ferguson1 Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 3 minutes ago, PaulC said: The other two played for Arsenal and Man City thats why. Think Grealish was woefully underused in the world cup. Interesting that Pep now prefers Grealish in the big games more than Foden, although Foden has had health and injury problems but for all his talent I think Foden is a bit lightweight and easy to bully. Yes, fully aware of that. Just my opinion that he should have more caps at his age and for the talent he has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 Just now, ferguson1 said: Yes, fully aware of that. Just my opinion that he should have more caps at his age and for the talent he has. Yes I agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom13 Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 35 minutes ago, ferguson1 said: He’s a fantastic footballer and been woefully underused by England, which annoys me. I could never understand it. An example…. Grealish (27 years) currently 31 caps Saka (21 years) currently 26 caps Foden (22 years) currently 23 caps He should have far more caps than he has for his age. Southgate for ya! Can't spot ability until a player gets a big move - then it's 'oh, they must be good' 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 (edited) Don't forget that saka can also play RWB/LWB and our current manager picks his attacking players on their ability to track back and defend Edited May 18, 2023 by villa4europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 And foden is interesting, he's not first choice for pep and hasn't been for a while, I'd say he's not even first sub as that would be mahrez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted May 18, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted May 18, 2023 1 hour ago, Tom13 said: Southgate for ya! Can't spot ability until a player gets a big move - then it's 'oh, they must be good' Unless you're Kalvin Phillips. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 4 hours ago, AndyM3000 said: He's still miles off the Villa levels but he won't ever be able to reach them under Pep because he still can't do the things that made him worth 100m. Not sure about that. His all round game is much better now. He doesn’t give away possession and tracks back and defends much better than when he was with us. He doesn’t take on players as often as when he was with us (though he skinned Carvajal time after time last night until Ancelotti hauled him off) but Guardiola is a formidable coach, much better than Dean Smith, and it’s no surprise he’s improved Grealish. Here he is last night, making Real Madrid look like a Championship side. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightoffyour Posted May 18, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted May 18, 2023 5 hours ago, sheepyvillian said: Without doubt he's in the top 3 of the greatest players to come out of Bodymore Heath. Just behind the Moores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 23 minutes ago, villa4europe said: And foden is interesting, he's not first choice for pep and hasn't been for a while, I'd say he's not even first sub as that would be mahrez He's 22 and been out for an appendectomy recently. I think that's all there is to him supposedly being "out of favour". Still City's 2nd highest goalscorer in the Premier League this season, and 43 appearances across all competitions. Everything Guardiola has ever said about him suggests he sees him as the future of the club. Grealish is at prime age now, and by all accounts not looking after himself properly. So imagine he'll deliver another 2 or 3 years of high quality European football and then have a meltdown and start being papped out and about in a Villa shirt, engineer a move here, deliver a handful of good performances at VP, retire at 32, bankrupt at 35, regular on TalkSport by 40. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 5 hours ago, KentVillan said: If we go back properly through to the 90s and to the European Cup era, when this stat wasn't even recorded, then players like Charlton, Keegan, Hoddle, Waddle, etc. would all feature. In recent times, most likely Rooney, Beckham. The clue is in how few of Jack's "chances" convert into goals. A better stat would be expected assists (xA) which would factor in the *type* of chances he's creating, and would give more weight to players who are splitting defences with their passes, rather than just having lots of touches around the box. Jack creates a lot of low percentage chances because he recycles possession around the box. It's not a criticism of him as a player, I think he's class. Just pointing out that this stat inflates his contribution to games. I think when he's fully on it, and not specifically asked to recycle possession he's up there with the best for xA. His last season with us he had 12 assists by the time he got injured in March, and was top of th xA charts iirc with the likes of Ollie and Bertie being somewhat profligate in front of goal. This season, even with his more restrained playstyle, he's still in the top 10 in the league for xA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 Foden is definitley the future, I think if they can find a buyer they'll move mahrez on this summer and play a fiat bit of grealish left foden right He's only started 19 PL games but then grealish has only started 23, their options are insane 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 Getting rid of Cancelo has freed Jack up a lot more, he used to have some of the best chance creation stats in the league from what I remember which naturally had an effect on Jack's output. I thought Pep was nuts letting him go but they've been almost unbeatable since then. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post The Other Mat Posted May 18, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted May 18, 2023 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post villa4europe Posted May 18, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted May 18, 2023 7 minutes ago, The Other Mat said: Took a chance on him when no one else would 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepyvillian Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 1 hour ago, fightoffyour said: Just behind the Moores. No! In all seriousness, him, Little and Shaw in any order. That's my opinion. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinebro Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 No goal or assist then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Pinebro said: No goal or assist then? In fairness, he absolutely served it up on a plate for Haaland, and was involved in the build up to one or two of the goals (can’t remember exactly). And defended well. It was a very good performance. Just not sure why people are getting so carried away with it being a magical ****-all-the-haters performance. He was also up against the biggest fraud in the Madrid lineup. The real shame (for those who care…) is his one really good driving run ended in a fluffed through ball. That would have been some goal. Edited May 18, 2023 by KentVillan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 I don't think we'll ever see him slaloming through defences like he did here and that's such a shame. He tries to do it sometimes but he looks a bit hesitant. To make a loose basketball comparison, it'd almost be like turning Kyrie Irving into a 3 and D guy. Sure he'd excel at it because he's an elite player and good shooter, but ball-handling is where he thrives and is most entertaining. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM3000 Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 5 hours ago, LondonLax said: Not sure about that. His all round game is much better now. He doesn’t give away possession and tracks back and defends much better than when he was with us. He doesn’t take on players as often as when he was with us (though he skinned Carvajal time after time last night until Ancelotti hauled him off) but Guardiola is a formidable coach, much better than Dean Smith, and it’s no surprise he’s improved Grealish. Here he is last night, making Real Madrid look like a Championship side. He doesn't give the ball away because there's always a pass on for City. Real Madrid are just pinned back, Grealish has so much time and space but that's what they do. Pin them in and then look for the pull backs. Man City are a machine and it's more about their players learning the system than it is about them improving as footballers. I don't think he's a better footballer I think he's just more tactically aware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom13 Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 3 hours ago, Keyblade said: I don't think we'll ever see him slaloming through defences like he did here and that's such a shame. He tries to do it sometimes but he looks a bit hesitant. To make a loose basketball comparison, it'd almost be like turning Kyrie Irving into a 3 and D guy. Sure he'd excel at it because he's an elite player and good shooter, but ball-handling is where he thrives and is most entertaining. Tbf he did it once or twice last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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