13 Mar 2023 23:02:08
Positives from the weekend:
1. Stopped the run of defeats to West Ham.
2. Maginn looks like he's rediscovering his form.
3. Ollie banged in another one.
4. Carlos on the bench.
I think that's it for positives.
Negatives:
1. They were there for the taking and we didn't go for it, last 10 or so mins they bring on an attacker and we bring on chambers for Watkins, Ollie wasn't 1 bit happy and looked bewildered at the decision, I wasn't happy with a point were you?
2. What's going on with Martinez? Terrible distribution and looked far to flappy at set pieces etc.
3. Our play was so laboured at times and not enough intensity against a team playing terrible all season, we need to go for the jugular against these teams.
4. Doug, I seen someone write on here how his passing has improved? He sends most of his passes back to mings and konsa for them to pick out a pass, I'm sorry but he's the Brazilian and meant to have a foot on him he should be spraying those long passes forward not our CB's having to do it.
5. Bailey! What on earth was he doing? The other guy was moving away from goal, their chance was gone it was ridiculous and my word one of the softest penalties I've seen, compare that to what Buendia was doing to ings in the box 5 mins later and how can the first be a penalty on that not, terrible refereeing and VAR rubbish as usual.
I was very disappointed with the performance of at least 7-8 of our starting 11 and our bench is rubbish right now, we have no game changers to come on and make a difference, we need 4 or 5 quality players in the summer but I honestly can't see it happening,
Game time is being divided well between Moreno and digne, personally I'd like to see Moreno deployed at LM he loves getting forward and always creating chances.
14 Mar 2023 08:07:03
Whack, I agree with most of what you say, certainly the penalty decisions were a joke,Bailey’s challenge on Pacqueta was clumsy, but contact was minimal, Pacqueta collapsed like he had been shot, if you give that then you surely have to give one for Rice’s challenge on Buendia in the second half. You are also right re Buendia on Ings however the only thing that possibly saved us was Ings did have a bit of his shirt but it was certainly risky in the extreme. In terms of us having a go I read an interesting piece from Jacob Ramsey who was saying Emery is not happy that the team are patient enough in possession I read that to say we are less likely to be having a go as you put it and look to keep the ball more move teams from side to side until we can create openings which in fairness is how we are playing now, and probably explains why we are being linked with more foreign players who are more comfortable in possession and generally better technically than English players. I think we are going to have to get used to this type of football while Emery is in charge.
I also agree his bench is weak and we do need a number of quality signings but if we are to believe the statements which came out of NSWE when Emery joined then significant funds will be made available so the squad will I believe be very different next season to what it is now, add to that how are youngsters like Archer, Ramsey, Ireobugnam, even Azzaz at Plymouth and Bogarde at Bristol Rovers are doing, bodes quite well as long as the path to the first team for these is clear.
Give Emery a pre season with a different looking squad and it will be interesting to see how we play next year.
14 Mar 2023 20:21:30
Guys all good and valid points, we are and have been carrying too many average players, Whack mentioned 7 or 8 average performances, pretty much par for the course for a long, long time. We lack the quality to play the football many of us would love to see.
We actually did well down the left on Sunday, with a couple of quality crosses, we should be doing this down the right, unfortunately Konsa, Cash and Bailey can't replicate what's possible on the left, why, simply the three of them are not good enough. They will be the first three out next season, which should balance our attacking threat on the wings with quality replacements. I agree about Martinez, Whack, I think he is working is ticket out. So i think the rest of the season will be samey, with Emery encouraging ball retention with improved passing and there has been evidence of this and results suggest we are moving in the right direction. We are currently playing within our limitations and hopefully we can continue to accumulate points. I would love to see some of our loanees given a chance next season if only to strengthen our bench (two keepers is an absolute disgrace for a club of our size) but Emery is not known for unproven talent getting much game time. Next season hopefully, will be more exciting than this.
14 Mar 2023 23:47:35
What do ye think about Watkins season so far? 9 league goals (1 in cup) and 4 assists. 12 games left, if he scores 5 more goals and gets a couple more assists, so maybe 20-22 goal contributions, surely would make it a very decent season for him personally, probably should of had another one Sunday but is he good enough to bring us forward next season? Can he get closer to 20 goals with better service?
