dudevillaisnice Posted January 26, 2011 Author Share Posted January 26, 2011 I remeber when i used to play semi-pro ice hockey and joined a new team down south. My first few games were pretty poor until i clicked with my team mates and understood the way the coach wanted me to play. I dont think premiership football, or any other sport in that fact, is any different. Give the lad a month to settle, learn the lingo and gel with the team and im sure he'll come good. If not then ta-ra! Not only this but you understood the language, makoun doesn't.. it will take time for him to settle but he showed glimpses of what he can do, always going in support to all the players - no denying this, he always made himself available for a pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sly Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Remember Petrov's debut at West Ham? He looked phenomenal that afternoon and probably hasn't hit those heights since. Makoun's debut at Wigan certainly wasn't anywhere near that level, but we'll see how he adapts as the season progresses. He certainly shouldn't be judged too harshly after one game. I think us signing Bent and thus removing a lot of pressure from Makoun will only be a good thing. If we could take anything from last night, it's now clear Makoun isn't some season-changing destroyer who can singlehandedly change our fortunes. I get the impression some felt he would be just that when he signed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RA19 Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Didn't pull up any trees, but I liked the way he was available to receive a pass - even though 9 times out of 10 he wasn't given the ball. His passing was usually first-time and accurate, rather than some in our midfield who want too many touches or force it forward too early and lose possession. He'll be fine when he gets his fitness sorted & other players know how he likes to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claret75 Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Look dont get me wrong here, given time I hope he is a great player, all I am doing is not going over the top on last night Yes he did give the ball away a lot, I think someone has posted the stats, something like 45 passes, only 21 of them successful. He was fine for 20 mins, then he totally drained, the booking was a result of that (the guy went past him as if he was walking, and he pulled him back) , he then struggled until half time, then was taken off very shortly afterwards. If you can rate that above a 4 - you're having a laugh. Future - hopefully, but don't make out he was great last night, because he wasn;t There's no way he passed the ball 45 times last night and I think he only gave it away once He was till just before half time, then he tired badly which is what you expect given he's come from the French league and hasn't played for 3 weeks. I gave him a 6 because his control, awareness and passing was better than we've had for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted January 26, 2011 Author Share Posted January 26, 2011 I just wish people would stop looking through rose tinted glasses and look at things objectively than jumping to a players defence because it suits an argument. How dare people be optimistic about a player we have just signed, who has just played his first 60 minutes in English football!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claret75 Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 remember how crap petrov was when he first started as dm after mon decided to switch him to a more defensive role? No, really, don't remember that, I thought he was the boo boys scapegoat of the time. Petrov was never as bad as people seemed to want to make out, just as Makoun wasn't as good last night as people want to make out. Do I think Makoun is a bad player? No. Do I think he played well last night? No. Do I think he'll come good for us? Maybe but he'll need to improve the defensive side of his game and clearly his fitness by a long long way, to be looking tired at 50 minutes, just after half time is someone a long long long way off the fitness levels required. I just wish people would stop looking through rose tinted glasses and look at things objectively than jumping to a players defence because it suits an argument. I said a few days ago after we'd signed him that he would need quite a bit of time to adjust to the PL and I'd give him all season to do that. I stand by that and I think last night proved me right tbh he's way off the fitness levels required, he's way off tactically too, I expected that. What however I thought GH would do is play Petrov for the first 60 and then bring Makoun on for the last 30 as Wigan tired a bit. That would be the best way to introduce him to the PL, a few 30 min sub appearances first, not straight in at the deep end. I think pwehaps instead of seeing through rose-tinted glasses, the people who thought he did well, and I am one of them, are seeing the positives of his performance whilst keeping in mind the fact that he hasn't played for a couple of weeks, he;s not used to the pace of the english game, doesn't know the players, doesn't speak the language etc. Considering all of these factors that are bound to affect his game, he did well, I don't think I've read a single post where someone said he was outstanding. Also, from what I saw, I don't think any of our players played particularly well really. I will say I only caught the hour long highlight reel however so I didn't see the entire game, but it seemed like typical Villa to me, especially towards the end. One bit sticks in my mind in particular. Dunne was in our box and went to clear the ball, there were no Wigan players in the immediate vacinity and Gabby was open on the left. A simple pass to him and we could have attacked but Dunne hoofed it out of play. I'm sick of seeing this type of football, especially against teams like Wigan. Naturally I'm glad we won, delighted even, but I was hoping for a more dominating performance. We rode our luck against City, but we should not have to bite our fingernails to hang onto a one goal lead against Wigan for christ's sake. In relation to Makoun, he did OK all things considering, but no-one played particularly well from what I saw, so I can't expect Makoun to be amazing when the rest of the team is average at best. I agree on Makoun. I don't think anyone's saying he played particularly great, but he showed obvious signs of class. It's a given that he'd find the pace tough going, it's not rocket science to know he'd struggle a bit with it, plus he hadn't played in 3 weeks and had picked up an injury. I thought he did a good job up until half time. Fair enough we looked a more confident side after Petrov came on, but that's understandable given he was fresh, his team mates know his game and he put A LOT of effort in. I have the feeling if he were to play like that for a half, he wouldn't come out after half time On the general Villa performance, I think we're getting there slowly. We played some decent football and although we panicked a bit at times and didn't pick up enough intelligent positions, or didn't have the confidence to play the ball out of defence, it was better than it has been. I think the signing of players like Makoun will go a long way to seeing a different playing style to MON's. he looks like he always wants the ball, which is a nice change for