Laughable Chimp Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 Honestly, not very good. He'd pull off interceptions out of no where, carry the ball up the field for a promising counter attack and then pass it straight to a Liverpool player multiple times. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolta Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 He looked great with the interceptions. He read the play really well...he often seemed to be on the move before the opportunity was really obvious. He did then lose the ball once or twice, but if he can just stick to simpler passes he has a lot to offer. I was impressed (admittedly I couldn't concentrate on the game 100% so I might have missed something). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 i thought he was exactly what we all know he is, he's ok. nothing more nothing less, will make a few dodgy passes, will make a few great blocks and tackles and get a 6 or 7 out of 10 every game he needs updating for us to move forward but at the same time he should have played more football for us over the last 3 years 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 He's a player who is really needed for our system and plays well in it. He's not great on the ball but he's never really had a run of games to get more comfortable with it. I really think he should be staying with us next season. He does a job and you know you can bring him on in a game and he will give us that energy and defensive edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eligius Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 After an injury lay off not surprised that he was a bit rusty last night, as others have said he gave the ball away cheaply but with more game time he will get up to speed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaParkAvenue Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 (edited) After being out for five months, to suddenly start against Liverpool can't be easy and I thought he did well. Classic Nakamba performance, lots of energy and broke up their attacks a number of times but also gifted them the ball once or twice. Nakamba and Luiz starting together has usually been good for us but it also demonstrates how much we could use an even better DM -- a destroyer who is also confident in possession. Edited May 11, 2022 by VillaParkAvenue 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 57 minutes ago, Rolta said: He looked great with the interceptions. He read the play really well...he often seemed to be on the move before the opportunity was really obvious. He did then lose the ball once or twice, but if he can just stick to simpler passes he has a lot to offer. I was impressed (admittedly I couldn't concentrate on the game 100% so I might have missed something). This is it, really. He was nervous today as it was his first game back, so he reverted to the 'panic on the ball' Marv - looked to get rid of it as soon as any pass went to him. He'd improved on this before the injury, so I'm putting it down to jitters. As you said, he read the game very well, as usual. There's no doubt that he's a smart defender and has quality in that department. I do think that we'll be looking to improve on him, though, with a player who's just a bit more comfortable and composed in possession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke313 Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 1 minute ago, lexicon said: This is it, really. He was nervous today as it was his first game back, so he reverted to the 'panic on the ball' Marv - looked to get rid of it as soon as any pass went to him. He'd improved on this before the injury, so I'm putting it down to jitters. As you said, he read the game very well, as usual. There's no doubt that he's a smart defender and has quality in that department. I do think that we'll be looking to improve on him, though, with a player who's just a bit more comfortable and composed in possession. I thought he was good at breaking up play and winning the ball back. But as soon as he done that he suddenly didn't look comfortable with the ball, and either was tackled or misplaced a simple pass. If he had the passing ability of Luiz he'd be perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 3 minutes ago, duke313 said: I thought he was good at breaking up play and winning the ball back. But as soon as he done that he suddenly didn't look comfortable with the ball, and either was tackled or misplaced a simple pass. If he had the passing ability of Luiz he'd be perfect. The issue we have is what we do with him now tbh. Assuming we sign a new CDM, he'd definitely be good enough to keep as a backup if we didn't have Iroegbunam coming through. 3 players for one spot seems excessive. Might make sense to give Tim a loan next season to a championship outfit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhan_Zhuang Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 I thought Marvelous was good and bad. Great at Reading the game, intercepting and tackling but pretty poor with his passing. I guess he's a little rusty, I do kinda like him though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 8 minutes ago, lexicon said: The issue we have is what we do with him now tbh. Assuming we sign a new CDM, he'd definitely be good enough to keep as a backup if we didn't have Iroegbunam coming through. 3 players for one spot seems excessive. Might make sense to give Tim a loan next season to a championship outfit. I think there's no chance at all that Iroegbunam isn't going out on loan. We're not going to make him the only understudy to a new DM with one PL start (against Norwich) under his belt. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxjackle Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 His performance yesterday just underlines how important a DM is and that it's the most important signing we'll make this summer. Nakamba is a useful squad player but isn't a top ten premier League starter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 6 hours ago, Laughable Chimp said: Honestly, not very good. He'd pull off interceptions out of no where, carry the ball up the field for a promising counter attack and then pass it straight to a Liverpool player multiple times. The story of his whole career with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozvillafan Posted May 11, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted May 11, 2022 One for the Sanson school of frustration: Generally does a good job when he gets a chance.... ... but he rarely gets a chance so "good" is as good as it can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moustache of Teale Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 I can excuse the couple of misplaced passes that could have proved costly because that was a tough game to come back to after so long out. In the run up to him being injured he’d really improved with his distribution. With him in the team we immediately look more balanced; it’s no coincidence we did well when Gerrard gave him a decent run in the side. Overall, did well last night considering the context, and his break-up play was excellent. I’d stick with him for the next few games as I think our overall game is better with a combative CM in there. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Steve Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 Nakamba did really well to cover Ty when it got caught in his feet - just very lucky that it then hit Matip before the goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 I thought he was doing a very decent job apart from his under-hit pass, which gave them a shot on goal. At 1-1, I couldn't see the logic of replacing him with an attacking midfielder, and it looked more like a move meant to keep a player happy, than what Villa were lacking. Iroegbunam would have looked like a more logical replacement. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferguson1 Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 He was rusty but gave us the right balance in the midfield. He’s a great squad player to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pez1974 Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 Like others - good at breaking up play, and then giving it back to them in as dangerous position as he'd just covered. Not sure if this was just him being a bit rusty, but his passing has never been good. I suspect he might get one more season, before we are past the level where he can be useful. Him coming off didn't surprise me - but why not Chambers or Tim? Changed our shape and stifled Luiz who was doing great up to that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 Not good enough. So what if he breaks play if he continually gives the ball back. Poor awareness, poor distribution, upgrade needed. We've known for a long time and nothing has changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts