VillaHatesMe

6 hours ago, NoelVilla said:

Emery signing Maguire. Don't think that will happen..

Unai wanted to sign him at Arsenal.

20/1 to join Cheslea are terrible odds!

1 minute ago, WHY said:

 

Harry Maguire welcome to Birmingham City

Where's this Blockhead talk coming from?

6 hours ago, duke313 said:

So, going by Percy's article.  Emery wants 3 players in January:

• LB - Alex Moreno
• RW/LW - Sarr? Deoulofeu?
• ST - ??

The fact these journos have all tweeted at practically the same time, means something must be imminent. 

It just means he said so during his press conference.

7 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

Ok, let’s keep him. Let’s keep all of our players and see if we break into Europe. 

We aren't breaking into Europe this year. It's just not realistic. The kind of striker you want for that isn't typically available in January, and when they are, you have to overpay to get them. Much better off going for the kind of forward that can take the team to the next level in the summer. January should be for solidifying some obvious weaknesses and giving Emery time to figure out who he can work with, and who must be replaced in the summer.

3 minutes ago, MrBlack said:

Good grief that's some horrendous finishing.

Our xG must have been over 3?

1.56

Must not read this board

https://theathletic.com/4037922/2022/12/27/villas-system-under-emery-is-perfect-for-watkins-the-goals-should-start-to-flow/

Quote

 

The answer, it always seems, is to buy new players. As Maslow wrote in 1966: ”If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail.”

And while it is true Villa do need to score more goals if they are to climb up the table, there is plenty of potential within their current squad to rectify their shortcomings up top.

This begins with main striker Ollie Watkins. He has not had a great season so far and has scored just three league goals, which puts him on course to register his worst season at Villa in terms of goal output since arriving from Brentford in 2020.

The 26-year-old’s underlying numbers make for grim reading, too. Over the last 365 days, he is well below average in important performance indicators such as expected goals and shots per 90 minutes compared with the other centre-forwards in Europe’s top five leagues.

In his defence, Watkins has been better off the ball of late and under Unai Emery it will be hoped that other areas of his game improve rapidly too. Furthermore, he’s also hardly the only Villa player whose individual form slumped during Steven Gerrard’s time in charge.

And encouragingly for Villa, there were signs on Boxing Day that his fortunes could soon improve.

 

1 minute ago, Sulberto21 said:

Isn’t Vlahovic on something like £200k per week? 

Good lord, really? Nevermind then.

For the life of me I can't figure out why Juventus is always in financial distress. 

Jhon Duran is one of those players that's easy to dream on, but he hasn't been consistent in a league where somebody with his talent should be a lot more effective. That's not to say he wouldn't work here, but he wouldn't be the primary forward signing. He'd be a player for the future and likely won't cost much.

If we're going to splash some cash, I'd go after Dusan Vlahovic. Juventus is in trouble and needs money. That's a move I think is more realistic than most assume, though I wouldn't be surprised if bigger clubs are thinking the same.

7 hours ago, nick76 said:

 

Now there's a man who's been destined to play for Diego Simeone his entire life.

¡Bienvenido a Aston Villa, Unai!

Aaron Danks. Lifetime appointment.

On 20/10/2022 at 15:29, bendixen35 said:

Good bye Villa

For 40 years you brought me very little pleasure and mostly a lot of pain.

For 40 years I was a faithful fan, but I cannot be a part of this anymore. I cannot be a fan the way you have been treating me. 

For 40 years U never really were a soccer inspiration - always sticking to the old style british ugly hoofing soccer, playing with fear.

For 40 years you have taken the money out of hard working people and wasted it on mediocre players, and skilled agents. With no real consequenses - as the fans seems happy as long as they are part of something, no matter what. 

Hopefully you will bring the fans something in the future - it was not to be in my time.

Bye

 

2 hours ago, ozvillafan said:

Maybe.

Or maybe "being more pragmatic" means a midfield of Kamara, Dendonker, Luiz with one of Buendia/Coutinho/Ramsey/McGinn in the front 3 with Bailey and Watkins

This is how I interpret it.

2 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Wolves giving Diego Costa a trial.

What are we playing at??!!!

Jorge Mendes uses Wolverhampton the same way I use my gym locker.

I have always loved Leon Bailey and all my posts will confirm this.

Would Dendoncker's arrival portend the arrival of the mythical "double-pivot" I've read about so often here?

This club has a lot of problems that are or more pressing need, but the sooner I don't have to watch Ezri play every week, the happier I'll be.

1 minute ago, DJBOB said:

Maybe even when to go and when to stay depending on if Bailey has the opportunity to take his player on 1v1 instead of attracting a double team towards him.

Situational tactics and such.

Imagine.

1 minute ago, DJBOB said:

Like most wingers, needs a run of games and a better understanding with Cash to really get going. 

A lot of times he and Cash were right on top of each other during the overlap. Clearly best with his heels on the touch line and can torment many a lesser left backs if given the opportunity. 

Will also frustrate on occasion but such is the life of most wingers.

Perhaps a manager of some type should inform them which one is to stay out side and which one is to come inside. 

33 minutes ago, spiezels said:

Is he lazy? I can’t work it out.

**** run lad. 

I don't think he's lazy as much as he can't do two things at once. He's faster than hell, but the second he has to pick his eyes up he slows down. When he looks to make a cross, he slows down. It's why he loses possession so often. It gives the defense a chance to react. Also a reason I don't think he's suited for this league. He'll have moments but they'll be few and far between.

1 minute ago, sne said:

He's terrible in the air thou so the balls will just fly over his head when Mings or McGinn boots them as hard as they can. Our whole system seems based around making sure or creative players don't have the ball.

Actually! 

4 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

I’d rather we just played Buendia…

That's just it. I think you can play both together. It's pretty clear Gerrard isn't comfortable playing both him and Coutinho together. Perhaps today's lineup is the start of Gerrard's realization that Coutinho is not the Coutinho he once was any longer.

7 minutes ago, sne said:

204 games and 38 goals 27 assists at Spurs all competitions for Moura.

139 games 19 goals 16 assists in the PL. Granted he's mostly been a rotation player.

El Ghazi has 15 goals and 5 assist in 73 PL games for Villa being mostly a rotation player.

Moura obviously the better player but he's not really a points player and 10 of those Moura PL goals came in 18/19. So that's 9 goals over the last 3 seasons. Traore got 7 last season...

He's on £80k/w at Spurs.

I will say, while I'm not excited about it, the one thing I think Moura could bring to us that we're lacking is through balls into the box. Buendia is our only consistent threat with them, as Coutinho is usually looking to get a shot off or try something pretty. Moura just makes the pass. For a team that has struggled to create anything in the middle, that's where Moura could be of use.