Philosopher

Jack's a better dribbler and quicker, Buendia is two footed and a slightly better passing range. They're pretty even. Buendia also has a temper on him, so can sometimes be a liability. Jack sometimes is slack in the press. Jack wins more free kicks, Buendia takes a better freekick.

I think they're similar to us Villa fans. Now they have proper backing from their owners, good quality football on display, a quality manager loved by the fans, and feel they have reestablished themselves in the Premier league, they feel they are on the up and are looking at the top 6 rather than the rest. They just need to remember( like we do), That their competition is also on the up. Obviously Villa are a bigger club, with a greater history, and from a bigger city, so they obviously have some jealousy towards us, but that's OK. It's just the price of being supporters of a quality club!

He comes in off the right like Jack does on the left. He is basically an Argentinian Jack Grealish. If you play one in the middle and one wide they could end up getting in each others way. Guys like them need to be surrounded by runners. So playing them wide drifting inside and swapping wings gets the fullbacks overlapping wide and the no 8's overlapping on the inside. This also makes them impossible to pick up! We will have a top 6 quality front 3 once it's official.

There's a couple of young Italians either of which would be perfect for us. Sandro Tonali or Manuel Locatelli. Both DLP's that can put a tackle in.

I have skipped that salivating and gone straight to premature ejaculation! Buendia all day long, but if Pereira is going for 15 to 20m get them both!

I expect us to try a evolve the style next season. Be more on the front foot and control possession. Not so much the counter attacking unit we were this season gone. Also Buendia tends to operate on the right, and Smith prefers two 8's and a 6. So I'm not expecting the 4-2-3-1 much next season.

I have been hoping for us to sign this guy since Jan 2019 and it looks like we finally have him. Perfect for us. If you have him and Jack on each wing drifting inside, Ollie's tireless running up front and two proper box to box 8's making runs beyond them the movement and creativity is going to be too hot to handle for most defenses. Still time for Arsenal to snatch him so I won't count my chickens yet after the Wilson episode last summer. What we need now is a pacy left back (love Targett has become our steady eddy), as we need to surround these two special guys with quality runners. So we end up with loads of overlaps, with the fullbacks going past the wingers on the outside, and the two 8's going past the wingers on the inside. Makes marking and tracking back a nightmare for defenses. Then you have a double pivot on either wing capable of easily finding those runners or even using those runners as a decoy and carrying the ball themselves. We need to address our other weakness this summer which is playing out from the back. If you have two tenacious 8's then a deep lying playmaker is the perfect foil. The DLP will drop in between the centre backs when playing out of defense to pick up the ball and ping pinpoint balls out wide to the wingers or over the top for the striker. When in the opposition half they will look to be the easy pass back for the midfielders and will then look to switch play to the other side of the pitch or ping one over the top for the striker, or a runner from deep. Douglas Luiz has not really been the DLP I thought we had signed two summers ago. He seems to be a cross between and DLP and a Box to Box midfielder. He can do both jobs but not to the standard of a proper specialist.

This super league would see those teams involved lose a lot of fans and income. The push back will make it impossible..... for the time being.

I reckon he was probably seen as a potential improvement on our current box to box midfielders. Plus he can play in any midfield position. When you then take into account the relatively low fee it just made sense. I can see Luiz and Sanson becoming our preferred box to box midfielders. With McGinn and Jacob being hot on their heals.

I like Sanson, a lot of the problems he has is clearly because he is feeling rushed due to the pace of the league. It's something I expect him to adapt to as he has good technique and a turn of pace. I'm confident that Between Sanson, Luiz, and McGinn number 8 is a well stock position for now. We just need to get a quality 6 in so they can play as 8's rather than a 6.

Agree with your point VillaChris. Only thing is that Bent at 18m to 24m was our record signing till we signed Wesley last season.

I think we have to remember, if a player already is assured to be playing at the same level as our club, unless we can offer a HUGE pay rise they won't want to leave unless they need first team football. Every move is a risk for a player. The upheaval of moving, will they fit in socially, will they fit in tactically, will their bodies be correctly looked after? There is literally no point for St Maxim to leave unless we at least double his wages (if Newcastle are still in the prem).

Maitland-Niles won't leave Arsenal unless he is guaranteed minutes. He is a very good versatile player, not sure he would command a first team place. Not convinced by Lookman. He is a player I'd sign to add competition to 2 very good wingers. Bissouma is quality. Would love him.

Oyarzabal will have Real and Barca after him in at some in the next couple years. He would rather wait for that as he is thriving at a good la liga club. He won't leave unless Citeh come in for him.

Well ffp is changing to allow more investment from owners. The new training us almost finished. State of the art facilities. A world class captain. An established prem team now. We are a big draw now. We will see a big signing this summer I'm sure.

Triple post sorry

Double post sorry.

This guy would be perfect for us. Quality wide playmaker. Probably end up at Real Madrid.

Yep he pretty much makes one mistake every game. Sometimes it costs us, sometimes it doesn't. He is usually pretty dominant otherwise. For me the problem is the majority of those mistakes happen when the ball is passed back to him. It's definitely something he can address if he is made aware of the correlation

Sorry

Yep, for sure. We need a top class specialist there. Someone more dominant than Nakamba and a better passer to boot. Nakamba is a poor striker of a football. He can pass short, but anything longer is terrible.

Not sure about that. For the problem remains getting the ball out of defense. Now you could have Jack dropping deep the pick the ball up, but then you have him deeper than you'd like. Basically if Jack got injured you'd still have a problem keeping the ball and playing out of defense, particularly if your wingers are pacy direct types. All you need to do is drop deep give no space in behind, and the attack is nullified if Jack is out. What you'd have to do if Jack got injured is drop Watkins and play Wesley or Davis, but that is hard to do. The passing needs work. It would also still be a little vulnerable to teams like Burnley who his longs balls to two big men up top.

Considering playing out from the back was disastrous last season you maybe right. However coaches from Spain for example, drill passing patterns and scenarios into their players, to make the passing and movement natural. Our players clearly are looking for each other, which indicates 1, a lack of understanding between the players, and two they haven't been drilled enough. I don't think out of Shakey's teams have been proficient in passing move. The counter attack has been their forte mostly.

For all the good work at Brentford they never got into the championship playoffs. Were always susceptible to goals against the run of play and rather gung ho. The defensive solidity we have enjoyed this season however suggests he has worked on that. So I don’t think it's the attacking intent that is the problem. I thinks it's partly getting the blend right, and currently not being able to adapt without the teams linchpin.

All depends if we learn how to play out, if so then we may not need one. But I agree aerially we will be much better. On set pieces (defense and offense), defending long balls, winning second balls, we could even put him in the no 10 position and have him win long balls late in games if we need a goal. I believe a passing coach is needed.