Philosopher

It was a simple chance to take one that most prem players would score nine times out of ten.

Most people can jump half a foot. A tall player wouldn't even need to jump.

Buendia is supposed to be a create, supposed to help us break opposition down. I haven’t seen enough of this. He is very replaceable, throughout his time at Villa we haven’t seen him do this with any regularity. He is making Bailey look consistent.

A header from 6 yards with a prone goalie. Not on a plate yeah!

His goal against Leeds was in a plate he was just in the right place. His overall performance that day was poor. His second half performance against Tottenham was good. That's it. Bailey has been far better, but far more shat upon!

Don't where to put this, but looking at things, it can be argued that with Ings sold, Buendia looking very poor ATM, and Bailey being a mixed bag, along with the return of Traore and resurgence of McGinn, that none of the 100m worth of Grealish replacements should be starting games for us if everyone is fit. This really shows the summer 2021 business in an awful light. 100m mostly wasted! Ironically I have feeling that if Bailey was played left, Buendia Right midfield and a proper centre forward like a Moussa Dembele that plays through the middle would be very dangerous.

I would say McGinn tries a lot of through balls when played on the front left of the midfield box. The difference for.me is McGinn is stronger and faster and holds on to the ball better and carries it better then Buendia. I am starting to think a fully fit and firing McGinn starts ahead of Buendia. It could be that our best starting line up doesn't have any if the three Grealish replacements. Though I do prefer Bailey to Traore, but not by much.

My shopping list; is a striker, a left winger, a central midfielder, and a right sided central defender. I would also like a winger that is young but very talented to develop and use as an impact sub. I would look into the Digne situation. If he wants leave, fine we get a younger left back in to replace him. I'd give Ash another year and keep KKH around, because ideally we don't sign a new right back, KKH steps up instead. The striker I don't have any good idea's. Hard to find a viable improvement on Watkins. Someone like Rashford would be ideal (obviously not Rashford, he won't leave Man U for Us). The winger should be Nico Williams. He looks really good. Quick, skilled, hard working, scores and assists. What's not to like!? The midfielder should be Guendouzi. Perfect fit really. Hard working and tenacious, can carry the ball, accomplished passer. Knows what the Premier league is all about, and is a former teammate of Kamara. I say right centre back as both Mings and Carlos prefer the left side. We need 3 top tier central defenders. Konsa isn't top tier. The extra winger slot I have my heart set on Moleiro. That kids dribbling is something else, huge talent. Iroegbunam for me will take Luiz's first team spot soon. Him and Dendonker would ba a good back up double pivot for next season at the very least. The lad isn't just tall, strong, aggressive, and quick, he can bloody pass as well. Going to be a top player. If we get both Guendouzi and Williams, we will be well set. Martinez Cash Carlos Mings Moreno Kamara Luiz / Iroegbunam Ramsey Guendouzi Bailey / Traore Williams / Watkins Hopefully we can add to that a quality right CB to push Mings and Carlos, Moleiro to push the wingers, and a top striker to put the icing on the cake. However I suspect if we get the Williams and Guendouzi deals done then there won't be much money left. Williams and Guendouzi will be in the region of 40m each! In fact i expect Williams to cost nearer 50m. So I wouldn't be surprised if we signed Williams, and didn't sign a striker. As we are operating more with wide strikers then a conventional centre striker. Any striker we do sign will be known for his ability to work the channels.

He has put in a few very nice crosses with it.

Bailey's left foot delivery and long range shooting is definitely superior to Traore. Bailey's right foot is also stronger than Traore's. If you don't see that's fine, but I do, and I'm sure many other do to. To me Bailey has been unfairly scapegoated by many, when he is currently our most productive forward since Emery's arrival. For example in the last nine matches Bailey has arguably been Man of the Match is 3 if those games. Brentford, Man U, and Leeds games. That is 1 in 3 matches he plays a blinder and we win. A lot better then one good performance in 6.

He was plagued by injuries a bit under Gerrard too.

