SuffolkVillan

4 hours ago, paul514 said:

He’s so fantastic yet is 28 and played his whole career in Denmark.....

I don’t think that is the level of quality we need.

Why is it so many moan we never buy any "gems" like Benrahma but even we we see a talent, albeit an older talent at a low price most posters on here say "no thanks". For less than £2m he looks a bargain.

1 hour ago, Knutserov13 said:

My take on Benrahma.

Hes a really fine player. A good creative one. Probably one thats gonna be MoM one week and not to be seen the other. Problem for me is that he plays the same position as Jack. There is no way hes better than Jack in that position. Ok, you say - Easy, we'll move Jack to the middle. I'll be totally against that, why move your best player from the position where he creates chances and scoring goals? To play Jack in the middle there is no balance in the team with McGinn and Luiz. McGinn would in that case have to convert into a DCM, is he any good at that role? If Jack plays through the middle I guess we´ll have to bench McGinn and sign a new midfielder?

But, IF Jack goes I'm all for signing Benrahma.

My thoughts exactly

4 hours ago, TRO said:

We have too many understudies......we want players to challenge the first teamers.......remember where we finshed, we won  9 games and conceded 67 goals.

don't let the relief of staying up cloud the issues.......We have to up our game.

I agree, my thoughts give us 4  new starters and strengthens the bench. £100m + gives us Buendia, New LCM, Tammy, an experienced PL midfielder and an experienced CB.  On top of that Benrahama if money is ok gives rotation up front. I wouldnt call any of those proposed additions "understudies".

11 minutes ago, brummybloke said:

Suring up the midfield was where we got results and where the defence got far better.

The midfield 3 needs to be mgginn luiz and a better version of Connor.

Jack on the left... an other on the right and a forward who has pace and can score up front.

Jack in the middle makes us too soft and easily over run. He also gets surrounded far easier and quicker making him far less influential.

Totally agree with this. If we buy Benrahama he will be Jacks understudy which I am fine with if we can afford to have a £25m player on the bench? I want Buendia on the right and as you say a really strong left footed midfielder who can perform with set piece delivery. Key purchase will be a goal scoring CF( preference Tammy as well known to club and players and always gave it everything...better the devil you know).We also need competition for Targett and an experienced RCB alongside Mings for Konza to learn from and challenge. I would keep RB as it is. Understudy to McGinn would also be good so I can see the idea of McCarthey. I would estimate £130m to achieve these objectives as a net spend after recovering some cash from a few surplus sales.

likely squad:

                                                      Heaton, Reina (loan) Nyland

Guilbert, Elmo           Sokratis, Konza           Mings, Hause             Targett, Hickey/Robinson

                        Mcginn, McCarthy            Luiz, Nakamba                  New LCM, Hourihane

Buendia, Trez                                        Tammy, Wesley                                  Grealish, Benrahma

1 minute ago, Zatman said:

He got 4 goals from open play all season 2 vs Villa

We don't get penalties for him to take

My realistic target for striker wouid be Josh King of Bournmouth

2 hours ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

What do you think we're after though? 

I think a seasoned quality CB like Vertonghen would be smart. 

An additional big unit to compete as a DM option. 

2 wingers and a striker. 

Guess a left back can be argued as well. 

Hopefully all a quality level above what we got. But maybe that's greedy. 

Sounds just about right to me....£150m should do it

1 hour ago, StanBalaban said:

With the five subs rule being carried over (I believe), it really does become more of a squad game. Most teams have those annoying players that you know will do something when they come off the bench (Gayle, Rodriguez, Yarmolenko type players) - and we've not had that for a while.

Our current bench is pretty tragic at the moment, so maybe we can pick up some experienced quality that can make a difference after the 70 min mark, without having to shell out too much. Samatta, Trez, Conor, Elmo, Hause, Engels, Wesley, Heaton to stay as other back up options too.

A quality striker, keeper, wide player and a Hourihane upgrade are a must for me, with Jota, Lansbury, AEG finding new homes. If Barry isn't near the 1st team, loan him, Vassilev and Keinan out.