On the Martinez topic I’m slowly but surely leaning towards cashing in on him if we can get 60+ million. 40-60 million I’d have to think about pro’s and cons more, anything under 40 million I wouldn’t budge, 1 thing is for sure I would like to see him back to his best and making better decisions or his value is going to drop.
15 Mar 2023 00:45:10
Whack, football is all about confidence and we have seen both ends of the spectrum with Ollie, he is showing us that he has a future with us and i am pleased with that. Let's hope Martinez bucks his ideas up, his world cup win appears to have given him an unwelcome arrogance, culminating in some poor decision making,I think Emery could lose patience with him if he's not careful.
15 Mar 2023 06:59:35
In answer to your questions Whack, whilst I like Watkins I don’t think he will score 20 premiership goals a season to push us towards European qualification. He is a good player and I know the likes of Arsenal are keen on his services but the difference between us and them is they have goals spread throughout the team we do not. So I would be inclined to sell for the right deal which for me would be Tierney and a significant cash adjustment.Similarly with Martinez, Spurs are looking for a replacement for Lloris ok, give us Bissouma and a say circa £40 million, we then sell the likes of Digne, Konsa and some of our other fringe players and we have a sizeable war chest to sign a goalkeeper a couple of quality strikers and a winger.
15 Mar 2023 21:24:58
Guys, selling Watkins and Martinez? Come on! These are players we need to build a team around, Martinez has just been voted the best keeper in the world and Ollie Watkins has 6 goals in 7 matches. This Watkins is a totally different beast, Emery will look for a partner for him, not a replacement.
15 Mar 2023 22:18:17
Agree bk I’ve always liked Watkins even when he’s not hitting the back of the net he works hard for the team and presses well. I don’t know who people think we can sign who will get 20+ goals not many do in the prem.
15 Mar 2023 22:21:28
Martinez and his agent have already been clear that Martinez wants to play Champions League football and whilst he has said he would want that to be with us, the reality is that’s not likely to happen soon enough.In addition rumour has it that the relationship between Emery and Martinez isn’t great, and Emery likes keepers comfortable with the ball at there feet, Martinez isn’t that comfortable on the ball add to that at the moment we can command top dollar for him then there is a logic to letting him go in the summer. Although having said all that I will be delighted if he stays, I think it’s one of those rare occasions when it’s a win win for the club.
With regards Watkins do you see him as a striker who will regularly score 20 premiership goals a season? I think he is a decent striker but not one who is prolific enough to take us to the next level I would be happy for him to be a squad player but I don’t think he would be.
15 Mar 2023 22:42:28
When have we ever had a striker that has scored 20 league goals?
15 Mar 2023 23:06:33
Abraham in the Championship doesn't count. The facts are that Watkins has at least matched any forward we've had in the Premier league apart from 1 season when Benteke scored 19. There just aren't the forwards around capable of that many goals that we would realistically have a chance of signing.
16 Mar 2023 07:43:05
Guys, just to be clear I really do like Watkins he works hard, runs the channels and never gives the opposition centre backs a minutes peace. But and it’s a big but the name of the game for a centre forward is goals and unfortunately to take us to the next level his conversion rate isn’t good enough in my opinion, particularly as we don’t create a ruck of chances in games, or have two or three midfielders capable of chipping in with 8-10 goals a season, that’s why I think a striker capable of getting 20 goals is essential if we are to progress.
16 Mar 2023 10:18:14
Surely that says we need to get the players around him rather than replace him.
If we get a couple of very good wingers/support strikers who can get those 8-10 goals and create better chances for Ollie then that solves the problem better.
If we get another striker but leave them isolated and don't create good chances then we'll have spent money to still have the same problem.
Ollie showed at Brentford and his first season with us that he can be an instinctive and deadly finisher. His injury at the start of last season and the catastrophe that was Gerrard took that away but it's clearly starting to come back.
16 Mar 2023 10:45:31
Hit the nail on the head RK, for me it's not about replacing Watkins it's about getting more goals elsewhere in the team - Watkins will hit 15 goals next season in the Prem, 100%, but we need to get players around him who contribute 10+ goals from wide areas. That's how we progress as a club in the short term as the reality is, any striker that GUARANTEES you 20+ goals a season year on year is not going to sign for Villa without Champions League football (and that's a million miles away at the moment). What we have is a striker who contributes immensely in other areas, is a huge asset to the team and will certainly score 15 goals next season. he's been brilliant since Emery joined!
