samjp26 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 If Ireland actually had players around him that could do a job, he could probably do one of his own, glimpses can be seen of what he can do which is a great deal more than what can be said about Zoggy - KEA is the start of bolstering the midfield but wingers are a must, and I personally can't see Holman and N'Zogbia being up to the task. I can't quite get how Zoggy has flopped so badly for us, he always impressed at Wigan in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 the myth that Ireland "has it in his locker" and on his day can "thread a pass"..drives me insane..its based on his Elano and City days coz we haven't seen it at Villa once Ireland will continue to play poorly, tip tap it around, thinking he is some kind of David Silva and miraculously be considered as our most creative force... He cant play on the wing, he cant play at CM, he can only play in the hole and the fact of the matter is he is nowhere near effective enough for us to afford him in that position effective being the operative word. we have too many players that just look for someone else to do it for them.... they just drift. we need some effective players in all positions, but of course it will take time and money. Agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramshackler Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 If Ireland actually had players around him that could do a job, he could probably do one of his own, glimpses can be seen of what he can do which is a great deal more than what can be said about Zoggy - KEA is the start of bolstering the midfield but wingers are a must, and I personally can't see Holman and N'Zogbia being up to the task. I can't quite get how Zoggy has flopped so badly for us, he always impressed at Wigan in my opinion. I think Zoggy is a good player, but he is struggling for the same reason as Ireland. At the minute we have so little up front, that he is easy to mark or double up on. He thrives on space to run into and shoot. At the minute he is having to try and do too much and snatching at chances and trying to take on too many. He is grafting, and if we get some more quality in around him, we will see a better player Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic_bouma Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 how many players are we going to give the tag "if we get some better players around him we will see a better player" to? pretty sure Lambert isn't gonna let them off with that excuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Not long back from the game. Ireland was playing much too deep today. Not sure if that is where he was told to play or that was simply the only way he was going to get the ball as quite simply the ball hardly ever reached over attacking third. He did OK but he needs to be in a more advanced position than he continually found himself in today if he is to do any damage in terms of creating chances. He tried to thread a few passes into Bent but as he was too deep they were telegraphed and relatively easy pickings usually for James Collins who was superb for West Ham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkr Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 the myth that Ireland "has it in his locker" and on his day can "thread a pass"..drives me insane..its based on his Elano and City days coz we haven't seen it at Villa once Ireland will continue to play poorly, tip tap it around, thinking he is some kind of David Silva and miraculously be considered as our most creative force... He cant play on the wing, he cant play at CM, he can only play in the hole and the fact of the matter is he is nowhere near effective enough for us to afford him in that position Very much agree with this. Our midfield is full of overpaid useless words removed who time after time prove they aren't good enough. Bent had absolutely nothing to work with today, which is just unbelievable. We might as well sell him because he is going to be feeding off scraps all season again. Very depressing start to a new season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I actually think Gabby was a miss today. Yes I know he's stopped scoring but I reckon Lambert would've given him almost a free role today and just told him to go and stretch the West Ham defence which wasn't that pacy looking at who played there. I think that's one of the plans Lambert is considering to give Ireland and particularly N'zogbia more space to work with and create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SikhInTrinity Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Totally agree Chris, we lacked that burst of pace to get in behind them! Hope he's back soon! He'll run channels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Ireland created nothing today His best moment was a sliding tackle to win the ball back which he'd given away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkr Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 the myth that Ireland "has it in his locker" and on his day can "thread a pass"..drives me insane..its based on his Elano and City days coz we haven't seen it at Villa once Ireland will continue to play poorly, tip tap it around, thinking he is some kind of David Silva and miraculously be considered as our most creative force... He cant play on the wing, he cant play at CM, he can only play in the hole and the fact of the matter is he is nowhere near effective enough for us to afford him in that position Very much agree with this. Our midfield is full of overpaid useless words removed who time after time prove they aren't good enough. Bent had absolutely nothing to work with today, which is just unbelievable. We might as well sell him because he is going to be feeding off scraps all season again. Very depressing start to a new season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I think the problem is we're expecting Ireland to create chances out of nothing with no support. When he got the ball today his options were very limited. He could go backwards or sideways to keep the ball, which he did a few times. The problem is if he just does that all game he's not playing the role we need, so his other option is to try and thread a ball through to bent. Because that's our only option it's basically Ireland trying to find a gap between a back four with only Darren Bent to aim for. If we had two attacking wingers creating space out wide and pulling fullbacks wide it would help. If we had another striker on the pitch so that the defenders didn't just have to concentrate marking one player that would help. He wasn't great today but we seem to be soley expecting him to create chances out of nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkr Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I'd agree that we are lacking width, Holman and N'Zogbia are really very sub-standard. Randy needs to pull his finger out and provide the funds for us go and sign Adam Johnson or another legitimate winger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Matty Phillips and Adam Johnson Please. That would sort out our wide problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Ireland created nothing today His best moment was a sliding tackle to win the ball back which he'd given away lol that's true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 That would be a dream. I guess we'd have to move N'Zogbia on because he's too similar a player to AJ and only half as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houllierout Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Nightmare... seems i was right about him again... hard been me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 The problem is that some see his obvious talent and invent a scenario where he lives up to it on a consistent basis. Sadly, I think he has only done that once in his entire career, that was in the season where he was playing with Robinho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvfcTheObsession Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I think the problem is we're expecting Ireland to create chances out of nothing with no support. When he got the ball today his options were very limited. He could go backwards or sideways to keep the ball, which he did a few times. The problem is if he just does that all game he's not playing the role we need, so his other option is to try and thread a ball through to bent. Because that's our only option it's basically Ireland trying to find a gap between a back four with only Darren Bent to aim for. If we had two attacking wingers creating space out wide and pulling fullbacks wide it would help. If we had another striker on the pitch so that the defenders didn't just have to concentrate marking one player that would help. He wasn't great today but we seem to be soley expecting him to create chances out of nothing. It's this all day long. If we were actually an attacking team, with 3 or 4 players making runs in advance of Ireland, he'd be able to come into his own and actually attempt through balls which would set up an attack. Not a lot he can do when he gets the ball and the only player ahead of him is Bent who has 4 defenders to contend with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 It's a cop out to blame those around him, Ireland was getting the elementary stuff wrong today, others can't be blamed for that. It's high time people saw Ireland for what he is, a lazy inconsistent player that will always flatter to deceive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillanousOne Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 was at the game today and whilst Ireland was pretty mediocre he was probably the only player 'trying' to get the ball forward, ok so he failed, too often we kept possession in areas that didn't hurt west ham and most passes across midfield went back or sideways. Whenever KEA, Ireland or Delph got the ball, there was only Bent crowded out ahead of them and Nzogbia who had three Wham players nipping at his heals everytime he got the ball. without width we are doomed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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