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Author Topic: Anwar El Ghazi - gone to PSV  (Read 211527 times)

Offline Pete3206

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1125 on: May 03, 2021, 02:50:32 PM »
Spot on TV

Offline Hockley Lion

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1126 on: May 03, 2021, 03:23:04 PM »
Exactly this. Of course there are better players out there but he's the one we've got until we improve the squad again. I don't think he could have cost more than 10m either and the goal return and points gained by some of his goals can't be ignored. Assists? Only Jack really stands out here in the squad. If you count goals contributed to ( goals & assists ) AEG comes 4th behind Watkins (19) Jack (17) &  Traore' (11) with 9. He's been good value for money in my book for where we are right now.

Utv.

Offline Footy-Vill

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1127 on: May 03, 2021, 03:45:54 PM »
The man's doubled his goal tally this season from last  where he scored 4 goals yet he's played less minutes and scored 8 already. The pens have meant improved goal numbers but he's looked super reliable taking them and is the no 1. pen taker when on pitch.

I wonder if he can reach 10+ goals in remaining games.
A real progress can be made with AEG as has all the attributes to be one of the very best attackers in the Premier league. It's a win win keeping him involved next season and these remaining games he can show he's a contender for first team if consistent.
He knows Dean Smith style and system so definitely worth keeping as part of our attack and on his day can score against anyone.

26 today and now peaking age hope Smith can help develop him now to the consistency needed. Happy Birthday El Ghazi

Offline Smirker

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1128 on: May 03, 2021, 04:01:08 PM »
He's been a great signing for us tbh. A bargain in the modern game.

Anwar  8)

Online kippaxvilla2

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1129 on: May 09, 2021, 10:52:20 AM »
This is an extract of an interview he’s done with The athletic.  Just plain wrong.

“Last year, when we were almost going down, a lot of players were getting abuse. It was getting so personal that it made me feel aggressive,” the Villa star said.

“It didn’t feel right. An opinion is fine. I respect that — but one example of a message I received read: ‘I hope you die and never play for my club again’.

“When I looked on the profile and saw that it was from a season ticket holder of Aston Villa, I thought, ‘No way’. It made me really angry. Towards the end of the season, it happened again and then, after watching The Social Dilemma on Netflix, I just thought to myself, ‘Maybe I should just close down Twitter for a year’.”

Offline Villan82

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1130 on: May 09, 2021, 11:06:46 AM »
Social media has done so much damage across so many areas of life.

Online aj2k77

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1131 on: May 09, 2021, 12:49:11 PM »
This is an extract of an interview he’s done with The athletic.  Just plain wrong.

“Last year, when we were almost going down, a lot of players were getting abuse. It was getting so personal that it made me feel aggressive,” the Villa star said.

“It didn’t feel right. An opinion is fine. I respect that — but one example of a message I received read: ‘I hope you die and never play for my club again’.

“When I looked on the profile and saw that it was from a season ticket holder of Aston Villa, I thought, ‘No way’. It made me really angry. Towards the end of the season, it happened again and then, after watching The Social Dilemma on Netflix, I just thought to myself, ‘Maybe I should just close down Twitter for a year’.”

One of the things that really aggravated me was the coward comments he'd receive on here, that shurking a few challenges makes you cowardly. This guy broke his fast for us 2 years ago, which I imagine would be a huge deal for him. He might not be brilliant but he's done his best for us and been part of the rebuilding of the club from a total mess to one we can relate more to. He's done himself and us proud and if I were him or any footballer I'd fuck social media off in a heartbeat.

Online Clampy

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1132 on: May 09, 2021, 01:10:27 PM »
Yes, the coward comments were ridiculous and rightly called out.

Offline TelfordVilla

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1133 on: May 09, 2021, 01:33:42 PM »
That season ticket holder should be banned from the club. Anything posted on this site is someone's opinion and right or wrong they have the option to post on a discussion site like this one. I doubt the players read this. However no one has the right to post personal abuse on a players personal social media site. Why would anyone do that when a player is doing their best for the club. I have criticised several players effort in the past on here and elsewhere but never on their own social media. That is way out of order.

Offline Hairbandinho

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1134 on: May 09, 2021, 01:34:31 PM »
Full article:

At first, it felt like a throwaway line.

