Czarnikjak Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Jas10 said: Questioning/berating Pau Torres is almost like questioning/berating Unai Emery… that’s his go-to-guy. You know… the man who got us into the CL for the first time in our history, that’s all… and the player that hugely contributed to it. “When Torres starts, Villa have a win rate of 76% in the Premier League. When he does not, that number drops to 25%.” Well, he's been dropped from the international team and "top team" in Europe didn't come in for him. So he didn't realise Emery's predictions on his future. He is not a bad player, but I don't think he is as good as some people hoped/expected. Edited August 10 by Czarnikjak 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Czarnikjak said: Well, he's been dropped from the international team and "top team" in Europe didn't come in for him. So he didn't realise Emery's predictions on his future future. New manager hasn’t selected him… not sure if that equates to “dropped” and he could well get back in there very soon. Are we not a top team? Makes complete sense that manager and player wanted to continue their pre-existing relationship. There was and has been previous, other interest. Unai is not the only one who rates him either… - Again, we’ve qualified for CL. We did brilliantly to get it and no one expected or foresaw it. Now we are overreacting after a few preseason friendlies?? We won (all/most?) games under Stevie the Scouse clown during preseason… and then were headed for relegation until he was removed and the king was brought in… and took us to Europe! Unai specifically chose and requested Pau and he has improved us immensely. Isn’t a bit of perspective (and appreciation & patience) called for rather than… entitlement? Or unfairly raised expectations and demands? Edited August 10 by Jas10 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post LondonLax Posted August 10 Popular Post Share Posted August 10 It wouldn’t surprise me if Emery had instructed the defence to play out from the back no matter what, even if it leads to mistakes. You only find out where the limit is when you take things too far. Preseason is the perfect time to find out the limits of your abilities. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 (edited) 9 minutes ago, LondonLax said: It wouldn’t surprise me if Emery had instructed the defence to play out from the back no matter what, even if it leads to mistakes. You only find out where the limit is when you take things too far. Preseason is the perfect time to find out the limits of your abilities. Yep, we’re always gonna do it. It’s what we’re about and has taken us incredibly far in such a short space of time… Have none of our other defenders never made a mistake? Konsa? Mings? Certainly not faultless… Anyone who thinks we’re gonna drop or replace Pau is deluded. And he’s the best we have at playing from the back, one of the best around actually. Edited August 10 by Jas10 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aston_Villan4 Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 11 minutes ago, LondonLax said: It wouldn’t surprise me if Emery had instructed the defence to play out from the back no matter what, even if it leads to mistakes. You only find out where the limit is when you take things too far. Preseason is the perfect time to find out the limits of your abilities. Agreed. I feel like today was a conscious decision from Emery as well. A glorified training exercise on dealing with pressure when playing out from the back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 He's one of the best ball playing cbs in world football. Certainly the best I've seen at Villa. He may not have been up to scratch in pre season friendlies but hopefully he's better when the season starts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delphinho123 Posted August 10 Author Share Posted August 10 4 minutes ago, Aston_Villan4 said: Agreed. I feel like today was a conscious decision from Emery as well. A glorified training exercise on dealing with pressure when playing out from the back. Well we failed the exercise badly. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaVilla Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 (edited) 1 hour ago, PaulC said: He's one of the best ball playing cbs in world football. Certainly the best I've seen at Villa. He may not have been up to scratch in pre season friendlies but hopefully he's better when the season starts. Pau made some mistakes vs Dortmund for sure, but Dortmund also highlighted wider weaknesses within the team when playing against a team that press so well. For anyone that didnt watch the game, Dortmunds energy & pressing was on part with anything i have seen from peak Liverpool under Klopp, or peak leeds under Bielsa, they were simply brilliant at it. With that in mind, you would see Pau get the ball as he is a primary outlet for us, and he lacked options, a few players werent making themselves available, we were too static, or when they were passed the ball just looked like rabbits in headlights, we were absolutely bent over Dortmunds knee and spanked on the butt for being bad boys and trying to play out of the back. My point is, Pau was ropey at times and made some mistakes, but he wasnt helped at all by the players around him, and he was put in trouble a fair few times because others went invisible, or lost the ball every 5 seconds when they did get it. We talk about liking McGinn, Digne etc, but watching them under pressure was painful, genuinely painful, others have also said we dont need a Felix type, but to be honest, if we want to play out of elite presses, we need elite and composed ball players in the defensive and middle third. Im trying not to be too critical, as Dortmund were brilliant, but we defo showed our limitations, a 7/10 possession/retention player in the PL, going up against an elite pressing team like Dortmund, go down to a 4/10 for composure and ball retention, and we start losing the ball, left, right and centre. Edited August 10 by MaVilla 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Messy Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 1 hour ago, LondonLax said: It wouldn’t surprise me if Emery had instructed the defence to play out from the back no matter what, even if it leads to mistakes. You only find out where the limit is when you take things too far. Preseason is the perfect time to find out the limits of your abilities. I agree. I do some swim coaching. In training we get the kids to do drills, not because it is faster but to focus their technique on what