Ryan Bertrand has joined Aston Vill on loan this January and following his great performance against Liverpool last weekend, it appears as though Aston Villa have finally solved their left-back issues. The last time Aston Villa had a quality left-back was Stephen Warnock, he arrived from Blackburn and he performed well in 2009 and 2010. His performances dipped those following years and under Lambert he was sold to Leeds United.
Warnock was replaced by Joe Bennett and he showed improvement towards the end of the season. But overall he struggled in his first season in the Premier League, often conceding fouls and opposition wingers found it easy to get past the young player. Antonio Luna was brought in from Sevilla in 2013, Luna was brought in for additional competition for Bennett. Luna impressed quickly, scoring against Arsenal and had a few good performances but generally teams found Luna as the weak-link in Villa’s defence.
The same cannot be said about Bertrand. Unlike Bennett and Luna, Bertrand has Champions League and Premier League experience. He knows how to defend, has trained under some top coaches and most importantly he is solid in the back. With Bertrand, teams will rarely identify the left-back as a ‘weak-link’ in our defence. In-fact with Vlaar, Clark and Bertrand, Lambert may have created one of Villa’s best defences in a long while. Our defence has experience, youth and pace.
Bertrand will probably fall under the list of loan players who have impressed, Kyle Walker and Robbie Keane are the two latest who made an impression at Villa. But unlike the others, there is a good chance that Bertrand will join Villa permanently. Chelsea have a lot of young players in their disposal and most interestingly are after Southampton’s Luke Shaw. With Ashley Cole and Azpilicueta ahead of Bertrand, Lambert has a great opportunity to sign Bertrand permanently in the summer.
I shouldn’t get too ahead of myself though, he has only played one game. I’m just happy that Lambert has identified a weakness in our squad and has gone out and did something about it.
He’s a good quick fix,but im not holding onto the hope he will be made permanent.he will be no different to walker,chelsea want him to get game time & thats all.
I’d be delighteed to see this lad signed permanently. If there is a chance that is. If he does well, I can see Mourhinho taking him back in heart beat. Shame how it works.
I think signing Bertrand will strengthen the midfield as well, I have noticed delph being pulled into a left back position which was noticeable against Liverpool
Sorry does not make sense, when Luna plays i have noticed Delph being pulled out of position a lot, this did not happen against Liverpool
no it makes perfect sense, i av noticed luna goes forward and delph is left as last man, so annoying as delph is better further forward than luna, luna first job is 2 defend.
i understand lambert wants 3 centre mids,he wants the full backs making the width in midfield, but both lowton and luna struggle as they are out of position without the ball. then delph and westwood end up in fullback area, causing space is in front of the back line
bertrand seems 2 be more intelligent and wasn’t ever out of position and was strong in the first job defending. its possible we could sign him but it also helps luna and lowton 2 understand the job they are suppose 2 do
It is still quite plausible he’d be made permanent. It is Chelsea and Mourinho we’re talking about, not Spurs. Chelsea always want that next best thing and by the summer they’ll sign a new LB. I don’t quite think Shaw will go there yet, but they’ll find someone, be it Nagatomo or of such. But we also have to remember as it’s also Chelsea that have over 20 players out on loan, so other than Van Aanholt that I know of, and Cuevas can play LB, it’s plausible there’s still more than that.
I do think it’s harsh on Luna calling him a weak link. I’ve found it that there’s far better RW/RB combinations in the league than LW/LB combinations so when you’re 2 v 1 a good duo, you’re going to look like a weak link. No he’s not great, and Bertrand is probably better and his top experience will help him quite a bit.
I have to disagree about Luna. ifacing out to the left side of the pitch. Luna makes a lot of errors. i have seen him venture of to Right back when not instructed to. I have seen him move into a centre back role as well. The left side of our team is very weak and its where we dont attack/defend enough. Its is no coincidence that teams attack us down the left as well.
In a sentence Luna is the worst left back i have ever seen, he cant tackle, he loses position too many times and does not track back fast enough. Woeful
I’m not being funny but we were saying warnock was the worst left bk Wev ever seen then it was Bennett last year. This yr it’s Luna. Bertrand won’t stay so forget about him he’s not really in our team.
