ejs1111

exactly this. During the preseason the press has been much less intense- especially in the US with the heat index. It was very noticeable when I was watching at DC. Brentford were not being clamped down and allowed time on the ball to actually see and play those balls over the top. In the Premier League I fully expect Villa to be in their faces more and those passes 'over the top' will be alot more of a hoof and hope ball. I'm not worried about being beat over the top at all. I actually think this was done by UE intentionally- weak front press to force our back line to be exposed to more balls over the top and through in preseason matches. This would force Villa back line to work on stepping up, communicate, etc in real time.

I disagree. MLS has a host of problems- which will forever keep them down and unable to compete financially with Europe. The league and 'owners' aren't interested in changing the way the league is set up and run atm. One of the big issues imo- MLS is a single entity league. MLS actually owns all the teams- teams are run by investor-operators who just pay a fee to gain access to the team. Its like they are leasing the team from MLS. All the teams have a hard salary cap which is very low- something like 10million per season. They have all kinds of confusing rules and even their own currency for making trades/transfers within MLS- this is done because MLS is in essence dealing with itself (since they own all the teams). Another problem- they restrict international roster slots- every team starts with only 4 per 25 man roster. You can trade these slots to increase it (something Miami did to gain all these foreign players). But MLS does this to restrict player access to the league and keep is primarily US based players. This model could work if US had the youth academy infrastructure of most European countries (UK, Germany, etc)- but they are not even close. So- despite the enormous population- the talent pool is poor- or undeveloped until a much later age. So the league quality suffers. Lastly- there is no football pyramid here- no promotion/relegation. With no threat of relegation, numerous MLS teams have no incentive to be competitive- especially given that MLS actually owns them. The owner-operators just do enough to keep them afloat and allow the team value to artificially grow as more teams are added to the league. Then if another owner-operator want to take over, they pay the buy in fee and 'purchase' the team (lease) from the current owner-operator. I'm witnessing it first hand with DC United, the ownership group are the same ones who also own Swansea. They are absolutely terrible owners who know nothing about football and do the bare minimum. Its a shame really.

imagine the VT meltdown if AVFC was giving away free clappers in the Terrace. Oh the humanity.

Watkins can make them as long as SCOTT STERLING is not in goal for PKs

completely agree here. This mono version is a million times better. No clue who the design/marketing team is at AVFC coming up with this tripe. Honestly- I think they are intentionally making it look bad to justify the change at the end of the year. (tin foil hat on)

I like the new badge. I just think it needs more refinement. Its currently a bit too simplistic if that makes sense. I don't have the answer for improvement... new star location, white star, gold lion, new 1874 location, etc, etc. If I had a guess- I'd like to see a badge example with 18 and 74 split at either side of the circle (9pm and 3pm). That would open up the bottom of the badge for something else. Maybe move the star to the bottom (where 1874 was)- make it white. See how that looked. Try the lion gold again, see how it looked, etc. I'd be happy with the new badge being 'updated' in a future season- then using that template to break down like Heck did with the 76er logo. Agree with many posters about a stand alone Lion as another logo. Definitely think this is the direction we are ultimately going. AVFC will have multiple symbols and logos. I'm hopeful an updated round badge will be our primary- the current round badge just needs a little work imo. UTV

medical today. Announcement... dare I say... tomorrow. on a Wednesday?!?

I for one would be VERY excited if we picked up FTorres. Granted, this past season he has not preformed very well (primarily as a sub)- which is a big reason why Barca want rid. But honestly, look at the previous 2 seasons of goal contributions (G+A). 69 appearances and 33 G/A. That is 0.47 G/A per game. Nearly 1 in 2. Those are fantastic numbers- especially coming from a young player. His first season with Citeh he was only 20. Imagine what wonders King Emery could do with a talent like FTorres? He would be flying...

tbf the French league is not even a top5 league anymore. I think I read its now no7 in the world. 22 goals in Ligue 1 is not impressive atm. Its a farmers league- even more so than its always been. But I fully agree- 50m price tag is crazy. Did Levy sneak over and assign player values?

if we win something it will be the year we won with TWO badges!

Its just very frustrating and feels very amateurish. Today is supposed to be a day of celebration etc etc. Club shop opening with new merch, kit release, new badge on the kit etc etc. What do we have instead?? This enormous distraction taking away from the positive day regarding the apparent badge decision to be only on kits and training gear. Leave it to Villa to fumble a day that every other club seems to handle with ease. Its like keystone cops- I can only sit back and laugh- at the absolute absurdity of it all. Just last week reports were out that AVFC specifically REQUESTED that we have our first match away due to the rebranding of Villa Park. We even scheduled our final preseason friendly in Spain instead of Villa Park, further emphasizing this point. Giving the club maximum time to put in a new pitch (if needed), new branding around the park, finishing up the Holte Terrace, etc etc. I know many people will brush this off like its not a big deal- but in the marketing world, sponsorship world, etc. This is a big deal. It honestly makes the new guy Heck look like a bozo. Villa is better off spending the money to rebrand everything properly now- then going thru the process of changing it in the near future if that is what they truly decide. Leaving things half done is a very poor look commercially for the club- especially when we are going into Europe next season and have the potential to expand our reach for the first time in over a decade with TV viewership. I'm absolutely baffled.

seeded... unseeded. I'm not worried. That 2nd rate WHU team went UNBEATEN in the UECL enroute to the title. Only a 1-1 draw kept them from a perfect tournament record. Which also means they earned max money. Is anyone honestly saying that UE couldn't blast through this EUCL like WHU did? Villa should be very confident going into this... UTV.

