Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine

Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Risso on January 23, 2021, 11:18:55 PM

Title: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Risso on January 23, 2021, 11:18:55 PM
The quite frankly astonishing improvement in Targett's play got me thinking about how I'd rank our players so far this season. For me Targett is now easily one of our best players. I therefore thought it might be interesting to see how we see things differently, so if you feel like it, rank our main 13 players. I've picked these as the group who have played 5 games or more, and are probably considered our main squad. Just a bit of fun, obviously being in 13th place doesn't mean the player is shit.


Jack is out front for me by a mile, followed by the oh-so-important Emi, the immaculate Konsa and the hugely improved Targett.



1 - Jack Grealish
2 - Emiliano Martinez
3 - Ezri Konsa
4 - Matt Targett
5 - Douglas Luiz
6 - Matt Cash
7 - Ollie Watkins
8 - John McGinn
9 - Ross Barkley
10 - Bertrand Traore
11 - Anwar El Ghazi
12 - Trezeguet
13 - Tyrone Mings
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Toronto Villa on January 23, 2021, 11:22:27 PM
Jack will always be at or near the top but I’m going for Emi. The confidence he gives the entire team is hard to quantify. Remember just how had we were defensively and even with the odd mistake now and again, you still know he’s the last line of defence. Jack second and Ezri third. Matt Targett and then Matty Cash. After that Watkins and SJM. Take your pick for the rest who have all played a solid role in what we have become.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: SheffieldVillain on January 23, 2021, 11:23:59 PM
Blimey, this is difficult! I think your top 5 is pretty much spot on. The last few are really difficult as none of them have been 'bad'. Trez, Traore and El Goalzi all bring something to the squad but I don't think are as consistently on top of their game as the first 7 or 8 so that's why I've ranked them 'bottom three'.
1 - Jack Grealish
2 - Emiliano Martinez
3 - Ezri Konsa
4 - Matt Targett
5 - Douglas Luiz
6 - Ollie Watkins
7 - Matt Cash
8 - John McGinn
9 - Ross Barkley
10 - Tyrone Mings 
11 - Anwar El Ghazi
12 - Trezeguet
13 - Bertrand Traore
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Risso on January 23, 2021, 11:25:15 PM
Blimey, this is difficult! I think your top 5 is pretty much spot on. The last few are really difficult as none of them have been 'bad'. Trez, Traore and El Goalzi all bring something to the squad but I don't think are as consistently on top of their game as the first 7 or 8 so that's why I've ranked them 'bottom three'.
1 - Jack Grealish
2 - Emiliano Martinez
3 - Ezri Konsa
4 - Matt Targett
5 - Douglas Luiz
6 - Ollie Watkins
7 - Matt Cash
8 - John McGinn
9 - Ross Barkley
10 - Tyrone Mings 
11 - Anwar El Ghazi
12 - Trezeguet
13 - Bertrand Traore

You're right, nobody has been 'bad' and it does get difficult after the first 5. Sign of how much we've improved I guess.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Bent Neilsens Screamer on January 23, 2021, 11:39:24 PM
I won’t put down my complete 13 but top 5 would be -

Grealish
Martinez
Konsa / Targett / Watkins

Carragher mentioned it in commentary about Watkins working the channels and not giving the defenders any rest, this is vitally important and as he said offers us so much even when he’s not scoring. 

I think Jack and Emi are the standouts but you could possibly put any of the others in any order. The improvements in the vast majority is astonishing and gives great confidence with anyone coming in in the future.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: brontebilly on January 23, 2021, 11:44:14 PM
Grealish, Martinez and Konsa are the top 3. Others have shone at different times. Not a huge fan of Mings but 13th seems a bit harsh Risso! I think we can get a bit more out of McGinn and Luiz in the second half of the season, their form has been a bit inconsistent.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: paul_e on January 23, 2021, 11:46:31 PM
Top 6 I'd say, that group picks itself as they've been consistently excellent. Everyone after that has been generally good with flashes of brilliance and a few dips or bad games.

Even in that top 6 aside from Jack I'd struggle to pick the order for them.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Risso on January 23, 2021, 11:47:54 PM
Grealish, Martinez and Konsa are the top 3. Others have shone at different times. Not a huge fan of Mings but 13th seems a bit harsh Risso! I think we can get a bit more out of McGinn and Luiz in the second half of the season, their form has been a bit inconsistent.

