flashingqwerty

I fear for our defence...

Yeah we lack creativity in spades. And i hate to say it but mcginn does not look good enough. We are clearly crying out for a cm, cb and cam/w as a minimum

Love it Davis comes on and instantly occupies two defenders at the corner

No odea why je left mcginn on. Dreadful display from him.

Will someone tell villa they are allowed to shoot

I'd call us pedestrian, but i think a pedestrian looks like a sports car compared to this villa team. We're so slow!!!

From manager, coaches and players, completely clueless

If i was gonna take off a cm itd be mcginn

Luiz McGinn and Grealish all very sloppy with their passes

Post lockdown McGinn continues - shocking

Emi worth the fee already!

We are so shit...

Looking pretty toothless so far

Still a lot more to do for me: GK Martinez is a good signing. I'm hearing Heaton is struggling to come back from his injury. One or two of the physio and coaching staff feel he may be done. Need to shift 2 from Steer, Nyland and Kalinic. RB I'm not a Cash fan. He might be excellent in a couple of years but right now, unconvinced. Still a lot of talk that Guilbert is moving on. I hope not, as I rate him as our best RB currently. If he does, we need to replace him. Elmo, he's done for me. His contract is up in 10 months, so he will be gone by the end of the season. LB Our game against Burton says to me that we can't rely on Taylor, so we should get rid and replace if possible. Targett, he's o.k. has a habbit of getting injured. I'd be happier with another to press him for 1st choice like Henry. CB I'm not his biggest fan, but Mings is our best CB right now. Konsa, whilst he improved greatly in the last few games last term, I'm still worried about him and Mings as a partnership. I'd prefer a better starter. Hause, good in the air, but not much else. I'd prefer an upgrade. Engels, I think he's done. Dean doesn't fancy him, and his lack of pace is a big issue. CM Luiz, he came good post lockdown, and a first team slot is his to lose for me. Our best CM currently. McGinn, I didn't see the player we saw in the champ in the pl, even before his injury. Hope i am wrong, but he is not a starter for me right now. Nakamba, a good option if we need a second DM on the pitch, but i would not play him as first choice. Decent sub. Hourihane, takes a good free kick, but is a passenger for large periods. I would replace him. Lansbury, don't really need to say it, but he's not good enough and needs to go. Grealish, contravertial putting him in as CM, but its where he wants to play. Fine to have him in CM with Luiz and McGinn against weaker teams, but against top 6-8 we need more strength. W Trez was a hero at the end of the season, but I don't think he is good enough El Ghazi, I don't think he is good enough either. Traore, we will see. More options needed. S Wes wont be available until 2021, and likely wont feature much until next season. Jurys still out on him. Watkins, if we can get him service, I think he will score goals. Not sure he's much of an upgrade or worth the fee though. Davis, if he could finish, he'd be the perfect striker for us. Finishing aside, he is a good player. Samatta, looks like he's off, so we need another in. Summary I'm concerned by our defence. Fullback positions lack depth and experience and CBs both have mistakes in them. Despite jow vocal and committed Mings is, i don't see him as a leader, so a commanding, experienced CB is a must for me. Midfield, the 3 of Luiz, McGinn and Grealish will terrorise lower teams, but will get pulled apart by physical teams and higher teams. We need a 4th CM with strength to compete against those. We're still very short up front (S and W). We need another wide player and another forward. If we keep Grealish wide, then we need 2 CMs. So, 4 players at least still needed for me, CB, CM, W and S.

You've completely missed my point. You can't assess the current ability of a player who hasn't played for the best part of a year due to injury. His injury could have taken away his pace, and without 1st team football, its highly unlikely he has progressed from the player we saw in the championship. Konsa, in my opinion, was a better player than Axel was when he was with us, and progressed massively last season. I can't see an injured Axel getting better by not playing and sitting in the treatment room, more likely he regressed.

How can you possibly make that assessment when one has played most games over the last 2 years and the other managed about 15 appearances due to injury?

They also said ot was someone who had 'done it all', so unless they meant 'all the injuries', i dont think its him.

I agree with @smg here, whilst Ramsey got into great positions, his stats with the ball are pretty poor. Potential is there, but him and Nakamba will never compete for the same position. Ramsey is an attacking player and Nakamba is defensive. Attacking players are more noticed as they do the flashy sexy stuff and not the boring mucky stuff

In the final 3rd Nakamba completed and attempted more passes than Taylor, so you are still mistaken.

Some player ratings from tonights match: Nyland: 5 - had very little to do, couldn't stop them scoring but wasn't at fault. His only save was pretty basic. Distribution was appauling. Elmo: 4 - out of position most of the game leaving Hause too much to do at RB. Most crosses (20) of any player but only 2 met inside the box. Passing accuracy of 79% is poor. I think he's done. Taylor: 5 - worst pass completion on the night, and defensive stats the worst of our back 4. Gets an extra point over Elmo for the assist, though he knew little about it. Hause: 5 - pretty sloppy with the ball, not very convincing off it. Best aerial duel rate in the team, but also lost possession often. Needs replacing. Mings: 5 - bad night for him. Most touches, but also the most misplaced passes, highest loss of possession and most long balls. Most individual errors leading to a chance (2). Ramsey: 6 - got into some nice positions but failed to really make an impact. Lowest number of tackles and recoveries from our midfield, and only Watkins had less touches. Promise, but not ready. Nakamba: 7 - defensively, very good, but jis passing lets him down. I think there is a player in there, would like to see him play a match with luiz and mcginn. Lansbury: 3 - the lad has talent, when you see those raking 40 yard passes on the money so often, but he puts 8n so little effort. If 9nly he had a good attitude/work ethic, but he has wasted his talent. Time to go. El Ghazi: 4 - he has pace, tricks, etc. But where were they tonight? Crossing was only not the worst thanks to a nightmare by Elmo and his set plays were shocking. Grealish: 8 - Clearly rusty, tried to hard at times, and can be a little too selfish. That said, he makes everything happen and is clearly our best player by some distance. Watkins: 6 - should have had a hattrick for me. Got 8nto great positions and looks to fit in well. Got a point for the goal, and lost it for the miss. Early days, but he looks like he will be dangerous. Jota: 6 - he was poor, lost possession a lot, but he created chances. Hes too slow for the PL though. Luiz: 7 - as others have said, his presence settles the team. Hardly put a foot wrong and set up the 3rd goal. I do think we need cover for him though, as he wont play every game, and we will miss him. Davis: 7 - he splits us all, doesn't he? His stats outside scoring are always decent, he holds it well, runs with it well, wins a good amount in the air, and today he scored. Do that more often, and you'll be a player! Its clear we have a lot more work to do 8n this window, few from this game should be in the matchday squad based on this showing, and its only 1 or 2 injuries from reality. Get busy DS and co. Lots to do.

Taylor had the worst pass completion of any villa player (69%). From our back 4, he attempted and won the lowest number of tackles, aerial duels and individual duels. Lost possession 17 times, equal worst with Mings. Only Watkins, Lansbury and Ramsey had fewer touches. Nakamba on the other had had a pass completion of 81%, not great but still better. Attempted and won the highest number of tackles. Attempted and won the most individual battles. And won his 2 aerial duels. Lost possession 14 times, but thats still better than Mings, Taylor, Elmo, Hause, Lansbury, Grealish and Watkins. Had the 2nd highest number of touches behind Mings, and recovered possession twice as many times as any other villa player. If you think Taylor was the better player tonight, I'm afraid you are mistaken.

DAVIS!!!!!!!

What odds?

Here comes the equal8ser...

Best corner of the night from our worst plauer