Douglas Luiz - coming back?

[Chris Smith]

Thank you Pep Guardiola and well done Aston Villa management.

Pep must rue the day he let Douglas Luiz go. Possibly his biggest mistake since taking over at City.

I imagine the trophies have helped him overcome his disappointment. :-)

[olaftab]

His application is brilliant now and if he could work on shot precision he will be world class.

[olaftab]

Thank you Pep Guardiola and well done Aston Villa management.

Pep must rue the day he let Douglas Luiz go. Possibly his biggest mistake since taking over at City.

We have a mega star at our club. Well done to Dougie and to the AV boys in the suits. 

I don't think Guardiola is having nightmares. Luiz is coming on superbly but I think in that time abu city have had one or two rather useful midfielders.

[pablo_picasso]

I also think he was better than he was given credit for pre Emery.  He was just asked to do too much defensive work and was crying out for someone alongside him.

100% valid point...

He certainly suffered from the role he was being asked to perform.

He did it without complaint & to the best of his ability, but it just didn't suit his game.

He seems a much free-er (word?) player now he has been given permission to take & keep the ball in tight areas...

Yup, all of this and Chris's post above.

I'd also add that he joined us at age 21, not that much older than the youth players we've been adding.

In the last few years when we were saying he was too defensive, not defensive enough, trying too hard, not trying enough - I think he was judged as being a highly rated Brazilian signed from Man City who wasn't brilliant from day one. Young players don't know exactly what they are and how they want to play when he was attracting all those criticisms.

There were probably Liverpool fora whining 22 years ago about why this Gerrard kid kept giving the ball away, or not knowing how to play as a defensive midfielder, or going missing in big games etc.

He's never been anything less than good. He's now our best midfielder since...Milner? Probably past him now on longevity. Barry?

I think he is better than both now. 

And I say that being a huge admirer of Milners game when he was at Villa. That was the best football of his career in my humble opinion.

Douglas Luiz is currently playing stronger than Milner & Barry used to...

[Neil Hawkes]

He's very close to replacing Mr Mortimer in my all time best 11.

Only one other current team member is in that list - step forward mad as a box of frogs big Emi.

[brontebilly]

I also think he was better than he was given credit for pre Emery.  He was just asked to do too much defensive work and was crying out for someone alongside him.

100% valid point...

He certainly suffered from the role he was being asked to perform.

He did it without complaint & to the best of his ability, but it just didn't suit his game.

He seems a much free-er (word?) player now he has been given permission to take & keep the ball in tight areas...

Yup, all of this and Chris's post above.

I'd also add that he joined us at age 21. In the last few years when we were saying he was too defensive, not defensive enough, trying too hard, not trying enough - I think he was judged as being a highly rated Brazilian signed from Man City who wasn't brilliant from day one.

He's never been anything less than good. He's now our best midfielder since...Milner? Probably past him now on longevity. Barry?

Milner only had one very good season with us, his last one. Centre of the park, great athlete and gave 💯 every game. Luiz definitely has more to his game than Milner did but not quite matching his athleticism.

Think Luiz has a fair way to go to match Barry.

On today, Luiz was very good again. Thought others stood out more, mind but he utterly dominated Gilmore from the first whistle. Never looked like getting a second yellow either.

I think Dougie is a better player than Barry….there I’ve said it, ready and waiting to be shot down.

V different players imo. Barry still better overall imo as his range of passing was superb. But Dougie is now some player and proved me wrong like many others

Don't think there's much in it passing ability wise. Luiz can do it with both feet too, Barry's right foot from memory he rarely used. Barry was a fair old presence in midfield though despite not being that quick, Luiz has a bit to go there.

Barry was excellent in the air too and played in some rubbish Villa teams. To be fair to MON at least he put him back in CM and left him there (odd tactical nonsense move to LB aside!). Didn't Lambert pass up the chance to bring him back to Villa Park later in his career?

