Pau Torres

[Jenko#4]

1 hour ago, MWARLEY2 said:

I got upset on sunday at one point and was swearing at the tele when he got the runaround at one point.  So i realised i was being a dickhead and then decided to have a logical think about why i was like that...and i think its this. 

Firstly for the last 4 seasons our starting centrebacks have been Mings and Konsa for 90 percent of the time. So we have been used to having 2 centre backs with great recovery ability  and athleticism and pace. And also with Mings an ultra dominant centre half at heading corners and crosses clear  . 

Torres is the complete opposite. Not got that natural athleticism balance and pace of the other two.  Players can beat him very easily . But as a passer of the ball he is easily the best of our centre backs.  Konsa has learned about how to pass so much in the laat 12 months but he is just prodding it or playing it to Luiz .  Rather than before where he would just pass it sidewards to Mings 90 percent of the time. 

Torres is a quarterback of a player . He can hit it 50 yards on a six pence. Its no coincidence that Diaby has been bought and then turned into a floating second striker. Him and McGinn seem to be the outball for Torres when we want a quick transition.  They take the ball on the half turn and then drive before finding Watkins if possible . 

We are simply not used to seeing this after 4 years of quick strong centre backs . Our ability to play through around and over defences has never been better. We now have answers for most situations  . We have taken a small hit on solidity to increase our threat further up  . 

 

This is similar to how I see it as well.
 

Over the last few years Mings/Konsa get the ball, and a midfielder (Dougie, SJM) drops in almost along side them to take possession. That midfielder then turns and has 60 yards of space and 8-9 opposition outfield players to try and pick a pass through, and the ball gets lost more often than not.
 

Torres’ passing ability allows the midfielders to start 20 yards further up the pitch, turn into 40 yards of space, and bypass 3-4 opposition outfield players at the same time.  A few clever runs from the front 3, and we are suddenly pulling teams all over the place.

I think that the risk v reward when it comes to Pau is one that’s definitely worth taking. 

[Tomaszk]

I'd like him stop walloping it horizontally across the pitch to the opponent.

And stop getting walked around by players.

Then he'll be cooking on gas.

[briny_ear]

8 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

I'd like him stop walloping it horizontally across the pitch to the opponent.

And stop getting walked around by players.

Then he'll be cooking on gas.

Wow, I haven’t seen the world “walloping” used for a long time.

Nor have I ever seen Torres do anything remotely like “walloping” the ball anywhere at any time. 

This just confirms my feeling from this thread that there is a parallel universe in which a Villa team is playing terribly badly and floundering, with “Parallel Torres” as the main culprit.

Fortunately I’m in the universe where we are doing well and Torres is playing his part having been brought into regular full time action much sooner than anyone envisaged pre Mings injury. 

[Mic09]

9 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

I'd like him stop walloping it horizontally across the pitch to the opponent.

And stop getting walked around by players.

Then he'll be cooking on gas.

As for the walloping, that's how we scored 2 goals against West Ham, so it's clearly working. 

That's the Emery ball - beat the attack/midfield (often through a long pass from defenders) , find our forward player in a pocket of space and goals happen. 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

11 hours ago, Jenko#4 said:

This is similar to how I see it as well.
 

Over the last few years Mings/Konsa get the ball, and a midfielder (Dougie, SJM) drops in almost along side them to take possession. That midfielder then turns and has 60 yards of space and 8-9 opposition outfield players to try and pick a pass through, and the ball gets lost more often than not.
 

Torres’ passing ability allows the midfielders to start 20 yards further up the pitch, turn into 40 yards of space, and bypass 3-4 opposition outfield players at the same time.  A few clever runs from the front 3, and we are suddenly pulling teams all over the place.

I think that the risk v reward when it comes to Pau is one that’s definitely worth taking. 

Your last paragraphs also explain why we are now so potent up front.

[Vive_La_Villa]

Torres is fine defensively against the majority of teams in the league but will struggle against the better teams and in particular against pace. This is where we will miss Mings. 
 

But in terms of helping break teams down he is massive for us.

[Tomaszk]

30 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

As for the walloping, that's how we scored 2 goals against West Ham, so it's clearly working. 

That's the Emery ball - beat the attack/midfield (often through a long pass from defenders) , find our forward player in a pocket of space and goals happen. 

Kicking the ball to the opposition in 20 yards of space in the middle of our half isn't part of the plan. Lovely that we scored from it, but I wouldn't think he'll be trying to do it again.

I don't think I'm saying anything controversial or untrue. He's done well overall. He's also looked poor facing a man up and given the ball away really weakly when I wouldn't expect him to.