Somebody has to be 13th!
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: SheffieldVillain on January 23, 2021, 11:48:34 PM
I'd also add a little shout out for Jacob Ramsay here in that while he hasn't played enough to be in the listing, when he has played for a young kid he hasn't looked out of place at all and has put himself about well.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Jockey Randall on January 23, 2021, 11:58:08 PM
It's very hard as so many of them have been outstanding. What I would say is I think Ollie Watkins is arguably the main factor in why we're doing so well this season. His hold up play / running of the channels gains us so much progression up the pitch. It's very hard to kick him out of the top 3 imo.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: wittonwarrior on January 24, 2021, 03:19:30 PM
to be honest under exceptional circumstances they have all  over performed.  So Proud of our Villa right now.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Vegas on January 24, 2021, 04:22:35 PM
The quite frankly astonishing improvement in Targett's play got me thinking about how I'd rank our players so far this season. For me Targett is now easily one of our best players. I therefore thought it might be interesting to see how we see things differently, so if you feel like it, rank our main 13 players. I've picked these as the group who have played 5 games or more, and are probably considered our main squad. Just a bit of fun, obviously being in 13th place doesn't mean the player is shit.


Jack is out front for me by a mile, followed by the oh-so-important Emi, the immaculate Konsa and the hugely improved Targett.



1 - Jack Grealish
2 - Emiliano Martinez
3 - Ezri Konsa
4 - Matt Targett
5 - Douglas Luiz
6 - Matt Cash
7 - Ollie Watkins
8 - John McGinn
9 - Ross Barkley
10 - Bertrand Traore
11 - Anwar El Ghazi
12 - Trezeguet
13 - Tyrone Mings

Hard! Agree with your top 4. But no way in my opinion is Barkley 4 or 5 places higher than Mings in contribution to the season to date. Mings around 7th / 8th for me. Trezeguet probably bottom given AEG’s recent run. It’s great that there’s no one bad there - something of a change from the last 15 years.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Rudy Can't Fail on January 24, 2021, 04:38:31 PM
Trezeguet probably bottom given AEG’s recent run.

Trez was a very important player for us this season before his injury. If we're to judge since the start of the season I'd have go with the following:

1 - Jack Grealish
2 - Emiliano Martinez
3 - Ezri Konsa
4 - Matt Targett
5 - Douglas Luiz
6 - Matt Cash
7 - Ollie Watkins
8 - Trezeguet
9 - Tyrone Mings
10 - John McGinn
11 - Ross Barkley
12 - Anwar El Ghazi
13 - Bertrand Traore
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Mister E on January 24, 2021, 04:48:18 PM
With the goals he's scored, Traore should be higher than 13th, surely.
Risso's top 5 is fair and Mings has been very disappointing.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Rudy Can't Fail on January 24, 2021, 04:57:07 PM
It's a tough call but over the season to date somebody has to be 13th and he was very poor when he first joined.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: nigel on January 24, 2021, 05:00:30 PM
For me Jack wouldn’t make my top 5 because I know he’s brilliant.
 He’s our best player this season as he was the two previous seasons.
So I’ve looked at it slightly different
My top 5

1 Martinez
2 Konsa
3 Targett
4 Cash
5 Watkins

Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Toronto Villa on January 24, 2021, 05:31:27 PM
With the goals he's scored, Traore should be higher than 13th, surely.
Risso's top 5 is fair and Mings has been very disappointing.

I don’t think that’s fair at all. I think he’s had a very good season overall. Unfortunately he has some clangers in there that takes the focus away from a lot of the really good work that he does.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Olof's Beard on January 24, 2021, 06:12:18 PM
With the goals he's scored, Traore should be higher than 13th, surely.
Risso's top 5 is fair and Mings has been very disappointing.

I don’t think that’s fair at all. I think he’s had a very good season overall. Unfortunately he has some clangers in there that takes the focus away from a lot of the really good work that he does.

Exactly. We've got clean sheets in over half our matches and Mings has played in every one of them. Sometimes I think a piece of criticism seems to pick up its own momentum and distort the reality, he hasn't been really disappointing at all. If as the 'leader' of our defence has been so poor, then there's no way we'd have the 3rd best defensive record in the trademarked best league in the world.

