Philosopher

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.

My feeling is a defender that can play out well and has pace (whether that is RCB or RB) is needed still. A play in the advanced midfield positions (to play alongside Ramsey or McGinn) that is a proper playmaker. Some that has the decision making, passing and skill to control games is needed. That player needs defensive qualities too. The final piece is a tricky, skillful, consistent winger / forward. For me this sorts all the issues this team has. High caliber additions is essential. We need 30 to 50 million pound players.

I feel we can overhaul Brentford, but the tricky part is Brighton and / or Liverpool. Liverpool are brilliant one minute, average the next. Brighton are consistently hard to beat and just keep ticking away. I thought Newcastle would fade away in March / April and end up 5th or 6th, but that doesn't look too likely now. The Man U win will galvanise them. We are the form team in the league outside the top 2. The Newcastle game on the 15th is big. But first we need six points against Leicester and Forest. That is very doable, but Leicester have always been a bogey team for us. If we can get 7 points from the next 3 games, that should be a good return.

Did more in 15 minutes than Buendia did all game.

I criticised him, at the time he clearly wasn't playing well enough. Still don't see him as captain material, still think we need a better players than him as a regular in the first team, however i always felt he was important to have in the squad. I also never said wasn't good enough. Although he certainly wasn't playing well enough at the time. I did say he was a sellable asset that we could improve on and I still think he is. That's contentious at the minute I know. But 31% possession isn't really good enough going forward. We need to play the ball out better, and be better when our opposition are behind the ball. Is McGinn part of the solution to this? I'm not convinced, but when he plays like he did today, he certainly isn't a cause of the problem. He's is playing well, and hopefully he will continue to for a long time. Deserved man of the match, and played very well.

Great win. 9th in the league. Happy days! McGinn man of the match. Worked hard, good on the ball, lovely goal, combative. 8 out of 10. Watkins with a lovely finish, worked hard constant thorn in Chelsea's defense. 8 out of 10. Ramsey's best game since his return from injury. His ball carrying was a good outlet, worked hard defensively, and got an assist. 7 out of 10. Martinez made a number of important saves, not necessarily any great saves, but didn't put a foot wrong. Distribution was patchy, but generally okay. 7 Douglas Luiz, assist, good distribution, worked tirelessly, always composed. 7 out of 10. Moreno defended well, linked up well, conservative in his attacking intent today, but that was what was needed. 7 Young defended well, spoiled well, wise head. 7 Mings defended well, distribution was a bit pedestrian. 6 Konsa defended well, distribution was also pedestrian. 6 Kamara was off the pace today, but as he's been out for nearly a month, I can understand. 5 Buendia, did very little, chasing shadows most of the game, offered no threat whatsoever. 4 Perfect away performance against a gifted group of players. That to be fair carved us open a few times.

Bailey had two players marking him most of the time. Most of our play was concentrated down our left, so Bailey and Traore had little of the ball, and were usually isolated marked by two defenders with little support. Bailey's assist came from his right foot, his weaker foot. He has actually put in some good balls with his weaker foot. But being his weaker foot, there will be bad balls as well. Good assist yesterday. Don't get the hate. We defending his box, and getting high up the pitch. Worked hard.

Only my second trip to Villa Park this season, fantastic result. Excellent performance. Totally controlled the game. Played in a very controlled manner. Bournemouth were toothless in has to be said. Luiz definitely man of the match. Was everywhere today. Only counted 2 missed passes. Scored. McGinn was workman like again. Tough in the tackle, arse was put to good use! Moreno was a menace on the left. Constantly beating his man, played most of the game as a left winger. Ramsey was finding room for those runs. Scored the best goal. Mings was immense, Got hos head to all the dangerous balls in, in he zone. Assisted Buendia, covered Konsa's ass too. Konsa went to sleep on those balls over the top. Passed well on occasions. Cash was untroubled. Didn't get forward in support much. Martinez was good, two good saves, good distribution. Got annoyed every time he played that long goal kick to Bailey, as Bailey is not equipped to claim those balls. Buendia was poor, constantly gave the ball away, looked lightweight all the way through, but still scored. Bailey with a good assist. Saw very little of the ball, as we concentrated our attacks down the left. Both Bailey and Traore were getting isolated a lot with two men defending them, and little support. Watkins had a good chance to score, held the ball up really well when needed. Linked up well on the left side.