I would add an upgrade on Targett a CB to challenge Konza or vice versa and another more creative squad player assuming Jack stays, maybe Eze

2 hours ago, Hobbit Feet said:

He definitely will be I put him as my dream team captain this week! But seriously hasn’t he got a chance of getting the golden boot? So I think he will play and score a couple hopefully. Arteta also spoke midweek about fielding a strong team out because teams are involved in a relegation battle and it’s fair so hopefully he does that.

I think Arteta will put out his preferred FA Cup team as they need to re-discover recent form v man city and get themselves up for Chelsea. Dress rehearsal. Ars 3-1 Watford. I think Bournemouth can beat Everton 1-0 so I think we will need a draw as a minimum.

2 hours ago, PaddytheVillan said:

When they were getting space down the wings in the first half he went from 433 to 4141, pulling Luiz, Trezeguet and Jack back to help the defence. 

In the second half he pushed McGinn up so the striker was less isolated.  

And at the end the team held their shape and didn't sit too deep, as we have done recently. 

Perfect analysis

1 hour ago, hippo said:

Im seriously tempted to just go out and look at the league table @ 6.05pm on Sunday.

You wont be able to do it.......will you!

1 hour ago, Adam2003 said:

I was really pleased when he stood over their late free kick for ages, somehow didn’t get booked but totally stopped the quick free kick while we reset. Finally some smart game management from our players!

Yeah, thought we played like a well drilled top team, ie foul where you have to, obstruct where you have to. Looks like they have finally learnt something. Just prey we can finish the job on Sunday.

26 minutes ago, Nabby said:

If he stays and Terry and Suso go and we are still not performing who do we lay the blame on then ?

They may well be part of the problem I just don't buy into them going makes us better.I'll say again why when the coaching is questioned its town to Terry not Smith (who is hands on) and Richard O'Kelly ? 

On signings Smith is on record as saying Mapauy for him was too expensive so we looked elsewhere.Suso's experience is from time in  Spanish football brings in Targett / Konsa and Drinkwater ? Engels was close to signing for Brentford was Suso scouting him then as well  https://tbrfootball.com/incoming-brentford-star-bjorn-engels-rejected-arsenal-2016/

The only player we brought in with link to Spanish football is Luiz who was on loan then and has turned out to be the best of the signings 

So then of the other signings who weren't on loan previously we have Nakamba ,Wesley,Guilbert ,Samatta ,Trez  and Heaton .Heaton we know Smith wanted and was a good signing.Wes struggled but had 5 goals and I think would have gotten at least to double figures if he stayed fit but we should have gotten another exp striker I think that much is clear and though more exp Samatta has clearly struggled with the step up in league.Nakama started off well but has gone backwards as the season as gone on.Trez though underwhelming is still our 2 nd highest scorer .For comparison he has 5 goals and cost about 9 mil .Pepe at Arsenal cost 72 mil and has 5 goals..

There is clear issues with coaching ( defending in general and at corners ) and with the signing Smith is as much to blame as anyone else for  this IMO.

In some ways this reminds me of when Lamberts back room staff were sacked and there was this idea they were the big issue and Lambert with them gone would improve ..he didn't  

 

Great stat comparing Trez to Pepe, yet as much as I love his effort and I'm happy he got 5 goals Trez infuriates the hell out of me and I cannot see him improving. Pepe was very overpriced but when I watch him play I cant help thinking one day he is really going to click.....just hope its not the next game.

3 hours ago, KentVillan said:

It’s like watching someone learn how to play FIFA for the first time. Moments of apparent quality, but it all feels a bit accidental. Lots of bad decisions, lots of running into trouble. A very odd player. 

Ha Ha spot on! I'm just learning Fifa to try and give the kids a game!

1 hour ago, AshVilla said:

Great we have to replace the entire team again.

Not sure how we will get promoted without Grealish this time.

