Aston Villa 2 The Arse 4 Post Match ah well what could have been thread

[Ian.]

Emi might not have been at his best at times of late, that’s fair. It’s when people extend that to him just being “decent” and not a big deal if he leaves. That’s the step too far - we are lucky to have a keeper of genuine quality and we should appreciate that and probably acknowledge that if he leaves we’ll really struggle to get a player anywhere near his class.

The problem is in his recent interview it doesn’t sound like he’s going to be here next season so it’s going to be up to him to start performing at the top of his game to defuse this.

He’s going to be extremely hard to replace and it’s a position I hoped would be safe for years to come.

[Hillbilly]

Arsenal deserved to win, but God some of their fans are utter helmets......

https://twitter.com/AFTVMedia/status/1626988527144632320?t=H2XFruFS7BQAaYkkAMlusg&s=19

All. All of their fans are fucking helmets. Like lesta, anybody that thinks one of their supporters is 'alright' needs to have a fucking good look at themselves.

And the amount of whinging about how Saka needs to protected from continual brutal fouling is off the scale. Snide as f**k.

[LeonW]

He isn't the best keeper in the world, he was just in the team that won a cup competition. He's obviously very good indeed, but has been miles off his best for us in recent games. Leaving aside the goals today, his kicking was terrible, going straight out for a throw at least 5 times. Their first goal came after one such incident.

He was ‘just in the team...’ . Ok.

Winning the World Cup doesn't make every player in that team the best in their position in the world, mate. France were obviously runners up, but I would strongly suggest that Hugo Lloris is miles off being the second best keeper in the world.

No it doesn't but it’s disingenuous to say Martinez was ‘just in a team that won the World Cup.’ It was hardly Djimi Traore levels of involvement. Just look at who Messi ran to first and foremost. Messi.

That's not what I was implying. He was probably their most important player, but that still doesn't make him the world's best keeper. It just makes him a world cup winner.

I think more context is needed. Winning the World Cup is the pinnacle for any player. Some of the best players in history have not won it and the infrequency means the opportunities are limited. That (and the eyes of the world) add massive pressure, pressure, which many buckle under. So even though the level of international football has dropped, delivering under that amount of pressure still remains an elite challenge. And Martinez obviously delivered on that in a big way, contributing massively to help perhaps the greatest player in history to win the one thing he previously couldn’t and to break an almost 30 year period where Argentina lost a number of World Cup and copa America finals. So even though an international tournament is a small sample size, it’s an incredible challenge to win it. So I think it’s right that weight is given to it as an achievement. Regardless of whether you do or don’t think of him as the best in the world, he’s had some incredible achievements and performances and the fact that an Aston Villa player could be crowned a best player globally in any category is something that only benefits Aston Villa. I’d be proud if he won the award and if he goes in the summer, he goes. Winning that award whilst a Villa player only pushes the transfer fee higher and only puts Villa on the radar a bit more. I wouldn’t swap him for any other keeper which is saying something. I’d say the best in the world are Martinez, Courtois and Alisson.

[LeonW]

Emi might not have been at his best at times of late, that’s fair. It’s when people extend that to him just being “decent” and not a big deal if he leaves. That’s the step too far - we are lucky to have a keeper of genuine quality and we should appreciate that and probably acknowledge that if he leaves we’ll really struggle to get a player anywhere near his class.

The problem is in his recent interview it doesn’t sound like he’s going to be here next season so it’s going to be up to him to start performing at the top of his game to defuse this.

He’s going to be extremely hard to replace and it’s a position I hoped would be safe for years to come.

If he goes I would blame the club as much as anything. He’s been here long enough for us to get out act together and we just haven’t.

[astonvilla82]

My game of football is you put the ball in the net, not how many chances they had, they don't count and didn't until a shot off the bar,in other words they were lucky how it comes off our keeper

2 -4

and

[Mellin]

McGinn, Luiz, Cash, Buendia, Mings, Watkins and Konsa. All have been here for long enough now and we've never threatened the top half of the table.

These players are quality! They're so good newly promoted Fulham have 10 more points than us and are one win from being in the top 4. No doubts Willian was too old, on big wages and past it for us. Oh well...

Joao Paulinha is exactly the type of player we still lack in central midfield imo. Him alongside Kamara and we'd be a very difficult team to break down off the ball.

One of the signings of the season there. Think they signed him for similar fee to what we got Dendoncker for.

I can't believe we signed Dendoncker.

Fuck me, who did the scouting for that one?

I guess that’s why we didn’t just sign any fucker in the last hours of the January window.

Great post and hits the nail on head. Can't have it both ways.

[PaulWinch again]

McGinn, Luiz, Cash, Buendia, Mings, Watkins and Konsa. All have been here for long enough now and we've never threatened the top half of the table.

These players are quality! They're so good newly promoted Fulham have 10 more points than us and are one win from being in the top 4. No doubts Willian was too old, on big wages and past it for us. Oh well...

Joao Paulinha is exactly the type of player we still lack in central midfield imo. Him alongside Kamara and we'd be a very difficult team to break down off the ball.

One of the signings of the season there. Think they signed him for similar fee to what we got Dendoncker for.

I can't believe we signed Dendoncker.

Fuck me, who did the scouting for that one?

I guess that’s why we didn’t just sign any fucker in the last hours of the January window.

Great post and hits the nail on head. Can't have it both ways.

Well no - you strategise right and get the players you want, whether that’s the 1st or the 31st of Jan.

[Skerra]

Think our Ollie has just said it all on motd. He said we do the hard work to get a lead and then throw away the game and that he’s seen it too often at Villa.

[Mellin]

And if you can't get them you sign the attacking Dendoncker, or you wait?

[Ian.]

Emi might not have been at his best at times of late, that’s fair. It’s when people extend that to him just being “decent” and not a big deal if he leaves. That’s the step too far - we are lucky to have a keeper of genuine quality and we should appreciate that and probably acknowledge that if he leaves we’ll really struggle to get a player anywhere near his class.

The problem is in his recent interview it doesn’t sound like he’s going to be here next season so it’s going to be up to him to start performing at the top of his game to defuse this.

He’s going to be extremely hard to replace and it’s a position I hoped would be safe for years to come.

If he goes I would blame the club as much as anything. He’s been here long enough for us to get out act together and we just haven’t.

Unfortunately world class players want to play at the really successful clubs The World Cup has elevated his status and if he ends up being sold for ridiculous money in the summer, I’m sure that would have happened even if we had a fairly decent transfer window this January. You can’t blame the owners for that?

[PaulWinch again]

And if you can't get them you sign the attacking Dendoncker, or you wait?

And when someone else swoops in in the summer? Or we don’t get our targets then? Ultimately we just need to do a better bloody job in the transfer market.

[LeonW]

Emi might not have been at his best at times of late, that’s fair. It’s when people extend that to him just being “decent” and not a big deal if he leaves. That’s the step too far - we are lucky to have a keeper of genuine quality and we should appreciate that and probably acknowledge that if he leaves we’ll really struggle to get a player anywhere near his class.

The problem is in his recent interview it doesn’t sound like he’s going to be here next season so it’s going to be up to him to start performing at the top of his game to defuse this.

He’s going to be extremely hard to replace and it’s a position I hoped would be safe for years to come.

If he goes I would blame the club as much as anything. He’s been here long enough for us to get out act together and we just haven’t.

Unfortunately world class players want to play at the really successful clubs The World Cup has elevated his status and if he ends up being sold for ridiculous money in the summer, I’m sure that would have happened even if we had a fairly decent transfer window this January. You can’t blame the owners for that?

I’d go back to summer 2021 onwards.

[aj2k77]

That's 3 games on the bounce we've conceded 3 goals in just 1 half of football too. When the backs are to the walls we fold. This group of players don't have the mental fortitude to withstand pressure.

[Ian.]

Was that the summer when Grealish pissed us about?

[LeonW]

Was that the summer when Grealish pissed us about?

Yes. I think he was always going to leave the second he had the contract clause put in from the previously august/September. It was the response from the club to him leaving and also their evaluation of Smith at the time. I think they didn’t really trust in him to take us forward but waited until a bad run to sack him. When really, if they didn’t trust him, they should have been decisive and replaced him that summer. Then the Gerrard appointment, which I never understood. Then the change in approach to both recruitment and structure. Then -as with the previous summer-only going so far with the investment, almost waiting to see if Gerrard could do a job before trusting him further (and we all know it was Purslow’s call to appoint him). Appointing Emery, great move though it was, we’ll see whether he gets the investment required to genuinely push us up into the top 8. I’m not so sure we will although there’s no excuse now as he is the best manager we’ve appointed since MON.