Ulver Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozvillafan Posted October 9, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted October 9, 2013 Delph stands out head and shoulders above the rest of our midfielders, and I find the others a rather unexciting, uninspiring lot. El Ahmadi shows occasional flashes, but that's it. Now I may be missing something, but I think they are really only good squad players, and we really need to spend decent money on an attacking mid and a defensive mid. Unsurprisingly, our midfield 3 are different in their attributes: - Delph tackles hard and likes to take on the opposition with his runs - KEA harries, plays short passes and moves into space - Westwood plays deep, has an eye for a pass and is usually the target when playing out of defense I wouldn't call Delph head and shoulders above the rest - but I would say that he is playing well because of the roles taken by Westwood and KEA. Take them out of the equation and Delph's influence is stifled. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Delph stands out head and shoulders above the rest of our midfielders, and I find the others a rather unexciting, uninspiring lot. El Ahmadi shows occasional flashes, but that's it. Now I may be missing something, but I think they are really only good squad players, and we really need to spend decent money on an attacking mid and a defensive mid. Unsurprisingly, our midfield 3 are different in their attributes: - Delph tackles hard and likes to take on the opposition with his runs - KEA harries, plays short passes and moves into space - Westwood plays deep, has an eye for a pass and is usually the target when playing out of defense I wouldn't call Delph head and shoulders above the rest - but I would say that he is playing well because of the roles taken by Westwood and KEA. Take them out of the equation and Delph's influence is stifled. I think you are giving KEA too much credit. look at the midfield without Delph and westwood against Spurs. 33% possession. I think Delph makes KEA look better than he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 We had 59% possession against Spurs according to the BBC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Strange that has changed. It must have been 33% in the first half when KEA was on the field. Although not too sure how we ended up with 59% possession as we were chasing shadows most of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Yeah I was surprised too when I first saw it after the game. I think once they went two-up they backed off and allowed us a fair bit of possession for most of the second half. I'm not sure KEA should be held responsible for the lack of possession in the first though. He played the most advanced of the three and he spent most of the half locked in a duel with Sandro. I'd argue that the onus was more on Sylla and Bacuna to retain possession in that match. Also, I don't really see how KEA can be blamed for our general lack of possession when he has the highest pass-success rate out of any regular in the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Yeah I was surprised too when I first saw it after the game. I think once they went two-up they backed off and allowed us a fair bit of possession for most of the second half. I'm not sure KEA should be held responsible for the lack of possession in the first though. He played the most advanced of the three and he spent most of the half locked in a duel with Sandro. I'd argue that the onus was more on Sylla and Bacuna to retain possession in that match.Also, I don't really see how KEA can be blamed for our general lack of possession when he has the highest pass-success rate out of any regular in the team. That's true but I was trying to make a point that arguably our worst midfield performance of the season was that first half against Spurs when neither Delph or Westwood were playing. Delph would be good playing with anyone I think. He's just our best midfield player by a mile. I know they all have different qualities but we would be pretty poor without Delph in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praisedmambo Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 It's a shame he's been one of the best performers this season and people are slagging him. UTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 (edited) Yeah I was surprised too when I first saw it after the game. I think once they went two-up they backed off and allowed us a fair bit of possession for most of the second half. I'm not sure KEA should be held responsible for the lack of possession in the first though. He played the most advanced of the three and he spent most of the half locked in a duel with Sandro. I'd argue that the onus was more on Sylla and Bacuna to retain possession in that match.Also, I don't really see how KEA can be blamed for our general lack of possession when he has the highest pass-success rate out of any regular in the team. That's true but I was trying to make a point that arguably our worst midfield performance of the season was that first half against Spurs when neither Delph or Westwood were playing. Delph would be good playing with anyone I think. He's just our best midfield player by a mile. I know they all have different qualities but we would be pretty poor without Delph in there. I'd generally agree with that. Delph has certainly become our MVP after Benteke and Guzan. Let's hope that he stays fit throughout the season. Edited October 9, 2013 by Isa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Yes we're not really well covered in midfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Strange that has changed. It must have been 33% in the first half when KEA was on the field. Although not too sure how we ended up with 59% possession as we were chasing shadows most of the game. We had 33% against Man City and won. Pages and pages of "every midfielder is mediocre but Delph is so wonderful." If you think Delph is the reason we beat Arsenal and Man City and competed with Liverpool and Chelsea and has nothing to do with excellent performances from KEA you should give yourself an uppercut. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poitier Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 KEA has done very well for us this season, but his game seems very different to when he first came, he didn't seem to do much pressing back then. He doesn't seem to get much recognition from many on here no matter how well he plays. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Strange that has changed. It must have been 33% in the first half when KEA was on the field. Although not too sure how we ended up with 59% possession as we were chasing shadows most of the game. We had 33% against Man City and won. Pages and pages of "every midfielder is mediocre but Delph is so wonderful." If you think Delph is the reason we beat Arsenal and Man City and competed with Liverpool and Chelsea and has nothing to do with excellent performances from KEA you should give yourself an uppercut. Strange that has changed. It must have been 33% in the first half when KEA was on the field. Although not too sure how we ended up with 59% possession as we were chasing shadows most of the game. We had 33% against Man City and won. Pages and pages of "every midfielder is mediocre but Delph is so wonderful." If you think Delph is the reason we beat Arsenal and Man City and competed with Liverpool and Chelsea and has nothing to do with excellent performances from KEA you should give yourself an uppercut. No not saying Delph is the reason we beat Arsenal and Man City. I'm saying he's our best midfield player by a distance. I think the majority of posters on here must think so too going by the MOTM ratings for each match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Strange that has changed. It must have been 33% in the first half when KEA was on the field. Although not too sure how we ended up with 59% possession as we were chasing shadows most of the game. We had 33% against Man City and won. Pages and pages of "every midfielder is mediocre but Delph is so wonderful." If you think Delph is the reason we beat Arsenal and Man City and competed with Liverpool and Chelsea and has nothing to do with excellent performances from KEA you should give yourself an uppercut. Strange that has changed. It must have been 33% in the first half when KEA was on the field. Although not too sure how we ended up with 59% possession as we were chasing shadows most of the game. We had 33% against Man City and won. Pages and pages of "every midfielder is mediocre but Delph is so wonderful." If you think Delph is the reason we beat Arsenal and Man City and competed with Liverpool and Chelsea and has nothing to do with excellent performances from KEA you should give yourself an uppercut. No not saying Delph is the reason we beat Arsenal and Man City. I'm saying he's our best midfield player by a distance. I think the majority of posters on here must think so too going by the MOTM ratings for each match. Confirmation bias. There seems to be a large section of fans that have decided Delph is the best player before a ball has been kicked. People seem to be coming round to KEA whereas one Villa site had +70% saying KEA shouldn't be at the club before season started. This was after what, 3 assists in the Crewe friendly? Yet still a couple of pages back people are saying KEA not good enough still? It's not KEA's fault Lambert wants to play a certain style yet he is doing the job brilliantly. Top tackler at our club 4th in the league(Delph 9th) and ahead on Key passes and pass completion rate. People can say that stats don't matter and then, on the other hand, complain why we don't finish higher up in the table where it's quite clear that for the teams that do finish higher up, stats do matter! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biskitt Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 I like him and don't understand some of the stick he gets on here. He seems to close the space down very quickly and is good in the tackle and tidy on the ball. He probably doesn't do as many eye catching things as Delph does ( dribbling past players etc ) but he's a vital cog in our midfield at the mo. For the couple of million we paid for him, he's still better than the likes of NRC or Sidwell who we paid far more for 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntrimBlack Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Delph stands out head and shoulders above the rest of our midfielders, and I find the others a rather unexciting, uninspiring lot. El Ahmadi shows occasional flashes, but that's it. Now I may be missing something, but I think they are really only good squad players, and we really need to spend decent money on an attacking mid and a defensive mid. Unsurprisingly, our midfield 3 are different in their attributes: - Delph tackles hard and likes to take on the opposition with his runs - KEA harries, plays short passes and moves into space - Westwood plays deep, has an eye for a pass and is usually the target when playing out of defense I wouldn't call Delph head and shoulders above the rest - but I would say that he is playing well because of the roles taken by Westwood and KEA. Take them out of the equation and Delph's influence is stifled. Yes, I know what you are saying, but my point is that I think we need better. And you cannot take them out of the equation without replacing them with others, and the idea would be that those `others' would be better than what we have. I just do not think that our midfield is good enough. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Delph stands out head and shoulders above the rest of our midfielders, and I find the others a rather unexciting, uninspiring lot. El Ahmadi shows occasional flashes, but that's it. Now I may be missing something, but I think they are really only good squad players, and we really need to spend decent money on an attacking mid and a defensive mid. Unsurprisingly, our midfield 3 are different in their attributes: - Delph tackles hard and likes to take on the opposition with his runs - KEA harries, plays short passes and moves into space - Westwood plays deep, has an eye for a pass and is usually the target when playing out of defense I wouldn't call Delph head and shoulders above the rest - but I would say that he is playing well because of the roles taken by Westwood and KEA. Take them out of the equation and Delph's influence is stifled. Yes, I know what you are saying, but my point is that I think we need better. And you cannot take them out of the equation without replacing them with others, and the idea would be that those `others' would be better than what we have. I just do not think that our midfield is good enough. exactly, it is probably our weakest area of the pitch. Anyway I'm sticking to my opinion that Delph is head and shoulders above the rest. I don't care about pass completion rates or tackles or other stats, I go by the evidence of my eyes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vandaq Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Has been way better this season, the surprise of the season so far for me. One could say delph, but I see it more naturally as he was already doing this last season, he has just kept his momentum up from that. I do think he was pretty bad against...newcastle I think? Had some horrible mistakes there. But a lot of good things here, feels like a new signing for me at least. Still want more from there, and it is a problem. Delph is an obvious one at this point, but would be interesting to see something like delph-sylla and someone new, that allusive AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwichmann Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I think Delph and KEA have been playing well this season. Is that allowed, or do I have to pick one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post P3te Posted October 11, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted October 11, 2013 I think Delph and KEA have been playing well this season. Is that allowed, or do I have to pick one? you must pick one. and you therefore must call the other one shite or worthless 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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