I believe We are 3 points from 6th place. Given our current form making up those 3 points is very possible. However that means we have to maintain our current form, which won't be easy. It also mean neither Liverpool or Chelsea point scoring us also. So it's simply isn't realistic. We have solved our weakness of breaking down low blocks, but are improved in that department. We still look dangerous against any team that wants to play. But a couple of the wins in this run of form were a little fortunate. This run to the end of the season will be very interesting and there will be a lot of ups and downs. It be come down to strength of character.

People need to remember the Traore we remember had acres of space due to Grealish getting double and triple marked.

Bailey's shooting and crossing are miles better than Traore's. But Traore is a stronger runner with the ball.

The problem with Bertie, is he tends to over play it, and is very one footed. However he can really excellent in the role Bailey is currently playing. Being able to focus on attacking, by having a streamlined defensive responsibility will bring out the best in him. He reminds of of Paulo Wanchope! Can be brilliant at times, but mostly runs down blind allies, and loses possession.

Looks very raw still. Also looks like his weaker foot (right) is pretty decent. Seems like is is cool under pressure also. This first touch can be a bit heavy though.

Happy with the outgoings. Apart from Sanson, whom I have seen enough of, the rest aren't good enough. As far as incomings, the lack of a striker and creative midfielder and a left winger mean it was unsatisfactolry. However the return of Traore, who I think is a useful player (but ultimately not good enough if we want to be a European qualifier) alieviates the shortage of forwards somewhat. As many have said it's better to not sign anyone then sign the wrong players, so I can only assume the players we wanted weren't gettable this Jan, in which case the prudent choice was not sign anyone. I still think we can make an assault on the European place, as long as we are lucky with injuries, and VAR! However we are definitely outsiders in that race.

I would be happy with Dembele, but he is very much a striker that plays straight through the middle. Emery favours fast strikers that come inside off of one of the wings. It's why he really likes Watkins. At that price if we were interested we'd certainly get him. Southampton couldn't compete with us.

I would absolutely love it, if we sign 3 more players before the closing of the transfer window. However if we don't sign anyone I'll accept it purely on the belief that nobody else was signed on the basis of nobody suitable was obtainable. A suitable signing is: 1 - better then what we currently have, in that position. This is because the quality of the first team and squad need to be improved. If you strengthen the first team, then the displaced first teamers that stay lead to greater depth. The only exception is if the player has such huge potential and possesses the right mentality to realise much of it. An example of this would IMO be Moliero. 2 - Fits nicely into our tactical approach, and plays the way we need a player in their position on the pitch to play. If they don't then we have another Ings signing. Good player whose talents we can't properly make use of, thus no real improvement in the team. Unless a player is THAT good, we have to build the team around them being the only exception. 3 - Is a team player that fits in with the squad and wants to be coached. No exceptions! That is the primary criteria on whether signing a player us viable. Other factors such as age, and experience, then also have to be taken into account. However while I will be okay with not signing anyone else, I will also be disappointed that we have been able to bring in a significant signing. As the two we have made so far I don't believe improve us much, if all (in light of losing an important source of goals). There should've been enough time to line up at least one player that fits the criteria. So there will be a little disappointment on my part. There is a huge consensus more than any other transfer window where the posters are so united on what the team need most. A striker, a winger, and a creative midfielder. If we don't do the business the team needs before the deadline, then the business done to address this need in the summer has to be stellar! Guendouzi and Nico William would be stellar, Dembele would be decent. Thuram would be good. Moliero would be a lovely addition on top of the 3 aforementioned positions being filled. But otherwise decent.

According to football manager those figures are quite accurate. And football manager is well known to be rather accurate with player wages. They have that Guilbert was on 40k, Sanson is on 60K, Bednarek 60K. Standard wages for premier league players in their prime years seem to be 60K. Guilbert was signed when we were a championship side, but he had a promotion wage rise clause apparently. Also they have Coutinho on 125k and Digne on 120k. All those figure seem accurate to me.

I would say no to that idea. Too much change can be disruptive. I think 3 more players is the max we need right now. Only 2 to be instant first choice. And I believe that would be our plan right now. However one of those first choices would be a striker to play ahead of Watkins, and if the quality is not available then a loan to give us depth would be the last resort. Teams don't want to lose their best players mid season so a little more money may not more a club.

