamba by offering him a pass whenever he was struggling to move the ball on.

He's clearly playing games to get his fitness up at the moment, once that has been done we will see the best of him.

 

As someone said, he's a clear upgrade on Hourihane and Lansbury who are both passengers when the team are out of possession.

Edited January 22, 2020 by wilko154

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 minute ago, brummybloke said:

But if he has done it on purpose to shake a player up then it will be a miss timed tackle. That's the whole point, get past me and you can have a bit of this, something we have lacked, a mean dirty aggressive streak, not leg breakers but something to leave their player thinking twice about doing it again.

It didn’t look like that kind of tackle to me mate. It was just slow and wreckless. Maybe you’re right though. Only he will know. 

[brummybloke]

Just now, Vive_La_Villa said:

It didn’t look like that kind of tackle to me mate. It was just slow and wreckless. Maybe you’re right though. Only he will know. 

It was the telling gilbert to leave a mark on maupay that has me thinking it more than the actual tackle. I will try and find where it was, dont know if it was a direct comment from a villa player but think it was.

Hopefully another weeks training will get him that bit sharper because it looks more workable with him and nakamba as the starting 2. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

6 minutes ago, wilko154 said:

I was disappointing with some of the reactions in the Holte End last night, from Drinkwater's first touch of the ball people were on his back slating him.

I thought he was good in the first half, a bit sloppy in places, but his movement and touches were good. He helped Nakamba by offering him a pass whenever he was struggling to move the ball on.

He's clearly playing games to get his fitness up at the moment, once that has been done we will see the best of him.

 

As someone said, he's a clear upgrade on Hourihane and Lansbury who are both passengers when the team are out of possession.

I was disappointed with this too. Can’t be easy to hear so many moans and groans whenever you play the ball. We need to really get behind our players more as you can’t question the effort.

[LoughboroughLion]

23 minutes ago, wilko154 said:

As someone said, he's a clear upgrade on Hourihane and Lansbury who are both passengers when the team are out of possession.

Agreed - but he's competing with Luiz surely?

I don't think he should have started last night. As everyone seems to be suggesting, he's not match fit yet.

He also doesn't seem to take on the role of the pivot like Luiz does, which limits our distribution. The number of times Luiz was level with our CBs to try and build play from the back was a noticeable difference compared to Drinkwater.

I think he'll improve, but he needs to get sharper before he starts meaningfully impacting our play.

[rodders0223]

Few ironic cheers when he was subbed. Place was another goal from getting toxic I felt.

He is a yard off the pace, just wanting(needing) that extra half a second at times, but I think he will be our guy by the end of the season.  Him & another.

[birdman]

22 minutes ago, LoughboroughLion said:

Agreed - but he's competing with Luiz surely?

I don't think he should have started last night. As everyone seems to be suggesting, he's not match fit yet.

He also doesn't seem to take on the role of the pivot like Luiz does, which limits our distribution. The number of times Luiz was level with our CBs to try and build play from the back was a noticeable difference compared to Drinkwater.

I think he'll improve, but he needs to get sharper before he starts meaningfully impacting our play.

He started because a part fit Drinkwater has shown he is better then a fully fit Luiz in that role. People have such short memories - Luiz form has been poor up until his recent appearances from the bench where he's finally contributed. Yes Luiz is or will be technically better but that doesn't mean he should be starting games. The great thing is that we now have options rather than being forced to play out of form/tired players. 

[gwi1890]

57 minutes ago, wilko154 said:

I was disappointed with some of the reactions in the Holte End last night, from Drinkwater's first touch of the ball people were on his back slating him.

I thought he was good in the first half, a bit sloppy in places, but his movement and touches were good. He helped Nakamba by offering him a pass whenever he was struggling to move the ball on.

He's clearly playing games to get his fitness up at the moment, once that has been done we will see the best of him.

 

As someone said, he's a clear upgrade on Hourihane and Lansbury who are both passengers when the team are out of possession.

Someone Offering that pass is exactly  what Nakamba needs to thrive

[NurembergVillan]

Look at him in the background here.

He's up for being one of us and getting us out of this hole, so let's give him the opportunity to do that.

