Deja vu of Henry debate and Zlatan debate...
u got a year out of Henry who came to Barca @ the same age...
Villa resemble Henry a lot .. and i do mean a lot..
Villa is very talented there is no "IMAGINARY DEFENSIVE SHOTS" here ... i'm not saying he is a flop/crap/bad.. i'm saying his best is behind him so your "POST " is misdirected and out of scope completely ... i don't actually know what was that post is about ?!
well not really.
1. I never debated henry with you, he was signed before I joined these forums.
2. zlatan's situation was one of not fulfilling his potential/choking in big games, rather than his best days being behind him.
and villa will turn 29 in december of this year, so if we sign him, we are signing a 28 year old. we signed henry when he was 29 but he never played for us 'til he was 30. plus it took him a year to adapt to spain and a new way of life and being away from his daughter. once he had adapted, he was awesome. then he did what he came here to do and lost a lot of motivation.
villa would have none of the adaptation or familial problems, and already knows several squad members so would fit in much much quicker. so in that sense it's nothing like henry.
as for his best days being behind him, it's hard to tell really because he's staggeringly consistent. he's hit 20 goals a season in all comps every season from 01/02, which was his first full-season in the first team. he's peaked thrice with 28 goals in 05/06, 30 goals in 08/09, and currently 28 goals in 09/10. so yeah, in that sense I can see how you'd say he's like henry.
but then, the key difference is henry had that very telling 06/07 where he only managed 12 goals and just did not look very good at all. in fact he looked physically shot. while villa may not be as devastating as last season, he's not far off at all, and it's certainly not been the kind of comedown henry experienced. and that, coupled with what will be a much shorter adaptation period, gives me confidence ahead of any move. henry was 30 in his first season for us and 31 in his second. IF we sign him, villa will be 28/29 in his first season for us and 29/30 in his second. he's got time on his side before we have to worry about his pace going.
and besides all that, henry has shown on a few occasions this season that mental belief is more important than physical skills. because henry still has pace, not like he did when he was 25, sure, but he's still quick. he just doesn't have the belief, the determination, the drive, to take players on anymore. there have been one or two occasions when he's turned on the afterburners, but mostly he quite obviously can't be arsed to try.
and that's another key issue, probably
the key issue: villa has never been a moody sulky git like henry, so he will react to setbacks with much more grace than henry has.
villa, if we sign him, will give us 3/4 years of righteousness (so 28/29, 29/30, 30/31 then maybe 31/32) before his body starts giving out IMO. and as well as being awesome himself, in that time he will pass on knowledge to the likes of bojan to help them improve. btw, this post is both a response to you and a general musing on us signing david villa, because I do love to muse on us signing david villa. so don't take the length to be a sign of overreaction or anything, you've just got my mind working!
