Carlos Sanchez

[Rigadon]

You know what I mean

One of the Sky 5?

I Mean Man Utd, Real Madrid, Barcalona, AC Milan.  You know, the clubs that any player would run over crying 9 years old fans of their current clubs to play for with a massive smile and £20m over 4 years.

Villa aren't in that league at the moment, as much as it's annoying to admit.

For the record, I don't mean Spurs or Liverpool which is where I think he'll end up.

[Rigadon]

I like Delph, he's a cracking littler player.  He's a good all rounder, but doesn't do any one thing with complete aplomb, which is why he probably won't ever go to a really top club.

I agree. He may well get a temporary vacation at a CL club given he'll leave for nothing and it makes it more tempting. But within a year or so he'll be back at a mid-table club. You can't get by without excellent first touch and passing if you wanna play CL football. Delph just doesn't have it in the locker.

I think his touch and drive are good as it goes.  He is our only midfielder who can beat a man and he scores a few a season, too.

He just doesn't do it often enough and the end product isn't consistent enough for him to be a regular at, sorry, a top club.  Maybe I'm talking bollox and playing with better players than he currently does will transform his own game from good to great. 

[PeterWithesShin]

He scored a nice one last season in the LC against Rotherham. 4 in 33 last season is hardly Plattesque but it isn't "he doesn't have a goal scoring bone in his body" either.

You know what he meant.  For an attacking midfielder, it's easily the worst part of his game.

How we play is hardly conducive for any midfielder to shine as an attacking force so Delph, or anyone, rarely plays like a proper AM. His goalscoring isn't the best part of his game but that is still different to not being able to score.

[Clampy]

Gabby and Weimann don't score enough either and they're strikers.

[Chris Smith]

You know what I mean

One of the Sky 5?

I Mean Man Utd, Real Madrid, Barcalona, AC Milan.  You know, the clubs that any player would run over crying 9 years old fans of their current clubs to play for with a massive smile and £20m over 4 years.

Villa aren't in that league at the moment, as much as it's annoying to admit.

For the record, I don't mean Spurs or Liverpool which is where I think he'll end up.

Similar things were said of James Milner.

[Rigadon]

You know what I mean

One of the Sky 5?

I Mean Man Utd, Real Madrid, Barcalona, AC Milan.  You know, the clubs that any player would run over crying 9 years old fans of their current clubs to play for with a massive smile and £20m over 4 years.

Villa aren't in that league at the moment, as much as it's annoying to admit.

For the record, I don't mean Spurs or Liverpool which is where I think he'll end up.

Similar things were said of James Milner.

I never said them to be fair.  I think Milner had such a great last season with us, scoring double figures and in cup finals etc.  He was a much better player than Delph during that season.   He also went to City when they were emerging as a big spending club.  There isn't a Man CIty out there at the moment. 

[b23]

Short, medium and long term.

I would like Sanchez to replace Westwood.

[Villafirst]

Gabby and Weimann don't score enough either and they're strikers.

yes but Lambert has played them both out position on the wing basically for two years. Square pegs in round holes comes to mind....

[oldhill_avfc]

I made a few comments on the Spurs (h) post match thread that Sanchez put in one of the most inept midfield performances I'd seen in 45 years of watching the Villa.

Sadly, he's had a couple more shockers since, and last night put in possibly the worst yet, giving the ball away time after time when under no real pressure.

After the Spurs game I said I wasn't judging his overall ability and that it might have been a 'bad day at the office'. 

The evidence now is fairly clear - he's simply not up to the job.  I hope I never have to see him a Villa shirt again whichever league we're in next season.

[silhillvilla]

Sanchez was awful last night largely, matched only by the inexplicable mediocrity of Richardson. Shambolic.

[Malandro]

Sanchez was awful last night largely, matched only by the inexplicable mediocrity of Richardson. Shambolic.

I'm coming to the conclusion he's one of those players that looks really good without the ball - athletic, is in the right places most of the time - shepherds the opposition.
Unfortunately, when he does tackle he gives the ball away cheaply and often in dangerous positions.

Will he ever get up to speed with the league? Is he in fact good enough? I'm actually not sure.   

[Matt Collins]

I completely disagree that he was awful. He won the ball countless times including for our second goal

[curiousorange]

Sanchez is exactly the kind of player you want to break up play. But he needs a minder who can take the ball off him as soon as he wins it.

[ozzjim]

Sanchez is exactly the kind of player you want to break up play. But he needs a minder who can take the ball off him as soon as he wins it.

He just under hits too many easy passes. Heart in mouth every time he has the ball under pressure

[supertom]

Sanchez is exactly the kind of player you want to break up play. But he needs a minder who can take the ball off him as soon as he wins it.

He just under hits too many easy passes. Heart in mouth every time he has the ball under pressure

The annoying thing is, when we modelled ourselves under Tony M's West Barca Albion side, Sanchez would mop up and sit at the base. He'd have time on the ball and he's stroke the ball around like Pirlo. He looked a real player. But of course that style got us absolutely nowhere and we were devoid of any end product. But he was coming away with 90% pass completion rates.
 
But as we've seen, put any sort of pressure on him and his concentration goes. Likewise he's not a Reo-Coker style of midfield destroyer. He's not going to charge around the pitch and break things up. Normally when we have him do it he's late to everything. He gets skinned or has the ball passed round him like he's piggy in the middle.

Ultimately, most sides play a high tempo in this league. It's very dynamic. Unless he adapts quickly he'll go. We don't have the luxury of waiting on players now to be honest. If they haven't done it in the first 18 months, they need to go. If we're a solid mid-table side then I'm all for giving players a chance. As we currently are I'd say "that doesn't work, try another option."