Philosopher

Disagree! Look at Grealish, rarely gave the ball away for an attacker, but he was also the second highest creator in the league behind DeBruyne while at Villa. The best creators, know when to play penetrative passes and safe passes to retain possession. I'm not saying Buendia doesn't have his good points, but for a team aiming to retain possession, more than half the time he is a liability when it comes to keeping the ball. Coutinho has the same physical limitations as Buendia, the difference is that he doesn't overplay it and makes better decisions. I'm convinced our attack would be better if Coutinho was in the team over Buendia. However the defensive contribution and workrate that Buendia gets through, is hard for Coutinho to match. Coutinho is fragile so that level of work leads to more injuries for him and his dodgy hamstrings. If Jack Grealish was in this team instead I'd back us for top 4 next season regardless of summer signings.

They aren't shit, but they aren't particularly good either. Dendonker is a man for particular occasions. Buendia is so frustrating for me. I can't stand it when players give the ball away cheaply, and he just does it all the time.

Poor today. In fact he has had more poor games than good ones recently. But because he works hard, and is plucky it often gets overlooked. I like the man, but for where we want to be competing, he shouldn't be anymore than a squad filler. He is a poor decision maker. Overplays it, plays flicks to no one ( though occasionally they come off) constantly trying to play through balks whether they're on or not, lightweight, slow. It's frustrating to watch for me. He doesn't seem to assess things just looks for the through ball, if it isn’t on he ends up trying to hold on to it and ends overplaying or just giving the ball away. He just isn't that good. He's a good player for a lower midtable side. For a team competing in European competition a backup player at best. He is like Traore and Bailey some good moments but not enough, not often enough and between those moments is a lot of ball given away.

I think people need to remember how he did, when he had a manager that had Qpr playing football. He was doing well. He isn't a sitter, and i see more of Dougie's backup.

Lucky to draw. We were poor. Ollie was totally off it. Moreno couldn't get going. Buendia's final ball was off all game. McGinn like buendia tended to spoil good work by giving the ball away with a poor final ball. Ramsey was OK, but kept failing to track the midfield runner inside Moreno, when Moreno was going to close down the Mbuemo. Doug and Mings top performers. Martinez had a very good first half.

Currently this is the score we deserve!

Ramsey and Watkins had made runs.

Wouldn't say brilliant, thought he overplayed it a bit. Generally his final ball has been terrible today.

First half was poor overall. McGinn and Buendia's final ball has been poor. The passing out has been to slow, too easy to press. Martinez was our best player.

Boely certainly can in footballing related matters be considered an idiot!

I'd say spotrac don't know s***! 30k is far more accurate. Signing a backup keeper on 80k a week. Only an idiot would do that! Villa isn't run by idiots.

But he'd contribute to the 4 Villa developed players that have to be in the European registered squad. Currently only Ramsey fulfills that. If we get European football two of Archer, Irebogum, and AJ will be kept at Villa. Add those two to JJ, and one of the young keepers and we have a full 25 man European squad. Otherwise we'd have to leave those slots empty.

Which is how I see us using him if we signed him. However I think more of a central midfielder like Guendouzi would be the preference there. And more of an out and out winger like Williams as the second striker off the right wing.

The Kang-In rumour doesn't make sense to me. We need a player with the quality to command the right winger / wing forward role. From what I can see Unai's requirements are pace, trickery, and goals. Kang-In seems to only have the trickery. Nico Williams on the other hand makes perfect sense as he has all three. If we sign a right winger in Williams' mould then a right back that can play centre back and is a proper technical ball player would probably also be sought. So the first team would look like: Martinez defensive RB Konsa Mings Moreno Kamara Luiz McGinn Ramsey Williams Watkins The width on the left provided be Moreno, the width on the right by Williams. McGinn playing as a 8 that helps the right fullback. Ramsey wide midfielder. On the flipside if we did sign someone like Kang-In. Namely a skillful hard worker, that protects his fullback well, then a right back like Dumfries would be perfect for the overlap. This would then suggest a pacy number 10 would be sought also (Goncalves maybe?). In this scenario the first team would be: Martinez Dumfries Konsa Mings Moreno Kamara Luiz Kang-In/McGinn Ramsey/Buendia Goncalves Watkins The width primarily provided by the fullbacks, the wide midfielders helping to cover the fullbacks out of possession, and supporting the forwards when in possession. Goncalves occupying the opposition DM out of possession, and being free to drift around and find the space between midfield and defense when in possession.