If we sign Pau Torres... I think this means we will not be signing another RB and will be playing a style like Villareal when UE was there. 3CBs plus a LB. Cash becomes the backup RB. We would likely see a back 4 of Konsa/Mings/Torres/Moreno with Cash/Carlos/Chambers/Digne as the squad players to rotate. It is really starting to appear that the asymmetrical attacking style we have adopted will continue. Focusing our attack on the left and having our RB/CB hold for defensive stability. Frankly I'm ok with that. Provided that we really strengthen our attacking options up front (Nico/Kang-In/Gonclaves/etc etc)

behave.

behave.

I don't think we could afford Felix... we'd have to pay him more than the 500k per week we are paying Digne.

I'd like to see something like Major League Baseball here in the States. Its a soft cap. You can choose to exceed it- but if you do- you pay a luxury tax. That tax goes into a fund for the betterment of the league- or in this case- the English Pyramid in my opinion. In MLB most teams try to avoid paying the tax. I'd also like to see a 'floor' cap as well. A league minimum that must be spent on teams to try and be competitive. That way teams/owners just don't get promoted and yo-yo for the $100million payday. Force them to spend on the team to try and stay up. My 2 cents.

I agree with this list. Must say I was surprised AY was not renewed for 1 season more- I expected Digne to be sold to free up wages. But with AY gone we definitely will be in the market for for upgrading RB and pushing MCash down. CB upgrade to replace Chambers and compete with the 3 remaining is great. Midfield- I still thing Guendouzi is nailed on to sign for Villa this window- he very versatile- and will give us 6 for the midfield 3. Attack- I'm still of the opinion that Coutinho will be sold to free wages, and we bring the 2 positions you listed above. That would give us 6 players for 3 spots. Ascensio type for the F, and a Kang-In type for the winger. Olsen leaves and we bring in a new backup GK. Sprinkle in the kids to fill gaps- Job done- roll on to the new season!

The longer this goes on... the better likelihood of fish puns.

i'm a fan of the new badge. Timeless shape/design. Add to that the fact that it says ASTON VILLA on it finally. Instant 10/10 for me due to this.

I'm just waiting for the fish puns so this thread can reach Rashica levels

I'm guessing Villa make 4-5 signings this summer. Agree with other comments that we will need a squad assuming we make Europe- so we may not sell as many as people are thinking. If we make Europe and have reasonable success (advance to knockouts) and reasonable success in both cups (win a few rounds each). That would put Villas season at about 52+ games next season. Easily enough games to rotate the squad and get 15-20 games for squad players. Thats alot of minutes to go around. Could absolutely be more if we progress further in any of the 3 competitions. 1 defensive signing. Definitely will happen for me. I'm guessing there will be 1 player from RB/CB/LB will be sold or not re-signed (Young). Creating a need to be filled/upgraded. Personally I can see Digne being sold, Young re-signed and being LB backup, then going out and getting a RB/CB upgrade on Cash. That is my guess. Mings/Konsa/Carlos/Chambers all stay. 1 midfield signing. Another certain for me. Guendouzi is my best guess. He ticks all the boxes for me- as I stated in a previous post. I can see us selling several MF players and looking at our loan kids until January at least. We can sign MG and bring in Ramsey and Tim until January for cups and early Euro matches. Then asses the kids again in January. 2 forward signings. We need upgrades here. I like the links being posted. I can see us spending big on one (like a Nico Williams type), then less on the other (like Kang-In). I'm guessing 2 players from Coutinho/Bailey/Traore will be moved on to make room. Duran could be loaned out and Archer will stay until January to play in cup/Euro matches. 5th signing will be a better backup GK. UTV

Guendouzi all day long for me. Decent price. Still quite young. Can play multiple midfield positions. Is a shitehouse- which we need- too many nice guys in our 1st11. Played regularly under UE before. Can score goals and pick a pass. Lastly... has played in the Premier League before- and played well. Honestly I think its nailed on he's coming to Villa as one of our signings. I for one would be delighted. UTV

Bailey has NEVER adjusted to the physicality of the Premier League. The German league is very soft by comparison. He is muscled off the ball way too easily. When he is facing the goal and moving towards a player he is much better- but as soon as he is 'back to goal' like SJM he cannot maintain possession and goes down easily. Then he throws his hands up looking for a foul that is never there. Traore has the same problem. Buendia is the best of the 3- but he too struggles at times.

FYP