Agree. I think i vaguely remember him playing some time in one of the cup games as an 8, but not really shining. I thought that Mahrez had the potential to become an 8 as well because he can keep the ball, but his biggest problem is releasing the ball at the right time.
So I think to get that freedom he needs to play as one of teh 3 in midfield. To get the KDB or Silva role he needs to demonstrate that his passing is up to the job, and he needs to learn to move the ball quickly. I think that is the only way he will get the space and freedom that it appears he needs.
Villa played on the transition which meant he had lots of space to attack and could attack his man as he was running forward and the defender running back. He probably just isn’t good enough to create space for himself when the defense is settled but I don’t think it is fair to judge him entirely on that.
He played there in the Liverpool FA Cup semi final. The first half was a horror show mainly because Liverpool recognized Steffen was no Ederson with his feet (while our guys didn't, lol) and just absolutely hyper pressed us into a disaster. He scored a nice goal early in the second half and as the team settled in and worked its way back into the match he was more than OK for someone who hadn't played there in forever. Even though we fell short I would hardly have put it on Grealish as he was one of the few who actually had a decent run in what was essentially a "C" team. Yet I don't believe he played there again the rest of the season.
I agree he needs to move the ball quickly in order to play there, but having seen him play over several years I'm of the opinion that quality passing is one of his best attributes.
Yeah, nobody was at it in that game. I do still vaguely remember him playing there in another game, maybe Carabao or FA Cup.