He was great last night, like a magnet to Barcode crosses in the first half and there were a couple of moments where he played safe by sticking the ball in the stands or going back to Martinez which shows he's learning. He's made a few errors this season but most players make mistakes. The back five are working together as a unit and Mings deserves his share of the credit.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Mister E on January 24, 2021, 06:35:56 PM
With the goals he's scored, Traore should be higher than 13th, surely.
Risso's top 5 is fair and Mings has been very disappointing.
I don’t think that’s fair at all. I think he’s had a very good season overall. Unfortunately he has some clangers in there that takes the focus away from a lot of the really good work that he does.
Exactly. We've got clean sheets in over half our matches and Mings has played in every one of them. Sometimes I think a piece of criticism seems to pick up its own momentum and distort the reality, he hasn't been really disappointing at all. If as the 'leader' of our defence, then there's no way we'd have the 3rd best defensive record in the trademarked best league in the world.
He was great last night, like a magnet to Barcode crosses in the first half and there were a couple of moments where he played safe by sticking the ball in the stands or going back to Martinez which shows he's learning. He's made a few errors this season but most players make mistakes. The back five are working together as a unit and Mings deserves his share of the credit.
I take your point. My expression of disappointment comes from high expectations.
You're right to refer to the overall defensive performance, of which Mings has been a big part.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Ian. on January 24, 2021, 06:40:44 PM
I couldn’t call it as there’s an argument for each player at different times. The turnaround with some is just incredible and adding a bit of quality to the existing squad had been phenomenal in improving everyone.

One thing though which is, when was the last time we have had two superb full backs? It must be way back when Charles and Wright were playing. One of those positions has been a problem for so many years. It’s been years I reckon when we’ve had both positions filled with quality at the same time.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: stubbsyandy on January 24, 2021, 07:02:54 PM
Come on why the negative comments on Mingsy? He has a mistake in him but as a percentage of all the cracking blocks, organising and moving the ball forward its miniscule
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: nigel on January 24, 2021, 08:09:18 PM
Come on why the negative comments on Mingsy? He has a mistake in him but as a per elf all the cracking blocks, organising and moving the ball forward it miniscule

Agree.
He could prevent a dozen goals a game, but people would go on about the one slip up.
Let’s cut him some slack, he’s an integral part of our very good defence 👍
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: robbo1874 on January 25, 2021, 06:25:50 AM
Easy! 10
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: The Edge on January 25, 2021, 08:37:53 AM
Come on why the negative comments on Mingsy? He has a mistake in him but as a per elf all the cracking blocks, organising and moving the ball forward it miniscule

Agree.
He could prevent a dozen goals a game, but people would go on about the one slip up.
Let’s cut him some slack, he’s an integral part of our very good defence 👍
It seems to be in the DNA of a section of our support. It's as though there's always got to be a player who gets a lot of undue criticism. It seems to be Mings at the moment. It was Targett earlier this season. I agree that Mings is prone to the occasional error but he's such an all action player who throws himself into things so often mistakes are bound to happen. Overall our defence has been superb this season and have kept NINE clean sheets and only Man City have a better record.. It doesn't make them above criticism but I think they should be cut a bit of slack sometimes.

Edit: stats off the top my head not fact checked.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: dicedlam on January 25, 2021, 09:23:18 AM
The changes I have to Risso's 13 are Ollie goes up to 3rd place instead of Ezri and also have Dougie climbing a place too. Ezri I have at number 5 and have Targett above Cash just for improvement alone. McGinn stays at number 8 with Bertrand climbing above Barkley. The only difference I have to the last 3 is I have Tyrone above Trez.


1 - Jack Grealish
2 - Emiliano Martinez
3 - Ollie Watkins
4 - Douglas Luiz
5 - Ezri Konsa
6 - Matt Targett
7 - Matt Cash
8 - John McGinn
9 - Bertrand Traore
10 - Ross Barkley
11 - Anwar El Ghazi
12 - Tyrone Mings
13 - Trezeguet
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: UK Redsox on January 25, 2021, 09:27:48 AM
Mings is still the most likely one to make a daft error, so having him near the bottom seems fair.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: SheffieldVillain on January 25, 2021, 09:50:59 AM
Mings is still the most likely one to make a daft error, so having him near the bottom seems fair.