Buendia doesn't play as high up as Bailey for example. Almiron, ASM, and Murphy all play high up and look to get in behind and work their respective channels. Buendia doesn't play like this because he hasn't got the pace for it. He is similar to McGinn in that he follows the play, always trying to be 'in the thick of things.' As a result he does indeed get through a lot of work. He is constantly making challenges, but what is his tackle success rate? With Buendia I don't doubt the work he puts in, but the effectiveness of that work. If you look at Newcastle the attack is Joelinton, Almiron, and Wilson, all players Howe inherited. The midfield includes Willock and Longstaff also inherited. Their defence however has been almost completely rebuilt from Goalie to DM. The path Emery has to take is different. Also Newcastle have achieved nothing yet. They can still drop out of the top 6. Howe has more prem experience and is a very bright young manager, probably the best English manager out there. I listened to the long interview he did and was very impressed with his man management, and his commitment to coaching and developing his players. I have since been impressed with the defense he has forged and the quality of the press he has implemented. Which is a different approach to the one he had at Bournemouth. This is a coach that's still developing himself. The DM and Goalie Emery has are top class. With two high quality CB'S, and in Cash and Digne very good fullbacks. The back four can all but improved on but not by much, and not easily. It's not about a total rebuild, but a remodeling to suit the change in approach. For me a proper ball player is needed at centre back, and maybe a RB that can defend really well in addition to having composure and ability to play out. Ultimately the situations are similar in that a few well chosen acquisitions can revitalise the team, however the nature of those acquisitions are rather different, and the style of play also. The midfield is light a player, Coutinho has been used as a 10, not as a wide midfielder, Buendia can be used as both. However Coutinho's injury record, and Emery's apparent desire for two pacy forwards (including the striker) suggests that we are light in both the wide midfielder and wide forward position. The only way a wide midfielder isn't needed is if Emery decides he wants three in midfield, rather than 4. I'm suggesting 4 signings which is 3 first team improvements, and a back up Goalie. However if he has faith any of the 4 young keepers we have that's great. Bare in mind Newcastle have bought 8 or 9 players under Howe. I'm proposing a total in the region of 6 (including the two we have already signed), plus possible replacements for a couple first team squad players that may (or may not) be moving on. Maybe a bonus pacy left wide forward would be nice too, but that's an icing on the cake type thing! Essentially I agree with in you in regards to numbers, and the right forward position. However I feel the AM position is light in numbers (unless Aaron Ramsey returns and impresses) so needs to be looked at as being a priority also. The CB position is important from a stylistic point of view and how much the right player here could improve us. For me Konsa isn't a top 6 starting CB. Carlos has question marks, and Mings is always one mistake away from calamity. It makes sense to bring in a real top draw player here to build the defense around for the next 5 to 10 years. In regards to Carlos, his passing statistics (like Mings) is boosted by his long passes (in terms of distance). What I'm specifically talking about is short passing and movement. Mings likes that ball to the left channel for Watkins. Carlos likes to switch the play. These aren't particularly nimble pass and move the ball players. One of the reasons Pep's Barca always played Mascherano as CB was to have a player that could link up with Danny Alves and carry the ball out of defense to Xavi and Messi. I suspect Emery wants to do something along those lines on one of our flanks. (But with a proper centre back, unless he decides to put Kamara there). We currently have 4 centre backs, but Chambers for me is poor at centre back. Also Chambers is extremely versatile, so having him as a 5th centre back aswell as a third right back, and third DM gives the squad a lot of depth. An additional centre back for me makes too much sense not to look at it. As you say all those players like Sanson, Hause, and so on need to be moved on for the benefit of all parties. Do we extend Youngs contract (I'm not convinced), is Digne content to fight for his place? These all need to be addressed. But the fullback positions are 100% if one comes in one has to go out.

