Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: sfx412 on August 27, 2010, 06:20:43 PM
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Now the hiatus has died down a little, was I the only one who thought Ireland looked the part for spells, and long spells at that
Only his second game in an ever changing side, he looked the part at times showed some impressive skills and offers plenty we have not seen before.
His fitness and at times his confidence looked suspect but he didn't look the rich man's Steven Hendrie some have tagged him.
He does love the quick one two, which seemed beyond some of his team mates and he certainly has the eye to find the gaps and run into them.
On first impression alone, I thought yes please. I hope he keeps improving as he gets to know the ever changing squad around him.
I also remain impressed by Albrighton who despite a poor game at Newcastle looks the most direct and dangerous player we have. Certainly a player worth working on.
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Now the hiatus has died down a little, was I the only one who thought Ireland looked the part for spells, and long spells at that
Only his second game in an ever changing side, he looked the part at times showed some impressive skills and offers plenty we have not seen before.
His fitness and at times his confidence looked suspect but he didn't look the rich man's Steven Hendrie some have tagged him.
He does love the quick one two, which seemed beyond some of his team mates and he certainly has the eye to find the gaps and run into them.
On first impression alone, I thought yes please. I hope he keeps improving as he gets to know the ever changing squad around him.
I also remain impressed by Albrighton who despite a poor game at Newcastle looks the most direct and dangerous player we have. Certainly a player worth working on.
Steven Hendrie? I hope Ireland can score as many as he potted!
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He was playing far too deep most of the time but I don't think he can really be blamed for that.
I think he tried to play more through-balls than the whole team attempted last season.
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Definitley agree about both players. Especially Albrighton. Considering it was Ireland's second game I thought he did brilliantly, considering he seemed to be playing behind NRC and Petrov and had to be covering a piss-poor defence for the 90 minutes.
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Thought he showed glimpses of class. Always made himself available, one and two touch football and always had time on the ball. Reminded me a bit of Paul Scholes. Sadly some of our players didn't seem on his wavelength.
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He did look good last night, let's hope he gets his match fitness back quickly and pull the rest of the team by their bootstraps, he certainly has had an interesting first few games!
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Looked composed on the ball, was better when he was further forward,would've rather seen him in that position than Ash,with NRC covering him,think he would link up well with Delph eventually.
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Looked composed on the ball, was better when he was further forward,would've rather seen him in that position than Ash,with NRC covering him,think he would link up well with Delph eventually.
It's such a shame. A midfield or Ireland - Delph - Milner with Ash - Albrighton - Gabby ahead of them would have beautiful.
Just need to get Delph fit and find another Milner. Should be easy.
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Think he did OK. Went missing for much of the second half
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He's going to be a great player at VP.
He clearly has a footballers brain - a great touch and positional sense.
In both games so far, he's played too deep, but new Management should see to it that he plays further advanced and can add some goals / assists and much needed guile to the team in the last 3rd of the pitch.
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I thought he looked like he's just what we need but was clearly rusty and (surprise, surprise) out of position. Once we get sorted out he'll be a real player as long as his team mates can learn to think as quick as him. At the moment only Ash and Albrighton look like being anywhere near capable of anticipating what he'll do.
The poor sod must be wondering what he's got involved with after the last couple of games!
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Think he did OK. Went missing for much of the second half
Who never?
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He will do ok, can't wait untill delph returns along side him.
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Looked like he has already developed a really good understanding with Young.
I just hope we play him directly behind the striker and have Young on the left and Albrighton on the right. Give Downing the odd game to keep the others fresh or propose a swap deal to Spurs - him for Bentley.
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His vision for a pass was excellent. The Collins through ball in particular.
If we give him a good platform on Sunday, by having Stan and NRC central, allowing him a freer reign, then we may be alright.
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His vision for a pass was excellent. The Collins through ball in particular.
If we give him a good platform on Sunday, by having Stan and NRC central, allowing him a freer reign, then we may be alright.
I thought that through ball was a misplaced shot.
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He was great for the first hour or so, he'll be a good'un.
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I could almost hear his footballing brain working overtime last night, unfortunately there seemed to be very little wavelength from the rest of the team, bar Ashley maybe. I could see him getting a little frustrated. Agree on the Delph thing, from the glimpses we had of Fabian last season you could tell he plays a similar forward thinking game. There was far too much hesitancy and sideways/backwards thinking last night. Delph and A.N Other (Flamini) sitting in front of Ireland, Ashley and Albrighton would do me come January.