I don't think that's true. Traore especially and El Ghazi often make mistakes to lose the ball, McGinn and Dougie from time to time misplace passes. As a centre back mistakes usually lead to a chance on goal or a goal so have bigger consequences.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Risso on January 25, 2021, 09:53:26 AM
Mings is still the most likely one to make a daft error, so having him near the bottom seems fair.

I don't think that's true. Traore especially and El Ghazi often make mistakes to lose the ball, McGinn and Dougie from time to time misplace passes. As a centre back mistakes usually lead to a chance on goal or a goal so have bigger consequences.

I think he meant most likely of the defenders.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: rob_bridge on January 25, 2021, 10:16:15 AM
Too hard

Jack, Martinez, Konsa, Cash and Luiz would be top 5

Targett most improved
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: ktvillan on January 25, 2021, 10:26:27 AM
Not sure about rankings but two things stand out for me - first, the recruitment in the window after promotion was much better that it seemed during the ensuing relegation battle.  We now have at least 5 or 6 very good or excellent players from that window (Targett, Konsa, Luiz, Heaton, Mings)  and couple of others who are doing ok and are good back up (Nakamba, Hause) or for whom the jury is still out (Wesley, Fred). Maybe Pitarch had a raw deal but difficult to say which were his recommendations.

Second we finally seem to have a coaching set up that improves players.
Not sure how much of a difference Shakespeare has made but the improvement in our general play and quite a few individuals seems to have coincided with his arrival.  Targett is the biggest revelation but others have come on leaps and bounds as well. Great to see anyway.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: The Edge on January 25, 2021, 10:28:13 AM
Watching the Newcastle game it struck me just how good Martinez's distribution is. There was one moment when he launched it long and high for Ollie to try and win. It looked so alien to the way we operate now and I realised that after years of watching our keepers use that most basic tactic we have a keeper of such a high calibre now. I think compiling a list is such a tough call as so many of our players have been unrecognisable but I do think I'd have Martinez down as number 1. He's improved our defence and our defending massively and our open play has improved so much thanks in a large part to his distribution.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Pat Mustard on January 25, 2021, 10:45:39 AM
Top 5 for me would be  Jack, Martinez, Watkins, Konsa and Targett - on their own that would be the basis for a good team, with what they have around them now, and given their respective ages, that is the basis for a top side for a good few years.

Re Mings, I think him being lower down the list is simply down to the improvement in everyone else.  If anything he has improved as well this season, just not at the same rate as all of the others (and starting from a higher base too).  I wouldn't want any other centre-half pairing ahead of Mings and Konsa at the moment, and we should always remember we are only where we are at the moment because of the Mings signing two years ago.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: rob_bridge on January 25, 2021, 11:05:07 AM
Coaching I think Shakespeare recruitment to the fold was a master stroke
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: SoccerHQ on January 25, 2021, 01:28:41 PM
If we're doing standard ratings pretty much all of the regular 11 are 9 or 10/10 this season.

The vast improvement in Targett has astounded me, he's now as solid as Bouma was for us one v one and adds more going forward.

Mings debate is interesting. He's probably had the poorest season of all our key players but still been part of a team that's kept an incredibly high number of clean sheets.

Difference is though when we lost him to hamstring injury last December the defence completely fell apart over xmas. Now though Hause can come in and we only concede once away to Chelsea.

Konsa is probably more important at the back now for us.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: rob_bridge on January 25, 2021, 01:34:44 PM
The fact that realistically Cash Konsa and Targett could be in the England reckoning soon to compliment the now established Mings and Jack is always a good barometer. For Watkins it is harder as much more competition. McGinn is mainstay of best Scotland team in years, Luis is a Brazilian international and we have the African international contingent to go with that.

