Mahmoud Hassan (Trezeguet) - SOLD

[Toronto Villa]

There was a comment made amongst the gushing by Michael Owen about us not having anything to show for the money we spent last year. I disagree.

Across the two windows we spent around 150m on 16 players (including loans). I know there are wages, other fees but strictly transfer fees that works out to under 10m a player, which at a PL level is a pittance. And many who weren't immendiately at PL level struggled to adjust. But of the players still left at the club are there any that have significantly declined in value? I would say no, although some may have at worst stayed the same like AEG, Nakamba, Wes, Heaton, Hause and Engels. But it would be hard to argue that based on current PL player valuations the rest have not appreciated in value:

MINGS - now an England international
LUIZ - now a Brazil international (yes I get there is buy back clause) but based on what we paid he's worth a lot more.
TARGETT - Given the lack of depth at that position internationally he may not be far off now and he's improved since he joined.
TREZ/KONSA - Both have had a superb season so far

As much as last year was hard we are starting to see that some of these players just needed time and some better players added to the squad around them. And that very much applies to Jack who has stepped up another level.

[Meanwood Villa]

Becoming a firm favourite this season. Works his bollocks off every game.

[paul_e]

There was a comment made amongst the gushing by Michael Owen about us not having anything to show for the money we spent last year. I disagree.

Across the two windows we spent around 150m on 16 players (including loans). I know there are wahes, other fees but strictly transfer fees that works out to under 10m a player, which at a PL level is a pittance. And many who weren't immendiately at PL level struggled to adjust. But of the players still left at the club are there any that have significantly declined in value? I would say no, although some may have at worst stayed the same like AEG, Nakamba, Wes, Heaton, Hause and Engels. But it would be hard to argue that based on current PL player valuations the rest have appreciated in value:

MINGS - now an England international
LUIZ - now a Brazil international (yes I get there is buy back clause) but based on what we paid he's worth a lot more.
TARGETT - Given the lack of depth at that position internationally he may not be far off now and he's improved since he joined.
TREZ/KONSA - Both have had a superb season so far

As much as last year was hard we are starting to see that some of these players just needed time and some better players added to the squad around them. And that very much applies to Jack who has stepped up another level.

As above, given where fees are right now I reckon the 5 you've named and McGinn are 'worth' all the money we spent since the owners came in.

Ake sets the value for central defenders so around £40m for Mings and Konsa.
Luiz and McGinn you look at Havertz, van de Beek and Partay and have to think £50m is fair for 2 players who've got 18months experience in the league.
Targett has improved and would be worth similar to Castagne so 20-25m.
Trez is harder to find comparisons for, he's not on a level with Ziyech(£36m) or Diogo Jota(£40m) so £25m-ish is probably fair, putting him around the same place as Rodrigo.

That's £230m-ish which is pretty much everything we've spent and has a lot of players not included.

[Toronto Villa]

Ps error in my original post. For clarification I am arguing those 5 HAVE appreciated in value and most if not all the rest we bought pretty much kept their value or only slightly depreciated.

[Axl Rose]

After this, I can no longer agree with Michael Owen on any subject.

[villa for life]

Wonder if we could still get back the 8million we paid for Heaton. Quite a few clubs with dodgy goalkeepers so it might be a good idea to sell in January. Steer is plenty good enough to be our No.2, and Heaton is going to want to play, so may work out well for all parties.

[manic-road]

Wonder if we could still get back the 8million we paid for Heaton. Quite a few clubs with dodgy goalkeepers so it might be a good idea to sell in January. Steer is plenty good enough to be our No.2, and Heaton is going to want to play, so may work out well for all parties.

No, if our No1 was to get a long term injury I would want Heaton in-between the sticks.

[paul_e]

Ps error in my original post. For clarification I am arguing those 5 HAVE appreciated in value and most if not all the rest we bought pretty much kept their value or only slightly depreciated.

I got that, I was trying to put actual values on the players, based on the market.

[manic-road]

Trez scored for Egypt today in a 1-3 win away at Togo in an Africa cup of nations qualifier, another player that will be re-joining the squad full of confidence.

[OCD]

Fantastic work-rate and attitude but lacks end product. He could have scored 5 goals this season just from the Southampton, Brighton and last night's game. I've got to believe that at some point he'll make that step up and start taking these chances and when he does, he'll be a bit of a fan favourite.