Anwar El Goalzi certainly had a nice ring to it but the nickname, popularised by team-mate John McGinn, could only stick around if the goals kept coming.

El Ghazi, as he is more formally known, has dipped in and out of goalscoring form since joining Aston Villa in the summer of 2018 but this season, he’s turned it on when it really matters. Nine goals in all competitions and eight Premier League strikes from 12 starts represents his most productive campaign in claret and blue.

“Now, even my friends and family call me El Goalzi,” the winger tells The Athletic.

“It’s so nice to be able to laugh about it and be in a good mood after what happened last season.”

By that, the 26-year-old means Aston Villa’s struggle for Premier League survival. He wasn’t pleased with the way he finished last season, either, which makes this purple patch all the sweeter.

When the Dutchman scored a stunning match-winning goal against Everton at Goodison Park last weekend, it was lost on many that it came in the same stadium — and at the same end — as one of his most frustrating moments in football.

A gilt-edged miss against Everton at the back end of last season sparked a torrent of abuse that convinced El Ghazi to delete his Twitter account.

The irony of his revenge goal was that it arrived when the footballing world was boycotting social media platforms as a pledge to cut out online hate, racism, and other forms of discrimination: a movement El Ghazi believes will help create change.

“It’s good that people and clubs are standing up because it’s happening more and more on social media now,” he says.

“Enough is enough because the messages we get sometimes are not normal. Football players can’t just handle everything. You need to know that if it’s getting personal, then we don’t like it.

“Everyone has an opinion. That’s fine. If you think I cannot play football or another team-mate should play in League One, then fine, that’s an opinion, it’s normal. But when it gets personal, it’s not good.”

In a bid to draw a line under the topic once and for all, the forward has agreed to share the reasons behind closing down his social media accounts last year.

“I’ll tell this story now but after that, I want to leave it behind because these things happen in the past,” he says.

“I don’t want people to feel sorry for me because I’m a strong guy, I’m a big boy, and I’ll be fine, but you’ve asked, so I’ll explain.

“Last year, when we were almost going down, a lot of players were getting abuse. It was getting so personal that it made me feel aggressive.

“It didn’t feel right. An opinion is fine. I respect that — but one example of a message I received read: ‘I hope you die and never play for my club again’.

“When I looked on the profile and saw that it was from a season ticket holder of Aston Villa, I thought, ‘No way’. It made me really angry. Towards the end of the season, it happened again and then, after watching The Social Dilemma on Netflix, I just thought to myself, ‘Maybe I should just close down Twitter for a year’.

“I got a lot of support from my team-mates. Tyrone Mings really stood up and supported me because he’s our leader and he believes strongly in these things.”

Judging by last weekend’s boycott, a lot of other players do, too. Footballers are pulling together more than ever to tackle important issues.

El Ghazi isn’t the bullish, outspoken type. He’s typically quiet and reserved, but underneath lies a fierce competitor who truly lives and breathes for football.

“It’s my life and it affects me a lot. I’m an emotional guy. When things are going well, I’m always happy. When I play a bad game, my wife knows that she doesn’t disturb me. My mood always depends on football.”

Anwar El Ghazi, Jack Grealish, Matty Cash
El Ghazi celebrates his match-winner against Wolves in December (Photo: Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Perhaps that’s why his pledge to squeeze every drop out of his career is so commendable.

The support network he has personally created helps give him an advantage over others. He has a fitness trainer to “keep me sharp”, and a mind coach “to help me through the bad periods”.

There’s a tried and trusted osteopath by his side and a nutritionist, too.

“I know that much about food that I could be a dietitian myself,“ he laughs. “I’ve made huge progress in that area because back in the day, I didn’t even know that you had to eat pasta before a game.”

It feels like it’s all clicking into place for El Ghazi now. He’s maturing, on top of his game, back among the goals and reaping the rewards of hard work.

“You have to invest in yourself,” he says. “That’s a huge part but really, it’s all about your discipline. It’s about how badly you want it.”

El Ghazi is still in touch with three close friends from his childhood years in the Netherlands, each of them now working in a different field.

In their shared WhatsApp group is a shop manager, an insurance specialist and a mind coach who helps students, but there’s only ever one real theme up for discussion. “Football!” says El Ghazi.

