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Never thought Laporte was realsitic. There is no way we are dropping £30-40M on a CB. Reckon we are looking at a loan or free transfer towards end of window to be 4th choice CB (UE has said previously that Chambers was RB/CDM back up).

I think the confusion here is that the Saudi club were trying to sign a Brazilian LB called Lucas but his club now don’t want to sell, hence the pessimism on that deal and the switch to sign our Lucas (Digne)

Good debate here. I’m undecided on this…..but leaning towards an easing off of the high line slightly by Unai. As has been stated, the Mings injury is massive in regards to not only his recovery pace but, possibly more importantly, the way he organises and orchestrates all of the defence into maintaining that straight, uniform line which is fundamental to Unai’s tactic. Obvs, Unai will know this anyway and will use a tactic that best suits the players available to him - it will be fascinating what he does during this post-Mings transition period. No doubt he wouldn’t want to scrap the tactic altogether but maybe he will adapt it slightly until the new defensive unit are confident in executing it. Personally, I would drop the line by 10 yards as we bed in that new CB partnership. This will increase the workload on the ‘box 4’ as we will be less compact in that area, however, I see that as a more manageable issue to deal with than the danger of the high line failing at any point throughout the game. Dropping BK further back to fill that additional space in front of the back 4 would reduce the risk of opponents having a free rein in between the lines. I don’t see this as a permanent switch but worth doing up to the September break and getting that new CB pair playing together in all the matches up until then, including the ECL matches. Now, again, Unai has forgotten more about tactics/systems than I have ever learned in my 47 yrs and will probably have full belief in his ability to quickly embed the new defence into operation h the high line in just a few training sessions. It will be very interesting to see how we look come 2pm on Sunday…..

Reading that I was waiting for the ‘ironic’ emoji at the end! I normally agree with a lot of your posts CV but find this view very over-reactionary, imo. Each to their own obvs……but I in no way believe we are in a rut and that last seasons success was mainly due to new manager bounce and luck. UE will have experienced major setbacks in his career and will ensure that yesterday’s events are quickly dealt with and lines drawn under them etc. I have a feeling that out of adversity, new strength will emerge

Tbh I think Mings injury may well see UE amend his high line tactic. His recovery pace and ability to organise that line is far too difficult and expensive to replace. Say we now drop the line by 10 yards, this could enable us to buy an organiser type CB who doesn’t necessarily have to be extremely quick. We could even look at someone like Jonny Evans who would be that leader type CB and is very good aerially…? We clearly need to be creative due to FFP so worth thinking a bit differently imo.

I just can’t see us suddenly getting another 4 in. Zaniolo looks likely and now, after Ty’s injury, a new RB is a must. A like-for-like replacement Mings is beyond our finances at present I would suggest - I think Unai will go with the options he has and trust them to step up. A striker was probably only going to come in if we could sell Archer so that could still happen. So that would be the only way we get 3 new signings in. Obvs the loan market will look to be utilised more now si that could be a more creative way to circumvent FFP. Of course, NSWE may just gamble and over extend from an FFP perspective in the hope that doing so dramatically increases our revenue…..but that would be for future seasons and I just feel we are being very hamstrung by FFP this season.

Agree……but what we need to do and what we are able to do are 2 very different things unfortunately.

Does this actaullly happen? Would make sense but I've never really considered this scenario.....

Yep, as a few of us previously posted. The Valencia game was a bit of a nail in the coffin for Cam’s immediate Villa career - 10 mins at the end when our only senior striker was playing from the start, says it all in regards to Unai’s thoughts on him. Clear that we’re open to selling him but I guess the price would need to be right from an FFP perspective so we can sign his replacement who I suspect would’ve more similar to OW in profile.

Agree….and I think that’s the concern. As I’ve mentioned already, his immediate and probably long term future will be decided in the next 25 days. I imagine we are looking to strengthen up front but IF we can’t then he will stay in the squad.

Absolutely…..and if we do sign another striker then I feel there would be an air of inevitability about that.

In terms of current market value it would be a good time to sell him now. Reading between the lines re minutes and performances during pre season, if we do sign a new striker (hopefully), I think he may well be sold, imo. If Unai believes he can deputise in the absence of OW then we won’t bring another striker in…..The next 25 days will tell us all we need to know about Cam’s long term future at the club.

Agree. To do that he needs regular game time and I don’t think ECL games will be sufficient.