needs to be improved/focused upon. Then when it comes to a competitive environment the said skill is more natural/ instinctive.for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantholtgolazo Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 18 minutes ago, MaVilla said: We talk about liking McGinn, Digne etc, but watching them under pressure was painful, genuinely painful, others have also said we dont need a Felix type, but to be honest, if we want to play out of elite presses, we need elite and composed ball players in the defensive and middle third. As you say Pau is our primary outlet but the same excuse you are giving him could well be extended to Digne: Pau repeatedly telegraphed his passes to Lucas on the wing allowing the press to overplay, at the same time the midfield failed to show for the ball inside and Pau was stagnant making it harder to make the recycle pass which he would have known was coming as again and again the wing had a sideline pass blocked and no linking player in the midfield to pass to. Perhaps it is a criticism of our system, at least how it looked today, it was far too easy to predict what we were doing and neither Pau or Lucas are players particularly adept at winning duels off the dribble. The second half of your statement I agree with, but beyond that, our buildup has to be better to make the most of the personnel we do have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 1 hour ago, Delphinho123 said: Well we failed the exercise badly. So what’s your remedy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaBrum Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 I was critical of him during the first half - poor passing and mainly responsible for theiir goal. However, in the second half he was much improved. Don't know whether he worked out his faults himself or was coached by Emery at half time. Doesn't really matter which - it worked! He is very much an important piece in the Aston Villa jigsaw and I feel that he will only get better as the season progresses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted August 10 Share Posted August 10 Yeah those goals were awful from him you might get away with that against the poorer sides but not against elite teams like dortmund. Still think he is a excellent player Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom13 Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 7 hours ago, Delphinho123 said: Not sure this post is the win you think it is. Admitting he’s a poor defender but let me guess, you’re now going to tell me how ammmmmmazzzzing his build up play is from the back. The bloke just forgot to kick the ball 8 yards out from goal today when he had a man behind him. Oh, and we concede goals for fun. He’s a massive part of that. Go on though, tell me how great he is at passing… Modern football isn't for @Delphinho123 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJim Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 Unquestionably he's been very poor this preseason. I've got to admit I'm not his biggest fan, don't see what the boss sees in him frankly. When he is put under pressure some of his passing is downright suicidal. I do believe he is capable of making good progressive passes but for every one that finds his man he hits two more straight to the opposition. Against Dortmund he was hardly ever even trying them, but I do agree with previous posters in that he rarely had anybody in front of him that was making space to receive. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 (edited) 56 minutes ago, BigJim said: I've got to admit I'm not his biggest fan, don't see what the boss sees in him frankly. JFC! Watch the Bilbao game again. Look at our league record last season when he played vs when he didn't and you know... when we finished 4th. Edited August 11 by Kiwivillan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJim Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 I might just rewatch Bilbao game. I would suggest you take another look at his other performances. As for last season's record, it looks convincing by itself, but I watched most of the games and a lot of the times he just didn't stand out for me. For me our success was more due to our prolific attack than our often wobbly defence. We'll see how he fares this season. I see most posters on here calling for at least one new center back so that would suggest to me the general feeling is he needs a very strong partner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 (edited) Like I said in the philogene thread, he has to do better there, be more alert and anticipate that pass better And if he does we're all sat talking about Pau flicking the ball over the attackers head chesting it down and laying it off cos the guy is so classy It's fine lines, yesterday he was the wrong side of them but he is still class Not him as an individual but him as in how he wants to play and how unai wants us to play is why we got CL, the days of two bruiser CBs are gone Edited August 11 by villa4europe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Made In Aston Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 2 hours ago, BigJim said: I might just rewatch Bilbao game. I would suggest you take another look at his other performances. As for last season's record, it looks convincing by itself, but I watched most of the games and a lot of the times he just didn't stand out for me. For me our success was more due to our prolific attack than our often wobbly defence. We'll see how he fares this season. I see most posters on here calling for at least one new center back so that would suggest to me the general feeling is he needs a very strong partner. We were definitely weaker defensively last season and know all about Pau's weaknesses. For it to work, Torres needs a CB partner who has all the attributes he is missing. As good as Konsa is, his skillset doesn't fully compliment Pau's and I think we need a RCB who is a better fit. If Mings could play on the right then that would solve the problem but, if not, a CB with similar qualities is required. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macandally Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 16 hours ago, Delphinho123 said: This guy is rubbish. Going to be the reason we concede so many goals this season. Weak, slow and gives the ball away in dangerous positions. Bloke simply can’t defend. I believe you have the memory span of a goldfish, or you’re just fishing for laughing emojis’s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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