dakid007 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Gabby is one of our better players( in terms of the effect on a game, not ball skills)......and there lies our overall problem, If he's one of the best. we have gradually set the bar lower each and every year. since Merson left we have gradually got worse and worse, bit by bit.....not saying he was the only reason, (but he could be), just around that time..... we never replaced that kind of player. We seem to have had good players and just throw the towel in when its time to replace them or they move on.....just a defeatist malaise at the club its in the DNA of recent years. Gabby is not a good striker or winger therefore if we want to get into top 8 he is not good enough Gabby as a striker is not as good as Campbell,long,lambert,remy,bent,ba,crouch,bony,Defoe,Hernandez Gabby as a winger/wide is not as good as Valencia, nani, young,Milner,sterling,lennon,miralas,remy,Ben arfa,dyer,lallana,rodriguez,richardson,johnson,bolasie,Redmond,Moses We have built a squad we need to start filtering out the basic players for real quality. That's a good post and you're right. Those players are better strikers and wingers than Gabby. Gabby's a unique player. Very effective for counter-attack. He's a better counter-attack player than all those you list. When I say counter-attack I don't mean he's just fast on the break. He can track-back and defend, then receive the ball and break, hold the ball up, and score some goals. He's a unique talent. Arguably too unique for a team as basic as Villa's at the moment but would be very effective special teams player in a top side. The problem is he doesn't have the ability to use the ball effectively. He runs with the ball but never looks comfortable or has ball under control. I don't think he is terrible but feel there are other players who could contribute a bit more I honestly think he could be a rb/wing back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post OutByEaster? Posted February 16, 2014 Moderator Popular Post Share Posted February 16, 2014 He's quick, strong, aggressive and powerful. He's amongst our best two or three players and he's key to how we play. He's had a couple of bad games, but I think selling him is a bit strong. He was one of our better players when we were good, he's one of our better players now, I can think of around 15 I'd show the door before I'd consider letting Gabby go. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avflife Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 He can't finish for shit either, shocking at one-on-ones. Would consider dropping him if he doesn't do anything against Newcastle next week, a game he should thrive in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 The biggest problem with Gabby is how the hell do you use him properly when you've got a poor midfield 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avfc96 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 The biggest problem with Gabby is how the hell do you use him properly when you've got a poor midfield This, Gabby's biggest threat is his pace when running at defenders and stretching the defence. But how is he meant to do that when he hardly ever get's the through balls played through quick enough as the midfield like to pass the ball sideways and backwards. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Agree with this, he cant trust the midfield to do the one two's. I saw in one game he passed to Lowton for the quick through ball and Lowton passed it back??? Some games he is unplayable, generally when everyone is on top form and know what they are doing, which as we know is rare as *****! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanky Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 He's quick, strong, aggressive and powerful. He's amongst our best two or three players and he's key to how we play. He's had a couple of bad games, but I think selling him is a bit strong. He was one of our better players when we were good, he's one of our better players now, I can think of around 15 I'd show the door before I'd consider letting Gabby go. Agree completely. Gabby is what he is. He will have good games and bad games. I'd be selling almost the whole team before him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Biro Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Gabs consistency is the only thing that has stopped him from things like england call ups and possible transfer bids, we all know that hes absolutely unplayable on his day but he only has 2-3 of those days a season. Can blame the rest of the team as much as you like but i dont like that excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVTuco Posted February 16, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted February 16, 2014 It's not an excuse when it's directly related to his play. We don't play to his strenghts. I suppose if we were consistent Gabby would be put into Bomb squad like Bent. He is very expensive, and is a player who doesn't suit our way of playing, except for the odd away game where he creates his own chances with long runs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MessiWillSignForVilla Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 It's not an excuse when it's directly related to his play. We don't play to his strenghts. I suppose if we were consistent Gabby would be put into Bomb squad like Bent. He is very expensive, and is a player who doesn't suit our way of playing, except for the odd away game where he creates his own chances with long runs. What? We play exactly to suit his strengths, we set up usually to absorb pressure, hoof it up the pitch for Benteke to hold up the play and/or Gabby to chase behind the defense and use his pace to stretch and tire defenders to create chances. You could argue we played to his strengths more under MON, but that's mainly because our whole team was better. Does our current midfield suit Gabby? Probably not, they currently aren't good enough, they don't create enough and I don't think our defense trust them enough to start attacks. Does our general play suit Gabby? Absolutely, hence why he's been one of our best players this season. He's a limited player that relies a lot on his pace despite his improving touch, dribbling and crossing, and our counter attacking