Cizzler

2 hours ago, useless said:

Aston Villa midfielder Arjan Raikhy is set for a loan move to Grimsby Town. The 19-year-old spent the first half of the season at Stockport County but was recalled early as he wasn't featuring regularly. A number of clubs have shown an interest in Raikhy but it's Grimsby, the mid-table National League side, who have won the race to sign him. Raikhy made his senior Villa debut in the FA Cup defeat to Liverpool in January 2021, and although he has not made a matchday squad since, there are still high hopes for him at the club. Raikhy believes he has outgrown Under-23 level football and wants to test himself amongst seniors, which is why this move appealed. Villa are also hoping to move a number of other youngsters on this month to further aid their development. Boss Steven Gerrard says: "We've been trying to sort out moves for a number of our young players this month and we've also got a number of other things bubbling away," Villa are expecting a busy end to this window with a centre back and defensive midfielder still on their wishlist. The Athletic

Bit of a strange one as I think Seb Revan got about 2 appearances there. 

2 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

I'm sure we've seen todays' corner routine a couple of times already this season - albeit without the goal, I'm sure Emi has nearly scored a carbon copy of the one he got today.

Anyways Nanny is doing fine work.

You’re right - Vs. United - drew a good save from De Gea.

Agree with the above poster. A million x better now that Cash ‘long’ throw nonsense is in the bin.

1 hour ago, PieFacE said:

I don't really see how he fits in our system at all unless he either gets converted to a full back (which would be a disaster) or a striker. 

He will play in one of the roles either side of the lone striker. Gary McAllister has said he fits Gerrard's preferred system. He won't be playing full-back (?).

Some of the reactions in this thread are quite bizarre. 

He's returned one goal and two assists in 9 appearances. Grealish has two + two in 15 games. Sancho has 1 + 0 in 17 games.

It's a tough transition from the Bundesliga (Havertz, Werner, Sancho, Konate, etc.) - but he's passed the eye test every time I've seen him play. He's only 24. People on this forum seem scared of having a squad of players that actually challenge each other. Traore, Coutinho, Buendia and Bailey are great options for two positions. As are Ings and Watkins, Digne and Targett, etc.  

Quote

Per:

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/leon-bailey-injury-aston-villa-22818422

Offering an update on Bailey's fitness on December 26, Villa assistant head coach Gary McAllister said: "(Leon's) not on the grass. He's not that close. We're (at least) three weeks away with Leon but Berti (Traore) and him, those are two players who play in an area of the pitch where we really want them back in.

"Their style would suit the style of the manager. They will go hand in hand so we want them back on the pitch as soon as possible."

Kodjia > Watkins is certainly an interesting take (which I would massively disagree to) - but fair play. Kodjia left for nothing, whereas Watkins has enhanced his value.

Think it’s too early for all of the summer signings. Although not sure why you are down on Bailey, I think he’s looked excellent in a couple of his cameos.

Emi Martinez is currently our best player imo. Not sure what an “A” is, if it’s not signing one of the best keepers in the world for £15m.

Pay him what he wants.

Is this any better than Dean?

Lost 5 on the bounce now, cheers Gerrard

28 minutes ago, KevinRichardsonsMoustache said:

It really has been a position that we have struggled with for a long time. 

 

Trying to think of the players we have signed to remedy this problem position over the last decade and a bit:

 

Moustapha Salifou

Nigel Reo-Coker

Jean II Makoun

Karim El Ahmadi

Ashley Westwood (maybe signed as a more offensive-minded player?)

Carlos Sanchez

Idrissa Gueye (would obviously come good elsewhere)

Yacoubu Sylla

Glenn Whelan

Birkir Bjarnason

Mille Jedinak 

 

I appreciate that the game has changed, players like Gavin McCann and George Boateng perhaps wouldn't get near a modern DM role, and Glenn and Jedi were lumps for the Championship , but it feels like a while since we've had confidence in that position. 

 

 

As if we made a £2m loss on signing Idrissa Gueye... 

16 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

He was decent without fans.

I'm sure he is one hell of a player in training.

This fans/no fans thing is so irrelevant. 

Grealish elevated his game. It gave Targett space to overlap and an easy out-ball rolling it to Jack's feet every time. The opposition RW was more preoccupied defensively too, 'doubling' Jack. No one who's played LW for us warrants that same attention this season.

Such a lazy, recycled argument that he is 'mentally weak' and can only play with a lack of atmosphere. The team dynamic has changed. He's a limited player who benefited greatly having one of the best players in the league ahead of him.

I'd like him to stay, but LB was in need of an upgrade. He'll be a decent back-up for a team challenging for Europe. 

7 minutes ago, alreadyexists said:

Looking on Transfermarkt, he isn’t even the 25th most expensive ever:

 

