Aston Villa vs Manchester City Post-Keeping the Score Down Thread

[Drummond]

He was dire, one of the worst on the night. It's his job to keep things ticking over, retaining possession and passing the ball, but he couldn't manage even simple 10 yard passes. I'd say on current form there isn't a hope in hell of Man City wanting him back, and it then just remains to be seen whether anybody is prepared to pay a bigger premium than us to be able to buy him from Man City.

He's our player?

At the moment he is. But Man City can buy him back for £30m or whatever the figure is. Therefore if somebody decides they want him for say, £50m, then Man City exercise their buy back right, and sell him for £50m, and pocket the difference.

It's not going to happen.

[nick harper]

Douglas Luiz has had a massive drop off in form since the Covid break, weak in the tackle, his pass rangefinder is to cock and he isn't as athletic as he was earlier in the season (fatigue?). Compare him to Rodri playing a similar role and its like night and day. That said he was ok last night as it was Nakamba who looked utterly out of his depth and the others were continually having to fill gaps he was leaving or recover when he pressed at the wrong time. We seemed to try a very compact and central midfield block last night which left massive gaps outwide leaving our full backs massively exposed and continually facing 2 on 1 overloads.

Has Nakamba put on a bit of weight or beefed up? He looked very ponderous last night. The sight of him ambling while Foden zipped to the dead ball line in the second half was embarrassing.

[Risso]

He was dire, one of the worst on the night. It's his job to keep things ticking over, retaining possession and passing the ball, but he couldn't manage even simple 10 yard passes. I'd say on current form there isn't a hope in hell of Man City wanting him back, and it then just remains to be seen whether anybody is prepared to pay a bigger premium than us to be able to buy him from Man City.

He's our player?

At the moment he is. But Man City can buy him back for £30m or whatever the figure is. Therefore if somebody decides they want him for say, £50m, then Man City exercise their buy back right, and sell him for £50m, and pocket the difference.

It's not going to happen.

I expect not, but it is a possibility.

[Allan C]

leeds beat this lot with 10 men because they compete.  i hate leeds but they always compete, we certainly didn’t

Leeds under Bielsa are much more likely to kick on next season than we are under Smith. I hope I am wrong but I am really disappointed with the way things have fizzled out.

Bielsa as a coach (and maybe it's an unfair comparison with Smith anyway given the gulf in experience) has a defined way of playing. Clear strategy and a coherent approach. We have Jack Grealish. We don't have a plan b or c. It's been that way for a number of years. Until he comes back we will continue to play Burnley style football.

We had Jack Grealish when Dean Smith's Brentford used to make us look like mugs every time they played us. In the rain. With no roof above the fans. Yes, he's not Bielsa, but then again, nobody else is either. Dean Smith doesn't have the players - particularly when the best of them are out injured, suspended or just plain fucking stupid - to finish much higher than we are right now.

A bit like Bielsa's Leeds.

Absolutely 100% this. They’ve reached their limit but surely that was their purpose in our rebuild??

[aj2k77]

More chance of Man City buying me than Luiz. He's doesn't have the attributes to play deep, for me. Passing range is very average, no real speed, no physical presence and seems to disappear a lot. Not a great engine, not a good tackler.

What is it he does again?

[wittonwarrior]

Men v Boys outclassed in almost all positions on the night and how good is Folan.

[cdbearsfan]

He was dire, one of the worst on the night. It's his job to keep things ticking over, retaining possession and passing the ball, but he couldn't manage even simple 10 yard passes. I'd say on current form there isn't a hope in hell of Man City wanting him back, and it then just remains to be seen whether anybody is prepared to pay a bigger premium than us to be able to buy him from Man City.

He's our player?

At the moment he is. But Man City can buy him back for £30m or whatever the figure is. Therefore if somebody decides they want him for say, £50m, then Man City exercise their buy back right, and sell him for £50m, and pocket the difference.

Technically they can't do that,  at least not straight away, as you can't make two transfers in a season without special dispensation. Though there are ways around it, like a loan to buy for instance.

[TonyD]

More chance of Man City buying me than Luiz. He's doesn't have the attributes to play deep, for me. Passing range is very average, no real speed, no physical presence and seems to disappear a lot. Not a great engine, not a good tackler.

What is it he does again?

It’s odd as earlier in the season and the tail of last  - he was awesome.    What happened?

[Risso]

Technically they can't do that,  at least not straight away, as you can't make two transfers in a season without special dispensation. Though there are ways around it, like a loan to buy for instance.

Are you sure? FIFA rules say player can be registered for a maximum of three clubs in a season but play for two. The Luiz situation would comfortably fit within that set of rules.

[FatSam]

The comparison between how the two managers reacted to the red cards was interesting, albeit only based on what I could see from the TV footage.

Guardiola put his head in his hands when Stones caught Ramsey, then ranted and raved outside of his technical area when the card was given. I don’t think Smith reacted at all.

Guardiola then charged down the touch line when Cash caught Foden, whilst Smith just conferred with his coaching team.

I also don’t understand why the pundits on MOTD were suggesting that the Stones red card was harsh. Of the two challenges, it was this one that had endangered the opponent. Cash was stupid, but players don’t get injured from that type of challenge. Whereas Ramsey could have had ligament damage.

[Ads]

Pep made himself look an absolute weapons grade tit after Stones walked.

Exactly the same as the Leeds red at the weekend, only Ramsey had his foot off the ground so Stones was even more reckless.

The Cash sending off was so obvious and dumb, why would you remonstrate.

Stones is consistently our biggest threat when we play them. Utter shite.

[itmustbe_it is!]

Not embarrassing to lose to the quality they have by only one goal.

We have a good defence.

We are not a million miles away being competitive at the top table.

Need a few upgrades in the middle and the wing.

And of course Jack back.

I’m positive. Dean actually brought Davis on.

Not having a go at this post or poster, I agree with most of this.

But I honestly don't get the Davis thing. I like him as one of our own, but he barely touched the ball let alone changed the game.

None of our substitutions made us better, in fact the opposite, and that's not Dean's fault, our lack of depth is a massive problem. Keinan and AEG aren't good enough but this year we don't have anyone else (Louie Barry anyone?) . Hoping that next year we have some viable options to compete for positions so that the bench looks a threat.
This year we've improved the first XI. We need to improve the squad as a whole this summer, so that our big hope off the bench isn't a guy whose main attribute is heart and who doesn't, honestly, ever look like he has a goal in him. 

[wince]

Disappointed but given where we were last season who here wouldn’t snap your hand off for mid table obscurity?

[sid1964]

I agree it is good to be mid table, compared to last season’s struggles but with the strange results that most teams have had this season we could have finished the season in the top 6

Next season I don’t think the owners will be happy with a mid table finish

[cdbearsfan]

Technically they can't do that,  at least not straight away, as you can't make two transfers in a season without special dispensation. Though there are ways around it, like a loan to buy for instance.

Are you sure? FIFA rules say player can be registered for a maximum of three clubs in a season but play for two. The Luiz situation would comfortably fit within that set of rules.

Oh okay, was probably talking shite then.