Things are on the up.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Toronto Villa on January 25, 2021, 01:39:23 PM
Given how a number of those players were not bought this season I do wonder if the perception of Suso and his place in our history should be revisited based on just how much some of these players have improved? Add to that Wesley can’t be properly evaluated because of his injury. Nor Heaton for the same reason but he was an established international. And January is a tough time to buy so Samatta was a flier. Drinkwater was bollocks but we were also restricted by FFP. But that summers other signings for the most part have all contributed positively to our success this season.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: ktvillan on January 26, 2021, 09:58:18 AM
Criticism of Mings isn't undue in my view.  We're playing at elite level now and it's small margins.  Often the teams that succeed are those that make the fewest unforced errors.  Whilst generally playing very well, unfortunately Mings has a habit of making errors in key areas that have led to us conceding or causing other problems, like his red against Palace.  Compare to Konsa who rarely puts a foot wrong.  If Mings can cut out the cock ups he'd be brilliant.  Until then he's not.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Lastfootstamper on January 26, 2021, 10:22:52 AM
I don't think it's fair to compare Mings with Konsa. They're different players bringing different skill sets to the centre of defence. Konsa could have played as a stopper in the finest catenaccio setups of the 70s & 80s, but I'm struggling to recall him pinging too many 40yd balls into a forward's path. Mings is more your traditional English lump that commits to blocks, tackles and headers, but he's blessed with a pretty sweet left foot. I'd say his biggest drawback is one he can do little about; his size. It makes him not exactly nimble in the turn,

But I said 2 years ago when we started to hit our stride that I'd rather see our defenders skimming passes past the toes of attackers than 'playing percentages' or 'getting rid', and I'm more entrenched in that opinion now that it's bearing fruit and, much more importantly, bringing me joy.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Ads on January 26, 2021, 10:38:12 AM
1. Konsa
2. Martinez
3. Jack
4. Targett
5. Cash
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: chrisw1 on January 26, 2021, 10:43:30 AM
Too hard and that's great as it makes you realise what a great contribution they've all made.  For example I can't put Trez 13 given the shift he put in during his run in the team at the start of the season.

But top 5 most key to our succes for me have been:

1 Jack
2. Martinez
3. Luiz
4. Watkins
5. Konsa

I think if Barkley had stayed fit he would have been in there as a I still think his incredible performance against Liverpool played a big role in setting the tone for the season.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Percy McCarthy on January 26, 2021, 11:03:16 AM
1. Konsa
2. Martinez
3. Jack
4. Targett
5. Cash

Just picking this top five as it’s the neatest and there is no comment attached, but as with others’ choices, it’s brilliant that we can pick a top 5 with no room top players, in this case Watkins, Luis and SMJ for instance. Pretty sure Smith will have this problem when picking eleven of them soon.

To me Watkins and McGinn are vital because they set the tone.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: ktvillan on January 26, 2021, 02:16:57 PM
The comparison between Mings and Konsa is valid in that I'm not talking about what else they bring to the table, I'm just comparing their ability to avoid calamitous errors.  Or lack of it.  And by the way I don't think we'd be lauding Emi's distribution so much if he was chucking the ball in his net every few games.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: ez on January 28, 2021, 02:37:12 PM
We've got a lot of good players and a few very good players. We are exciting to watch as well. The thing that bothers me is looking at the table and seeing us in 10th place which suggests we are bang average. We should be higher than that.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: dave.woodhall on January 28, 2021, 02:44:03 PM
We've got a lot of good players and a few very good players. We are exciting to watch as well. The thing that bothers me is looking at the table and seeing us in 10th place which suggests we are bang average. We should be higher than that.

A point off two teams we have two games in hand over, which would put us higher than we've finished for a decade. How many of us, hand in heart, wouldn't settle for that?
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: LeeB on January 28, 2021, 03:49:44 PM
We've got a lot of good players and a few very good players. We are exciting to watch as well. The thing that bothers me is looking at the table and seeing us in 10th place which suggests we are bang average. We should be higher than that.

A point off two teams we have two games in hand over, which would put us higher than we've finished for a decade. How many of us, hand in heart, wouldn't settle for that?

I think the problem is that we look so good most of the time that you can't help thinking we should win, which given where we were 12 months ago is incredible.

I keep saying to my brother that I'm not worrying about results now, because I'm so confident that our play will reap its rewards in the fullness of time, and that we will learn and improve as a team.

And also because watching us play is just tremendous fun.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Damo70 on January 28, 2021, 04:19:01 PM
1. Grealish
2. Martinez
3. Traore
4.Barkley
5. Watkins
6. El Ghazi
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Risso on January 28, 2021, 05:06:12 PM
1. Grealish
2. Martinez
3. Traore
4.Barkley
5. Watkins
6. El Ghazi

El Ghazi, Traore and Barkley better than Konsa and Targett?
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: ChicagoLion on January 28, 2021, 05:55:59 PM
Grealish
Target
Konsa
Watkins
Martinez
Luiz
El Ghazi
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: robbo1874 on January 29, 2021, 08:59:57 AM
Ha! Almost impossible task. I’d have Grealish #1 with Martinez #2. Probably Dougie-Fresh at #3 with the back 4 of Cash, Konsa, Mings & Targett at #4 - they’ve all been excellent. Watkins gets his own score of #5, which might seem harsh operating on his own. Maybe swap him at 4 and put back 4 at 5? Can’t go past that really. The rest have all had their moments and nobody has looked out of place.

