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Nicolò Zaniolo


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28 minutes ago, allani said:

Apologies if someone else has already answered your questions.  In terms of what I have seen (as a Roma supporting Villa fan living in Italy) he was very much expected to receive the ball and look to take players on.  I'd say his touch is pretty decent - he certainly has a good habit of bringing a tricky ball under control without seeming to miss a stride.  He's pretty strong in terms of upper-body strength and so can hold players off the ball when they are alongside him - he's got the Gazza approach of managing to get his arms and shoulders out to keep defenders a bit further away from the ball.  He's quick - particularly over a short distance so if he gets past someone they don't often get a second chance to tackle him.  He will get fouled a lot and he'll try and beat his man meaning that he'll get tackled a lot.  But if he is tackled two or three times and then gets away from his man the fourth then he'll tend to make something happen that time.  He also has a whole bunch of tricks and the ability to do the unexpected - think of Bertie but a Bertie who doesn't surprise himself when it comes off (oh and without the blind cross/field passes to the unmarked opposition centre forward).  I am sure that he'll frustrate some on here but if / when he gets going he'll get people on their feet.  But he's definitely one of those players that if he gets on the end of a through ball you're expecting him to put it away.  I think I have said before that I'm sure he led Serie A in terms of the number of goals scored by a team after a shot by a specific player - so Ollie should be expecting to get a lot of rebounds heading his way.

Not sure about a natural finisher.  I mean he's definitely got an eye for goal and getting shots in on target.  What he does have is the ability to do the unexpected - when the ball is there looking like it needs bringing down and trying to round the keeper, he'll find some way of hitting it with the outside of the wrong foot and into the net (very much like Totti in that regard).  Again that will infuriate some (when the ball goes wide) but more often than note defenders / keepers aren't expecting it and so are often going the wrong way (to block the more obvious option).

Risk wise.  I mean obviously he's not played a full season for a while for various reasons - injuries, the fall-out with Mourinho, etc - so that is a concern.  He'll get fouled a lot (have I said that before?!) so we need to make sure that he gets protected by the referee (to avoid injury) and they don't assume that he's a wily Italian throwing himself to the ground all the time (booked for simulation).  (Remind you of anyone?)  And like Jack he can get wound up and frustrated if he's getting kicked to **** - so he'll pick up some clumsy yellow cards.  I think the biggest risk is how quickly he adjusts to the PL and whether the fans get frustrated with him in the meantime.  If we can get him firing and feeling like the fans and club love him then he could honestly be Jack level good (in a slightly different position).  But we need to give him some time and show him some love.  I think he's definitely a player who needs a friendly / fatherly arm around the shoulder sometimes - and Mourinho most definitely wasn't that.  I think that he will want to play on the shoulders of the defence - so with him, Ollie and Diaby a 4-3-3 is probably our best attacking option - so the question will be whether that unbalances  the side and how our midfield will cope.  So that's a risk  Obviously at times we will need to play more conservatively and stick an extra midfield workhorse in the team.  As I said on previous posts, you'd ideally want to have seen him churn out performances over a full season to show that he's properly back - but if he does that and you can almost guarantee that Inter and Juve would have been very, very interested indeed.  I think a lot of the big teams will have thought about it and decided that they needed that extra guarantee.

Personally, I think the deal that is being reported looks like a really good option for us to address some of those risks without a massive finanicial impact if it doesn't work out.  My gut feel says that we'll sign a permanent deal in the summer.  If we get Zaniolo back to his best then it will be seen as one of THE bargains of the season.  But the reason that we've got the opportunity is because I think it might take a couple of months to start seeing the best of him.  So I'm slightly worried that parts of the fanbase won't afford him the time and that he doesn't settle as well as we would like.  For the cost and the potential upside it is a great deal.  However, I'd be happier if we'd come into this situation on the back of a good opening day away score draw, with Ramsey and Moreno fit and without the two bad injuries last week.  Then we'd be in a great position to ease Zaniolo in gently - whereas it kind of feels like there's already pressure on him to come in and provide an immediate boost.

Shame

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3 minutes ago, Gala said:

I didn`t say he was the best player at the club ever (that would be Hagi, Sneijder, (Ribery), Icardi right now), I said he is maybe the most talented one, who if he fullfills his potential, would be a player we could never dream of playing here. I had the same vibe with Ribery, played just 6 month for us before he joined Marseille and become a Star player after that.

 

Watching Zaniolo is a litlle bit frustrating. You can see his gigantic potential, but sometimes he lacks of trying or sometimes he tries too hard. He has to learn to read the match, calculate to make the right decision at the right time.

Appreciate your posts sharing the insight you have, thanks!

I suspect Emery is feeling that he's the one that will educate him on the decision making and improve that part of his game. 

The ability is already there. 

It's really then just a gamble on if he stays fit.

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20 minutes ago, Gala said:

I didn`t say he was the best player at the club ever (that would be Hagi, Sneijder, (Ribery), Icardi right now), I said he is maybe the most talented one, who if he fullfills his potential, would be a player we could never dream of playing here. I had the same vibe with Ribery, played just 6 month for us before he joined Marseille and become a Star player after that.

 

Watching Zaniolo is a litlle bit frustrating. You can see his gigantic potential, but sometimes he lacks of trying or sometimes he tries too hard. He has to learn to read the match, calculate to make the right decision at the right time.

Ah sorry. I knew it was something like that though. 

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36 minutes ago, Gala said:

I didn`t say he was the best player at the club ever (that would be Hagi, Sneijder, (Ribery), Icardi right now), I said he is maybe the most talented one, who if he fullfills his potential, would be a player we could never dream of playing here. I had the same vibe with Ribery, played just 6 month for us before he joined Marseille and become a Star player after that.

 

Watching Zaniolo is a litlle bit frustrating. You can see his gigantic potential, but sometimes he lacks of trying or sometimes he tries too hard. He has to learn to read the match, calculate to make the right decision at the right time.

Sounds just right for Unai to polish up and turn into a super star. Someone give the club chippy a call and get the trophy cabinet enlarged!

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1 hour ago, Jas10 said:

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I'm hoping that Zaniolo proves to be an excellent signing and I can bask in the glow of VillaTalk worship for ever.

I'm fearing it being a disaster and never being taken seriously ever again!

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2 minutes ago, allani said:

I'm hoping that Zaniolo proves to be an excellent signing and I can bask in the glow of VillaTalk worship for ever.

I'm fearing it being a disaster and never being taken seriously ever again!

Your fates are tied. Godspeed, allzaniolo. 

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