The curious case of Fabien Delph

Lambert obviously thinks he's got potential, otherwise he wouldn't have played against West Ham, where his performance was certainly OK; the problems were up front. Lambert's still trying out various player; where Delph will end up in the scheme of things it's hard to say, but I think he's shown he's at least a good squad player.

Watching Delph play I wonder if his style makes him more injury prone. There was some talk last season about the coaches suggesting he does things a different way. He needs to avoid injury if he's going to make an impact.

good informative comment mcparland thanks alot for that

Delph i think has talent but from what i heard he is a bit of a Lee Hendrie type of personality .. My sister who went to Leeds Uni sometimes saw him on nights out and apparently he was a bit of a boozer and liked the party scene .. Not sure his injury problems help to be honest but in my view a loan move back to Leeds would be good for both parties ...

well i would love that dlo as last years one was cut short by injury and we reallllyyyyy need some good players in atm as warnock really hasn't done as well as we would have hoped!

I reckon he's got talent, but I may be wrong but I believe there are a number of factors that have meant we've not been able to see the proper talent. Injury has messed him up big time. I'm pretty sure that's taken something out of him. But, it was MON who signed him and I felt there were certain players that MON didn't manage properly and Delph was one of them. When Delph joined Villa, had a Paul Lambert been in charge, his delevopment would've been a lot different and we may have been praising him highly, atm.

But I for one don't rate him that much. But, under Lambert, the perfect manager for him... he's got a chance to show us what he's made of.

good post man thanks for that, good luck to ya villains this year!

hopefully with delph in it! :P

Would never have picked this.
What is his legacy?

Apart from a horrid u-turn.

Legacy? Like, what will he be remembered for? Afraid the horrid u-turn trumps everything...

It has been said that he saved Villa from the drop. No more than some other players. He provided a dynamic force in midfield which was sometimes effective. But, and I'm not saying this because of how he left, there are big gaps in his game. He's dynamic but not creative. Creative players thrive on being put under pressure by the opposition; he doesn't. Under pressure he doesn't see passes which are there, and he ends by passing back or losing the ball. He drives forwards but runs out of steam, sort of, near the opposition goal; he doesn't often try a shot and very rarely scores. I'm not impressed by his England performances; he's lively, nips around, but as soon as he gets the ball he passes it, rather than do something with it.

There are a number of players at Villa who at various times we've been glad of in recent seasons; Benteke for his goals, Vlaar for being a rock in defence before injuries caught up with him, Guzan for may spectacular saves, and so on. This last season when Delph's been out we've missed him, but mainly because the team was so dispirited they missed his drive. As a footballer he doesn't do it for me. We've already moved on; the legacy isn't there.