style is pretty much the only way to effectively utilise him, it's no surprise the season he played his worst was under Houllier when we tried a patient possession approach and he bulked up and lost his pace a bit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suttonpaul Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Gabby is great away from home because of his pace, its such a threat when playing on the counter but at home he is no where near as effective as there are no through balls. Gabby is an essential member of our team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVTuco Posted February 16, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted February 16, 2014 It's not an excuse when it's directly related to his play. We don't play to his strenghts. I suppose if we were consistent Gabby would be put into Bomb squad like Bent. He is very expensive, and is a player who doesn't suit our way of playing, except for the odd away game where he creates his own chances with long runs. What? We play exactly to suit his strengths, we set up usually to absorb pressure, hoof it up the pitch for Benteke to hold up the play and/or Gabby to chase behind the defense and use his pace to stretch and tire defenders to create chances. You could argue we played to his strengths more under MON, but that's mainly because our whole team was better. Does our current midfield suit Gabby? Probably not, they currently aren't good enough, they don't create enough and I don't think our defense trust them enough to start attacks. Does our general play suit Gabby? Absolutely, hence why he's been one of our best players this season. He's a limited player that relies a lot on his pace despite his improving touch, dribbling and crossing, and our counter attacking style is pretty much the only way to effectively utilise him, it's no surprise the season he played his worst was under Houllier when we tried a patient possession approach and he bulked up and lost his pace a bit. What does it help that we try to play to his strenghts, but can't? When was he last set free with an on ground quick pass behind the defense? When did hoofing it up to Benteke to hold and feed Gabby last work? I agree that on paper counter attacking suits Gabby, and sometimes we succeed in it. Just way too seldom. I don't want Gabby to go, on the contrary. I want a better midfield. Throwing Bent out there was a bit controversial, I admit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rino8 Posted February 17, 2014 Visiting Supporter Share Posted February 17, 2014 He's never really been good at reading the game anyway so a better midfield wouldn't make that much of a difference to him. He just doesn't make the right runs most of the time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 He's inconsistent, people say he's shite at one on ones. Fair enough the Cardiff one which I still have no idea what he was trying to do but he finished the Sunderland and Swansea chances well enough over xmas, those were one on ones. He hasn't scored many this season which has been my main criticism of him over the years but he has assisted a decent amount so overall for me he's been alright but as I keep on saying he shouldn't always start every single home game just because of his status here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 If he doesn't have time to think his finishing is usually alright 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 First name on the team sheet for me away from home. At home, he might as well not even be there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted February 19, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted February 19, 2014 If he doesn't have time to think his finishing is usually alright A million times this, going on instinct he's a good finisher to top off being lighting quick and powerful. As soon as he starts thinking about where he should put it, things go a bit wonky half the time. I'd say that's why the one on one's get remembered, as he has time and space to think about what to do. Love gabby to bits, every player has faults, would love him to finish his career with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I rate Gabby and think we are better with him in the team especially away from home. But I do feel some, not all of us give him an easy ride because he is one of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DelboyVilla Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Gabby's strength is counter attacking which does suit our away tactics where home teams will push up and attack. At home where away teams are less attacking by nature he has less room to exploit his strengths i.e. his pace. In reality all the team are having a bad season not just Gabby. We are tending to hoof the ball out of defence without any thought for where are attackers are. This means the pressure is straight back on the defence. We have poor midfielders who look uncomfortable on the ball and treat it like a hot potato and either pass sideways or backwards rather than creating time for themselves and looking for a pass forward. Should we get rid of Gabby, no, for two reasons. 1. He is a big game player for us (look at his derby goals and goals against the 'big teams') 2. He is worth far more to us than other teams will value him at. There is a reason that through all the management changes that he is still playing and not in the bomb squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlwaysAVFC Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 If he doesn't have time to think his finishing is usually alright A million times this, going on instinct he's a good finisher to top off being lighting quick and powerful. As soon as he starts thinking about where he should put it, things go a bit wonky half the time. I'd say that's why the one on one's get remembered, as he has time and space to think about what to do. Love gabby to bits, every player has faults, would love him to finish his career with us. Completely agree like most would, which made his missed opportunity against Cardiff all the more baffeling as he didn't have much time to think and i'd probably say 95% of players would have hit it first time yet Gabby didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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