Paulie

53 minutes ago, Strog said:

Agree, I think he was simply trying to get involved. Playing two forwards doesn’t really work with the personnel we have, in my opinion.

How does it magically work once Buendia is on?

Coutinho getting involved behind the halfway line isn’t really “getting involved”.  He needs to be constantly moving sideline to sideline behind the opposing midfield, popping up in small pockets, asking for the ball and immediately turning, looking to slot balls in behind to our strikers… like Buendia does.

you can’t consistently create from that far away.

*Delete*

Interesting quite a few on here lean towards a Carlos / Chambers partnership… can’t have your captain on the bench.

Put me in the camp that thinks it’s good leadership and encouraging that Stevie empowers his assistants to the point where the players respect their impact to the level Emi is describing.  That’s a pro, not a con, to me.

4 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Hickey but I doubt that will happen

Yeah seems like Bassey is more likely

Now that Coutinho and Kamara are done deals, what business is left?

CM - Phillips, Bissouma

CB - Tarkowski, Lacroix 

ST - Suarez?  Any other links?

Everybody chill tf out

Thought we played great football in that half lol don’t get what the moaning is about…

Guy everyone wanted to start starts, plays well and gives away a pen

I care more about how we play than how the results go at this point.  Thought we dominated the half.

Doesn’t have the engine or energy to be 10 behind two strikers

Watkins is a player who’s game relies on his pace and pressing, not his technical ability or finishing.

I’d rather sell too early than too late.  Once his legs go the drop off will be quick… now, ollie seems to take great care of his body so I can’t see him having a gabby type drop off… but he’s put miles on his legs the last few seasons.

selling for 40-50m opens you up to comfortably spend into that 60-80m bracket of striker… we have Ings and Archer for cover until we get the move made.

it makes sense to me.

13 minutes ago, nick76 said:

my twist to it…
 

He went to Barça and won the league in Spain.
He went to Munich , He did the same again.

He's f***ing magic and gracing Villa now!

His names Philippe, Philippe Coutinho

Now he’s at Villa, he’s magic don’t you know

Seems like it’s time to add something about villa to the Coutinho song

Locking Coutinho down before the window officially opens is going to pay dividends with our recruitment elsewhere.

Just now, DCJonah said:

Does that apply to all games or just yesterday?

I’d say all games.

Felt like last week they experimented with McGinn as a holding mid and it went sideways until we found the balance… even then, Watkins was through on goal twice and put neither chance away, and this week Son buried his.

this team was so strong with Nakamba at that defensive mid spot, and looks less strong but still has quality going forward with Luiz there.

You can judge results or you can judge process…

Felt like the tactics were spot on yesterday and we were undone by individual mistakes.  A top half quality CB has to deal with the ball for the first goal… konsa fumbled it.  

Also, from a FFP perspective, sales free you up for further investment.  A sale is realized in its entirety in the current year (less any unrealized accrued transfer fee), where as a purchased player’s transfer fee is spread over the life of a contract.

sales of Davis (10m), Trezeguet/Traore  (10m), and perhaps one of Watkins/McGinn/Cash (35-45m) gives us a ton of flexibility on incomings

It’s about time he got his own song I think

I’d like us to bring Buendia on for Ramsey, shift McGinn to the left side of the midfield three.

think Buendia has more than enough defensive attribute for this to work.

2 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Quite possibly. The two of them back to back make me seriously worry that the long term plan is in the bin and we're panicking to make it happen this year come what may. Hopefully I'm overreacting, but in the Smith/Grealish era, the club felt measured, composed, and like there was a multi-year project plan up on a wall somewhere. Our business since Grealish left feels like we're throwing shit and money at the wall and seeing what sticks, and I worry about what the backup plan is if the answer is "not much".

Ings was a desperate, rubbish signing. Good player, but not for us. If we could move Ings on for close to what we paid for him, and get Suarez on similar wages, perhaps it's a decent deal, if you ignore who he is as a person.

The counter to this of course would be that it’s a question whether players of the quality of Digne, Coutinho, and Suarez would even be considering “the project” here at all if Gerrard weren’t involved.

This is an entirely different level of quality than shopping in the Buendia/Bailey/Ings level.

There’s a 60-70m player in there.  Hope as he gets more comfortable with the system and the players around him the penchant for misplaced midfield passes/caught in possession becomes a thing of the past.

He’s incredibly unselfish with his play and also has a bit of a prick about him which I personally love.  Always looking to create for others and always pressing defensively.  Can see why Stevie likes him.

McKennie would be unbelievable business.

13 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

Totally with you on this. 

Grealish was one of our own, even when we overlooked the fact he tried to leave every transfer window. 

Then, when we wouldn’t allow one of our own to leave, one of our own had something written into his contract that meant we had choice whether he stayed or not. 

Ramsey might be different, he may stay at the club even if his ability outweighs our league position, but I wouldn’t hold out any hope.

Anyway, yeh, he’s good. Hopefully he keeps improving. 

I don’t think we should look over the fact we have both Jacob and Aaron, Carney and Caleb here…. If Jacob and Aaron are both first team regulars, you would think it would be an easier sell for them to stay.

I think our midfield problems yesterday were compounded by having Young and El Ghazi on the wings.  Watford had nothing to worry about down the flanks, so they packed the middle of the park and also kept Sarr further up the pitch.

I think our midfield pair will look much better once we are starting Bailey/Buendia/Traore/Watkins, and defenses have players putting pressure on them.

El Ghazi having 10+ touches and zero dribbles or chance creations is unacceptable and sends a wave of pressure back down our “spine”.