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JCRD

Well-Known Member
Aug 10, 2018
19,153
30,013
He probably wouldn't have come to be second fiddle, but I would have liked it we were in for him. Didn't think Frankfurt would sell him after Jovic.

He wouldnt have come and we definitely wouldnt have spent 40m but he is definitely a good player from what ive seen of him so far. Looks better than what they have behind him though
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
104,143
And if Grealish is half the player he thinks he is, he should be making the difference in such situations.

Interesting, you seem to know how good he thinks he is - I don't even know what that's meant to mean to be honest.
 

slartibartfast

Grunge baby forever
Oct 21, 2012
18,320
33,955
Just finished watching villa / wham match.
My God that was poor.
Grealish looked average at best.
So many players on both teams holding onto the ball too long and refusing to put it into the box.
Glad it was a draw. Neither team deserved 3 pts.
 

C0YS

Just another member
Jul 9, 2007
12,780
13,817
That makes no sense to me. Surely if the club want them to speak better English then the club could easily hire a very good tutor and set aside lesson time for them? Doesn't seem fair to put the emphasis on the players.
It doesn't matter how good the tutor is if the student isn't fully committed or motivated.

I know that it might be surprising to some, given that my writing on this site tends to be littered with errors, but I am an English (as a foreign language) teacher and tobi is completely right. Language is a skill, you need to engage, participate and be willing to learn it. It isn't one of those subjects where you can just listen, take notes and eventually it will sink in. Rather you have to be willing to make mistakes and commit to it. Unfortunately, most of the emphasis is on the players.

You have players like Bale, who have been in Madrid for a very long time but speak a low level of Spanish. They have been taking lessons for some time, but Bale being naturally shy and him taking private one on one lessons means its very difficult for him to improve his skills. You need to fully commit, and as a footballer, with all that spare time, there is no excuse.
 

Bulletspur

The Reasonable Advocate
Match Thread Admin
Oct 17, 2006
10,690
25,246
I think we’d have improved him and he’d have been a great option for when Lamela is injured, or Eriksen is sulking etc. Much like Barkley if we’d got him, they both have potential under the right coach.
I will concede and say I forgot about the Poch factor of improving him. But as he is right now, he wouldn't help the cause in my opinion.
 

Hakkz

Svensk hetsporre
Jul 6, 2012
8,196
17,270
I know that it might be surprising to some, given that my writing on this site tends to be littered with errors, but I am an English (as a foreign language) teacher and tobi is completely right. Language is a skill, you need to engage, participate and be willing to learn it. It isn't one of those subjects where you can just listen, take notes and eventually it will sink in. Rather you have to be willing to make mistakes and commit to it. Unfortunately, most of the emphasis is on the players.

You have players like Bale, who have been in Madrid for a very long time but speak a low level of Spanish. They have been taking lessons for some time, but Bale being naturally shy and him taking private one on one lessons means its very difficult for him to improve his skills. You need to fully commit, and as a footballer, with all that spare time, there is no excuse.

Then you have people like this :LOL::

Along with his native Czech, Cech also speaks English, French, German and Spanish. In 2015, he revealed: ” I speak to the full-backs (Hector Bellerin, Nacho Monreal) in Spanish, to (Laurent) Koscielny in French and to Per (Mertesacker) in English […]”
“Sometimes the foreign player wouldn’t know what you say. That’s when you realize sometimes it’s easier to say it in their language than hoping they will understand.”
 

Pellshek

Well-Known Member
Dec 30, 2015
2,509
7,289
Grealish reminds me of signings like Gylfi Sigurdsson, Andy Reid, Seb Bassong, Chris Perry or Steed Malbranque: they look really good playing for a smaller team, which tempts you into thinking they could step up, but there's just something about them that gives you pause.

It's a very hard thing to quantify. Why might one be more optimistic that, say, Wilfried Zaha or Jack Clarke could step up than, say, Ross Barclay or Jack Grealish? On paper, all four of those players have ability, are performing well in weaker teams, and on paper all four should be appealing to the top-6. And yet, for some reason, you'd optimistically take a punt on the first two, but the other two...there's just something not quite right.

As I say, hard to explain, but I always thought Sigurdsson and Reid would struggle long term, despite obvious ability, which they eventually did, and for some reason I put Grealish into this same category of player.
 