[Footy-Vill]

He's scored 5 home games in a row.
That's some achievement.
On 4 yellows so probably be suspended before Xmas but have to say he's been so wonderful and sometimes he makes football look so easy.
What a midfielder!

[Somniloquism]

Didn't Lambert pass up the chance to bring him back to Villa Park later in his career?

There was a rumour when Barry and Lukaku both loaned to Everton that we could have done that instead but chose not to. As they were costing Everton £10mill for the year and we were broke, I doubt we could have afforded them.

[Drummond]

Hes just on it. Sometimes players are just really aware of where they are and he's definitely in the zone when he plays. He just seems to have exactly the right amount of time on the ball.

[Percy McCarthy]

He's scored 5 home games in a row.
That's some achievement.
On 4 yellows so probably be suspended before Xmas but have to say he's been so wonderful and sometimes he makes football look so easy.
What a midfielder!

At the risk of sounding a bit… well, like you… an intentional booking might be handy on Sunday. He could play both legs v AZ and just miss the Luton game, in which we shouldn’t miss him too much. He then gets a fresh start for the busy run up to 19 games.

[AV82EC]

He's scored 5 home games in a row.
That's some achievement.
On 4 yellows so probably be suspended before Xmas but have to say he's been so wonderful and sometimes he makes football look so easy.
What a midfielder!

At the risk of sounding a bit… well, like you… an intentional booking might be handy on Sunday. He could play both legs v AZ and just miss the Luton game, in which we shouldn’t miss him too much. He then gets a fresh start for the busy run up to 19 games.

I like your thinking Percy.

[LeeB]

He's scored 5 home games in a row.
That's some achievement.
On 4 yellows so probably be suspended before Xmas but have to say he's been so wonderful and sometimes he makes football look so easy.
What a midfielder!

At the risk of sounding a bit… well, like you… an intentional booking might be handy on Sunday. He could play both legs v AZ and just miss the Luton game, in which we shouldn’t miss him too much. He then gets a fresh start for the busy run up to 19 games.

Nicolo's ears have pricked up.

Going back to the stat Footy mentioned about scoring 5 games running at Villa Park, it bears repeating because it's the kind of thing that Villa forwards might have acheived but decades apart, but that's our generally deeper lying central midfielder, and it follows on from our centre forward going on a record breaking scoring run.

Just another marker of how crazily good we've been in relation to really anything most of us have seen from Villa.

[Footy-Vill]

I go along with that.
One for time wasting before being subbed off to a stan
One for wasting time before being substituted to a standing ovation against West Ham.
That being said, he might take a booking with or without intent against a tricky West ham outfit.

I believe he's looking to conquer his ability on direct free kicks. I hope it will only be a matter of time before he becomes a total expert on them in terms of precision and scoring a few more.
He's always been willing, and we've seen how incredible his corners can be, as well as how fantastic he is on penalties.

[Footy-Vill]

He's scored 5 home games in a row.
That's some achievement.
On 4 yellows so probably be suspended before Xmas but have to say he's been so wonderful and sometimes he makes football look so easy.
What a midfielder!

At the risk of sounding a bit… well, like you… an intentional booking might be handy on Sunday. He could play both legs v AZ and just miss the Luton game, in which we shouldn’t miss him too much. He then gets a fresh start for the busy run up to 19 games.

I like your thinking Percy.

Bravo.
That's excellent foresight!

[Brend'Watkins]

He's scored 5 home games in a row.
That's some achievement.
On 4 yellows so probably be suspended before Xmas but have to say he's been so wonderful and sometimes he makes football look so easy.
What a midfielder!

At the risk of sounding a bit… well, like you… an intentional booking might be handy on Sunday. He could play both legs v AZ and just miss the Luton game, in which we shouldn’t miss him too much. He then gets a fresh start for the busy run up to 19 games.

I like your thinking Percy.

Taken off in the 89th minute when we're coasting and comfortable and gets a booking for a bit of shithousery, time wasting, going off slowly and the longest route, that sort of thing.