Follow the "Moneyball" system. You cant replace Jack with another Jack so you spend funds on 2 or 3 quality players that make the whole team more cohesive resulting in overall team improvement.

Suggestions:

assuming sale of Jack and trez only combined £60m

    GK  Heaton, Steer, Nyland

RB  Guilbert, Elmo

RCB Konza, Engels

LCB Mings, Hause   if Mings goes for 25m buy  replacement at 6m keep rest for prem return poss Matt Clarke at Derby.

LB Targett, Taylor

CM Luiz (new contract to keep) McGinn, Nakamba, Hourihane

RM El Ghazi,  jed wallace millwall 4m age 26

CM Eberechi Eze QPR £10-15m age 22, Ovi Ejaria Reading £3m age 22

LM Nicklas Eliasson Bristol city £4m age 24

FW Wesley, Samatta, Davis

plus appearances rom youth prospects during the season.

four in with combined spend £36m from £60m in leaves 24m towards pot when promoted and all four additions young enough to be worth a lot more in a years time so will either be good enough for prem or will be easily sold.

3 hours ago, VillaCas said:

- What the club say in public and think in private may be two different things. If you sincerely believed 14th would be our finishing position I can understand your disappointment - I just hoped for survival this season and it has gone pretty much as I expected

- It’s NOT the manager who governs football matters. The CEO sets the strategy (buy young, wages structures, no loanees etc etc), the DofF manages the scouting network and player acquisition. The manager is in the mix, he is responsible for tactics, coaching but  also but works in the structure.

- I won’t list the mistakes Smith has made as their are plenty of people ready to point them out. My opinion is that he will have learnt from many of those mistakes and it would be foolish to throw that learning away and start again with a new manager who has to learn for himself from scratch - UNLESS we are going to bring in a manager who is clearly of a top level which I doubt is in the plans

- I think if we stay up we will sign a different type of player in the close season - a couple of Cahill-type signings would have made all the difference. Drinkwater was a gamble that didn’t come off but that type of signing is what was missing this year

- If we go down and lose two or three I think we could recruit for the Championship but with an eye on the PL

I’m of the opinion that our problems were , a “bad” squad built by Bruce, an unexpected promotion and too many ‘projects’ and not enough experience in the transfer window

If we keep changing managers every 18 months it will breed the short term attitude that resulted in the Bruce squad - signIng loanees and almost-over-the-hill one season wonders, rinse and repeat

Many may not agree but I want somebody to be given the chance of building something over a longer period - Smith knows the club, did great last season, will have learnt a lot this season and despite difficulties seems to still have the players on his side

Come on TRO, come over from the dark side!!

I'm generally in agreement with you here but I hope they don't spend too much to get promotion, firstly as it shouldn't need fortunes and secondly when we do get back( assuming we are relegated) a shed load of cash from Grealish would help buy some real quality next time round. I hope we can keep Luiz, Mings and McGinn, who along with Heaton can form the nucleus of a good side.

2 hours ago, gwi1890 said:

Heskey is probably one of the best sky have in the studio never comes across daft , all Souness wanted to do was cream over Liverpool honestly don’t think the man watches any football his knowledge of players is awful

Putting my Villa bias to one side I thought Souness was spot-on with thoughts on Jack. For the last 6 or so games he has not been the driving force we need and he does sometimes stand with his hands on his hips as if to say " I cant be bothered with this!" His closing down is lame and I don't see him urging his team mates to do better. I love Jack and he is our best player currently but I do think a move has been agreed and he is playing it safe. The huge amount of cash we receive for him needs to be used wisely next season, indeed, if we are in the Chanpionship I hope they only spend enough to get promotion and save as much as possible to buy 3 quality players when we get back up.

2 hours ago, villa4europe said:

Why? 