Gb160

Well done boys. Good process
Jun 20, 2012
23,646
93,314
Villa are a bit negative aren't they, they're gonna be in a dogfight this season methinks.
Yeah they're not bad at the back, but they create next to fuck all in the final third.
They just dont have the quality and up top, which is odd as they spent a fuck tonne in the summer didn't they?
 

Gb160

Well done boys. Good process
Jun 20, 2012
23,646
93,314
Then you have people like this :LOL::

Along with his native Czech, Cech also speaks English, French, German and Spanish. In 2015, he revealed: ” I speak to the full-backs (Hector Bellerin, Nacho Monreal) in Spanish, to (Laurent) Koscielny in French and to Per (Mertesacker) in English […]”
“Sometimes the foreign player wouldn’t know what you say. That’s when you realize sometimes it’s easier to say it in their language than hoping they will understand.”
No one likes a smart arse.
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
39,885
62,562
Yeah they're not bad at the back, but they create next to fuck all in the final third.
They just dont have the quality and up top, which is odd as they spent a fuck tonne in the summer didn't they?
Unlike Fulham last summer, Villa had to spend big this summer simply to fill a squad. The promotion season had relied so much on loanees that they were down to about 15 players when the summer started.

And they didn't spend huge on attack. Wesley is the only striker they signed, and Trezeguet and El Ghazi (who was a loan made permanent) are wingers. Most of the cash went to shore up the defence and centre midfield.
 

Gb160

Well done boys. Good process
Jun 20, 2012
23,646
93,314
Unlike Fulham last summer, Villa had to spend big this summer simply to fill a squad. The promotion season had relied so much on loanees that they were down to about 15 players when the summer started.

And they didn't spend huge on attack. Wesley is the only striker they signed, and Trezeguet and El Ghazi (who was a loan made permanent) are wingers. Most of the cash went to shore up the defence and centre midfield.
I can't see them scoring enough goals to stay up, Wesley looks championship level.
McGinn will score a few but I doubt that'll be enough.
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
39,885
62,562
I can't see them scoring enough goals to stay up, Wesley looks championship level.
McGinn will score a few but I doubt that'll be enough.
Yeah, everyone always talks about "goals win games, defences win titles", but goals are far more important than defences when it comes to a relegation battle.

Huddersfield, Cardiff, WBA, Stoke, Middlesbrough before them, just off the top of my head all of them were relegated not because they had shoddy defences (well, Huddersfield had that too) but because they didn't have any reliable goalscorers. That's why I think Norwich will be absolutely fine but the other two promoted sides will struggle.

Having said that, Wesley had a good game against Everton when Villa won that one, so maybe he can do the job, but it is only one good game in five and he didn't score that frequently in Belgium either.
 

Hakkz

Svensk hetsporre
Jul 6, 2012
8,196
17,270
I can't see them scoring enough goals to stay up, Wesley looks championship level.
McGinn will score a few but I doubt that'll be enough.

Wesley was a 1in3 striker in Belgium. They should be really happy if manages that in the league considering how he has played so far.
 

King of Otters

Well-Known Member
Jun 11, 2012
10,751
36,093
Grealish reminds me a lot of Lanzini, and that’s no bad thing. However, I do often find myself wanting more from him in a game. He has lovely close control and weight of pass, but quite often seems to make the wrong the decisions in advanced areas.

His level is clearly higher than Villa. It’s just a question of whether that level is top 6 or West Ham/Everton/Leicester.
 

NickHSpurs

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2004
13,626
11,875
I was impressed with Wesley against us, once he adapts to the Prem I think he'll do alright. He will be a proper handful when he's on his game, if he starts putting himself about correctly he'll bully quite a few defenders, he's a unit and still only 22 as well.

I think he either needs a #10 to play close to him or a Defoe type to play off him though as he won't be able to score they goals they're gonna need to stay up on his own.
 

Graham Minshall

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2016
536
1,351
Just finished watching villa / wham match.
My God that was poor.
Grealish looked average at best.
So many players on both teams holding onto the ball too long and refusing to put it into the box.
Glad it was a draw. Neither team deserved 3 pts.
Grealish and Lansing are butterflies, they look pretty on the ball sometimes, they float about, but at the end of the match you’re left thinking, what have they actually done?
Just finished watching villa / wham match.
My God that was poor.
Grealish looked average at best.
So many players on both teams holding onto the ball too long and refusing to put it into the box.
Glad it was a draw. Neither team deserved 3 pts.
 
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