As an aside, Ash Preece’s player ratings after the FA cup match against Liverpool made me laugh a bit - every player got a 10! Great stuff.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: LeeB on January 29, 2021, 09:26:41 AM
1:Grealish (left wing)
2:Grealish (centre mid)
3:Targett
4:Konsa
5:Martinez
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Risso on January 29, 2021, 11:08:02 AM
1:Grealish (left wing)
2:Grealish (centre mid)
3:Targett
4:Konsa
5:Martinez

On that criteria it's Jack Grealish for the first 5 spots, seeing as wherever he is on the pitch he's head and shoulders better than anybody else!
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: LeeB on January 29, 2021, 11:18:54 AM
1:Grealish (left wing)
2:Grealish (centre mid)
3:Targett
4:Konsa
5:Martinez

On that criteria it's Jack Grealish for the first 5 spots, seeing as wherever he is on the pitch he's head and shoulders better than anybody else!

I did consider that to be honest.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Toronto Villa on January 29, 2021, 03:53:45 PM
We've got a lot of good players and a few very good players. We are exciting to watch as well. The thing that bothers me is looking at the table and seeing us in 10th place which suggests we are bang average. We should be higher than that.

A point off two teams we have two games in hand over, which would put us higher than we've finished for a decade. How many of us, hand in heart, wouldn't settle for that?

I think the problem is that we look so good most of the time that you can't help thinking we should win, which given where we were 12 months ago is incredible.

I keep saying to my brother that I'm not worrying about results now, because I'm so confident that our play will reap its rewards in the fullness of time, and that we will learn and improve as a team.

And also because watching us play is just tremendous fun.

we create chances for fun. We're not putting them away that's the problem. We are a brilliant team to watch and I would much rather us being the way we are and losing playing that way than watching a team like Burnley or Newcastle week after week. And the Burnley defensively collapse was an anomaly given how well we've defended overall. And to think we will have the likes of Morgan Sanson on the bench at the weekend whereas this time last season we were fielding the likes of Baston, Lansbury and Drinkwater. Progress doesn't have to come in big leaps and bounds but ours has. I'm delighted as to where we are and more importantly the direction we are headed.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: LeeB on January 29, 2021, 04:48:30 PM
I think we should be given a bigger share of the TV money at the end of the season given we actually play football the football that attracts viewers and makes for entertaining football.

Take it off the “results are all that matters” merchants, that might make them realise why they get paid like they do.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Risso on January 29, 2021, 04:59:16 PM
I think we should be given a bigger share of the TV money at the end of the season given we actually play football the football that attracts viewers and makes for entertaining football.

Take it off the “results are all that matters” merchants, that might make them realise why they get paid like they do.

Burnley would have to pay be in the Premier League on that basis.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: LeeB on January 29, 2021, 06:57:19 PM
I think we should be given a bigger share of the TV money at the end of the season given we actually play football the football that attracts viewers and makes for entertaining football.

Take it off the “results are all that matters” merchants, that might make them realise why they get paid like they do.

Burnley would have to pay be in the Premier League on that basis.

"We've got Spurs away Saturday lads, 10:30 meet at the Rose & Crown and don't forget your subs"
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: tony scott on January 30, 2021, 03:55:50 AM
1 Jack
2 konsa
3 Martinez
4 Mings
5 Watkins
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Drummond on January 30, 2021, 08:13:45 AM
1:Grealish (left wing)
2:Grealish (centre mid)
3:Targett
4:Konsa
5:Martinez

On that criteria it's Jack Grealish for the first 5 spots, seeing as wherever he is on the pitch he's head and shoulders better than anybody else!

I did consider that to be honest.