Don’t forget Shorey. While these LB’s clearly aren’t top notch, you gotta think there’s a clear lack of cover from the left-sided midfielder, which has been Delph for the last season and a half and whoever plays on the wing. And my point of there’s far better RW’s than LW’s in the league still stands. You can see problem areas at LB at almost every club bar Southampton and possibly Arsenal.
Even if Chelsea didn’t want him back why the fuck would he stay with us
Game time? Likes Lambert? Likes Villa? Likes the fans? Decent wage? Any number of reasons I can think of.
I think there is no chance of us signing him he is seen as the natural replacement for Ashley Cole and could well go to Brazil with England he is wll out of our league as a permanant signing im afraid.
Chekski have been heavily linked with Luke shaw though. So Bertrand would only be back up again. Even if he didn’t go to Chelsea he will go somewhere else. Nothing will happen with any team until after the World Cup though. Middle if July is when main transfers will take place as world cup will be a shop window
What club is he going to though? Southampton have a great academy so could pick out a LB from there, or get someone better elsewhere. Possibly a Willems or such. Other than that, clubs below us at best is who’s going to want him. Maybe Newcastle but I doubt Pardew is gonna go after him. We do in fact have a great chance unless the unexpected happens and Mourinho wants him to stay.
Liverpool and spurs need decent left backs. So does utd and city.
Moyes and Pellegrini aren’t going to look at him though. Moyes seems to think he’s going to get all of these big name players and Pellegrini could get almost anyone he wants, probably bar Alba and Alaba. Liverpool I did read were looking at him and a few fans I know questioned why they didn’t but with a fit Enrique, he’d be 2nd choice. Spurs I can see but Baldini will no doubt think Serie A once again.
Don’t forget teams abroad may want him too. Basically if no one else wants him he’l stay with us like benteke has. As soon as a better club comes along off he goes.
Or,… You know, they just wanted to stay? You make it sound like we’re a conference team… Get a grip will ya?
Funnily enough he said he’d consider making a permanent move if things go well.
I guess it is up to Chelsea. They may be happy to let Ashley Cole leave at the end of the season. If they keep him (cole) I could see Bertrand staying if he keeps up the level of performance of the first game. If Cole goes and Bertrand has impressed I guess he would go straight back.
Depends if they sign like shaw to
I was lead to believe Cashley Cole was off to the US at the end of the season, which maybe why Mourinho wanted Bertrand to get match time !!1
I think the days of us buying players of his ilk are long gone !
Meh, but I do think you’re forgetting it’s Mourinho. He loves to buy players. Bertrand’s not the biggest name so I don’t think he’d suit Chelsea. Look at Kalas, should be getting game time at CB but can’t get a sniff. Over 20 players on loan who won’t get a look because they’re not a big enough name and the next big 21-22 year old Belgian, Brazilian, Spaniard from a mid-table club or even German will be bought.
Mouruno is world class at spending everyone else’s money no wonder his teams do well. If we coukd buy the players he can we would be right up there even if mcleish was still manager. To have the luxury of selling a world class player like Mata to your rivals says it all. Utd can’t believe their luck.
Eh, McLeish wouldn’t have a clue on who to actually bring in.
Mourinho’s fortunate that he’s gone to teams that all fit his style. Chelsea, Inter and Madrid were all counter-attacking styled teams before he joined, and Inter were already incredible as well. He joins Chelsea who have an incredible team of younger players who play the same way he does, it’s sad he’s not doing better, though their strikers aren’t the greatest in all fairness.
Mata’s not gonna fit in at United. Rooney and Kagawa are already their AM’s and their style is the exact same as Chelsea’s, wingers, counter, counter, counter. Mata’s best as an AM, which means Rooney would have to move, which kills his talents too, so someone’s talents will be nullified.
But rooneys injury prone and mata can play anywhere in the attacking line. As for mourinho it’s always easier to have a team full of wc players than the talentless dross we have. Mourniho would struggle managing our squad as he he always buys tge finished article which is easier fir him. He’s doing no better at Chelsea than rafa or grant IMO.
