VillaHatesMe

No, I wouldn't. I didn't name a player. I just commented on the reaction to every single rumored signing.

VILLA LINKED TO CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYER: Where's the ambition? We should be going after proven Premier League players! VILLA LINKED TO PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYER: Not him! He's shite! We should sign the Championship player with potential! Wash, rinse, repeat.

Laurie Whitwell at The Athletic says we’re after Sergio Romero.

The only reason there was ever speculation that Divock Origi was available was because Klopp wants to use Minamino this season, so I'd guess not. If you're loaning a Liverpool forward this year it's Rhian Brewster.

Dropping here since there's been speculation about our possible interest in Perin.

Has anybody seen Jack? https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-53969579?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/england&link_location=live-reporting-story

Wednesday is the day.

Only posting this because of how it could relate to United's interest in Jack.

Not saying he has or hasn't, will or won't, but I can't help but believe that if Jack Grealish had agreed to a deal with Manchester **** United, the people who are paid to hear about these things would have heard about it before the random Twitterererers..

Rodrigo de Paul would be the best signing of the three. He's terrific.

The Allan move will be great for them. He's a lot of what they need. As for Rodriguez....well, best of luck to them both.

Yes, if we look at his stats it's clear he's taken on a new role of late. Goals per 90 2017-18: 0.54 2018-19: 0.28 2019-20: 0.19 Assists per 90 2017-18: 0.13 2018-19: 0.21 2019-20: 0.34

Is your argument they should pay Grealish less so you can find a shirt that fits?

I talked to a friend of mine about the signing, as he is of Spanish heritage and watches more La Liga than any other league. He says Rodrigo suffered for being on a bad team the last few years, but that time and injury haven't helped him much, either. Says he's still capable of being a creator but he was also surprised to see Bielsa -- whom he has a lot of respect for -- making such a move.

NEW RULE: If your critique of a left-back is they can't keep pace with Adama Traore, you are required to name the left-back who can.

Yes and no, I think. I'd expect that Cash is coming in to play RB, but more of a RWB to take the outside, while our RW will have more of an inside role, and swap in and out. Not all that different from what Jack and Targett did on the left a lot last year. Trezeguet, or whoever is brought in, might be better suited to that. Every move we've made over the last two seasons suggests to me that they're looking for players who can take on multiple roles. This is just another one if it happens.

Yes. This is a result of Elmo's contributions with his crosses, etc. He had a larger impact there, but attacking output is basically just a summation of xG and xA, which are both important, but don't tell the entire picture. When you look to the radar chart to the right (the * looking thing), you see that Cash is a much better shooter, similar receiving the ball in the box, and a better dribbler. Also, we see that he's better in ground duels (one on ones against defenders) while in possession (which is expected considering his higher rating as a dribbler). On the far right in the shooting ratings, we see that Cash is a 77 on non-headers in open play. Elmo didn't even qualify for a rating. This is likely due to Cash taking 44 shots last season (10 on target) while Elmo only took 5 (1 on target). In other words, Cash is better on the ball and a lot more aggressive with shots than Elmo. Also, I should mention that 50 is average. So any number higher is above average, etc.

Not true. I do.

Based on this it looks like Elmo would be the odd man out. Cash brings slightly more in attack than Elmo, and while Fred has shown to be a better defender so far, Cash is much better than Elmo there.

Percy also says in the Telegraph story that Villa still lead for Watkins and it's "understood that a deal will be agreed, possibly next week"

CAN IT BE TRUE?

Depends on cost. He's much better than Nyland for sure, but he's not much better than average, either.

The penalties count in the matches for sure, but we don't know how responsible Deeney was for getting them. He was just the team's designated penalty taker. The reason I bring it up is that looking at goals from open play or set pieces rather than penalties show a much stronger correlation for future performance. For instance, in Italy this season, Ciro Immobile scored 36 goals, the most in the league. He more than doubled his tally from the season before (15). Why? A major reason for the increase was that this season he scored on 14 penalties. The year before he only had 4. The data from recent seasons and different players suggests this means he's far more likely to score closer to 15 goals again this year than the 36 total. Long story, short: Every goal counts in a match no matter how it's scored, but when trying to get an idea of future performance, non-penalty goals are much better indicators of a player's scoring ability.