1	Benjamin Mendy Left-Back	27			3	£67.05m
2	Abdou Diallo Left-Back	25			3	£58.50m
3	Lucas Digne Left-Back	28			4	£48.78m
4	Ferland Mendy Left-Back	26			2	£47.70m
5	Filipe Luís Left-Back	36			4	£45.18m
6	Ben Chilwell Left-Back	25			1	£45.18m
7	Yuri Zhirkov Left-Back	38			5	£43.15m
8	Theo Hernández Left-Back	24			2	£40.95m
9	Yuri Berchiche Left-Back	31			2	£36.00m
10	Alex Sandro Left-Back	30			3	£35.82m
11	Luke Shaw Left-Back	26			1	£33.75m
12	Marc Cucurella Left-Back	23			4	£32.22m
13	Junior Firpo Left-Back	25			2	£31.50m
14	Daley Blind Left-Back	31			3	£30.60m
15	Leonardo Spinazzola Left-Back	28			3	£30.06m
16	Ashley Young Left-Back	36			3	£29.61m
17	Nico Schulz Left-Back	28			3	£29.25m
18	Cristian Ansaldi Left-Back	35			8	£29.03m
19	Fábio Coentrão Left-Back	33			3	£28.71m
20	Aleksandar Kolarov Left-Back	36			5	£28.51m
21	Diego Laxalt Left-Back	28			6	£28.44m
22	Alex Telles Left-Back	29			5	£27.16m
23	Sergio Reguilón Left-Back	25			1	£27.00m
24	Abdul-Rahman Baba Left-Back	27			3	£26.10m
25	Jonny Otto Left-Back	27			2	£25.20m

 

Yes, he is, - that's him there in third .

Unrelated - but little peculiar that 3 of the top 4 most expensive left backs are Senegalese/part-Senegalese.  

12 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Doesn't even start for Mali today in the opening game 

Bet the 2 players ahead of him cost about 20 million less

All of Mali's best players are centre mids tbf.

Samassekou, Haidara and Mohamed Camara have all gone via the Red Bull route to European football.  

Had a trial with us at 15, so looks like he's been on our radar for a while.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/dundee-united/1616119/exclusive-highly-rated-young-dundee-united-defender-kerr-smith-to-join-aston-villa/

Chukwuemeka? Sanson?

The players look knackered?

3 minutes ago, obanken said:

Two goalkeepers as subs, and no Trez. That dive didn’t go down well with Gerrard?

At AFCON

11 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

I can see it ending up like James.

He'll play alright for 5-6 months then a big club will pick him up.

He is most likely looking at us as a stop gap and that's ok.

Ah yes, James picked up by that massive Qatari club Al-Rayyan. Clearly his performances for Everton put him in their window.

If Coutinho is motivated, he’ll be an unbelievable signing. He’ll be the most talented player in the squad by a country mile. 

21 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

Polish TV showed an interview where Cash speaks with a Polish team chef and he said he eats literally anything.

So maybe Villa wasn't that strict on diet before Gerrard. 

From The Athletic article on Cash and Poland:

Food was initially a concern. Cash has a personal chef in England and sticks to a carefully structured diet, but there was no need for any special requests. If anything, he liked what was on offer — often a wide selection of cold meats, lentils, other sources of protein and fresh fruit  — even more.

Whether it was the nutritional boost or just a general enthusiasm that helped him impress during the week is open to discussion. What does not need to be debated was the quality he showed in training, especially his first session, that Sousa described as “really fantastic”.

Gerrard’s Rangers have been the SPL’s biggest spenders every year he’s been the there.

I’m sorry but beating a depleted Celtic team who’ve lost Tierney, Edouard, Ajer., Frimpong, etc. over the years whilst considerably outspending the rest of the league just isn’t impressive.

Anyone here honestly think Smith couldn’t win the SPL on the biggest budget? 

I was calling for Smith’s exit in the emotions after the Southampton game - but if it’s to bring Gerrard in, then that’s thoroughly underwhelming. Would’ve kept Dean 100 times out of 100.

The sickening Liverpool love-in. The short-term aspect of the appointment (he’s either shit or good and goes to Liverpool). He’s completely unproven as a manager.

This move would underline the board’s complete lack of direction/idea (which accompanies their activity in this summer’s transfer window tbh).

Aren’t we supposed to want to be challenging for Europe? Spurs are in the ECL and bring in Conte, we’re looking at Stevie G. Depressing.

16 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

The point was people weren’t bothered about a lack of achievements by Smith but are seemingly about Gerrrard. It isn’t about the clubs they are at or where we are, it appears that it is more about if people like the manager.

People’s expectations for our new manager now are a lot higher than they were when we were recruiting from 17th in the Championship.

I personally don’t care whether the manager has won a tinpot league in Europe. PL experience matters, which is why I’d prefer Hasenhuttl, Potter or AVB.

2 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Post i quoted you said player for player

Haha it didn’t, but not sure it really matters anyway.

5 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Brighton centre midfield at the weekend cost 29 million, ours 10 million 

I said first XI in my original post.

55 minutes ago, lexicon said:

They had years in the league before us and were already established. It's facile to compare net spends because a large chunk of what we spent was on rebuilding the squad from almost nothing. 

In any case, they still haven't proved themselves. 

Every single player in our first XI is more expensive than their counterpart in the Brighton or Southampton team.

It’s “facile” just to look at their win rate like you did and ignore the constraints within the clubs they’re operating.

I’m not sure we even massively disagree. I’m not enamoured with any of the options. Obviously I’d prefer Simeone or Ten Haag, it’s just cuckoo land. I think these two are the best of the ‘realistic target’ bunch.

4 minutes ago, Kiwivillan said:

Excluding last transfer window (difficult to judge with 100 million of signings not available with injuries etc) we've spent 23 million more than Brighton since 17/18. They've actually spunked a lot of money

So excluding the last transfer window (where we spent £100m) we’ve still outspent Brighton?

How is that a counter point, this forum man.

11 hours ago, MotoMkali said:

Yep the player who has spent the last 30 games being a top 5 rb in Europe and outperforming Anchraf Hakimi who cost 60 million is definitely not good enough to be used as a regular backup. 

Er, what.

Is this by some whoscored.com metric or something. He isn’t in the top 100 right backs in Europe. He’s dreadful.