[magnkarl]

If we can get him fit fast I'll be up for using him, but I feel that we're essentially tuning up one of Chelsea's players who will go straight back to their first 11 when we've dealt with his match fitness. We should be investing our time in our own players rather than developing Chelsea's team year in and out. I'm not a 100% on his loan deal though, if there's a buy out clause in there it's good, if not I fear we're helping Chelsea either get a big fee at the end of the season or giving them back a first team top 4 player. In the short run he might fix some of our issues, but in the long term we'll be in the same place we've been with a striker since Abraham left. The only team who's profiting in the long run is Chelsea.

Our academy and youngsters need to be allowed to step up, atm we have a fairly bad habit of loaning in or buying golden oldies from other teams instead.

[rodders0223]

3 minutes ago, magnkarl said:

If we can get him fit fast I'll be up for using him, but I feel that we're essentially tuning up one of Chelsea's players who will go straight back to their first 11 when we've dealt with his match fitness. W

No chance, he is done there.

[NurembergVillan]

5 minutes ago, magnkarl said:

If we can get him fit fast I'll be up for using him, but I feel that we're essentially tuning up one of Chelsea's players who will go straight back to their first 11 when we've dealt with his match fitness. We should be investing our time in our own players rather than developing Chelsea's team year in and out. I'm not a 100% on his loan deal though, if there's a buy out clause in there it's good, if not I fear we're helping Chelsea either get a big fee at the end of the season or giving them back a first team top 4 player. In the short run he might fix some of our issues, but in the long term we'll be in the same place we've been with a striker since Abraham left. The only team who's profiting in the long run is Chelsea.

Our academy and youngsters need to be allowed to step up, atm we have a fairly bad habit of loaning in or buying golden oldies from other teams instead.

If we stay up and he plays a role, I honestly couldn't give a shit.

[HeyAnty]

4 minutes ago, magnkarl said:

If we can get him fit fast I'll be up for using him, but I feel that we're essentially tuning up one of Chelsea's players who will go straight back to their first 11 when we've dealt with his match fitness. We should be investing our time in our own players rather than developing Chelsea's team year in and out. I'm not a 100% on his loan deal though, if there's a buy out clause in there it's good, if not I fear we're helping Chelsea either get a big fee at the end of the season or giving them back a first team top 4 player. In the short run he might fix some of our issues, but in the long term we'll be in the same place we've been with a striker since Abraham left. The only team who's profiting in the long run is Chelsea.

Our academy and youngsters need to be allowed to step up, atm we have a fairly bad habit of loaning in or buying golden oldies from other teams instead.

Given our predicament i 100% disagree.  Its okay saying that if we are 8th or 9th and in no danger of relegation.  We stay up by whatever means.  Time to blood young players is when we have a good team around them. 

[Elton]

I think there is no doubt he is much braver player in wanting to receive the ball in tight areas than Hourihane in particular and a leader too. But he is in no way an upgrade on Douglas in his current condition.
 

In all honestly I didn’t really see a significant improvement from the stands. He still isn’t match fit or match sharp. Smith must have thought the same to drag him off after 55 minutes and say afterwards that it wasn’t a game for him. 

Shame he can’t play against Leicester. He could really do with more game time before Bournemouth.
 

[Kiwivillan]

1 hour ago, Didiersix said:

I think he really helped Marvelous out, which is why you saw a better performance from Marvelous last night. Undoubtedly brings a better balance to our midfield. I understand why people think 'Luiz must start'... but I think tactically it is about right -  Drinkwater will keep it tighter and then we bring on a fresh Luiz when there is more space on the pitch. 

Read my pre match posts  I said exactly this

[Kiwivillan]

47 minutes ago, NurembergVillan said:

Look at him in the background here.

He's up for being one of us and getting us out of this hole, so let's give him the opportunity to do that.

It's him sat down yeah? I can't look at that and not think of Frank and Beans brother in Something About Mary 

[birdman]

3 hours ago, Didiersix said:

I think he really helped Marvelous out, which is why you saw a better performance from Marvelous last night. Undoubtedly brings a better balance to our midfield. I understand why people think 'Luiz must start'... but I think tactically it is about right -  Drinkwater will keep it tighter and then we bring on a fresh Luiz when there is more space on the pitch. 

Yep spot on. Can't believe how many people on twitter saying Hourihane and Luiz should have started yesterday?! Talk about head in sand. And then you get the hindsight brigade saying "told you so" just because Luiz scored! Drives me mad!