Grealish
Grealish
Grealish
Grealish
Grealish
Grealish
Grealish
Martinez
Grealish
Grealish
Grealish
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: algy on January 30, 2021, 10:44:55 AM
We've got a lot of good players and a few very good players. We are exciting to watch as well. The thing that bothers me is looking at the table and seeing us in 10th place which suggests we are bang average. We should be higher than that.

A point off two teams we have two games in hand over, which would put us higher than we've finished for a decade. How many of us, hand in heart, wouldn't settle for that?

I think the problem is that we look so good most of the time that you can't help thinking we should win, which given where we were 12 months ago is incredible.

I keep saying to my brother that I'm not worrying about results now, because I'm so confident that our play will reap its rewards in the fullness of time, and that we will learn and improve as a team.

And also because watching us play is just tremendous fun.

we create chances for fun. We're not putting them away that's the problem. We are a brilliant team to watch and I would much rather us being the way we are and losing playing that way than watching a team like Burnley or Newcastle week after week. And the Burnley defensively collapse was an anomaly given how well we've defended overall. And to think we will have the likes of Morgan Sanson on the bench at the weekend whereas this time last season we were fielding the likes of Baston, Lansbury and Drinkwater. Progress doesn't have to come in big leaps and bounds but ours has. I'm delighted as to where we are and more importantly the direction we are headed.
Yeah, this is the thing for me too. At times we look like we're playing a different game to the side we're playing against, Liverpool being the obvious example (!!!!!) but even first half against Burnley last weekend, it was like Wednesbury Athletic vs Brazil. Said to my dad after that game, we're not far off having an exceptional side.

For me
1. Grealish
2. Martinez
3. Targett
4. Cash
5. Watkins

But I do think we've got probably a dozen players on 9/10 or 10/10 seasons. Tyrone Mings has been the most disappointing, mainly because he's only on a 7.5/10! He's still been pretty damn good.
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Footy-Vill on February 01, 2021, 03:30:23 PM
We've got a lot of good players and a few very good players. We are exciting to watch as well. The thing that bothers me is looking at the table and seeing us in 10th place which suggests we are bang average. We should be higher than that.

A point off two teams we have two games in hand over, which would put us higher than we've finished for a decade. How many of us, hand in heart, wouldn't settle for that?

I think the problem is that we look so good most of the time that you can't help thinking we should win, which given where we were 12 months ago is incredible.

I keep saying to my brother that I'm not worrying about results now, because I'm so confident that our play will reap its rewards in the fullness of time, and that we will learn and improve as a team.

And also because watching us play is just tremendous fun.

we create chances for fun. We're not putting them away that's the problem. We are a brilliant team to watch and I would much rather us being the way we are and losing playing that way than watching a team like Burnley or Newcastle week after week. And the Burnley defensively collapse was an anomaly given how well we've defended overall. And to think we will have the likes of Morgan Sanson on the bench at the weekend whereas this time last season we were fielding the likes of Baston, Lansbury and Drinkwater. Progress doesn't have to come in big leaps and bounds but ours has. I'm delighted as to where we are and more importantly the direction we are headed.
Yeah, this is the thing for me too. At times we look like we're playing a different game to the side we're playing against, Liverpool being the obvious example (!!!!!) but even first half against Burnley last weekend, it was like Wednesbury Athletic vs Brazil. Said to my dad after that game, we're not far off having an exceptional side.

For me
1. Grealish
2. Martinez
3. Targett
4. Cash
5. Watkins

But I do think we've got probably a dozen players on 9/10 or 10/10 seasons. Tyrone Mings has been the most disappointing, mainly because he's only on a 7.5/10! He's still been pretty damn good.

Grouped into 6 categories as I rate them on half term report thread
1. Jack Grealish 8.5/10
2. Emiliano Martinez + Ollie Watkins 8/10
3 Ezri Konsa + Matt Targett 7.5/10
4.Ross Barkley, Tyrone Mings, Traroe, AEG and Hause. 7/10
5.Matt Cash , John McGinn, Douglas Luiz 6.5/10
6. Trezeguet and Nakamba 6/10

Taken as overall of games each have played so far
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: Bobby Boy on February 01, 2021, 03:36:46 PM
1. Grealish
2. Martinez
3. Targett
4. Konsa
5. Watkins
Title: Re: Rank the players - season so far
Post by: West Derby Villan on February 01, 2021, 03:40:16 PM
1. Grealish
2. Martinez
3. Watkins
4. Konsa
5. Targett
SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal