Rightdm00

Brighton are actually a place above us on the xG adjusted league table. The fact we could play that poor and still get a point is minor miracle. I'll take it. 

20 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Definitely progress. For a team not playing too well being 7th in the form table is not too bad at all. Two very tough games coming up. Play poorly in these two and we will lose. But I think they’ll be a reaction again. 

Brighton are just an awful matchup for us. We aren't physical enough to bully them and they just crowded out out three creative players. I have never seen Jack have so little time on the ball all season. 

I think we will see a far better performance just based off of not having to play Brighton again. 

10 hours ago, Laughable Chimp said:

If he's being let go by **** Sheffield United, he probably isn't good enough for us

I want to agree with this but we let Albrighton go when we were constantly finishing right above the  relegation places. 

21 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Every single time he comes on, he is close to scoring. I'd be very interested to see him have a full game with our strongest team.

Every time he comes on he get's so close to scoring an absolute banger. Can't wait for the first one. It's going to be FILTHY!

His end of season highlight video should just be every one of his touches and I mean every one. I want the amazing traps and settles he has no business doing and all the no look one time back passes, especially the ones in our own box. I think everyone should experience the intense joy and fear you get from watching Bertie do his thing. 

Love the guy. Never change Bertie. 

2 minutes ago, MotoMkali said:

Traore Played CAM that game. Grealish roamed more frequently true but as is evidenced by his defensive work he was playing wide left. 

Traore didn't even finish the game. Got subbed with 20 minutes left to play including extra time.  So no we define attacking players by where they defend on the pitch and not where they play while in attacking positions?  Seems backwards and far to simplistic of a  view. 

13 minutes ago, MotoMkali said:

Grealish played left wing up until the Burnley game. We played traore cam, Ramsey CAM and went 3 in the middle with hourihane. Grealish scored a goal in those 3 games. Got 3 assists in the 5 he played as CAM. 

This is why I split it up with and without Barkley. You say he played LW vs Brighton but his heatmap says differently. Same for Crystal Palace. Started middle but actually spent most of the game out wide, especially after the red to Mings. Those are just 2 examples. He drifts far more without a rigid #10 in the middle. It's not as easy to say he was LW one day and a CAM on another. 

Still, his best play this year and last has come with Barkley in the #10 role and Jack out wide left. We can debate why that is but to say he has been better from the CAM position is a weak, unsupported opinion.  

23 minutes ago, MotoMkali said:

LW = 38 games, 12 goals, 6 assists (excluding Liverpool game as it is an anomaly). Mean 0.47

CAM/CM= 15 games, 6 assists. Mean 0.4. Important to note half those assists came this season in 5 games as CAM (which is 0.6 - however that is much too small a sample size so included the games he played at centre mid last season as well).

Basically he played in a much deeper role for 6/15 games and in a worse team for 10/15 games and is putting up basically the same numbers (I want him further forward than he played last season and 3 of his goals this season have come from a central position so he can evidently score from there but he just hasn't in such a small sample of games). 

For this season alone. Jack has 3 assists in 5 games (0.6) and 4 goals and 3 assists in 13 games which is 0.54 (again excluding the Liverpool game - I have done a mathematical proof to determine whether it is OK to exclude it but essentially if jack score or assists more than 3 goals in a game currently it is alright to exclude it - he has only scored or assisted 3 or more goals once in his career and that is against Liverpool). Again too small a sample size to be meaningful but I'd argue we played more difficult games in the 5 he played as CAM, one with a red card, one against united and one against Chelsea. Also in that period was the only time we have picked up points when conceding first. 

23 minutes ago, MotoMkali said:

Double quote

How are you only getting 5 games in the middle? 

It's at least 7

Brighton 

West Ham 

Chelsea

Crystal Palace

Man United

West Brom 

Burnley

Wolves is the only game we played a 4-3-3 while Barkley was out so he was LW there. Brighton and Crystal Palace he spent at least half the time in the middle due to injury/suspension. Not sure how you can just toss them in the LW pile. Just check his game log at FBref.com. 

In the end look how much work you have to do just to equalize his play between the two positions. It's obvious he has performed at one position better than the other.

As others have mentioned relegation is not decided by any means.  Fulham has a better goal difference than both Newcastle and Burnley.  Only reason they don't have the points to reflect their recent performances was their dreadful start to the season.  

Check out the current xG table. Newcastle and Burnley are not out of it by any means. For example, Newcastle is a Callum Wilson injury away from being the worst team in the league. 

4 minutes ago, Kiwivillan said:

In PL Grealish has 10 goals and 13 assists at LW and 0 goals and 3 assists at #10 so not sure where this more goal contributions at latter comes from. 

People still dreaming on our setup while in the championship. Jack has been world class on the left for at least a year in the Prem. Why tinker with what's already damn near perfect. 

1 minute ago, Sam-AVFC said:

OK, so he has more goal contributions with Barkley on the pitch. All that shows is he provides more goal contributions with better players on the pitch.

I'm not sure what the relevance is to positions, unless you're trying to prove the point that he does better playing with better players. E.g. obviously he has done better on the left as Barkley is better than El Ghazi.

