David Villa

[e28makaveli]

The Villa situation remains a total mystery. I really want him to stay but he needs more play time. Obviously Tito has a different plan as he has started to play Iniesta up front instead. Pedro is returning to form and somehow Alexis seems to get the nod ahead of Villa. So unless he is coming on as an impact sub, which, if I were him, I would not mind, if guaranteed to start a game here or there, he will be leaving. If I were Villa, I would stay put.

 

[DonAndres]

All it takes is one start and one goal to fire him back into form and give him confidence. I pray that it happens soon.

 

[sabby]

if i were villa, i'd be pretty interested in the prospect of joining arsenal, moving to london and linking up with cazorla and arteta. he'd be guaranteed to start every single game, and his high profile will mean he gets instant adoration from the fans. if i were him, i'd be telling my agents topush that move through. and if arsenal really did offer 17m, that's a fee well above what i'd expect arsenal to bid so i'd be more than happy with that kind of amount. but i think villa will only move in jan if he really demands it, otherwise he'll just continue along with us as he's been doing.

I really doubt Villa will get a start as CF every match. Walcott wants/wanted to leave Arsenal because he c didn't get much starts as CF. They have a proper CF already in Giroud and then other forwards/strikers as podolski, Ox-chamberlain.

 

[kreshnik-9]

Rosell: Villa won't join Arsenal

 

[GiantKiller]

if i were villa, i'd be pretty interested in the prospect of joining arsenal, moving to london and linking up with cazorla and arteta. he'd be guaranteed to start every single game, and his high profile will mean he gets instant adoration from the fans. if i were him, i'd be telling my agents topush that move through. and if arsenal really did offer 17m, that's a fee well above what i'd expect arsenal to bid so i'd be more than happy with that kind of amount. but i think villa will only move in jan if he really demands it, otherwise he'll just continue along with us as he's been doing.

Well, I don't really think so because when two players provide something different to the team, you can't guarantee any of them to start every game and both Giroud and Villa have varying styles of play. That's if Villa joins Arsenal of course which at least right now seems unlikely.

 

[DavidVillano1]

Well, I don't really think so because when two players provide something different to the team, you can't guarantee any of them to start every game and both Giroud and Villa have varying styles of play. That's if Villa joins Arsenal of course which at least right now seems unlikely.

If Villa joined Arsenal, Giroud would be stuck on the bench. Walcott's been getting favoured over him in that position lately.

Villa would play majority of the matches, if fit, he might get moved to the left sometimes, but he would be number 1 choice in my opinion.

Although it's been debated on here often about him being rested for the second half of the season etc, I don't buy into it at all. Fabregas and Pedro are certainly ahead of him in Vilanova's mind. Whilst it's up for debate with Sanchez. Villa has been back from his injury since August. 5 months on, he should be more than ready to start, but continues to warm the bench. For the sake of his career, it would be better for him to leave.

Hope I'm wrong, but I can't see Villa starting even half of the remaining games this year.

 

[ammarfcb]

 

[DB10]

If he only has a future until the summer then perhaps it's in his best interest to move in January. Quality is at a premium in January so Villa's stock would be highest now for suitors & him personally.

I'd love to see him at Arsenal but can't see it happening.

 

[GiantKiller]

If Villa joined Arsenal, Giroud would be stuck on the bench. Walcott's been getting favoured over him in that position lately.

Villa would play majority of the matches, if fit, he might get moved to the left sometimes, but he would be number 1 choice in my opinion.

Although it's been debated on here often about him being rested for the second half of the season etc, I don't buy into it at all. Fabregas and Pedro are certainly ahead of him in Vilanova's mind. Whilst it's up for debate with Sanchez. Villa has been back from his injury since August. 5 months on, he should be more than ready to start, but continues to warm the bench. For the sake of his career, it would be better for him to leave.

Hope I'm wrong, but I can't see Villa starting even half of the remaining games this year.

Walcott being favoured over Giroud is a result of the recent performances of the two players and it won't last long clearly. Also, saying the arrival of Villa, however unlikely, will result in Giroud 'being stuck on the bench' is just silly. Keep in mind that I'm not in anyway suggesting that the Frenchman is in the same class as Villa but I'm purely looking at it from a tactical perspective. Villa, being a striker, obviously has a different playing style to Giroud whose physical presence is a crucial part to the latter's game and hence, it wouldn't be wise to name one a definite starter while demoting the other to the bench.

