Zatman Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 wasnt happy when he signed BUT Vlaar is no McGrath, Laursen or even Mellberg or Dunne but he is better than a lot of other crap we had over last few seasons in defence. Last year was tough for him as he had an injury and was babysitting Clark for most of season. He did OK nothing spectacular but no coincidence we look better with him in the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I really want to love him, but he just doesn't quite deliver what we hope/expect does he. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AValon Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 We do look toothless without him in the side, but he is'nt a 'one-man- team. He needs a decent CB alongside him to bring out the best in him. We just can't expect him single-handedly to do the job. I hope Okore is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Potential captain this season? This season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cizzler Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 He's got a long way to go before he's even as good as somebody like Zat Knight. Do you actually believe what you have written? For instance, if you could, would you swap Vlaar for Knight? Genuinely interested. I think Zat Knight is one of the most error-prone defenders to ever play in the Premiership, let alone play for us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHV Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 He's got a long way to go before he's even as good as somebody like Zat Knight What the... I don't even... Wow. I must be thinking of the wrong guy. Knight and Vlaar are probably on a par in terms of ability Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 How many games that he played in did we manage to keep a clean sheet in? Not all his fault of course, but he hardly led by example. He was rubbish at marking, positionally poor and crap in the air, and he's not very quick either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 At what stage does an opinion cross over into PFE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHV Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 How many games that he played in did we manage to keep a clean sheet in? Not all his fault of course, but he hardly led by example. He was rubbish at marking, positionally poor and crap in the air, and he's not very quick either. I agree with all of this. Personally i think he is dodgy at best. He is the first centre half I have ever seen who ducks corners too. Whats that all about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cizzler Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 (edited) He's got a long way to go before he's even as good as somebody like Zat Knight What the... I don't even... Wow. I must be thinking of the wrong guy. Knight and Vlaar are probably on a par in terms of ability Then why is one getting into the Netherlands squad and the other playing in a mid-table Championship side? A gif of Zat from Bolton's pre-season game the other night. Edited July 31, 2013 by Cizzler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Jesus, that is Clark-esque. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 31, 2013 Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2013 At what stage does an opinion cross over into PFE? If it's a genuinely held opinion then by definition it is never PFE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Zat Knight is better defending balls in the air but that would be his only attribute better than Vlaar. There is no doubt who is the better footballer of the two. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Vlaar was a bit of a let down last season. Of course we looked better when he came back because we were playing the likes of Herd in defence. The protection Guzan had and the defence as a unit was nothing short of awful last year. Thankfully lambert has tried to solve this and Luna and okore should help improve us. Hopefully a more solid unit will see the best out of Vlaar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 31, 2013 Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2013 I think Vlaar will surprise some of you (in a good way) next season. I think some don't appreciate the circumstances he was thrown into last season while acclimatising himself. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I don't think it was an ideal situation to come into but at the same time I was expecting more from him. I hope he does surprise me because a partnership of Vlaar and Okore playing well would have a big impact on us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArteSuave Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Then why is one getting into the Netherlands squad and the other playing in a mid-table Championship side? It's because Zat isn't eligible to play for the Netherlands of course. If Zat Knight was Dutch, he'd have captained them to World and European glory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Zat Knight is also 33 now. Vlaar playing for Holland is irrelevant to me. Emile Heskey was a regular for England, but was the crappest so-called striker I've seen for a long time at Villa. I hope last season can just be put down to first season syndrome, and that he comes good this year, but there's no point pretending he wasn't rubbish. He was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Zat Knight is also 33 now. Vlaar playing for Holland is irrelevant to me. Emile Heskey was a regular for England, but was the crappest so-called striker I've seen for a long time at Villa. I hope last season can just be put down to first season syndrome, and that he comes good this year, but there's no point pretending he wasn't rubbish. He was. You're right. He was rubbish and the rest of us are all pretending. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted July 31, 2013 Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2013 Zat Knight is also 33 now. Vlaar playing for Holland is irrelevant to me. Emile Heskey was a regular for England, but was the crappest so-called striker I've seen for a long time at Villa. I hope last season can just be put down to first season syndrome, and that he comes good this year, but there's no point pretending he wasn't rubbish. He was. I don't often disagree with you pal but I'm going to on this one or at least on part of it. I agree, that he plays for Holland is irrelevant to me and in my opinion to any discussion about him as a player for Aston Villa. I don't though think he was rubbish last season. We've been blessed with CB's down the years at Villa pretty much for the last 20 years, we've had some truly excellent players. In fact I'd argue that we've had as good a CB's during that period as anyone in the league and far better than we've had a in any other position. In that context Vlaar does fall short, he isn't up there with Lauren, Mellberg, Southgate, McGrath or many of the other names you could pick from the list. He isn't as good as those sort of players, not even close if we are honest. He isn't though terrible, he is a decent but not spectacular CB which when you spend £3m is always likely to be what you will get. I would though point to our form prior to his injury and once he returned in comparison to our form when he was missing. Now it isn't all down to him, there were many other factors not least the return of Gabby at the end of the season but it does appear that Vlaar had a positive impact upon our results. Could we get a better CB? Well there are certainly better ones around but with the budget afforded to Lambert by Lerner I'm not so sure we could sign one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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