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His vision for a pass was excellent. The Collins through ball in particular.
If we give him a good platform on Sunday, by having Stan and NRC central, allowing him a freer reign, then we may be alright.
I thought that through ball was a misplaced shot.
You're just not used to a Villa midfielder having the ability to spot a pass. We'll all get used to him.
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If he's Mr Ireland, there must be some bloody ugly men in Ireland
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I thought he looked good in the 1st half but in the 2nd he drifted further and further back looking for the ball as the rest of the midfield disintegrated.
As others have said, he moved the ball well and always looked to create space by movement off the ball.
Push and go is not exactly rocket science but it seems to escape most of our players at times.
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Whenever Ireland is on the ball he looks so calm and composed, never seeming to panick... he just threads delightful through balls. On top of that he's our best tackler in our team, for such a finesse and creative player it's a big bonus we can get someone who can be fearless at the same time making well timed tackles.
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He also has the ridiculous habit of always finding a claret and blue shirt. The lunatic.
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He can do quality but it take time for our players to learn what runs to make and when to pass for Ireland.
Shame we will not seen Milner and Ireland Partnership for Villa.
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He showed last night what a great player he'll be when the others are on his wave length.
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I kept wondering why James Collins was so far out of position.
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Sasa Curcic anyone?
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The guy can control the ball, spot a pass and create for others provided he is played
in the correct position
His movement and link up play was one of few positives against Rapid
Just hope the others don't drag him down to their standard
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Sasa Curcic anyone?
Hopefully having the effect Curcic was meant to have.
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Seemed a nasty bugger too.
Just what we need.
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I said on the match thread I wish Ireland played with JPA together.. I was kind of saying, when JPA played for us he had a brilliant footbal brain that the other players seemed not to be on his wavelength at times and made JPA look a little worse than he really was sometimes.. A bit like Ireland really the other night , great football brain , when I watched him with Robinho , they were both awesome together, the same wavelenght...
He will be a great signing , and settle in very quickly.....
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i thought he showed his quality in spells, and remembering that he is match rusty, it was good to see...
it was a little concerning that him and petrov didnt gell as a partnership, and if petrov is still undroppable, then we will continue to struggle unless we have reo-coker in there as well...
personally, i would look at that, with one up top and young and albrighton / downing as "wing forwards"...
speaking of albrighton, he again, looked direct and dangerous... he does seem to want to beat his man 3 times over though sometimes, and thats something that needs addressing, however, he is showing real signs of quality...
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I'm still trying to figure out what "hiatus has died down" means.
As For Ireland, I thought he had a decent game. Him and Petrov linked well but we're still to find the right line up to get the best out of him.
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I really like the look of him, especially his range of passing. Reminds me of Beckham a bit, where as he dose'nt ned to stand on the ball for 5 minutes and pick people out, he seems to know where they are and plays a first time pass.
He's going to be very very good once he properly settles.
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Already it is obvious his passing range is excellent. Either into a team mates feet, or into space. I think Gabby will have alot of joy from those passes. If we could get the central midfield formation right then Ireland will get a load of assists this season. A few goals as well and he will be a great buy. With Albrighton, Ashley, Downing and Gabby runner around Ireland should be spoilt for passes and through balls to play. Get the defensive side of team right and we will be just fine.
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Looks a very good footballer, eye for a pass, usually manages to find his man, and good control, comfortable on the ball. A bit like a more mobile Barry. My only slight concern is that he disappeared in the second half of both games he'splayed for us so far. That might be down to match fitness or the fact that everything else was falling apart around him though. I wonder if he's any good a penalties?
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He showed glimpses of being very much an old school Scholesy. But we were playing him in the position Scholes plays now, very deep, which is a waste of Irelands talents, until his legs go anyway.
We need to play him off a front man, perhaps with the odd switcharoo with Ash every now and again.
But yes, he looks very promising indeed. Could be what we've lacked since Merson.
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I'm still trying to figure out what "hiatus has died down" means.
Amusing
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If he's Mr Ireland, there must be some bloody ugly men in Ireland
Careful now! Some of us ain't bad!
As for his footballing ability, he should NOT be playing behind NRC and Petrov. He is designed to play in front of two defensive midfielders.