the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy_loes Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 rather than some in our midfield who want too many touches This a problem no doubt about it. I wont mention the players as it causes a row but they take too many touches, telegrapgh the pass which turns into a hospital ball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisNichollsToe Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Although off the pace, what really excited me, was his ability to keep the ball moving with simple passes. Mark my words, this guy will be our darling for seasons to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claret75 Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 rather than some in our midfield who want too many touches This a problem no doubt about it. I wont mention the players as it causes a row but they take too many touches, telegrapgh the pass which turns into a hospital ball Some would call it posing on the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beasley14 Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Short crisp passing and moving, if he is good defensively as i have seen before we have a very good player here. Just needs to get up to speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy_loes Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 rather than some in our midfield who want too many touches This a problem no doubt about it. I wont mention the players as it causes a row but they take too many touches, telegrapgh the pass which turns into a hospital ball Some would call it posing on the ball. Well yeah but in our case they tend to freeze and there's also a lack of movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I don't think anyone is making a judgement to say he's brilliant/shit for evermore here. We all know it's early doors so I think everyone needs to keep their panties on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellyoakvilla Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I just wish people would stop looking through rose tinted glasses and look at things objectively than jumping to a players defence because it suits an argument. Sorry Bicks can't agree with you on that one, you can say stop looking through rose tinted glasses but some can say back to you stop looking with a Houllier out frame of mind. No harm in being positive after the past week we've just had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stockport_Villain Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Didn't pull up any trees, but I liked the way he was available to receive a pass - even though 9 times out of 10 he wasn't given the ball. His passing was usually first-time and accurate, rather than some in our midfield who want too many touches or force it forward too early and lose possession. He'll be fine when he gets his fitness sorted & other players know how he likes to play. Agree with this 100%. Looked very neat and tidy and never gave the ball away under pressure. Unlike some of our more experienced players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 26, 2011 Moderator Share Posted January 26, 2011 I just wish people would stop looking through rose tinted glasses and look at things objectively than jumping to a players defence because it suits an argument. Sorry Bicks can't agree with you on that one, you can say stop looking through rose tinted glasses but some can say back to you stop looking with a Houllier out frame of mind. No harm in being positive after the past week we've just had. What has Houllier out got to do with it? Not sure I've mentioned the manager in this topic. What has "being positive" got to do with it? Is being positive a euphemism for delusional? I prefer to look at actually what went on than sew some fairy story in my head that player X had a great debut because I want it to be true. I'd rather look at what actually happened. What actually happened was that he showed some nice passing touches (if I was being negative I'd point out he made some howlers too) but defended woefully, didn't track nor make many tackles at all. That was his game yesterday in a nutshell, he'll improve of that I have no doubt, whether he improves enough is anyones guess, he's clearly way off the speed right now, hope he gets it right, if he does get it right we'll have a hell of a player on our hands, if he doesn't well he'll have to be shipped of elsewhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 26, 2011 Moderator Share Posted January 26, 2011 Didn't pull up any trees, but I liked the way he was available to receive a pass - even though 9 times out of 10 he wasn't given the ball. His passing was usually first-time and accurate, rather than some in our midfield who want too many touches or force it forward too early and lose possession. He'll be fine when he gets his fitness sorted & other players know how he likes to play. Agree with this 100%. Looked very neat and tidy and never gave the ball away under pressure. Unlike some of our more experienced players. actually he did give it away, more than anyone else in the 57 minutes he was on the pitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted January 26, 2011 Author Share Posted January 26, 2011 Didn't pull up any trees, but I liked the way he was available to receive a pass - even though 9 times out of 10 he wasn't given the ball. His passing was usually first-time and accurate, rather than some in our midfield who want too many touches or force it forward too early and lose possession. He'll be fine when he gets his fitness sorted & other players know how he likes to play. Agree with this 100%. Looked very neat and tidy and never gave the ball away under pressure. Unlike some of our more experienced players. actually he did give it away, more than anyone else in the 57 minutes he was on the pitch did he? where's the stats from? i was under the impression he didn't so im open to stats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 as SAID with those stats, he gave it away 11 times, 5 of those to be fair were headers. So in reality, he gave it away 6 times. A couple to many, HOWEVER he tried to do a lot first touch and also find more telling passes than our other midfielders which means naturally he's going to give it away more often also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted January 26, 2011 Author Share Posted January 26, 2011 oh i see, cool thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 26, 2011 Moderator Share Posted January 26, 2011 Didn't pull up any trees, but I liked the way he was available to receive a pass - even though 9 times out of 10 he wasn't given the ball. His passing was usually first-time and accurate, rather than some in our midfield who want too many touches or force it forward too early and lose possession. He'll be fine when he gets his fitness sorted & other players know how he likes to play. Agree with this 100%. Looked very neat and tidy and never gave the ball away under pressure. Unlike some of our more experienced players. actually he did give it away, more than anyone else in the 57 minutes he was on the pitch did he? where's the stats from? i was under the impression he didn't so im open to stats. chalkboards, his pass completion was 21 out of 32, thats giving the ball away 11 times in 32 attempts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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