There is no infatuation, some people just disagree with you. My 'eye test' shows me he often gets less space in the middle because at least one of our wingers will be shite enough to ignore. Sign a quality LW and that completely changes the dynamic.

You say stats prove he's better from the left, but all you've shown so far are his goal contributions based on whether or not he plays with Barkley. I'd be interested to see stats like key passes/per game from each positions.

What do you mean 'analytically' he looks better from the left?

The original post i responded to claimed Jack had more goal contributions from middle on avg. So I posted the #s because that didn't seem right. 

I split it the way I did because Jack drifts far more when we either play a 4-3-3 or he is the #10.  When Barkley is on the pitch, Jack pretty much stays on the LW. When Barkley was injured he spent the majority of his time in the middle of the pitch or at least not on the left.  Also, these numbers exclude the Liverpool game (mostly on the LW) so it's even more lopsided once you throw that in there. 

As far as analytics go, his xG and goal contributions per 90 are all vastly superior from the LW. A comparison of heat maps show that he spends far more time closer to goal when he is on the left versus the middle when sometimes he will drop as deep as our CBs to receive the ball. 

The goal versus Southampton is a perfect example of why he is so much more dangerous from the wing. His first touch is a cross 5 yards from the byline. That's where you want your most dangerous players getting their touches in and around the 18 yard box. 

1 minute ago, Sam-AVFC said:

How many appearances has he had in each position? If he's played 3 times as much on the wing then there is no debate that his stats from a central position are better.

11 w/ Barkley 

8 w/o Barkley

I put the Brighton game in the no Barkley category since Barkley was gone by the 5 minute mark. 

.65 G/A with Barkley

.5 G/A without Barkley

Not sure where this infatuation with playing him central comes from. Eye test, stats, analytically he looks better from the left. Not to mention whenever he starts center he always ends up crowding out the LW anyway. 

3 hours ago, MotoMkali said:

If you exclude the Liverpool game because it is an anomaly (you should - well outside 3 standard deviations from Jack's mean). Jack Averages slightly more goal Contributions as a CAM than as a winger. On top of our other winger playing better I prefer jack in the centre. Yeah he goes down the left more frequently but the ball goes to traore more because Jack can offer more support down that side of the pitch. 

If we throw out the Liverpool game per FBref he has 3G 4A at LW w/o Barkley. From the middle without Barkley he has 1G 3A. Where are you getting your #s from?

6 minutes ago, magnkarl said:

The same can be said about AEG this season. He's scored crunch goals and tracks back. I don't feel like we should be defending Ross' lacklustre tracking back and pressing game just because of his name. Each forward player should carry their share, that is modern football.

AEG is an average PL player who is a great squad option. He is not someone we can start for 30+ games in a PL season and compete for the top 6.

AEG had a run of 30 games in the championship and returned all of 5 goals. Then he got another 30 games in the Prem and grabbed 4 goals. Finally his favored position is the one our best player currently occupies and it makes far more sense to bring in a "10" like Barkley over trying to find another winger. 

This isn't a slight against Anwar, he has a role to play but for our aspirations he is a squad player at best. 

6 hours ago, magnkarl said:

Ross doesn't feel like the type of player we need. We can't afford to have someone who doesn't press, looks lazy and just jogs around and waits for that one moment. His goal aside I found the whole performance quite similar to that against Burnley. Why he wasn't subbed is on DS, but I felt he should've been on the bench for AEG around the 60th minute.

You're right he is a luxury player but one that has already come good multiple times this year. 2 times now he has bagged a goal that got us 3 points when at best deserved 1. You know how they say a keeper is with 10-15 points a season. Well a player like Ross is about the same. He's a match winner and as long as Chelsea are reasonable with the fee I think he is a no brainier for a transfer this summer. 

7 minutes ago, GENTLEMAN said:

Are they not just a supplier? 

Yeah, he is a Bike athlete so he wouldn't be caught in any other boot. Side note I feel like he has found an even smaller pair of socks. Does he just wear the kid sizes?  

Justice for the robbery at Burnley. 

Second time he has grabbed us 3 points. You need quality players like this in your squad if you want to challenge for silverware. 

You go to battle with the team you have not the ideal one you dream of after a couple stiff drinks. We are the best watch in the Prem. Also, one of the best defenses and a left winger who could walk into any team in Europe. This is dream land and I have enjoyed every single minute of this season. 

I have been following Villa for 13 years. Someone older please state the last time we have had a season this well at the halfway point. UTV!!!

10 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I’m undecided on the subs thing. We looked like we were struggling and needed changes. But then many times over the years, especially last year we made changes and still didn’t hold on. At times it made us worse. The game was played at a very fast pace. Players could struggle to get up to pace and that could have cost us too. 
 

Subs doesn’t automatically mean you take home the 3 points. Many times this season he hasn’t made the changes and we have still won, just like today. Maybe it’s time fans got over it!

When the results don't show up maybe I'll start questioning his methods but he has delivered at every asking. 

From 4 goals conceded to a CS. Praise him. 

Little VAR payback and I LOVE THIS TEAM!!!!!!

This is dire, unless you bet nil nil.