Indigo

7 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Ederson was immense

Really good player. The likes of Spurs and Newcastle have been looking at him apparently. 

49 minutes ago, AshVilla said:

Borja Baston still only 31.

Didn't get a fair enough crack the first time round maybe Unai can get the best out of him?

Getting flashbacks to your fury at the idea of signing Tielemans last summer.

If that's anything to go by I hope we sign Barkley ASAP.

14 minutes ago, duke313 said:

We don’t necessarily need a Kamara type DM for every game.  We need players that can receive the ball in midfield, turn and either run into or pass into space. RB can definitely do that, as he’s shown this season.

I agree that he can perform this role, but I do think the midfield is a little unbalanced in the sense that Luiz and Tielemans are similar in what their jobs/abilities are, but we don't have anyone that can replace what Kamara offers. Barkley would also fit in with the former two rather than the latter as well, so would still expect another body in that area of the pitch even if he signed. Maybe not an outright DM, but someone like the rumoured Fofana who has played there previously, so could cover Kamara's absence but also play with him when he returns.

4 minutes ago, useless said:

He will never ever play as a DM for us, I find it almost comical that people think that that would be the case, watch games rather than go by Fbref, he wasn't anything like a DM for Luton, he might have not been playing as No.10 or whatever like he did earllier in his career, but that doesn't mean he's suddenly a DM in the vein of Chambers or Dendoncker lol. I'd be surprised if he ever played in a two man midfield for us, never mind as the DM in a two man midfield

If he signs he will most likely be back-up / competition to Tielemans, whenever I watched Luton he was more like Tielemans than any of our other midfielders, he wasn't and isn't a DM, and wasn't even playing that deep, he might have dropped deep to pick the ball up and help Luton start attacks because perhaps they had no other players good enough on the ball to do that, but that was it, if anything in general play he was more attack minded that defensive minded

Hard to tell if this is aimed at me, but for the avoidance of doubt I was just correcting your statement that he didn't play deep for Luton when there were occasions where he literally did so (seen by eyes, corroborated by pesky average position data).

8 minutes ago, useless said:

Barkely isn't a DM and didn't play as a DM for Luton, he wasn't even playing that deep for them, and there's no way we would be signing him for that role in our team, am bemusied that people would think that would be the case. If he signs, we will still be signing an actual DM as Kamara alternative, because Barkley can't do that role, Barkley would more like Tieleman's alternative

I agree re: him definitely not being an outright DM/Kamara cover, but there were games this season where he literally was Luton's deepest midfielder. 

Obviously systems played by each team differs, but Luton played with a back three and had him in front as part of a midfield two. Villa on paper don't play with a back three but with one full back being advanced and the other tucking in, the end result is similar. Whether he was the more advanced of the pair or not tended to depend on who his partner was, but nonetheless that was the general role he played.

I would imagine the logic here is that he ticks boxes in terms of being cheap, home-grown and having the versatility to cover a couple of different roles in the set-up, even if some suit him more than others.

I'm not saying he was great at all when at Villa previously, but I found some of the abuse he took to be a bit ridiculous. He underperformed when the whole team did - when Grealish was absent - but still had some big, match-winning moments for us. I thought he just looked like one of those players that had passed his physical peak early due to how young he broke through initially, so as much as the ability was still there he was fighting a losing battle athletically. 

He was great for Luton this season though and if that is just his level now as opposed to a flash in the pan at this point in his career then he could prove to be a pretty useful (home-grown) signing on a free.

This season was such a weird one that it's even more difficult than usual to know what to expect for the next one this early on. You'd imagine the volume of both injuries and goals surely can't be so excessive again next season the way they were across the league this time around.

I saw some kind of league table totalling the number of injured players as well as games missed by each of them and Villa were only around 10th, which is mad considering how much we've been impacted by them. Then on top of that you've a record amount of goals in a season league-wide, normally a team that finishes 4th concedes something in the region of 35-45, yet Villa let in 60+ and it doesn't even look that bad compared to the rest of the table.

It's a ridiculously competitive league, which is all the more reason not to overlook how massive an achievement finishing 4th was. I think if we're in the mix to finish there again whilst competing in the Champions League next season we'll be doing pretty well, but we'll see what the summer brings!

Today obviously can't be read into too much, but I do think it still displayed some of the issues the squad needs to address. There's some games where if we're a bit off it the team is far too easy to bully, overrun and generally play against. There's been chat of Emery, Monchi etc wanting to add athleticism and physicality this summer and you really can see why, not only in midfield but they're crying out for it at the back too.

Fully appreciate the context of today. It's been an incredible season and a great effort from a squad down to the bare bones that had to carry themselves over the line. Playing against a Palace team loving life at the moment I wasn't expecting anything other than a loss and was mostly just hoping that Watkins could get his 20th.

...but still and all that was a pretty pathetic afternoon. Not going to lose sleep over a game I'll struggle to remember in an otherwise great season, but it's a bit disappointing that a nothing game turned into an embarrassing one, because as deserved as 4th is you don't really see top teams allow games like this to happen. Genuinely wouldn't have had any complaints had they won 8-0.

The final day can often be a weird one if your season is already wrapped up, and this season has obviously been great, but even given the context this has been pathetic today. There's going through the motions and then there's this.