How I see us lining up is. Martinez Young Carlos Mings Moreno Guendouzi Kamara Luiz Ramsey Bailey Watkins This formation can easily switch to a 5-3-2 or a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 without any change in of players. Cash I can see being interchangeable with Young. If we want more energy and an outlet, say if Moreno is out and we play Digne, then Cash coming in means we have dynamism of the right instead to make up for the loss on the left. Bailey and Watkins I expect to have serious competition by the end of the window, but Bailey's competition will be a younger player (under 23). Watkins will be looked to be improved on. If we can't find an instant improvement there we my look at the loan market. Buendia will compete with Ramsey and Guendouzi, and Coutinho will offer us a creative option off the bench. McGinn and Dendonker will provide competition for places in midfield. Irebogum will provide competition for Luiz next season I expect.

I think he is too slow and too weak to succeed a a top half premier league team, because he lacks the dribbling ability that could make up for those deficiencies.

Guendouzi is literally a perfect fit for where Buendia is currently playing so makes the most sense, as Buendia has been poor, outside of his effort, which is always good. For me Buendia is too slow, too weak, and not a good enough dribbler to succeed as an advanced attacker. I don't believe he has the tools to succeed in the premier league as a result. Love him to prove me wrong though. People say Bailey is inconsistent, which is a little unfair, but Buendia is consistently poor! Today he was getting a lot of space, and did f*** all with it! Against Man U he did okay, and second half against Tottenham he was decent. That's it all season, nothing else to see! Guendouzi would be a very important signing. and midfield 4 of Kamara, Luiz, Ramsey and Guendouzi would almost have it all. Kamara the complete number 6, Luiz makes us tick, keeps the ball moving, switches play intelligently and a good passer. Ramsey strong, good ball carrier, good finisher, hard worker. Guendouzi, tenacious, good ball carrier, hard worker, live wire. The striker is the hard one for me. I like Thuram, and I like Dembele, but they are both risks (both are far from being certain to be good enough for the premier league). Thuram I think would suit us a little better as he can play off the left as well, so would fit into Emery's tactics nicely, Dembele is very much through the centre. Having said that both Bailey and Buendia would probably Benefit from Dembele. Dembele's aerial prowess would be perfect for Bailey as he provides some delicous deliveries. Buendia as we know linked up very well the finnish striker at Norwich, who attacked straight down the middle. Deulofeu makes little sense to me. not a striker, plays off the left, so would we play a 4-3-3 instead, or go without a recognised striker, or play Watkins off the right wing (which is his least preferred position). Watkins likes to work the left channel, by going wide to the left and coming inside. Danjuma make some sense, plays off the left, not an out an out striker, but more so tahn Deulofeu. but injury prone, which is why we are steering clear i believe. Young Duran is a striker that was converted from a winger. Left footed, so I assume he likes to come in off the right. But he is basically a mystery to me. I can see this one being someone completely unexpected.

Leon has 4 goals this season, joint second top scorer for us this season. Also has 2 assists, his expected goals is 2.7, so he is outperforming his XG.Watkins XG before today was 6.5, but having only scored 3 at the time. Buendia has 3 goals and zero assists. So to put it into perspective he is the most effective attacking player we have at the club this season. To give better perspective 3 goals and 1 assist in the last nine games since Gerrard left. Leon hasn't been consistent, but neither has the team. In addition he isn't like El Ghazi whose poor games he just seemed to go awol! Leon never stops trying to take on players, gets kicked heavily most games, but never stops trying to make thing happen.His performance today was decent. Linked up well, put in a couple of good deliveries (which he does most games ). He is easily the best crosser of the ball in our team. Now Ings is gone he is also our best finisher. Last season was a write off for him, this season is his first proper season and he has done well overall considering the circumstances. He has been involved in all our best football as well. I think it's clear he is still getting to grips with things. An injury ravaged first season, without a run in the team. He's had 3 managers in 18months, been played in 4 different roles. All while trying to adapt to the premier league. Of our attackers he is at the bottom of the list to be replaced, but we should certainly give him some proper competition as we should for every position in the team. Most of all we should properly back him and not S**t on him for every little thing.