Philosopher

Buendia has been poor for a while. 45 minutes against Tottenham is all that's been good.

Poor goalkeeping

He has at least 2 poor touches in his own third with little pressure, one for the pen and one that nearly got us in trouble. Been slow to move the ball. And generally lackadaisical.

Dendonker has been poor today. Regardless of the pen.

Ings has done nothing. Invisible!

Cash, Bednarek, and Chambers lack of awareness is astonishing!

Jack alongside Ramsey would be a footballing orgasm. Shame!

Ollie will be loved by Emery. His workrate, pressing, speed and versatility make him an ideal squad option. The only way Ollie leaves is if he isn't getting enough games and wants to leave. Emery is not playing 2 conventional strikers. He is playing them as wide strikers. When the play is on the left, the left striker operates as an advanced winger, and the right striker comes into the middle and vice versa. I don’t believe Ings has the mobility to be effective in this role, and at his age his suitabilitywill only get worse. So I see Ings as the most expendable. Watkins on the other hand is made for this role and can play it as either left or right striker. If we can get say Thuram to play the left striker, Bailey as the right striker, and hav Ollie as the rotation option, or if we change to a 3.

I think Ings is one of the prime options to sell. Doesn't really fit into the tactical set up, getting old, another season and will have to let him go for free.

Love him. He's just having a bit of fun. He's a character, and he's also a winner. To produce in penalty shootouts takes guts! I'm sure Mbappe was giving as good as he got until they lost the shootout. The hattrick is irrelevant France lost. End of! Emi gives everything for his team, and will do whatever it takes. Love his confidence

Ollie has a 14 goal season where he scored 1 penalty. And got a few assists. Ollie and Toney are of a similar level in terms of talent and ability. The difference is one plays for a team happy to stay up with no one capable of displacing him, with a settled team and manager. The other plays for a team with aspirations of European football, and quality rival in Ings, and a team the has has more than 3 managers and 5 formations on 1 and a half seasons. Swap the two players round and I'm sure you see similar struggles from Toney.

agree which is why I'd like both. A winger that can play as a striker, and a striker that can play as a 10. I think the winger that can play as a striker would suit our current formation better, as the strikers are are wide strikers, play as a cross between a winger and a striker. Once Jacob is fit I think he can get loads of goal coming from deep as the most offensive of the two supporting players. The striker that can play as a 10 would slot in nicely between the two quick wingers, dropping off and providing extra creativity in the middle to counter the low block we struggle so much with. With 3 or 4 players that can score 10 to 15 goals each. We won't need to rely one player to score 20 plus.

I do like the sound of Thuram. Seems like a perfect fit for us. Him and Bailey as wide strikers would be a real handful. We need a marque signing. The Moffi link and similar are underwhelming and risks that we don't need to take. I wouldn't mind Sarr either, but not convinced he is consistent enough. For me a left winger, that is comfortable as a striker too. Is the minimum we need in attack. Ideally we'd sign a technical, creative striker, a pacy left winger that can also play as a fast striker, and a top class ball playing right centre back. This is what we need to push the team forward. We can sell McGinn and Nakamba, and probably Sanson too. I'd also move on Ings if we get both attacking players.

One mistake in friendly, so let's not go overboard. We also have to remember the playing the ball out carries this risk and quite frankly, Mings and Konsa are just as prone to this kind of mistake, probably more so. Its why I'd love a proper ball playing RCD to play alongside Carlos, and until Carlos is fit Mings

Both him and Buendia were constantly playing through balls for the opposition defenders!

I think this formation suits him and a consistent run of game and couple of goals and he'd be a big player for us again. Problem for him is if he gets that time, and whether we get a superior player in the transfer window.

Captian of the back ups!

To be honest I'm a bit worried about Buendia. We also have Coutinho so I think he is going to have to start putting in some performances. Also I'd pick Sanson ahead of McGinn, as I think he is a smarter, more skillful player, with better technique. Jacob needs a playmaker next to him.

His performance yesterday was a little worrying. Kept trying to make things happen, but it just wasn't coming off for him. I feel like he is always going to be rather inconsistent.

Doug just wasn't to Gerrard's liking. But the reality is if want to keep the ball and use it intelligently Doug is essential. We need Ramsey in the team as well. He makes such a difference with his powerful ball carrying, and technique. McGinn should be a squad player nothing now.

Classy operator of Doug. Never doubted it. Technique, and intelligence, just needed experience and quality coaching.

Leon Bailey stated clearly the facilities were a major factor in his decision to join Villa. The money in the prem means a few teams have similar facilities, but the coninent is different only the very top teams boast similar. And yes our facilities put us ahead of Man U in that regard. We recently built a new performance centre, then upgraded if further to emulate the facilities they have in American football. Our facilities are right up there. The owners are building a world class foundation of which the expansion to Villa Park is the culmination of.

The facilities at bodymoor really are fantastic. Up there with the best sports teams in the world. This is a massive attraction for players.

Well Juventus seem to think the American John Mcginn in a trade could entice us !?!?

Scotland have a real hard time scoring goals against any team. They lack quality talent in the attacking areas. McGinn is played there because of a lack of quality options. Ramsey, Buendia, and Coutinho are all better options for us in the number 10 role, if he's a no 10 he shouldn't be getting a look in, and be deemed surplus to requirments.