P3te Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 (edited) Winger: he can cross well, he's pretty athletic but his passing isn't great and neither is his dribbling. Fullback: Crossing and athleticism, yes. Positioning, nope. Tackling, so-so. CM: Got the athleticism, not enough of a range of passing, technique isn't good enough. From that, I'd take the following: Winger: Crossing and athleticism already there, passing and dribbling can be coached Fullback: Crossing and athleticism already there, tackling can be coached to a certain extent, positioning not quite so much CM: Athleticism already there, range of passing can be coached, technique can be improved but only to a certain level For me, that points at winger being the best position for him at Villa - the others just need a little too much work. However, there's a fourth option: wing back, should we play with 3 centre backs. He's got the athleticism and crossing, the positioning shortcomings can be offset somewhat by playing Richards on his side of central defence, getting back and hassling players would be more relevant than straight up tackling, and it plays to his ability to pick a ball as opposed to just crossing. IF, and it's a big if, we do play that system, I fully expect Leandro to be the RWB with Richards behind him, serving as both CB and RB depending on where Bacuna is on the pitch at any given time. You're very dependent on having a LWB who can play as a regular LB in that situation though (letting us change shape to a flat back 4 if/when Bacuna is too far up the pitch to get back and we're hit on a break), and we haven't got one at the moment who can do that. Additionally, you need to be quite strong on the left hand side of the pitch further up in this case, too. Otherwise everything is coming from our right and it's too easy to defend against. Jack to take a slightly wider role on the left hand side to balance that out perhaps? Edited July 14, 2015 by P3te Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 He's almost 24 - you can't improve your dribbling or passing THAT much if the talent isn't there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troon_villan Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Dat pass for Cleverley doh. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunkyluke Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Dat pass for Cleverley doh. I'd give it assist of the season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 He's almost 24 - you can't improve your dribbling or passing THAT much if the talent isn't there. That all depends on whether he's been focusing on it in training or not previously Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 You can't coach talent P3te, you really can't. People have different ceilings of ability and I just don't think he's got it in him. I really hope I'm wrong and he turns out to be a big success but I'm doubtful, obviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SikhInTrinity Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Can't pass but made arguably two of the best passes for us this season. That pass to Hutton against Bournemouth and the one to Cleverley. Can't pass though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 14, 2015 Moderator Share Posted July 14, 2015 Am I the only one not entirely convinced yet by Bacuna? I mean I like the guy. He's a good squad player and he has goals and set pieces in his locker. I want him to do well and I enjoy his good performances because he's got a kind of cult status. But having him in the first team ... I dunno, I just can't shake the feeling that he's part of that influx of players that didn't fully measure up. Maybe I'm wrong and I'd certainly like to be. But if you do up a starting 11 for Villa as it stands and he's a part of it, then for me I think he'd be one of the weaker players. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 I take it you haven't seen my posts BOF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SikhInTrinity Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Am I the only one not entirely convinced yet by Bacuna? I mean I like the guy. He's a good squad player and he has goals and set pieces in his locker. I want him to do well and I enjoy his good performances because he's got a kind of cult status. But having him in the first team ... I dunno, I just can't shake the feeling that he's part of that influx of players that didn't fully measure up. Maybe I'm wrong and I'd certainly like to be. But if you do up a starting 11 for Villa as it stands and he's a part of it, then for me I think he'd be one of the weaker players. I think the issue we have is we never actually give him a position, he's like the utility man. I think if we actually kept him at RB, he'd get better and better at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 14, 2015 Moderator Share Posted July 14, 2015 *quickly reads back* OK I'm not the only one then Lex 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Can't pass but made arguably two of the best passes for us this season. That pass to Hutton against Bournemouth and the one to Cleverley. Can't pass though. You can coach certain skills though, and I think adequate dribbling is one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 He doesn't need to be excellent at dribbling. He's got pace, strength and great technique. Makings of a good player if given a run 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 I think he lacks that one thing that makes him a good player....consistency He can do most of the things top players can do....but not that often. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Can't pass but made arguably two of the best passes for us this season. That pass to Hutton against Bournemouth and the one to Cleverley. Can't pass though. They were great passes, for sure, but are hardly indicative of his overall passing ability. It's all about consistency at this level; if he could do that a lot more frequently, he'd be a much better player but he's just as likely to give it to the opposition as he is play a scintillating through ball. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a m ole Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 That still makes him a good player and one worth keeping around. It's important to have players that can make something from nothing even if it is sporadically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 (edited) It's the one thing that makes our results up and down....players consistency levels That is what TS is working on. On their day they are all good. Ps not saying get rid.....I think of all the iffy ones, he is one of the best. Edited July 14, 2015 by TRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 14, 2015 Moderator Share Posted July 14, 2015 Hopefully it's what Ray Wilkins will bring with him too. A demand for consistency having been used to a higher standard. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SikhInTrinity Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Can't pass but made arguably two of the best passes for us this season. That pass to Hutton against Bournemouth and the one to Cleverley. Can't pass though. They were great passes, for sure, but are hardly indicative of his overall passing ability. It's all about consistency at this level; if he could do that a lot more frequently, he'd be a much better player but he's just as likely to give it to the opposition as he is play a scintillating through ball. You say he isn't great at passing however let's compare him to the other RB you say we should stick with i.e. Hutton. Hutton pass success % was at 76.4 Bacuna pass success % was at 78.6 Considering he only made 10 starts in the PL last season and got 5 assists. Hutton got 0 and he started 27 games in the PL. Like I said if we work with him and make him into a full-back instead of a utility man we can make him into a well-rounded full-back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Hutton is a lot more defensively solid though - that's why I'd prefer him to Bacuna. Really though, I'd like us to sign someone better than both of them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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