Yes, Mata can but he’s not nearly as good on the wing in England as he is as an attacking mid. He’ll be about half as useful as if he played as an AM. And if he is played as an AM and Rooney’s fit, there’s a problem as that’s where Rooney’s best. Plus their midfield’s terrible and they’re not signing any number of midfielders Moyes has personally scouted.
Rafa would probably be doing better. He had Eto’o playing really well at Inter. Probably would have kept Lukaku or pushed for another striker.
I still think he’s a great buy for utd as him and Rooney can interchange throughout the game as rooneys used to being played out if position anyway. Would love a player like mata at Villa pipe dream.
Well yeah, but then we have no one of Rooney or Kagawa’s talent as CAM’s, which is what Mata plays and he can’t get the best out of Kagawa.
True. Though utd under moyes will simply buy their way back into the top 3 in the summer. Like iv always said you are only as good as your players which is why the sky 4 do well no matter who is manager. Interestingly I played in the south Bham sun mornings many a moon ago and our manager was hopeless except for getting the admin done etc. The team virtually picked itself every week and we won virtually every week. Why? Because the team was made up of players who played on Saturdays in the higher leagues and most were players that were almost good enough to play pro but just missed out. We all knew what we were doing, all were leaders, all had good ability, our captain gave the team talks and the manager would just chip in with the odd comment which was usually the obvious. Now he wasn’t a good manager as when the team started breaking up for various reasons the new players coming in were not quite as good this we started losing a lot more. The manager who translated into prem league terms went from a mourinho to a lambert overnight simply because the players wernt good enough and he was never a good manager in the first place. Does that make sense?
Just a guess but Redknapp has hinted at signing a defender would he sign Hutton again
Questionable. He is better than Simpson though. As good a team as any in the Championship to come back up, other than Leicester who are taking that league.
OJ Simpson?
Real Madrid a counter attacking team ?
Not sure bout that. Inter … Maybe in Europe but they played a 3-5-2 possession game under mourinho i. Serie a from i have read.
Mourinho has had his pick of the biggest clubs and biggest budgets to match.
But there is still no doubting his ability as a manager
3-5-2’s not a possession game. They held it pretty well because Sneijder was a boss, but they often looked to use their wingbacks as outlets and that’s where Maicon came in as he was a fantastic player going forward.
Much like Mazzarri had Napoli and now Inter doing.
He is a very good player. I think our only chance of getting him permanently are if chelski sign shaw. Fingers crossed. I hope now, we stick to 4 at the back and let Lowton and Betrand do their stuff from full back. Once Okore is back we will have a solid back 4
I still cant believe we have not signed a midfielder though. Not sure if that is down to Lambert or Lerner, either way it needs fixing. There are a few decent players out there, it all depends what we are investing. If that doesnt happen, he has to give Gardner a run in the team.
Can’t believe all our home games in March to be televised and time changed, no other team except the manchesters get as much showing, sky must know something we don’t
Yep they know we will be in a relegation battle
agreed, shit at home and they can see some big scores coming up !
It’s a bit premature to say that Bertrand has solved our LB problems, as he’s only played one game, but I do agree, we looked much better in that position.
The fact that he made Luna and Bennett look total mugs, in just one game, says a lot.
Exactly he’s only played one game, when the post came up I thought god what the hell came in played a game problem solved, yes 100% better but let’s at least give him more games.until players are signed sealed and settled let’s judge then.
I think it’s a case of anyone but Luna or Bennett couldn’t be any worse
Can’t believe that some are still touting us a relegation certainties.
We can’t be complacent but I’m looking at a Saints side in freefall and a Cabaye-less Newcastle as the targets to pass.
May not happen but I’m not looking down. Six points clear, ahead of ten other sides with the Albion to play tomorrow night is ok.
It’s only six points, but several of those sides average a lot less than a point a game, some on here are like a broken record.
I think Bertrand could be an option for a permanent move at the end of the season if Chelsea won’t play him. Hopefully it’s the next phase of replacing youthful quantity with sought after better quality.
Just a thought.