His production is very good, and he is a very good presenter, his views on Villa, can be insightful. Whether we disagree with his analysis I think doesn't really matter. For me the point of consuming this podcasts is to listen to different viewpoints, and gain some new insights. His is a proper show, a far superior in terms of quality of presentation to the rest of Villa YouTube podcasts and shows. I love Villa View, but Dolan and Ty Bracey are terrible (but can be entertaining). Utv podcast don't really watch as I don't find their opinions particularly nuanced. FTLOPM I like as their statistic based analysis and scout reports are informative. Paddy need to stop the Bailey hating though. Claret and Blue podcast are Birmingham mail produced so I'd rather not.

What a result, what a performance, what a team! Every single player today played well, not one poor performance. 8's all round. I give Luiz man of the match purely because I knew most would give it to Watkins. I personally could give everyone MotM. A proper team effort. The real MotM this Aston Villa team. Europe is on!

Doug is everywhere. Been immense so far.

I'm not convinced by Goncalves, at the suggested price tag, he's a massive risk. In an ideal world Jack Grealish would come back to Villa! If he did we coukd snatch a chumps league place. But that's not happening any time soon. Nico Williams seems a better option to Goncalves, because at least he is performing well in the second best league in the world. Kang-In looks like a back up option. Also one of Bailey, Traore, or Buendia would have to leave, for us to sign a backup option.

Cam has around 30 starts in the championship and league Cup put together. He is seriously lacking in experience. He doesn't have one full season of starts in the championship, let alone prem. Coaching is important, but games are key. Picking the right club for him to go on loan to is important, but staying here at Villa won't do him much good if he is not going to get games. Duran still needs to acclimatise to the new country, home, club, footballing culture, as well as the tactics, and style of football. Also his age is such that time is on his side. Plus just his raw physical abilities make him a weapon already. As a result Duran being second or third choice makes the most sense. We are a striker light without Cam, but for Cam to become good enough for Villa, or simply to maximise his sale value, a first team football is essential, and he will struggle to get that here. While we are becoming a possession based team, most of our possession is in our own half, as we look to draw the press, then exploit the space that leaves. So we are also a team that looks to exploit the transitions and similar scenarios. So possession based, or a counter attacking team that plays on the deck will be equally useful for Archer. A manager that has a track record with young players should also be a requirement.

I would loan him out for a full season. Then we can see what he us really capable of. Preferably to a prem team, but most likely a top championship team. He needs a 20 plus goals season in the championship, or a 10 plus goals season in the prem. Although Cam is short, he is broad shouldered and has that low centre of gravity. I personally think he is well rounded, but players like him tend to need experience more than physically impressive strikers live Duran. He needs to develop his footballing IQ, he has great instincts for goal scoring as his foundation that simply can't be taught. Problem is modern strikers need to contribute to the teams style of play as well as score goals. Even Haaland has the power to hold the ball up, and the pace to get in behind, even if his link up play isn't great. His physical prowess means he stretches teams that play a high line, and is a bully if you defend deep against him. Archer in comparison, needs to learn how and when to drop off and link things up in a possession based team if he is to make it as a premier league striker. Running in behind all the time won't work well for.him as while he is no slouch the quick prem defenders will be hard to escape from, and while he can become good at holding things up that is only when the ball is played into feet. This all requires games to develop his decision making and awareness.

Well it is mine. He was at his lightweight, giving the ball away best / worst against Chelsea. Had a good game last night though. I like him, he works hard, plays with a good intensity, but he is slow, weak, and not a particularly good dribbler.

Was awful against Chelsea, was good last night. I like Buendia, he's a good player, but he isn't a top player.

Always knew he would come good. Always said he was better than Ings (all round). Always said Emery would love Watkins. He's exactly the type of striker he uses in his teams, and has a great mentality, and work ethic. Got to say though when I was at Villa Park for the Liverpool game the two first half misses (right in front of me as well) had me fuming! Was close to turning on him then second half he scored! Lol! Don't think we need a striker, Duran looks a star in the making to me. Then Acrher as well. Can't see what Tammy (for example), or someone of that ilk would add!

You're right about them getting lucky, but we conceded 4 goals, which is horrendous, the mistakes made it worse for me. Leicester have a habit of getting these results against us. And now they have sacked Rodgers there may well be a rebound. They certainly have good enough players to hurt us.

Since MON managed Leicester we have a losing record against them. They thumped us 4-2 at our place. Since we came up we have a losing record also. So they are a bit of a bogey team to me.