Carles Gil - loaned out again

[Monty]

Sherwood isn't necessarily a total numnuts, but he does seem quite impulsive and therefore might be prone to taking irrational lines on a few things. By all accounts he did some odd things at Spurs, and the bias against Gil might just be something like that.

[Dave]

I'm not arguing that N'Zogbia has been anything other than a huge let down, but he's a more direct sort of player than Gil.

It's all just conjecture obviously, but I'm pretty sure that if Sherwood said to Gil "see that big bloke up there? if you get the ball anywhere around their box, cross it towards him" then he would probably have been able to adapt to that.

[paul_e]

Some of the posts on here are a bit odd.  I agree Gil did have something about him and has a lot of potential but this idea that if Sherwood doesn't play him he has shit for brains or goes down in people's estimation is a massive over-reaction. There's plenty of reasons why things just don't work out for certain players at certain clubs it doesn't automatically mean the manager should be blamed for it.

Let's see how he builds the squad over the summer before slagging him off over his treatment of Gil.

Personally I think it's down to a lack of core strength, I think he just felt Gil was too weak for this league after the Stoke game, he'd been involved until then and just disappeared after nzonzi made him look like a mascot who'd stayed on the pitch.

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Sometimes managers don’t fancy players, even good managers and good players.

It is odd that he saw him play for him once, and ok, he was poor and bullied into anonymity, but you’d think he’d have got another chance. I know Sherwood watched all our previous games, so perhaps he saw how poor he was against Hull, then in the subsequent game against Stoke and thought he needed a dramatic change?

We were a lot better at Newcastle and then he struck on a formula that served us pretty well. There was only the [expected] defeat at Old Trafford and the loss against Swansea where we were disappointing, and even in those games we created plenty up until they switched off post-West Ham when safety was all but secured.

[Dave]

Personally I think it's down to a lack of core strength, I think he just felt Gil was too weak for this league after the Stoke game, he'd been involved until then and just disappeared after nzonzi made him look like a mascot who'd stayed on the pitch.

Well personally I would think less of him if that's the reason.

Because he didn't have the physical beating of a 6ft 4 defensive midfielder then he's never going to feature again?

N'Zonzi completely nullified Coutinho in the final match of the season, if Sherwood were Liverpool manager would he never play Coutinho again because on the evidence of one match against Stoke he's "too weak for this league"?

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Its not one match though, its every game Gil has played for us that Sherwood has seen, limited as it is and then everyday in training under the watch of him and four or five coaches.

[paul_e]

Personally I think it's down to a lack of core strength, I think he just felt Gil was too weak for this league after the Stoke game, he'd been involved until then and just disappeared after nzonzi made him look like a mascot who'd stayed on the pitch.

Well personally I would think less of him if that's the reason.

Because he didn't have the physical beating of a 6ft 4 defensive midfielder then he's never going to feature again?

N'Zonzi completely nullified Coutinho in the final match of the season, if Sherwood were Liverpool manager would he never play Coutinho again because on the evidence of one match against Stoke he's "too weak for this league"?

Well no, because there's probably more to it.  Too weak for the league is a perfectly legitimate reason to sell someone, just like being too slow for the league is, we all know the English league is more physical than most, it's obvious as soon as you spend time watching any other leagues.  There's a balancing act between technique and physique that has to be found but players from abroad do need to adapt, it's no great stretch to speculate (which is all we can do) that Sherwood explained this to Gil and didn't like the reaction or didn't feel that Gil would be capable of making the transition.

I just think this is much more likely than any other explanation I've seen given.

[Dave]

Its not one match though, its every game Gil has played for us that Sherwood has seen, limited as it is and then everyday in training under the watch of him and four or five coaches.

He'd have also seen things like the Bournemouth game and the smashing cross he put in for Okore's goal against Chelsea then.

Whereas for N'Zogbia and Cole he'll have seen... and this is where it falls down a bit. Unless of course they are astonishing in training and then forget how to play football when a match starts.

[MalcolmP]

What utter crap re physique - Gil is no less physical than Jack Grealish who really is lightweight and he draws lots of fouls which lead to opportunities - who else could have scored a goal like Gil against Bournemouth?  Gabby? ha ha ha ha no chance!

[Risso]

There have been far more talented players than Gil, playing for much better teams than Villa who haven't made it in the Premier League.  In any case, he hasn't gone anywhere yet and may not do so. Sherwood had us playing very well for the most part and possibly thought that Gil wasn't ready for a hard relegation scrap.

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N'Zogbia wasn't awful in the run in by any means. He doesn't contribute anywhere near enough though, which is the problem.

I also don't see an issue with bringing on Cole in the semi for example, for Grealish, when Cole is one of the few to actually have a medal in his top drawer. Experience to see it out was what we needed, rather than somebody with a handful of games in this league.

[Risso]

There's also the oft overlooked fact that Gil picked up an injury.

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

What utter crap re physique - Gil is no less physical than Jack Grealish who really is lightweight and he draws lots of fouls which lead to opportunities - who else could have scored a goal like Gil against Bournemouth?  Gabby? ha ha ha ha no chance!

Exactly. Our academy graduate gets compared to Messi, whereas the foreigner is too weak for this league. That's English football fans for you

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There have been far more talented players than Gil, playing for much better teams than Villa who haven't made it in the Premier League.  In any case, he hasn't gone anywhere yet and may not do so. Sherwood had us playing very well for the most part and possibly thought that Gil wasn't ready for a hard relegation scrap.

I think that's a valid point. We have no idea if he wants to get rid of him or not. As you say, he may not have been mentally prepared to tough it out in a relegation scrap, while a better balance was found in the midfield for the most part that didn't need to be changed.

[ozzjim]

I am sorry but as much as I like the way Sherwood has gone about his work, 2-3 of his decisions have been totally bonkers. The dropping of Lowton from left back when performing well just made no sense, the casting aside of Gil and the decision to drop Guzan for Given, and not see the effect that has on our back 4.

Hopefully with his own signings, then these issues can be resolved in time.