Douglas Luiz - coming back?

[Smithy]

One thing I've noticed him doing a lot is rolling the ball backwards a fair amount, with his foot on top of the ball. It seems to buy him a few moments, and I don't really recall him it doing it much before Emery arrived.

Yes getting back to Dougie, he appears majestic to me these days.

A few players have mentioned the instruction to 'take a touch' and look around for the best options without rushing, and I imagine that's absolute music to the ears of a Brazilian.

[LeeB]

Yes all of that sums up the difference between great and good. Emi did his work like a top class performer and Solanke behaved like an adequate, average PL player. Simple really better players  win games.

Correct my friend. A fine example of why the wonder saves are almost inconsequential with top class keepers, they can all do that, it's the things like this that mean you don't even have to make a save that make difference.

[paul_e]

I think Martinez did that to him, he got confused as to what to do next.

I agree, I thought that was really good goalkeeping.

Haven't really looked at Martinez from the footage, but it's those kind of things that seperate the good from the great with keepers.

Martinez did the opposite of what you'd expect. Normally a keeper comes out to narrow the angle etc but he backpedalled really quickly and kept the choices low and obviously Mings was piling back too.

Yep, he played for time. At the point where Solanke looked like he 'should' shoot there wasn't really any simple finish available because Emi had positioned himself to cover both the near and far post pretty well. With Mings closing in fast it meant he either had to try to smash it hard enough that Emi couldn't react or take the extra touch and go for the near post from a worse angle, the half a second of uncertainty was all Mings needed. Top goalkeeping but not the sort of thing people make a big deal of.

[brontebilly]

I agree Paul.  Under Smiths / Gerrards set up with a better DM available I'd have expected Luiz to take McGinn or Ramsey's place, both were struggling with form and we had no answers.

From memory, I think some of the reason Luiz wasnt starting ahead of Ramsey or McGinn was due to his contract situation. I recall him being our best player at home v Man City for example and Leeds away he was very good too from memory. Anyway, that setup under Gerrard was a complete mess that eventually every player struggled in.

I think Luiz is the most talented player in our club to be honest and the one with the highest 'ceiling' as to what he can achieve in the game. There isnt much he cant do technically with the ball, set piece delivery is another string he has added this season to his bow. Hes quality at them now and thats after years of us being crap at attacking set pieces. He's very good breaking with the ball on counters. If the opposition give him space to get turned on the ball, he can distribute it very well off both feet. Not with spectacular passing, though that was a very neat pass that Moreno away for the goal at West Ham. Roy Keane wasnt spectacular with his passing either but being able to pass the ball accurately and quickly with both feet is all you need.

As to be fair even as Gerrard said, there's another couple of gears in Luiz and thats the exciting thing. He could still be stronger and more aggressive in duels but he's improving in them I've noticed. At times he could be braver and quicker getting turned on the ball but again he's improving. That tap in goal at the weekend, watch his movement for that again on replay, thats something we might see a bit more of.

[Ger Regan]

The last day of last summer's transfer window is fast becoming a real sliding doors moment. I didn't particularly rate him, but since emery's been here, he's been absolutely fantastic, easily worth twice whatever arsenal offered.

[PeterWithesShin]

I was actually thinking about Luiz earlier and how Arsenal kept offering more and we kept telling them to fuck off. For all we think we sell too easily, it's been a fair while since we chose to sell a player we'd have preferred to keep. It's been clauses met that have resulted in players leaving.

Maybe a grey area with Veretout and Amavi as to how much we wanted to keep them.

[SaddVillan]

From today's Athletic:

Douglas Luiz: "I'm happy and my focus is on Villa. Staying has benefitted me."

"The last few hours of the transfer window were crazy,” Douglas Luiz says.

He is talking about the summer 2022 version when Arsenal, now eight points clear as Premier League leaders with 10 games to go, lodged three bids for Luiz on deadline day — less than 24 hours after he had scored against them, directly from a corner, in Aston Villa’s 2-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium — only to see them all knocked back.