Mine would be beat Palace, beat arsenal, draw vs west ham so 7 more points 

If West ham can beat Watford and pull clear and then go play on a beach then that helps us, I'd still take needing a win vs them to stay up last game 

My thinking also. To the wire

7 hours ago, pintpotvilla said:

3 Wins and we definately stay up. I can't see where those wins come from though!

With magic hat on I see wins against Arsenal Palace and West Ham. In the real world our only winnable points are Arsenal (1) Palace (3) and West Ham (1) will probably need to win on last day to stay up and put West Ham down. With our luck it will be us going down.

5 minutes ago, jim said:

We'll be fine, we just need to get 3 players in who combined will get the same goals and assists combined.

I read a book about it, think it was baseball, I reckon it could be good for us...

 

It is called "Moneyball" also a movie about it same name.

1 hour ago, Farlz said:

It cracks me up reading the match thread. 

Like I said over there, people were desperate for Jack to play central as if that was the problem. Turns out no, he's pretty ineffective in that position as I expected. Then you have people screaming for 2 up top as if that will solve everything and once again turns out no because quick reminder, we have the worst strike force in the entire league. Then to top it all off you have people moaning again to change something and the only pissing options we have are the 2 wingers EVERYONE wanted dropped. 

These players are not good enough full stop, no matter the tactics or formation. It's not as if we got smashed today, these players just couldn't have less killer instinct if they tried. 

We're going down and the sooner you all chill out the better, it makes watching Villa a lot less stressful. 

DS has tried different formations with different players enough times this season for us to conclude the following:

players are just very poor

coaching equally poor

player motivation non existent.

On a positive note, there is enough of a core to perform ok in championship but very good recruitment now required to produce a promotion winning team.

1 hour ago, MadridVilla said:

Quote from the wolves forum which is absolutely priceless:

"I don’t just want to win this, I want to destroy them. I want to make them question their existence as a football club. I want to see Grealish on the field sobbing at the end, announcing he’s retiring from the game. I want to see Mings packaging up his England caps and sending them back to the FA because he never really deserved them. I want to see the history books edited to remove them from any records. I want to listen to dead air on WM because Franksy and Rego are speechless and end the show after an hour without a single word. I want hoardings put up around Villa Park and the doors boarded up because it’s never going to be in use again. I want Jade’s boyfriend to only talk about golf because he was never really into football anyway. I want Birmingham to be a one team city and Blues local derby to be with Solihull Moors. I never want to have to play them again after this and hear from their fans again.

2-1 Wolves."

2-1 is hardly destroying us, Prat!

On 25/06/2020 at 15:38, Delphinho123 said:

The team I've wanted to go with for weeks. Maybe swap Guilbert in for Elmo but either way, beats having to play with that fat b******* Trezeguet. 

I agree we need to get rid of our wingers. Your option looks sound but we could also consider:

                                       Reina

Elmo              Hause        Mings        Taylor

         McGinn          Luis       Nakamba

                        Grealish

  Samatta                                 Davis

Reina in as Nyland looks very shaky, too many fumbled catches

Taylor as he is a better defender than Targett but just for this game v Adama

Hopefully we can improve our ball retention with 4 in midfield and have front two making moves across the line being fed by Jack. 2 sitting mids can also enable Mcginn to get forward in support.

20 hours ago, Graham t said:

Sorry, all the best players will leave if we are relegated, leaving us with yet another 'rebuilding job'. So back to square one with a wasted year in the Premiership. You couldn't make it up, only at Villa could supporters accept mediocrity as ' okay'

Regards,

VLD.

Agreed, but with much improved finances compared to where we were 12 months ago the rebuild will be easier. Sometimes rebuilds need to be done more than once to give a club the right foundation to grow sustainably.

22 hours ago, Eastie said:

Wouldn’t be surprised if they gave it to JT next which would also be uninspiring 

That would be the worst of all worlds for me. I think JT is much more part of the problem than he is the solution.

4 minutes ago, KMitch said:

Before his injury, he was one of the best players in the league...  Short memories around here...

Time will tell, I like JM but I do think he is limited and PL teams have easily worked him out. Obviously we hold different views. Dougie Luiz on the other hand is growing into a decent PL player.