Also, I have my doubts with regards to how quickly Villa will become accustomed to the particular characteristics of the PL. Mata, Silva and Aguero , who are all in their mid-twenties, needed some time to settle in and perform to their fullest. Cazorla too is going through the mentioned phase. So, it would be interesting to see how Villa acclimates to the fast-paced action of the PL with no winter break given that he's on the wrong side of 30, came back with a major injury and has had very little match practice.

As for the last part, I've gone through it before already and at this stage I wouldn't bother to say anything anymore. So, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[DavidVillano1]

It's hardly silly, in-fact it's pretty obvious.

Wenger is clearly still looking to replace RVP, hence being linked with Villa. He doesn't trust Giroud, that's obvious considering he's used Walcott, Gervinho and Podolski in the middle and the former has only started half of the matches. If Arsenal sign Villa(which they won't) he's going to be first choice.

Mata was excellent for Chelsea last season whilst not playing in his favourite position. He had a far better debut season than Silva. 20 assists and 12 goals is a very good return. His final season at Valencia he had 9 goals and 15 assists. Mata took to that league fine in his debut season, as did Aguero(30 goals, 9 assists). Both certainly didn't need time to adjust, no idea where you get that notion from, Cazorla has been very good as well.

Villa has more experience than all of them and has the intelligence to show up the poor defenders in that league. Let's not forget Villa had to change his style and play when he moved to Barcelona, he can cope with the Premier League, no problem. If the likes of Berbatov, Torres, Lampard can still score in that league, there's no reason why Villa can't. Don't buy into this age or fast-paced action, many of the games are slow and boring.

 

[GiantKiller]

It's hardly silly, in-fact it's pretty obvious.

Wenger is clearly still looking to replace RVP, hence being linked with Villa. He doesn't trust Giroud, that's obvious considering he's used Walcott, Gervinho and Podolski in the middle and the former has only started half of the matches. If Arsenal sign Villa(which they won't) he's going to be first choice.

Mata was excellent for Chelsea last season whilst not playing in his favourite position. He had a far better debut season than Silva. 20 assists and 12 goals is a very good return. His final season at Valencia he had 9 goals and 15 assists. Mata took to that league fine in his debut season, as did Aguero(30 goals, 9 assists). Both certainly didn't need time to adjust, no idea where you get that notion from, Cazorla has been very good as well.

Villa has more experience than all of them and has the intelligence to show up the poor defenders in that league. Let's not forget Villa had to change his style and play when he moved to Barcelona, he can cope with the Premier League, no problem. If the likes of Berbatov, Torres, Lampard can still score in that league, there's no reason why Villa can't. Don't buy into this age or fast-paced action, many of the games are slow and boring.

Walcott, Podolski (who had only 1 appearance and didn't have preseason either) and Gervinho have combined appearances of 11 as a CF which is less than half of Giroud's appearances. The Frenchman didn't have a preseason with the team to get used to the playing style and add to the fact that he's been injured a couple of times. So, it's not a surprise that the other three have had the few appearances in the middle and it also doesn't tell me how Wenger doesn't 'trust' Giroud.

Furthermore, we're talking about the PL here and Mata had 6 goals and 13 assists having played more matches in his first PL season which is obviously not as good as his previous season with Valencia. As for Aguero, he had 23 goals in the his first PL season but that's not surprising given that he had Silva and Yaya Toure, two of the finest midfielders in the PL, playing at a very high level. His goal-to-game ratio is not as good as it was last season now that the midfield duo isn't in the form they were at last season. Also, despite the goals that Aguero has scored in the previous season, he was definitely not very consistent in his performances and had a tendency to be invisible for large parts of a match. Cazorla has been good so far but playing in such conditions has clearly exhausted him and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he fades away in the second half of the season as fatigue catches up. So, I don't see how they (excluding Cazorla as explained) didn't need to acclimate to playing in the PL. Mata and even Silva, if I'm not mistaken, have said so too.