“There were lots of conversations about joining,” Luiz tells The Athletic. “A lot happened that day, but I stayed calm about everything. The only issue was that my Villa contract was close to ending, but the club said to me they wanted me to stay and that they would sort everything out once the window closed.”

Still, there was a degree of uncertainty, as moves of this sort usually go against the lower-ranking club — especially as Arsenal offered £25million ($31m) for a player who had just 10 months left on his deal.

Steven Gerrard, Villa’s manager at the time, admitted it could go either way, prompting panic among the club’s supporters. Yet owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens and chief executive Christian Purslow resisted, and were then true to their word, giving an extension on enhanced terms to the 24-year-old Brazilian, who is in the form of his life this season.

“I’m at the best level I have been at in the Premier League,” agrees Luiz, having notched up three goals and five assists in 26 appearances so far in what is his fourth campaign in the English top flight. But are there any regrets, as Arsenal close in on their first title in almost 20 years while Villa sit in the bottom half of the table, that the move did not go through?

“No regrets,” Luiz says. “I’m happy for Arsenal, they’re a big team and they’re doing really well. I have friends there. I knew how to handle the situation because I had it before when I was moving from Brazil (Vasco Da Gama to Manchester City in the summer of 2017) and other clubs were interested.

“I’m happy, and my focus is on Villa. Staying has benefitted me. I’m working hard and hoping we can have a good end to the season.”

By that, the in-form midfielder means a top-half finish, at least. Villa qualifying for European competition again after 12 years away remains an ambition and a tight-knit squad are bubbling with belief that they can improve on their current 11th position, having won three of their last four games and drawn the other. There’s a feel-good factor at their Bodymoor Heath training complex and smiles all around as the players complete another session under fiercely-driven manager Unai Emery, who replaced Gerrard at the end of October.

Luiz, who is talking to The Athletic after doing some extra set-piece training, is one of the players benefitting from Emery’s elite guidance. The former Sevilla, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal coach’s blend of tactical innovation and player motivation has transformed a team previously fearing relegation into outside contenders to nab a top-seven finish over the final 11 games of the season.

The success stories stretch right across the team, as yet again Villa had multiple contenders for their latest Player of the Month award, a vote Luiz — for his goals, assists, and driving runs — ended up winning.

It is not, however, a set of detailed instructions from the new manager that have helped take his game to a new level. “Honestly, I just feel a lot freer,” Luiz says of his upturn in form.

He never got the chance to play in the Premier League for City due to work permit issues; soon after signing, he was sent out on loan to their Spanish sister club Girona for two years while they tried to resolve the situation.

Then at Villa, after joining for £15million in July 2019, there were times early on when the transition to the English game looked like it was going to be too much for him. “Everyone has up and down moments but I’ve worked hard on improving,“ Luiz says. “I’m happy with everything: the games, the performances, the team, what is being achieved as a whole and how we’re always looking for more.”

Luiz has increased his attacking output, while also remaining defensively secure.

In the Villa ranks this Premier League season, he has the joint-most assists (five), the most passes into the final third (128), has won possession the most times (134), is second for interceptions (31; behind Tyrone Mings’ 36) and has a passing accuracy of 87.4 per cent (second to Ezri Konsa by just 0.2 per cent among those who have played at least 500 league minutes).

Oh, and he’s scored direct from a corner twice this season: that one against Arsenal in August, and a week earlier in a Carabao Cup win away to Bolton Wanderers of League One.

“A little bit of luck,” he says about those corners, laughing. “I know it’s so rare to score one, let alone two, but we do so much practice in training (with set-piece coach Austin MacPhee) so we have that advantage and are able to experiment with different options.”

Perhaps the greatest compliment you can pay Luiz, though, is that Emery has started him in every game since he arrived across all three domestic competitions, and that’s seen the real change in results. His driving runs from midfield help create space for team-mates and his vision and technical brilliance can break opposition lines.

