If Moyes / Yanited pay £30m for him then they are absolute mugs. He reminded me of a slightly better version of Nicky Shorey
Quote from: django on April 19, 2014, 08:47:05 PMSouthampton have spent a reasonable ammount of money but they haven't spread it thinly across the whole squad. I think that good players raise the standards of those around them. That's why someone like Steven Davis, who wasn't considered good enough for us a few years back would have been our best midfielder today.Obviously even if you have better players, these players need to be organised with a particular way of playing in mind. I'm not really sure what ours is supposed to be at the moment. Albrighton had the most joy of any of our players today but our strikers weren't looking for those kind of crosses (in towards the near post mostly)Weimann actually made some great runs in the first half, pulling into space on the edges of the area, the balls then went out wide to Albrighton and there was no one on the end of the cross that came in.Gabby and Weimann get a lot of stick, much of it deserved, but I don't think we've played either of them to their strengths, today or for most of their careers.This is sort of what I'm saying aswell. Southampton made a decision a while ago to spend money on key areas and flesh out their squad with promosing youth on the bench e.g. chambers, Reed and Gallagher all subs for them today who are youth products.In the summer they spent our annual 20m on Lovren (7m) and Wanayama (12m). Now Wan has lost form lately but I think he's better than what we've got and Lovren has been excellent for them in defence. Thi season has shown we don't need to spent 20m on strenghtheing the squad if the result is Tonev, Luna, Sylla, Helenius benchwarming. Honestly the likes of Robinson, Grealish, Carruthers could've done that role.I'd say two good midfielders in and suddenly the likes of Delph and especially Westwood will improve with the quality around them. Or one of them will be on the bench which will make our squad stronger that way.
Southampton have spent a reasonable ammount of money but they haven't spread it thinly across the whole squad. I think that good players raise the standards of those around them. That's why someone like Steven Davis, who wasn't considered good enough for us a few years back would have been our best midfielder today.Obviously even if you have better players, these players need to be organised with a particular way of playing in mind. I'm not really sure what ours is supposed to be at the moment. Albrighton had the most joy of any of our players today but our strikers weren't looking for those kind of crosses (in towards the near post mostly)Weimann actually made some great runs in the first half, pulling into space on the edges of the area, the balls then went out wide to Albrighton and there was no one on the end of the cross that came in.Gabby and Weimann get a lot of stick, much of it deserved, but I don't think we've played either of them to their strengths, today or for most of their careers.
Quote from: SoccerHQ on April 19, 2014, 09:03:12 PMQuote from: django on April 19, 2014, 08:47:05 PMSouthampton have spent a reasonable ammount of money but they haven't spread it thinly across the whole squad. I think that good players raise the standards of those around them. That's why someone like Steven Davis, who wasn't considered good enough for us a few years back would have been our best midfielder today.Obviously even if you have better players, these players need to be organised with a particular way of playing in mind. I'm not really sure what ours is supposed to be at the moment. Albrighton had the most joy of any of our players today but our strikers weren't looking for those kind of crosses (in towards the near post mostly)Weimann actually made some great runs in the first half, pulling into space on the edges of the area, the balls then went out wide to Albrighton and there was no one on the end of the cross that came in.Gabby and Weimann get a lot of stick, much of it deserved, but I don't think we've played either of them to their strengths, today or for most of their careers.This is sort of what I'm saying aswell. Southampton made a decision a while ago to spend money on key areas and flesh out their squad with promosing youth on the bench e.g. chambers, Reed and Gallagher all subs for them today who are youth products.In the summer they spent our annual 20m on Lovren (7m) and Wanayama (12m). Now Wan has lost form lately but I think he's better than what we've got and Lovren has been excellent for them in defence. Thi season has shown we don't need to spent 20m on strenghtheing the squad if the result is Tonev, Luna, Sylla, Helenius benchwarming. Honestly the likes of Robinson, Grealish, Carruthers could've done that role.I'd say two good midfielders in and suddenly the likes of Delph and especially Westwood will improve with the quality around them. Or one of them will be on the bench which will make our squad stronger that way.Completely agree. Let our academy provide the young, squad players and spend what we do have on a couple of real quality players. It's so glaringly obvious it's upsetting.
Quote from: onje_villa on April 20, 2014, 11:18:58 AMQuote from: SoccerHQ on April 19, 2014, 09:03:12 PMQuote from: django on April 19, 2014, 08:47:05 PMSouthampton have spent a reasonable ammount of money but they haven't spread it thinly across the whole squad. I think that good players raise the standards of those around them. That's why someone like Steven Davis, who wasn't considered good enough for us a few years back would have been our best midfielder today.Obviously even if you have better players, these players need to be organised with a particular way of playing in mind. I'm not really sure what ours is supposed to be at the moment. Albrighton had the most joy of any of our players today but our strikers weren't looking for those kind of crosses (in towards the near post mostly)Weimann actually made some great runs in the first half, pulling into space on the edges of the area, the balls then went out wide to Albrighton and there was no one on the end of the cross that came in.Gabby and Weimann get a lot of stick, much of it deserved, but I don't think we've played either of them to their strengths, today or for most of their careers.This is sort of what I'm saying aswell. Southampton made a decision a while ago to spend money on key areas and flesh out their squad with promosing youth on the bench e.g. chambers, Reed and Gallagher all subs for them today who are youth products.In the summer they spent our annual 20m on Lovren (7m) and Wanayama (12m). Now Wan has lost form lately but I think he's better than what we've got and Lovren has been excellent for them in defence. Thi season has shown we don't need to spent 20m on strenghtheing the squad if the result is Tonev, Luna, Sylla, Helenius benchwarming. Honestly the likes of Robinson, Grealish, Carruthers could've done that role.I'd say two good midfielders in and suddenly the likes of Delph and especially Westwood will improve with the quality around them. Or one of them will be on the bench which will make our squad stronger that way.Completely agree. Let our academy provide the young, squad players and spend what we do have on a couple of real quality players. It's so glaringly obvious it's upsetting.It does seem obvious. But then, passing the ball to your team mate seems obvious too along with moving into space to make yourself availablle. Practicing throw-ins, pressing the opposition, working on close ball control, organising the defence and being aware if any team mates are making good runs, also all seem obvious to me but have been sadly lacking for a number of seasons.But I'm not a 'football man' so what do I know?
I organised a "guess the weight of the gravel in my front garden" competition on Facebook then I spent the afternoon making concrete. I watched it set a bit and then I had a beer. I probably had more fun than you lot at VP.These days a point at home should have me moon-walking down the drive but all I could do was stare at my phone and shrug.
Quote from: Bad English on April 20, 2014, 01:22:58 PMI organised a "guess the weight of the gravel in my front garden" competition on Facebook then I spent the afternoon making concrete. I watched it set a bit and then I had a beer. I probably had more fun than you lot at VP.These days a point at home should have me moon-walking down the drive but all I could do was stare at my phone and shrug. I was in London. We went up the Shard, poked around Borough Market, went to the Tate Modern, then came back. Didn't look at proceedings during the match, took a look at about 6.30 on the way home, checked it on phone, felt pretty much no emotion either way, carried on with my Saturday.For most of this year it seems that the only real emotion around this team is negative - ie sadness. It used to be that the odd day of non-sadness, the odd day off from the relentless grind of being utterly shit week after week was like a victory in itself, but at this point, I really just want the season to end so I can stop thinking about Villa for a longer period.
Considering the amount of possession we surrendered yet again, i thought the defence coped pretty well, but one shot in ninetey minutes - that is not going to bring the crowds flocking to VP. I would have taken a point before the start, so was reasonably happy with it. Will it be enough? - no.