Well, it’s quite a simple question, that was submitted by “Craig”.
It was posted in the “submit an article” section, probably accidently, but it’s a good question, regardless, in asking what we think of him;
“Why didn’t we pay for a decent forward. Wesley is rubbish. Very bad business . Should of got a proven PL striker and paid the money”
To my mind, that’s incredibly harsh.
How can you judge a young attacker/striker playing in a new country, in the toughest league in the world, after just two games?
Simple answer is, you can’t.
I’ve already said I thought Wesley was ridiculously soft against Spurs, but I genuinely think he was shocked by what he had to face, in that he got a bit of “treatment” that he’d never had to hand back before.
But I thought he looked better against Bournemouth and while still maybe not quite up to what’s required, I think he will learn quickly and get up to speed.
The argument that we should have bought another striker in is valid, but I suspect it was a case of “you can’t do it all at once”.
While I suspect he might need some serious help over the season, I think he’ll be okay.
What I don’t want is him being the scapegoat for us not getting enough goals overall.
I think us fans ripping into him does us and him no favours.
Patience has to be the key, imo.
Craig’s reply, until I can get him to respond in the right place;
“He’s rubbish and needs to step up. I’ve been a villa fan since 77 and it’s a waste of money. Time to play like barca did with no recognised forward. Interchange the midfielders as we have many good ones.”
Well after just two games Craig must be either someone who can see the future or a total idiot.
I know which one I think he is.
Has to be given a few more games to adjust to the tempo and toughness of the premier league.hes our main man so heres hoping he gets to grips with it.
Back to normality Pat. Well I’m in that wait and see, two games shouldn’t condemn a player to his abilities, years ago I thought Barry was carp , he couldn’t turn how wrong was I.
Like a fish out of water he was Bill 🙂
Very good Hitch
Shit Hitch, I’ve only just noticed it said carp instead of crap.don’t get like me when you turn 80 Hitch, its mind boggling. 😩
Predictive text Bill, happens to us all and nothing to do with your age. Keep on rocking mate.
The answer is yes, we give him a chance to get up to speed. My gut feeling is that he won’t score many goals though. I think he could contribute to players around him getting more goalscoring opportunities. I remember the first time I saw Juan Pablo Angel in a Villa shirt. I thought we had signed someone from a pub league he was that bad. His first season wasn’t good but he was given time and did well for us over time.
I’m surprised however that Smith bought him because he isn’t his usual type of forward. I know he likes Peps style and he has always used a mobile front three.
Only time will tell if he is the latest McCormack / Hogan failure but for the time being we need to back him and hope he improves.
Peter Withe was not a prolific striker. Emile Heskey – well if he scored the ball had hit him and gone in. Ted MacDougall (no he did not play for Villa, but scored the best goal I remember against us) said “I am the league’s top scorer because Phil Boyer puts the cross exactly where I need it”.
The front man’s job is very variable: Goal poacher; Back to goal, hold the ball up and distribute; Cross converter. It cannot really be analysed except as part of the whole attack. What does the Gaffer want them all to do? Wesley blocked out the 2nd Spurs defender who could have tackled McGinn allowing him to beat one and score. Before criticism of Wesley is valid after 2 games you need to know is he failing in his role? With respect we do not know what that role is until we have seen him in partnership with all of the possible co-strikers.
Good post OLL. Just because he’s big everyone seems to think that he’s Heskey Mark II. He isn’t.
Wesley is Brazilian and came to notice through playing Futsal (which is basically 5-a-side) and I quote “The game’s emphasis is on improvisation, creativity and technique.” In other words skill with the feet.
At the moment he may feel like a “carp out of water”(TM Hitch) but I think he’ll be a valuable asset once he finds his (Brazilian Futsal) feet.
Right lads, today’s the day, Kortney in contentions for todays game and I’m up for it, going to brake my pledge and predict the score, . Villa might score two and Everton might score 1, then again it might be the other way round. I’ll leave it up to you. BILL leave that whiskey alone. Hic.
wesley just needs games with new team mates, his game is much more than just a goal scorer, he creates goals, likes to drops into midfield or out wide. once he learns his new team mates strengths and their games. he will be much more of a threat.
crazy this guy came under such criticism having played just 2. one of them games he was so isolated, it was impossible to achieve much, miles from goal and surrounded. the worlds best strikers would also struggle under the same lack of ball and chances.
tonight i am confident we can grab our first victory back in the premiership 1 nil