Feels strangely nice going into a game where the job is already done for the season. Just hope Ollie gets his goal, all for sticking Mings and Buendia on with about 30 seconds left for the good vibes as well.

7 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

Does talking tactics know anything?

He's pretty legitimate. He isn't a transfers/speculation account so whenever he occasionally mentions something in that realm it more often than not proves to be true.

Interesting...

6 hours ago, The_Steve said:

Even if we entertained selling. It would make zero sense to Chelsea. We should not be strengthening other teams in the league. Unless the replacements are improvements on what we have. 

Not to say this is relevant to Duran, but it has become - and will probably continue to be - a far more frequent occurrence that Premier League teams sell to one another, due to there being a need to bring funds in and a lack of clubs internationally that can make suitable offers comparatively. For example the likes of Palmer, Mount, Jorginho, Havertz and heaps more in the last couple of seasons are the kind of moves that wouldn't have happened previously, but clubs are having to be more open to them now. If Chelsea hypothetically up making a big enough bid for him that it hugely benefits Villa financially then I don't think they'll be worried about possibly strengthening them.

Seen a good few Leeds games this season and even been to Elland Road a couple of times just by chance and think Summerville has always looked excellent, personally. Obviously his numbers show end product but he's also extremely tidy in general play, good set-pieces, puts in his fair share of defensive work etc. He almost single-handedly tore Ipswich apart when they beat them 4-0 and I was pretty sold on him then. If it's true we're in for a winger then given Bailey and Diaby they'd need to be a right-footed one, in which case you could do a lot worse than Summerville. Albeit you'd fancy Leeds to get promoted and make that a difficult deal for any club to manage this summer.

2 hours ago, useless said:

Anyone thinking that Jonathan Rowe being a better player than Summerville  is a laughable suggestion is really showing their ignorance, and probably never seen either play and just going by 'stats'. Should also be pointed out a player having good stats in the Championship doesn't always translate to being any good at Premier League level

39 minutes ago, MotoMkali said:

You could also watch the goals rowe scored where a number are due to keeper error. 

Looking forward to Leeds vs Norwich, which will provide definitive proof on who is right here.

26 minutes ago, wishywashy said:

Ornstein mentioned Newcastle and Bayern as interested suitors back in January: again, with the belief that we were looking for around £50m. That guy's practically the oracle of football journalism, so there's no reason to doubt that it was real. Given there was that level of interest in him despite having just started 4 league games all season, I don't think it's a stretch to think teams won't still be in for him.

For the record, I absolutely do not want him sold (nor am I remotely turning on him!). He's one of our own and an incredible player. The rumoured interest in him absolutely attests to that more than anything. If he does get sold, it's because of absolutely awful football finance rules that terribly encourage the sale of homegrown academy players and work hard to sap these fairytales out of the game.

It's just looking at our business with Rogers and the very reliable media links for several months that it's probably something that Villa are looking to do, as it is something that is (very sadly) encouraged by football finance rules.

I get you on this. Feel like folk love taking the word of Ornstein, Percy, Collomosse etc when it's news about incomings but write off anything that could perceived to be negative as being spurious speculation. There's been some numbers from Villa that would make anyone feel at least somewhat uneasy, and it's the nature if the beast these days that sometimes clubs have to move on players they ideally don't want to. We as fans obviously hope it won't happen - and it may not - but it's not some kind of miserable, bad fan mentality to acknowledge that the club probably aren't above selling any player if the offer is large enough.

Obviously in an ideal world we're just shifting the deadwood/squad filler and that'll do the job!

I know some folk at Relevo are quite reliable, not sure who the Soler shout is from but alongside the reports from France it seems to have some legs. Also some stuff from Collomosse...

Never mind Fulham, Derby etc, feels like an age even since the opening day of the season. The 5-1 loss and Mings injury had such a typical feeling to it but the manner in which this team bounced back sums up the whole season. Crazy achievement mostly down to an incredible coach that we're lucky to have, who still doesn't get the credit he fully deserves.

Don't feel like this will hit me until we're actually playing in it next season!

What a player Sarr is and how we could do with someone of his profile now. Do wonder how close Villa were to signing him a couple of seasons ago when it was rumoured. 

3 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

He missed one golden chance first half, got lucky with his assist, then criminally didn't square to Duran at 3-3.

He seems a good guy, and I'm sure he'll come good, but IMO his lack of composure was a big issue for us tonight.

He also created quite good opportunities for Zaniolo and Bailey off the top of my head, possibly more, that they didn't take. Either of those go in and he's being credited for the composure he showed in those moments. Fine margins really.

He'll get there. You can see the physicality of the league has been tough for him to adapt to, yet hes got something like 14 g/a to his name, shows some real moments of quality and overall just seems like a good egg. Don't see how you can witness the turnaround in the likes of Bailey and then readily write off this guy in his first season.

Always rumours of him being sold, or shouts that he should be.

Please don't.

Over the course of the season Burnley have played some of the most naive football you'll ever see. Just wouldn't trust them to get anything from this as the moment they self-destruct never feels far away.

Great to see! Think the links to Baena are interesting given he and Buendia are similar types of player, so curious to see what the plans for him are. Such a shame to have a whole season written off when he looked like he was really about to hit his stride after pre-season.