Lastly, I didn't say anywhere that Villa wouldn't be able to cope with the PL. Where did you get that from? What I said was that it would be interesting to see how long Villa would take to get used to his new surroundings and I've already explained the reasons for me thinking like that. And no, when I say the PL has a lot of fast-paced action, I mean all of that end-to-end play which is quite obvious (Not saying that every match isn't boring, though.) and if you think that many PL games are slow, then you've been watching another league all along. :O

 

[Mr Hulot]

It seems that his injury made Villa a bit slower..At least slow enough to be capable of taking his man.. It's a pitty because I still think that he makes the best runs of all our forwards and he is also a pretty good finisher as well..Anyway I don't think by any means that he should be sold. He would be a great asset if we face a parked bus like last years Chelsea..

 

[DavidVillano1]

Spoiler: @GiantKiller

Going off tangent with Giroud/Mata, so will talk about them in this spoiler. Cazorla didn't have a pre season and that didn't affect him. Giroud has only missed three games all season, one in league, one against Bradford and final one away to Olympiakos(weakened squad) So the injury point doesn't wash with me, just an excuse!

No idea how you can say Gervinho playing through the middle, isn't a surprise, of course it was. Everyone was talking about it, saying Giroud deserves a chance. Second biggest summer signing etc.... Wenger openly stated he had faith in Giroud to lead the line and be a success, yet he's not gave him a regular run. Arsenal have played 30 games this season, Giroud has started 16. That doesn't show faith for one of your big signings in the summer. Cazorla has started 27 and Podolski 24, both rested in league cup usually. That there shows the difference in trust and extended runs in the starting 11.

Wenger playing Podolski, Gervinho, Walcott through the middle instead of Giroud in just under 50% of this season's 30 games(taking into account weaker teams in the league cup) shows the lack of faith Wenger has in the Frenchman.

So league cup, FA cup matches don't count? Is that not playing in the so called fast paced English football? Why ignore these games? In reality Mata had 10 goals and 17 assists in ENGLAND in 36 starts(6 subs) how anyone can claim that is a return of someone who needed time to adjust, is beyond me. In Spain he had 8 goals, 12 assists in 32 starts(2 subs) so where does the 'it's obvious that's not as good as his season with Valencia' come from? The numbers don't add up to your theory especially as he wasn't used in the attacking role/hole position like he prefers!

Silva fell away from mid January last year, IIRC he only had 2 goals and 3 assists for the rest of the season. In that period Aguero still managed 13 goals and 5 assists. But apparently it's all down to Silva and Toure? Toure only had 6 assists in English football last season btw. City fell away in the second half of the season, they dropped much more points and only sneaked the title through United falling apart.

As for Villa, you originally did state ' I have my doubts with regards to how quickly Villa will become accustomed to the particular characteristics of the PL' then at the bottom of that paragraph gave of the opinion that you were unsure how he would cope in the EPL with the lack of winter break etc. Maybe I read it wrong, but if that's not what you meant, fair enough

I'm sorry, but there's many slow paced games in the EPL, it's not always fast paced. Especially if you get a match such as Stoke vs Aston Villa(2 shots on target) or Stoke vs Fulham(4 on target)... I watch more EPL matches than any other league and there is defo games that have next to no action or end to end football.

 

[Flavia]

From fcb official site:

Jordi Roura also commented on the situations of several other members of the squad. He described David Villa as “a very important player for us,” pointing out that he is returning after a long spell on the sidelines through injury. “He is doing a lot of hard work. We have no doubt that he’ll get back to 100 per cent”.

So Villa is not 100% yet?

 

[GiantKiller]

Spoiler: @GiantKiller

Going off tangent with Giroud/Mata, so will talk about them in this spoiler. Cazorla didn't have a pre season and that didn't affect him. Giroud has only missed three games all season, one in league, one against Bradford and final one away to Olympiakos(weakened squad) So the injury point doesn't wash with me, just an excuse!

No idea how you can say Gervinho playing through the middle, isn't a surprise, of course it was. Everyone was talking about it, saying Giroud deserves a chance. Second biggest summer signing etc.... Wenger openly stated he had faith in Giroud to lead the line and be a success, yet he's not gave him a regular run. Arsenal have played 30 games this season, Giroud has started 16. That doesn't show faith for one of your big signings in the summer. Cazorla has started 27 and Podolski 24, both rested in league cup usually. That there shows the difference in trust and extended runs in the starting 11.

Wenger playing Podolski, Gervinho, Walcott through the middle instead of Giroud in just under 50% of this season's 30 games(taking into account weaker teams in the league cup) shows the lack of faith Wenger has in the Frenchman.