I think it’s fair to read into last night’s game that Archer is quite some way off Unai’s first team plans - only getting a 10 min run out when our only senior striker has played most games does not bode well for the lad. Ollie has played a lot of minutes in preseason and that has nothing to do with fitness as we know he’s prob the fittest player in the squad. It does look as though Unai hasn’t seen enough in Cam so far. I’m even more certain that a new striker will be coming in and Cam will be leaving either on loan or even permanently. I would even speculate that Duran, once fit, is ahead of Cam in the pecking order….

Not ignoring that factat all as it is pretty obvious. However, should OW be injured then at present you would expect Archer to be in the team as his proxy-replacement due to the lack of other options in the squad (Duran still too raw imo)...that's why there is a discussion about his ability to play that role. Now, should we sign another CF then Archer can be used in a role that bettre suits his abilities. Hopefully that signing happens as I think its pretty essential tbh.

100% mate - good man management form UE as per normal. It would be great if one of them could step up but at this stage its unlikley imo. Regards Diaby, again he's for the wrong profile for me to be deputising for OW for any signifcant period of time. Wouldnt bet against a CF/Forward signing/loan very late in the window.....maybe Torres or somoene of that ilk.

I see your point....but would you be comfortable with Archer as CF should Ollie be injured for, say, 10 games?

As you say very different profiles of CF. Still think there's a place for Archer in the squad as ECL games will be very beneficial for him...its just the PL that worries me. Duran appears to be more similar to Ollie but waaaaaay too raw at the moment. Duran in more need of a loan at this stage imo. Unai must be looking at a forward who has similarities to Ollie......

As much as most agree in the drop-off in quality from Martinez to Olsen, it could be argued that there is an equal disparity in quality from Watkins to Archer. I’m not basing that purely on ability but the question that should be the test as to whether Cam is good enough to deputise for Ollie is: As of right now would he be able to play and score in the PL effectively in a 10 game spell should OW get injured? Personally, I don’t think he is at that level yet (clearly has the potential to get there in the future). I am convinced that UE/Monchi will bring in another attacker who can play as a 9 before the end of the window. If I can see this with my totally unprofessional and inexperienced eyes then Unai will certainly recognise this issue. The flip side to that argument being that Unai has seen enough in Cam to believe he CAN deputise for Ollie in the PL across numerous games if required…..he has said that Cam and Furan will be back up but I think this is more about maintaining their confidence levels.

Versatility across the front 3, able to play as a 9, decent pace, PL experience etc…. For the numbers being speculated, this would be a fantastic signing. I get the feeling that UE/Monchi are biding their time for such a deal as it will be a ‘later-in-the-window’ one, imo.

Remember Berson as well. Protracted transfer from DOL and then never really played. Sanson all but done with us, imo. UE maybe keeping him in shop window as US games will be global viewing?

Eventually that point may come.....however, we only have speculative info as to what we have offered so far and what BL want. He is clearly UE/Monchi's option for our RWF/RW role so part of me thinks we should go for it - within budgetary reasons.

IMO, he will be a Villa player by the end of the week. There is no way Monchi and UE would continue to pursue him if they had not received strong assurances that we are his favoured move. As for his ability, there is no doubting he has one thing we are so sorely lacking - out and out pace. However, I also beleive that he is not just a speed merchant and has demonstrated consistent output from his recent seasons. Here is a relly in-depth and anayltical article on his time in Germany: https://theanalyst.com/eu/2023/07/moussa-diaby-chase-huge-statement-of-intent-by-ambitious-aston-villa/ Every signing has risk....but i see more chance of Diaby being a success than a failure if he continues to progress the way he has.

Yeah, I see where you are coming from. Agree we need a higher level of talent than we already have so that some of last seasons first XI certs become more rotational. However, I just can't see us spending £50-60M on a singe player. Torres at circa 30M will be our range, imo. We need to move on some dead wood but sales will not provide us with the financial power, bearing FFP in mind, to shop in that market.....yet. I would love to be proved wrong as long as any very high prices are paid for top drawer, finished product players - but to be honest we are not yet attractive enough to those players (mainly CL seeking players). So interesting to see how the window plays out.

100% - we are not in that environment yet. A few £25M-30M signings much more realistic than a few £50M+ signings. Steady progression throughout the whole club is the key to sustained success.