16 Mar 2023 10:49:39
You can describe Ollie in many ways but deadly finisher unfortunately isn’t one of them! If for example you compare his stats with Toney the guy Brentford bought to replace him, then over the last couple of seasons Watkins scores a goal roughly every 3 games for Toney it’s a goal every 2 games, that’s the type of return we should be looking at to progress.
16 Mar 2023 11:21:30
You've just used the period of time I commented on in regards to injury and a useless manager so of course the stats aren't there.
Watkins was the record Championship goalscorer for a year when with Brentford, can't be that bad at finishing.
Brentford have a settled team and a system which gets players like Mbuemo and Wissa around him, Toney isn't doing the majority of the heavy lifting.
We are currently getting ourselves out of being a team of individuals, once we have 1 or 2 wingers and maybe another midfielder and the team become more comfortable with the tactics then we'll see that consistency.
If we compare Watkins to Toney since Emery joined then Watkins is actually better. I'm willing to caveat that with Toneys off field issues possibly affecting his form but overall they are probably going to be similar in output.
16 Mar 2023 11:34:33
I think I’m leaning towards keeping him and I reckon he will be the main man for at least 1 more year, I’m in agreement with some of you about him needing more quality around him, we need midfielders chipping in with goals, same with center backs they go up for every corner but I can’t remember when either of them last scored, that was 1 of the things I liked about hause he was a good attacking threat hat the set pieces, I think Ollie with hit 15 goals this year which won’t be a bad return, we do need another striker to play along side him in certain games and contribute 8-10 goals and the rest of our squad need to get 20 at the minimum between them.
16 Mar 2023 12:06:55
Im starting a campaign, #Ollie to stay. Everything everyone is saying leads to the conclusion there is a place for Ollie that's Aston Villa, he has proved in the last few months give him chances and he will score, its those around him that are the issue, minimal scoring from midfield, defenders and attacking players, also minimal assists,if we get that right, Ollie will remain our number one striker, hopefully with support that can chip in 10 - 15 goals.
16 Mar 2023 12:10:51
The stats are the stats rk and irrespective of whether we had a useless manager or not Toney playing for a team who I think we would all agree man for man aren’t as good as us gets a better return than our top goalscorer, I don’t think that reflects well, and for me suggests is not an out and out goalscorer.
I accept I may well be in the minority on here which is fair enough but i am willing to bet that if Watkins is our leading front man next season mid table will be the best outcome we will achieve.
16 Mar 2023 12:26:28
Toney is a more clinical striker, I don't think that can be disputed but he's scored 10+ penalties since arriving in the Premierleague which does skew the figures slightly (Think Watkins has 3 maybe?) - When talking about Watkins I think we need to look at the 20/21 season rather than that mess under Gerrard, he scored 14 in the league with 5 assists, he's on track to replicate that this season. Yes, he's not Haaland but you add 2 players in the summer who can contribute 10+ goals next season and Ollie replicates this seasons output and you have a very potent attack.
16 Mar 2023 13:25:43
BK, You would pay a fortune to replace Ollie, without guarantees, we should stick with him.
16 Mar 2023 13:38:36
The problem BK is likely to be the same as the one you suggested would impact our ability to attract a 20 goal plus striker ie they won’t come unless Champions League football is on offer. Whilst might be lucky and land one, but two can’t see it myself, but if we could pick them up, who would you suggest?
17 Mar 2023 00:42:06
And that's the problem we have LotM, without Europe it makes it very difficult to recruit players of the calibre we need without offering insane wages (and even then there is no guarantee outside of the elite players).
Personally, I think we need a striker, winger, midfielder and right back in the summer and I'd love us to be ambitious and try to snare some young talent (like we did with Kamara). I don't get to watch as much European football as I'd like these days but I think Ivan Fresneda would be an ambitious target at right back (although Real are reportedly in for him, if that's the case then we have zero chance). In midfield I think Guendouzi is an absolute banker but if not then maybe make a move for Khephren Thuram who I think looks primed for the Premierleague. I think we'll go back in for Nico Williams and I still believe we'll go very big on a striker, who that will be I don't know mate and wouldn't even speculate. Either way I think we'll be in a much better place come the start of next season, Emery will get a warchest in the summer I'm sure.