By the end of the season, if he's stopped losing the ball softly (not in an attempt to make a positive pass, that's fine, that's his job) around our box, I'll be warmer to the idea he wasn't a luxury signing.

The better we get, the more at home I expect him to look. And we're already operating at a high level.

[Mic09]

3 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Kicking the ball to the opposition in 20 yards of space in the middle of our half isn't part of the plan. Lovely that we scored from it, but I wouldn't think he'll be trying to do it again.

I don't think I'm saying anything controversial or untrue. He's done well overall. He's also looked poor facing a man up and given the ball away really weakly when I wouldn't expect him to.

By the end of the season, if he's stopped losing the ball softly (not in an attempt to make a positive pass, that's fine, that's his job) around our box, I'll be warmer to the idea he wasn't a luxury signing.

The better we get, the more at home I expect him to look. And we're already operating at a high level.

That's the thing though - can we get even better? Getting any better and we are title contenders.

[lexicon]

Interestingly, despite the good performance yesterday, it was very noticeable that we didn't have Torres at the back. It's good that we can win comfortably without him but it really highlights how good and useful he is as part of our team and attack. He has truly excellent vision, technique, and quick thinking with the passes he plays to get the ball up the field. Lenglet deputized and was absolutely fine in possession, but he can't do what Torres does. Torres is excellent and fast becoming a very important player for us. 

[DakotaVilla]

On 23/10/2023 at 15:35, Delphinho123 said:

We’d be in the same position, possibly with a point or two more with Mings. 

This has to be a wind up. It’s 100 percent guaranteed we would have been worse off. Yes, we would have conceded marginally less but there is no way in the world we would have scored anywhere near the same amount of goals. 

[Anything11]

19 hours ago, lexicon said:

Interestingly, despite the good performance yesterday, it was very noticeable that we didn't have Torres at the back. It's good that we can win comfortably without him but it really highlights how good and useful he is as part of our team and attack. He has truly excellent vision, technique, and quick thinking with the passes he plays to get the ball up the field. Lenglet deputized and was absolutely fine in possession, but he can't do what Torres does. Torres is excellent and fast becoming a very important player for us. 

he makes a lot of tackles and interceptions that seem the go under the radar

[chrisvilla4]

For me he is doing just fine and will get better. Credit to him, thrown straight in and having pressure to acclimatise straight away, he's more than holding his own.

[Sulberto21]

On 24/10/2023 at 12:48, DCJonah said:

He obviously helps at times but I still have some concerns. 

2-1 up and he allows Antonio, who was awful, to easily go past him and get a dangerous cross in which could have been the equaliser. 

He also plays an awful pass just before our 3rd goal. Straight to their player in the middle of the park, which if he'd controlled it would have been dangerous. 

I'm sure he'll get better and better but he still worries me at times. But just like the way we've played under Emery, I'm sure I'll get used to his game and the positives he brings. 

Whilst I understand the concern we have to realise that it takes time for the foreign players to bed in properly to the premier league. It’ll take him another 3/4 months before he’s used to the speed and physicality. The improvement in his game since his first game has been impressive. 

[Delphinho123]

4 hours ago, DakotaVilla said:

This has to be a wind up. It’s 100 percent guaranteed we would have been worse off. Yes, we would have conceded marginally less but there is no way in the world we would have scored anywhere near the same amount of goals. 

‘100 percent guaranteed’.

Sure.

[DakotaVilla]

Nothing has changed from last season apart from Diaby. If anything it’s an inferior attacking line up this season because we don’t have Moreno and Ramsey so actually it’s the perfect control. 
 

So yeah, it’s 100 percent guaranteed that we would have had less points if Mings had played instead of Pau because he wasn’t suddenly going to start dictating play from the back when he never did it before. 
 

 

[TheMightyVillans]

my motm. some great passes in behind. Didn't look out of place physically. Didn't put a foot wrong.

[lexicon]

2 minutes ago, TheMightyVillans said:

my motm. some great passes in behind. Didn't look out of place physically. Didn't put a foot wrong.

Definitely a candidate, I agree. Championship level strikers shouldn't have been a problem though, and ultimately weren't. 

[Farlz]

I mean he barely had to do anything today but the few times he was needed he looked good. Actually got to see some proper pace from him at one point in the second half. 

To top it all off he flicked the ball over that Luton player like it was a piss about. 

[PaulC]

Was giving him motm until Diabys goal and his role in the own goal. Imperious display 

[oishiiniku_uk]

He's looking more and more composed defensively and his distribution is always bang on.