That flair, developed on the streets of hometown Rio de Janeiro as a youngster, often shines through. Luiz was the second Brazilian to sign for Villa, just weeks after the arrival of striker Wesley, but their respective progress in the years since couldn’t be further apart. (Wesley is still a Villa player, but has barely appeared for them — four games off the bench for a total of 17 minutes — since a serious knee injury in January 2020 and has spent the past two seasons out on loan.)

Among Luiz’s many tattoos, there are reminders of his homeland. Of the ones on his left arm: “Religious pieces, but nothing too overly meaningful.” On his right leg, there is an image of him scoring his first professional goal for Vasco. However, it’s the one of his mother Maria, who worked as a hairstylist in one of the poorest areas of Rio when Luiz was growing up, that perhaps carries the most weight.

“She’s one of the main people who inspire me,” he says. “I’m really close with my family and they spend a lot of time with me in England, always following and supporting my football career.” It’s clear he misses Brazil, and he plans to go back before his playing career is over. “I’d like to return home and continue playing football for a club, but that’s a thought for further down the line.”

For now, there’s a focus on the Premier League and in finding a way back into the Brazil squad to add to his nine caps, the most recent of them won in October 2021. National-team staff have visited Bodymoor Heath to check in on Luiz and his countrymen Philippe Coutinho and Diego Carlos this season, but none has had a call-up. “I’ve experienced it and I want it again. Hopefully, it will happen soon.”

There’s a growing South American presence at Villa, with both Brazil and their biggest rivals Argentina well-represented. World Cup talk is kept to a minimum unless it’s Qatar 2022 winner Emiliano Martinez or countryman Emiliano Buendia speaking, and a group which also includes Spanish full-back Alex Moreno meets up regularly. Last week, Carlos, a £26million signing last summer now almost fit again following a seven-month Achilles injury lay-off, held a casino-themed party for his 30th birthday with wives, girlfriends and other family members invited.

“It was very good,” Luiz says. “Diego is at a point in his career where he’s returning from injury so it’s a really good moment for him to start getting back into everything. He just wanted to celebrate with a few games together. It’s a really strong group, so that benefits the team as well.”

That Luiz is now one of the longer-serving players in the Villa squad says a lot about how times are changing at the club.

Emery says Villa are going to be “ambitious but realistic” with their summer signings. Luiz would like to stick around and see what happens next; that potential move to Arsenal no longer in his thoughts.

“I believe in the Aston Villa project, so that’s why I decided to stay. It’s exciting to be a part of this new era,” he says. “Even when I was in Brazil, I knew about the size of Aston Villa and now they have really good objectives. Why wouldn’t I stay? Everything is going well. But also in football, everything happens quite quickly.”

[Steve67]

I used to think he was crap, offered nothing of significance.  Now, he is the first player I look for on the teamsheet.  Playing so well for us.  Delighted he stayed with us.

[PaulWinch again]

Always thought he was a big talent and I’m glad he’s showing it.

[paul_e]

Always thought he was a big talent and I’m glad he’s showing it.

Same, I always thought there was a top player in there but we just needed to find a way to get him to deliver consistently. He's my player of the season right now, so often the moves we score from start with him playing a pass that opens things up.

[Aldridge Villa]

I was a critic, delighted to be proved wrong. Keep it going Dougie.

[Baldy]

Pep's biggest mistake letting us have Luiz.

We have a super star in the making.

[VILLA MOLE]

Pep's biggest mistake letting us have Luiz.

We have a super star in the making.

Yes but it is his game time here that has made him what he is .  He has always been a good player but he would drift in and out of games and make sloppy passes . This happens a lot less now , he actually dictates play

[chrisw1]

Always thought he was a big talent and I’m glad he’s showing it.

Same, I always thought there was a top player in there but we just needed to find a way to get him to deliver consistently. He's my player of the season right now, so often the moves we score from start with him playing a pass that opens things up.

I love Dougie and I'll gloat with the told you so brigade.  Excellent payer.

[OCD]

City could obviously see his talent but he needed time to mature into what he is. You can see why they included a buy-back clause. Luckily for us, it took longer for him to mature than the clause allowed for.