Disagree that he was never that great, but his strengths were definitely well catered to by us. He’s more versatile than Barcelona think as well, although they never really made an effort to fit him in.
Will be interesting to see how his career goes, it’s almost shadowing Michael Owen to a certain extent.
6 months loan makes so much sense for club and player.
Phil is mentally done but no one better out there to build it up than his former captain.
If it doesn’t work out this will fall back on Stevie.
What if it works out?
Don’t think Phil would sign for them on a permanent. It’s clear he would be looking for a bigger club (European competition) or the bigger paycheck (Newcastle if they stay up).
It smells of Bale’s loan to Spurs. Here or there solid game, some injuries and at the end of the loan more or less wasted 20m fee.
Why would it necessarily fall on Stevie?
He was at a few big clubs where it either didn’t work our or wasn’t a great success for those teams to want to keep him.
Sure, there are circumstances (Barca made quite a few costly mistakes post-Neymar), but there are more questions to be asked to him, what does he do without the ball in terms of tactics, what’s his motivation in more general terms, etc.
Probably a good reason why he’s going to Villa is because there is less and less willingness or room at the biggest clubs.
Hardly a wasted career.
Most players would give anything to have played for Inter, Liverpool, Barca and Munich. Drawer full of winners medals including the Champions League.
Certainly made some mistakes when leaving us though.
He’s spent 3 years playing for a succession of managers who didnt really want him. So yeah, in terms of a reboot, what he needed is to find a manager who understands what he really is as a player and wants to use him in that way. So who better than Stevie given their history? While I dont think there are too many downsides for him if he can’t get the Phil of old playing, the upside to his managerial reputation is enormous if he can, so he’s finally somewhere where the manager is completely invested in getting the best of out Phil compared to any time since he left liverpool where was a disposable piece. Clearly he’s been off the boil long enough that he can no longer simply find a good home based on reputation and needs to win back his reputation, and so at this point it doesnt matter that this is “only villa” as at this point just needs to get on the pitch.
I find these days I watch a lot less football that doesnt involve us than I ever dreamed would happen, but for the next month or so at least, this has made Villa must watch football for me.
Had he stayed with us, Klopp would’ve continued his rise. I have no doubt about that.
To me, the situation is like if I was playing for a club like Borussia Dortmund (yeah, i wish), and my boyhood team Liverpool came in for me. I would be gone.
Then if it didn’t work out, there would be no regrets. Imagine the chance to play in a packed Anfield.
There will be those who continue to revel in Phil’s schadenfreude, and will be hanging on to any misfortune which happens to him forever. I agree with you, that will be interesting to see him back in the Prem.
Both can be true.
For us he was great.
In general you can’t say he didn’t have a very good career.
But yeah… post-Liverpool, it didn’t go to plan, that also has to be said. So we can say that there was more to come from his talent and quality, but it didn’t. A very good career that could’ve been better.
It’s like his evolution unfortunately went more in the “numbers” path (which is funny because when he joined us, his shooting was terrible, it was clear to see that he was shooting like a futsal player) rather than becoming a bit more involved in all phases of the game, which would enable him to nail down a key role among those top clubs.
Not the first, not the last. No big deal.
One of the more disappointing this in football over the past 30 years is the almost Italianification of Brazilian football. The professionalism of their youth development and the impact of losing THAT game to Italy in 82 has meant that so many of the top footballers they have produced in that period have been athletes first and footballers second. I was proud that in having a Brazilian as a core to our team he was a throwback performer to someone you’d pay money to see, rather than an exceptionally well coached athlete who knows when to commit to a tactical foul. Football is better for having an form Phil playing again.
Played for Inter Milan, Liverpool, Barcelona, Bayern Munich. I wouldn’t say that was a wasted career
He’s achieved nothing though, he had all the talent, one of the most technical players I’ve seen.
He did win the Champions League as well…
I think he’s won four or five major trophies.
Plenty of them kicking about. He’s still won stuff - Copa Italia, 2 x La Ligas, 2 x Copa del Rays, and was part of the Bayern treble winning team in 2019/20. Albeit he wasn’t front and centre, he did play some part. Maybe a bit Shaq like - PL, 2 x CLs, Bundesliga etc.
It’s not many of the technical players that make it to the highest echelons of the game. Phil’s been at some of the biggest clubs in Europe. His best days were clearly at Liverpool, where most things were through him. Barca, and to an extent Bayern, had too many “big” players for him to adapt into the relevant systems.
I’d also say we are too big for him now. He’s a luxury type player andt his work rate/press isn’t there. Of course, he could do a job for Liverpool, no doubt, especially in games where we have all of the ball and are struggling to break down opposition. It’s something we’ve missed for a while.
He’ll do well at Villa, if Stevie allows him to play his game.
When he looks back at his career he’ll probably see the move to Barca as the mistake, but he’s still got the trophies, and cash, and doubt he will be too sad.
Meanwhile the great Xherdan Shaqiri got the boot at mighty Lyon.
Shit performances or being a twat?
It’s semantics, for the talent he had and at 29 to be trying to revive his career at Villa I’d say he’s not achieved remotely close to what he could have. One of the most gifted players I’ve watched, it wasn’t hyperbole to call him a magician with the ball.
Yes, but how many of those does he feel like he genuinely earned?
To a lot of people that makes a big difference.
At the time Barca started interfering (17-18, about 18 months before he eventually moved) he would have projected out his next couple of seasons and envisioned being the key part of wins in La Liga, the CL and the world cup. He picked up some of those medals, but never with any feeling of personal success. You dont need to be an every game starter to genuinely feel part of a trophy win, but if your team wins despite everyone thinking you’ve been a big failure they dont want around, then the medal is more of a slap in the face than an honour to be proud of.
Good for him. If he stays healthy, he should see plenty of match time at Villa. He might even surprise. I haven’t seen him play much, so I’m looking forward to seeing him in the PL again.