Vancvillan

@avfc1982am said he needs to work on his core strength but is growing. As in he's getting stronger. I don't know if this is true but it seemed pretty obvious what he was getting at, and not in any way implausible. If you think a player is done at 24 and on a downward trajectory, there's a list of elite-level players who kicked on in their mid-20s. It would probably be easier to ask where you think he can't grow at age 24. Height? I'm not sure what else.

I'm going to risk sounding like an absolute know-it-all-Nathan when that couldn't be further from the truth. I've never had the problem of being the smartest guy in the room. As a lover of stats who almost pledged his life to it's study, xg is a useful tool but it's not the last word on a player's effectiveness. If you're using it in conjunction with other stats then great, but we shouldn't start taking league tables of xg as gospel. I've done all of 30 seconds of digging into how the statsbomb model works (other models might be different) but two things jumped out straight away: 1. It's based in historical data, so assumes football as a game is somewhat static. Also each chance is compared to others, but no previous shot is going to be exactly same and maybe those small differences have a big effect. 2. It doesn't assign any weight to the ability of players involved, so if you're taking a throw in, it doesn't matter if the opposing keeper is prime Peter Schmeichel or Peter Enckelman. There are going to be lots of other gaps since modelling something as complex as football is no easy (or even possible) task. Unless you assume all players are spherical. That's a joke for an audience of maybe five people. If you don't get it you're missing nothing. For a season of less than 25 chances these gaps could make a big difference. That's not to say we ditch xg, just treat it for what it's worth - one of a lot of useful tools that can lead you down the wrong path if you use it on its own. Also, I don't think we need another striker, but I'd take another number 8 all day long.

I was going to reply but @avfc1982ampretty much read my mind and worded it better than I could. Could even be stages of the same game - if we have a narrow lead and the opposition is pressing high and keeping us in our half, bringing on Bailey would change the dynamic as we could get it out long to the wings.

Imagine a world here the Villa first 11 is based on attacking the opponent's weaknesses, rather than having to pick the 11 best players because the rest aren't good enough. Leon's going to be much more effective against some teams, less so against others. And a decent number of those he won't be as dangerous against will be perfect for Emi. As a side bar, has a player ever gone through the VT stages of a new signing so quickly? 1. Sign - "can't believe we got him, what a coup". 2. Debut / early games - "he's better than I thought!" 3. Injury - "we need him back, in he'll be like a new signing" 4. Comeback - "he's shit" 5. Another injury - "waste of money - we've been done here" 6. Comeback - go back to step 2

Outside Left. Basically you don't like the Dems but you dislike the Republicans more. It's like being told you have to eat a shit sandwich, but you do at least get to pick whose shit it is.

This all day long. Obviously there are some breakout yoof, but it's not typically that 18-19 year olds are contributing in a meaningful way to a first 11 in the Prem. Paul McGrath was 21 when he got lifted from amatuer football to the dizzying heights of the Irish top flight. Our youth players are good, we need to have patience with them.

On the topic of the tipping point, personally I'd say it's a lot of things but the internet is a big one. It moved people into silos. There's an interesting (for want of a better single word) article here on the only two US school shooters who are out of jail. This was pre-Columbine, and the murderers were charged as minors so could only be held until 21 - after which their records were sealed. Caused outrage and the changing of some state laws (but not gun laws as far as I can tell). https://abcnews.go.com/US/living-us-mass-school-shooters-incarcerated/story?id=36986507

Tell that to the Knight of Gloucestershire.

It's Stasi you daft Nasi.

If you replace the words "God" and "supernatural force" with Talksport it still works.

For me he's got two problems that don't mix well. He's a confidence player and he's not a top half top Prem player. He's got plenty of ability when you look at bottom half prem teams, but when the side is struggling his head seems to dip. In the Championship when we were on a tear he looked great - because he had the ability for that level and the confidence. Like has been said, Europe or a top Championship club and he'd look a lot better I think.

We had 196 corners last season. Average across the big 5 leagues is around 3% historically (goal results from corner, not just first touch after corner), so you'd expect 6 goals on average. Yes, I have The Google. And all of this is probably made up.

Is that $20m from a Talk Sport exclusive? If so, there's something I need to tell you about them and you may want to sit down. Assuming it's true (and that requires giving them Christ-like benefit of the doubt), it's not ideal but what's the better strategy? 1. Sell him for peanuts now and we set a precedent. We're clearly going to be bringing a lot of talent through our academy, better if we establish the boundaries now. 2. Play him and hope he signs? We'd be developing a player for someone else, or at least developing someone who has shown no commitment to the club. I don't see a better option.

Or just $80m if they keep Maguire.

If anyone can...

With all respect to the many people (rightly) saying "look at JJ", let's not forget that one year ago a player who had graduated from our academy became the most expensive English player of all time. We have pedigree in terms of developing young players who have the talent. CC would do well to achieve half of what Grealish has. He has an equal chance of being the next Franny Jeffers, and at 18 it blows my mind that he's leaving this opportunity on the table for the hope of something better. Am also annoyed at myself for replying and bumping the thread because this is getting **** boring.

Agree (and that's putting it mildy) with everything here except us signing a striker. I just don't see it happening. I'd be delighted to be wrong since it likely means SG is convinced he has a winning formula for playing Ings and Watkins together. Ideally while channeling his inner Ossie Ardiles and playing 7 attacking players. I'm here to be entertained.

More for the memory than the quality, but worth a mention.

Savo and Dalian goals really being back memories. Would have been my top two for sure. The Nilis goal makes me sad. And a bit nauseous. Still remember that challenge.

It's 8C at 6am. It gets a lot warmer during the day - more like 13-19C range in Perth at least. The locals are all in long coats and scarfs when it drops below 15C. I'd take the piss but to be fair they're out roofing when it's 40C in summer, and one day of that would likely kill me.

If the club know then I don't think this is being petty at all. If Barca want him and care about his development they can stump up a fee so he's not playing U23s all season. That said, this is one rumour "serious interest" on Twitter (albeit from someone with pedigree). We've seen Benteke and Grealish sign new deals in recent years despite ITKs posting photos of them in another team's kit.

Every time I get excited by a player he has a disappointing season. And every time I write a player off he has a blinder. I'm like the inverse of an expert. Since I'm frankly engorged by the prospect of a Mings / Carlos pairing, it's safe to say Konsa will have a big season. He didn't get crap overnight, and I think like Ings he wasn't at optimal fitness for a decent chunk of last season.

We're all faster than Gabby.

Even if Chrisene turns out to be a great left back, he might need 3-4 years yet. A 21 year old defender is still very young. A lot of our players were not playing top flight football (or were just breaking out) at that age.

What about if said player was 24? Asking for a friend.