Sorry I forgot about Bacuna, easily done when I was thinking of footballers, I think he will move on for his own sake, his career at Villa is over and I think he knows it, whatever level we would be playing at, go for a cheap fee to Holland or Belgium.
Accepting that Garde inherited a load of dross, one constant is that with four managers I have regularly watched professional footballers that are incapable of making space, making themselves available for a pass, helping a team mate in trouble. We constantly see a player getting crowded and losing possession because there's nobody available. They stroll around watching as if it's not their job. Even if they are piss poor, this is a basic tactic and it is still happening.
It would not have surprised me in the least if a football betting scandal like the Grobbelar case was exposed in the media and Villa player's were implicated. I know absolutely that there is not one shred or vestige of evidence for such a fiction, BUT, my mind keeps coming back to trying to rationalise the endless stream of self destruction by our team this season.
After yesterday I do wonder what squad and team he will select for the balance of the season. He has to be at his wits end and some players might just disappear. Whether he has plans on staying or leaving he has really nothing to lose by cutting ties with players that have completely let him down. Nobody saw yesterday coming and yet even after a few good weeks we folded like a cheap tent. It will be interesting to see his next move.
Interesting data - do they show it on a match by match basis, to see whether there has been an improvement in the last 6-weeks.I'm surprised WBA are so high up the list.
1 Bournemouth 3060.6 2 Tottenham 3003.8 3 West Brom 2917.5 4 Liverpool 2910.2 5 Man Utd 2903 6 West Ham 2881.9 7 Leicester City 2874.3 8 Arsenal 2871.5 9 Southampton 2863.6 10 Crystal Palace 2860.6 11 Watford 2859.7 12 Sunderland 2858.8 13 Newcastle 2854.5 14 Everton 2837.9 15 Norwich City 2812.9 16 Swansea City 2812.8 17 Chelsea 2802.7 18 Man City 2795.5 19 Stoke City 2789.2 20 Aston Villa 2750.8 Still rock bottom of distance covered by players this season.
Quote from: papa lazarou on February 15, 2016, 10:39:31 AMAccepting that Garde inherited a load of dross, one constant is that with four managers I have regularly watched professional footballers that are incapable of making space, making themselves available for a pass, helping a team mate in trouble. We constantly see a player getting crowded and losing possession because there's nobody available. They stroll around watching as if it's not their job. Even if they are piss poor, this is a basic tactic and it is still happening. I absolutely agree with this, the lack of movement is shocking.I appreciate a lot of this comes from confidence, but we 'should' have been fairly confident going into Sunday's game, right?Add to this the total lack of forward movement and support by our midfielders.I am sick to death of seeing the ball go forward and watching our forwards struggle to hold onto it whilst the midfielders amble forward, if at all.When was the last time we saw Gana, Westwood or Veretoute make a breaking run into the box to get in front of our forward line?I watched Gana and Westwood stroll through that game on Sunday with absolutely no intent on supporting the forwards.And surely, some of this is instruction, guidance or tactics from the manager.Oh for an Ian Taylor right now.