[Meanwood Villa]

He got crucial goals end of last season of course and didn't have a bad return overall given his minutes on the pitch but his finishing has been shocking this season. Thought he was poor last night given his standards this season.

[Brend'Watkins]

he's become very snatchy if that's the right adjective.  Needs to calm himself.  The coaching staff need to work on that.

[Bobby Boy]

He seemed to be very down on himself for quite some time after the miss. He was clearly affected by it. Maybe he almost wants it too badly.

It's a cliche but he needs a goal to relax himself in those situations. It's good that he is getting into such great positions but the lack of composure is maybe a sign that he's feeling it mentally a bit.

[Drummond]

From The Athletic

Trezeguet: The Premier League’s unluckiest player this season


By Gregg Evans and Tom Worville Dec 3, 2020 24
There’s a running joke (if you’ll pardon the pun) at Aston Villa these days that Trezeguet just doesn’t stop running.

His team-mates often wind him up when arrives into Bodymoor Heath by asking the all-action winger whether he’s jogged into training from his apartment in the city centre. It’s this light-hearted ribbing that has helped make him feel more inclusive at a time when he’s had some struggles out on the pitch.

You cannot fault his effort and desire, but the constant debate over whether Villa are better with or without him in the starting line-up rumbles on.

A lack of composure in front of goal this season has seen him come in for criticism and is somewhat undermining his hard graft, which goes under the radar.

He has missed easy chances from close range in the last two matches, both of which Villa have lost by a single goal. These fine margins make a big difference in the Premier League and despite the importance of putting in a shift, goals still outweigh graft.

“He’s disappointed that he hasn’t scored more goals for Aston Villa,” head coach Dean Smith admitted. “But he’s creating chances and I’d only start to worry when he’s not getting opportunities. He works hard for his opportunities and as I’ve said before, his attitude and work rate is second to none and he’s improving all of the time.”

Former Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor was less complimentary with his analysis, saying Trezeguet “couldn’t finish his dinner” after a spurned opportunity against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Agbonlahor would later apologise for how blunt he was with the remark but then turned on the winger again after another sitter against West Ham United, telling Football Insider: “If that ball fell to anyone else but Trezeguet, they would have scored. In the Premier League, you get punished for not taking easy chances like that.”

So is Trezeguet, a player who scored seven goals in his first season in England for the lowest-ranked Premier League team that avoided relegation, actually too wasteful or just going through a tough time in front of goal?

The underlying numbers for his season so far suggest it might be the latter.

In fact, he could be recognised as the Premier League’s unluckiest player this season, having failed to find the net despite getting chances worth 2.7 expected goals (xG) in total. That difference between goals and expected goals is the highest so far in the league of all non-scorers from open play, just ahead of Oli McBurnie (2.6 xG, no goals) and Richarlison (2.4 xG, no goals from open play).

Expected goals measures the quality of a shooting opportunity, so Trezeguet’s xG total for this season shows he is still getting himself into good goalscoring positions. In fact, he is doing so more often than he was last season.

Here’s last season’s shot map for Trezeguet. Note the average quality of his chances — denoted by xG per shot — is around 0.09, just below the average (0.1) for a winger in the Premier League in the past five seasons.



The sample size for this season is still small (nine Premier League games for Villa), but Trezeguet’s performances have been markedly improved when it comes to getting chances.

He’s upped both the volume of his chances and the quality of them, increasing his xG per 90 minutes to 0.34 from 0.22.

There are fewer speculative efforts from range, with only two of his chances coming from inside the area. Combining expected goals with expected assists — the likelihood a pass will lead to a goal assist — Trezeguet’s overall expected contribution of goals and assists of 0.59 per minutes is just a touch below that of Jack Grealish’s (0.6).



The difference, of course, between Villa’s often-criticised winger and their prized asset is that Grealish already has five goals and five assists this season compared to Trezeguet’s solitary assist.

“It’s important he doesn’t get categorised alongside Jack because there’s only one Jack and a lot of other clubs would like an extra Jack Grealish,” Smith said, laughing. “Trez is very important. His work ethic and attitude are tremendous.”

It’s the never-say-die attitude that Smith values so highly in the £9 million signing.

Trezeguet’s dedication and loyalty to the cause are, at times, infectious. He is desperate to play every minute of every match. In that recent defeat by West Ham, he initially refused to leave the pitch even though he had been substituted because blood was pouring down his face.