“I have a small group of guys. They are my best friends. All we talk about is football and boys things. We talk about lots of football — the Champions League and other clubs. They’ve started the El Goalzi thing, too, which is funny. But now we are all grown up and all married, we have to think about the wives, too. We have to provide for the family.”

El Ghazi’s natural talent gave him the platform to kick on and make the most out of a unique opportunity that his friends could only dream of.

When he broke through at Ajax, he spent time with Cristiano Ronaldo at a training camp, picking the brains of the Portuguese superstar and receiving important advice for the years ahead.

When he hits top form, his style and technique are often compared to Ronaldo’s. His goal-of-the-season contender in the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace also had shades of the great goalscorer himself, but El Ghazi says: “It’s obviously a nice compliment but I am just myself. I try to do the best and I know I need to keep scoring goals to help the team pick up more points.”

This season, he’s scored match-winning goals against Wolves, Leeds United and Everton.

He loves cutting in from the left and shooting, as the graph below shows, and his conversion rate is decent, with five goals converted compared to an expected goals (non-penalty shots) figure of 4.3. Those figures show he is taking chances at a slightly better rate than the average player.



His goals in recent weeks have taken on extra significance, too, as they’ve arrived during a holy month.

El Ghazi is fasting for Ramadan and therefore plays without eating or drinking for as long as 15 hours before kick-off. Has it affected his performances?

“To be honest, it gives me extra strength. I’m used to it now because I’ve done it since I was 13 years old and, anyway, I’ve played two games in Ramadan and scored two goals, so it’s not too bad!

“I start by eating dates at 8:45pm, then I eat my other food, go to bed at midnight, wake up at 3:30am for another meal and lots to drink, go back to bed for a bit, then I’m ready for the day.”

There’s a strong feeling that he’s ready to take his game to a new level at Villa, too.

The graph below shows how El Ghazi has got one of the best non-penalty goal returns in the Premier League when comparing him to other wide left players.



However, it was only this week when boss Dean Smith said: “He will be the first to admit that his performances have been a little bit inconsistent but we’re trying to find that consistency with him.”

Scoring more goals this season than any other since his move to England is a start, and two more would mirror his best-ever season return — when he scored 11 goals for Ajax in 2015-16.

“I know I have to improve a lot,” El Ghazi candidly adds. “I need to be more consistent. I know that.

“I don’t know why but my games against West Ham and Fulham (home matches in February and April respectively) were my worst of the season. I need to get rid of this. It’s not me. I have no clue why it happens. It’s nothing to do with the willingness or desire to do well. It’s just that sometimes, I’m not on it.

“Hopefully, it won’t happen too often again because the way I’m playing now is a lot more El Ghazi.”

Or perhaps he means El Goalzi.

Offline frank black

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1135 on: May 09, 2021, 01:34:40 PM »
Yeah , there’s no way I’d bother with social media if I was famous. Maybe I’d go on anonymously

Online LeeB

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1136 on: May 10, 2021, 04:15:09 PM »
Yeah , there’s no way I’d bother with social media if I was famous. Maybe I’d go on anonymously

I know the Pixies were 'alternative' Frank but I'd still class you as famous.

Offline ChicagoLion

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1137 on: May 10, 2021, 04:39:48 PM »
Someone who says they are a Villa Season Ticket holder does not mean its true.

The abuse is vile from whoever it comes from.

Offline OCD

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1138 on: May 10, 2021, 05:17:35 PM »
It's not necessarily a lie either. Social Media is the real problem, it's too easy to dish out abuse without consequence. Until that changes it will carry on.

Offline SheffieldVillain

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Re: Anwar El Ghazi - signed permanently
« Reply #1139 on: May 14, 2021, 12:31:15 PM »
Called up to the provisional Dutch squad for the Euros. Well done Anwar.
https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2021/may/El-Ghazi-named-in-provisional-Netherlands-squad-for-Euro-2020/

Regardless of the debate on whether he should be upgraded in the summer, he has definitely played his part in getting us back up towards the top half of the top flight. If he stays, this must be a boost to his confidence and he's always seemed like the type of player who thrives on confidence boosts. Or if we do decide to sell, this puts him that little bit more in the spotlight and hopefully adds another couple of million to the fee. Good news all round.

 


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