I regards to the respective defenses, Newcastles goals against is lower than ours, and Dan Burn is a major part, as that heading ability alone means better defending of crosses and set pieces. Also he has to be beaten to get by him, whereas someone like Cash or Moreno get bypassed in transition phases. My point on McGinn is he isn't in the wide forward position like the Newcastle wingers. He is in an inside right midfield position (and Buendia is often in an inside left midfield position). Defensive stats will obviously be higher if you operate deeper and more centrally, as the ball spends more time in these areas, and there are more players helping to defend that space, so ones stats benefit by being in those areas as opposed to high and wide. The fact is we are only playing with a winger in a wide forward position when Bailey plays. Buendia comes very deep, far deeper than any of Newcastles wide forwards bar Joelinton, and that's because Joelinton is more of a defensive winger, and often plays as the left centre mid. Hence Joelinton's stats being similar or better than McGinn and Buendia. ASM is the one Newcastle winger that is poor in the press, but he is better in the attacking third then all our wingers. His ball carrying is on Jack's level. Plus he tends to only play home games, and is fairly injury prone. Mings is decent at playing out, but he isn't on the level of a Laporte, Dias, Pau Torres. But I'm happy with Mings currently. The right CB is far more of a priority. For me i believe in have 3 top quality CB's, and Carlos being able to play both sides effectively is perfect. But until his last season or two at Sevilla his ball playing was considered a weakness, and he is still rather conservative in that regard, also the pace and aggressionof the prem, combined with how many teams high press will be a real test of his ball playing. Carlos has made his name as primarily being a quick and robust defender. Both Carlos and Mings are turning 30 next season, so having a younger player on their level or higher for the RCB position makes so much sense to me. If I were to prioritise, I'd say, midfielder (in the right or left midfielder position),as we are a player light there, also I'm not convinced by Buendia in there. I feel McGinn is suited to us playing on the counter, I've always found he short passing rather inconsistent. JJ is still young and needs to develop, I believe Emery is trying to develop his defensive side first, which has mean his attacking output is suffering. I see Iroegbunam deserving of a chance to compete with Luiz. Kamara and Dendonker is good enough for the more defensive of the central midfielders. Right forward is on par in terms of importance to the wide central midfielder, but very hard to bring the required quality in. Then right CB. If we can address these key areas you will see an improvement in style of play and ability to break down low blocks, which for me is a major weaknesses (the low block). At least two of the three is required at a minimum. Bailey's suitability is dependant whether we are looking to control possession and get the ball in the opposition half enough. As well as form. He's a good player, and good to have in the squad. Like Buendia and Coutinho, who are also good players. I just think we need to find a true top tier wide right forward player, someone whom we can RELY ON to make things happen. Back Up players in the left back, and right back position maybe necessary depending on what happens with Young and Digne, Moreno and Digne are both 30 next season so a young prospect is needed there if not the this summer then the next. Does Emery rate KKH or does he want a defensively sound inverted right back . A new second choice needs to be found in the goalkeeping position imo.

What about Bruno, Burn, Trippier, and Targett? That is nearly another 100m.

Dan Burn is a very good defender, far better than Digne and Moreno. As for Trippier his positioning is superior to Cash. McGinn is a central midfielder playing as a midfielder in a narrow right wing position. Newcastle play proper wingers. Almiron is relentless, and very quick. Joelinton is a huge winger and quick. ASM very quick, Murphy very quick. Even their slowest winger Frasier is quicker than Coutinho and Buendia. Buendia is slow and lightweight, of you're being pressed by him would you be intimidated? Patient doesn't mean slow! Man City defenders go slow, then all of a sudden a quick pass and move or two later they're on the halfway line. Konsa and to a lesser extent Mings are rather pedestrian on the ball. So Carlos hasn't played 4 matches yet and is coming of a ruptured Achillies! Plus Carlos and Mings both prefer the left cb position. Konsa for me is a clear weak point in our ball playing. I the centre backs can't move the ball with a good tempo when needed we will never be able to play through a well executed high press. Bailey isn't suited to the high press and he isn't brave in the tackle. He's being asked to play very high up, coupled with his weak press, he isn’t involved much as much of our possession comes in our own half. This is partly tactical (particularly away from home) but also an inability to get the ball out without resorting to long ball. If we have more possession in opponents halves and get the ball to Bailey in space facing their defence he is a major threat, but this peripheral figure he has been lately, is useless. But if we had a player aggressive that gets stuck in, with pace, them he would be able to create something that way as well. If we can't get Bailey on the ball in areas he can affect the game he has no value being on the pitch. Emery clearly likes his wingers inverted.

Good post. I'd say if you look at the profile players, player for player we probably are at least even. But if you look at their defense, their first choice fullbacks are better defenders, and with Burn at left back they are bigger. Then if you look at their wingers they have more pace, workrate, and better pressing. For me this is the main differences between the two teams. As a result they play an aggressive high press, on the foundation of a strong defense, that can go long over the top or in behind to any of the front 3, or go long to the striker or Joelinton if they themselves can't play out. It's a very pragmatic style of play the work to their strengths. We on the other hand have a squad where our defense isn't technically proficient enough to play out to a high level, but an attack where Watkins is the only real target for longer passes. Our attacking players behind the strikers lack pace and physicality, which means we have to play the ball shorter on the floor. However to do that sufficiently we need two centre back that can short pass well at a quicker tempo (which we lack), and / or another central midfielder that can both short pass well at a high tempo, and carry the ball. So we need at least two first team players, one in central midfield, and one in central defence (preferably RCB), to get us better in the build up phase. We also need a pacy right winger that presses far more aggressively than Bailey and Traore, but also can finish, and a left winger with pace and skill, to change things up. The other option is to put some faith in Duran and play him off the right, Watkins off the left, and midfield 4 made from McGinn, Ramsey, Kamara, Luiz, and Dendonker, play Cash and Moreno at fullback, and play pure counter attacking football. This way we can go long down both flanks, and have plenty of protection for the defense, with the fullbacks providing width.

Looks like a faster, stronger version of Buendia on that form! Huge talent.