There was also the time for Egypt when team-mates asked why, as a sub, he was preparing himself for action during the half-time period even though manager Hector Cuper hadn’t said anything to him about coming on. “I got this match,” he told them, and he would go on to win a stoppage-time penalty that Mohamed Salah scored, sending Egypt to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years.

This might explain why Trezeguet’s former manager Mustafa Denizli described him as a “very passionate boy” in a chat with The Athletic this week.

trezeguet-aston-villa
Trezeguet was desperate to carry on against West Ham despite his bloodied face (Photo: Frank Augstein – Pool/Getty Images)
Denizli, 71, who worked with him Turkish side Kasimpasa, said: “He can run for anything. If he doesn’t do what he wants first time, he will run everywhere to make it right. He has a problem with himself for not getting the ball in the first place.

“He’s a different guy — very happy when he wins but very down when he loses. He’s a good talent. If you give him the freedom from 35 metres from goal, he can do everything with the ball, he’s so clever.”

Journalist Sinan Yilmaz watched him closely during the fruitful 2018-19 season under Denizli that earned him a move to Villa.

“In his first days at Kasimpasa, he worked very hard to prove himself,” he says. “His crosses, shots and through balls were very effective. He could play on both wings. Eventually, he saw that he was one of the top players in the league and started preserving his energy to focus on the attacking side of the game.

“It’s clear that he realised the necessity to put in the work once again to prove himself at Villa and in the Premier League.”

Remember, it was Trezeguet’s three goals in the last four games of Project Restart that helped Villa stay in the division. Also, aside from his chance creation, he is a far more active player this season compared to last.

Using data from Smarterscout, we can show this by looking at how often Trezeguet is disrupting opposition play when his side is out of possession. Smarterscout is a site that gives detailed analytics on players all over the world, producing a score between 0-99, a bit like the player ratings in the FIFA video games but powered by real data and advanced analytics.

In the pizza chart below, note his ratings when it comes to disrupting opposition moves, ball recoveries and interceptions, and his overall defending quantity, which is a measure that considers how often Trezeguet is the most relevant defender on each opposition ball touch.

In 2019-20, these were all below average for a winger (although he was above average when it came to involvements in aerial duels).



This season, however, his game has changed fairly dramatically.

All of the red slices that were previously below average have shot up. In fact in the Premier League in the past five seasons, only Middlesbrough’s Cristhian Stuani in 2016-17, Everton’s Richarlison in 2018-19 and Tottenham’s Lucas Moura in 2019-20 have put up comparable defensive metrics when playing right wing.



It’s also telling that Trezeguet’s defensive efforts have not come at a cost to his aforementioned attacking stats — he’s got the energy to attack and defend.

“He likes to do everything if he can,” Denizli says, before adding that his decision-making needed to improve to become a real success in the Premier League.

Perhaps that explains why he’s not holding onto the ball as often as he used to.

Growing up at Al Ahly in Egypt, and then moving to Belgium and Turkey, he was often afforded more time on the ball, which allowed him the opportunity to dribble.

Think back to when he first joined Villa. The first impression of him, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in August 2019, was that he was brave, purposeful and direct, if not as cultured as other wingers that have played before him.

Now, though, he is dribbling with the ball less often compared to last season — attempting 2.4 take-ons and carrying the ball 100 metres per 90 minutes this season compared to 3.7 take-ons and 112 metres of carrying in 2019-2020.

International team-mate Ahmed Elmohamady, a well-respected and senior member of Villa’s team, often guides him through games with tips and advice from the sidelines. It’s helped him become more disciplined defensively.

He is a more “active” defender, but that doesn’t necessarily make him better at stopping the opposition. Looking at his tackling ability on the pizza chart, a score of 45/99 shows he is slightly below-par for a winger.

This season hasn’t quite gone his way yet but he’s started eight of Villa’s nine Premier League games and helped his side win half of them. There’s value in what he does, and appreciation, too. “He is very important,” Smith says.

The challenge now is to start scoring those big chances and unlock his full potential. A firing Trezeguet is an asset to any team.

“His personality is so nice and his heart is so soft,” adds Denizli. “He’s a real team player.”

Trezeguet just now needs his luck to turn

[eamonn]

A lovely lad altogether.