So league cup, FA cup matches don't count? Is that not playing in the so called fast paced English football? Why ignore these games? In reality Mata had 10 goals and 17 assists in ENGLAND in 36 starts(6 subs) how anyone can claim that is a return of someone who needed time to adjust, is beyond me. In Spain he had 8 goals, 12 assists in 32 starts(2 subs) so where does the 'it's obvious that's not as good as his season with Valencia' come from? The numbers don't add up to your theory especially as he wasn't used in the attacking role/hole position like he prefers!

Silva fell away from mid January last year, IIRC he only had 2 goals and 3 assists for the rest of the season. In that period Aguero still managed 13 goals and 5 assists. But apparently it's all down to Silva and Toure? Toure only had 6 assists in English football last season btw. City fell away in the second half of the season, they dropped much more points and only sneaked the title through United falling apart.

Spoiler: discussion

Not having a preseason with a new team playing in a completely different environment didn't affect him? I'm not really sure about that, frankly. Not having a preseason means that he'll have to adjust to alien conditions and try to perform at his best, being the main source of creativity and all, and you're saying that it won't affect him? Even the best players would be affected to a varying degree and to tell you the truth, I somewhat expect his performances to dip in the second half of the season. There has been at least one case of an Arsenal fan complaining on this board about Cazorla being at times inconsistent. Hmmm..... Apart from that, Walcott has had only 4 appearances in the middle and Podolski has had only one so far. So, in this context, saying Giroud 'only' missed three games is inaccurate and the fact that he was also injured isn't an excuse either.

As for Gervinho playing in the middle, it may have been a surprise to many but that wasn't the case for me (Not trying to boast or anything. ). Gervinho is basically a somewhat better version of Walcott. The Ivorian has pace just like Walcott and is usually better than Walcott on the ball too (not taking into account his wastefulness when it comes to the end product). This makes me go back to the point I madde earlier. That when you've got two players of different types already in your squad in Giroud and Gervinho, it wouldn't make sense not to try something different and not give the other a go in the said role. Also, I wouldn't be comparing Cazorla to Giroud only because of their appearances. Cazorla has to play for Arsenal every game due to simple fact that there's very little depth in his position (Wilshere has only recently returned from injury and the lesser I say about Diaby staying fit, the better. Rosicky too was injured earlier and hasn't played much.). Same can be said of Podolski as, among the best players in the squad, only Gervinho has so far played on the left. So, it wouldn't be fair, since we're comparing Podolski to Giroud based on their appearances as a CF, to take into account the total appearances the German has made.

I didn't ignore the FA cup and the League cup competitions. In fact, I didn't have the stats on them and I totally forgot about it too. Besides, looking up stats for those tournaments would've been a bother because it would then not be as precise. There are many weak teams playing in the cup comps. (just like in Spain) and taking the PL stats only into consideration looks, at least to me, more plausible.

Note : When I use the word 'fast-paced', I try to describe the general pace of the games in the PL. I never hinted at 'English footbal' which isn't limited to the league.

Anyways, where did I say that it was 'all' down to Silva and Toure that Aguero was scoring those goals? You need to be more careful. While you may have a point, I still find it funny that Aguero isn't on the form that he was at last season and I wonder if Silva and Toure not playing very well could be the reason.

As for Villa, you originally did state ' I have my doubts with regards to how quickly Villa will become accustomed to the particular characteristics of the PL' then at the bottom of that paragraph gave of the opinion that you were unsure how he would cope in the EPL with the lack of winter break etc. Maybe I read it wrong, but if that's not what you meant, fair enough

I'm sorry, but there's many slow paced games in the EPL, it's not always fast paced. Especially if you get a match such as Stoke vs Aston Villa(2 shots on target) or Stoke vs Fulham(4 on target)... I watch more EPL matches than any other league and there is defo games that have next to no action or end to end football.

Correction : I said that I would like to see how quickly he acclimates to the league. Not being able to cope at all is out of the question.

Yes, not all games are fast-paced in the PL and some are extremely boring. Again, however, I didn't say anywhere that no game is uninteresting or any thing of that sort. Although, I would maintain that a majority of the games have a lot of end-to-end action and it's actually the first time I've heard someone say that 'there are "many" slow games'.

:O It's starting to get longer and a bit inconvenient, I see. You can respond to it if you like, though.