MaVilla

is this reported somewhere?

Ings only has 18 months left on his contract with us doesnt he? I think it was a 3 year with 1 year option?, pretty sure we wont take up the optional year! Forest fancied Lingard on a free, maybe someone out there would take him for a small...or no fee.......this summer?

yes, we were spuriously linked with him in the summer. nothing came of it.

yeah the goalkeeper, centre back, right back, left back player would be cool!

to be fair, until Emery came here we didnt play him much either......apart from in the last 10 mins of the odd game when chasing a game....weirdly. Gerrard, yikes.

to be honest i wasnt 100% sure about the signing initially. However, the more i see him, and the more i see what he's all about, i think it was a brilliant signing. the guy isnt flashy, cant/doesnt do Hollywood passes, but he is a great DM who offers physicality, power, height etc, and tbh he is really good at the simple recycling of the ball, basic but successful passes etc, exactly what we need. i think his only real obvious weakness is speed/agility, but tbh, if he is just sitting in that DM position and shielding the back 4, if his positional play is decent it isnt a huge issue, but yeah, it is a weakness for sure. Overall though, really great signing.

i dunno, maybe he will start?, maybe he wont?, maybe he will be rotation?, maybe he will play varied roles?, who knows?

clearly NEWcastle? I hear we are in for Chris Wood for £55m + add ons....

looks like he's being touted as the next Rangers manager. how ironic.

i could be totally wrong, but.... Emery seems to like to play controlled and possession football building from the back, mainly between the CBs, MCs and full backs, (currently Mings, Konsa, Kamara, Luiz/Dendoncker - not inc the full backs), on that basis i can see Carlos coming straight back in when fit and a new CD being purchased to allow us to play out from the back, to create a square of Carlos, new CB, Kamara & Luiz or Dendoncker. Emery likes one wide player to cut in to the midfield and be creative etc, thats clearly Buendia. He seems to like his other wide player to be a fast-ish, progressive type player, so i think we will buy a winger/wide player/inside forward type (like a Sarr or a Zaha type). I think he will want a striker, to go with Bailey and rapid wide player, as Emery very much likes to play on the counter when needed. last on the list is a RB, as for all Cash's strengths, he has some weaknesses on the ball, at least in my opinion, so maybe an outside chance of a RB. So, in review, i think we will go for: CB to partner Carlos who can play ball (like a Pau Torres type) wide player (Sarr/Zaha type), i dont think it matters which side, as Buendia can play either side and cut in to midfield from that side, so i imagine it will be the best possible wide left or right player we can get, and Buendia play in from the other side. Striker - someone also fairly rapid, but able to finish consistently (might not be rapid, dunno)......cant think who we might remotely be interested in? something like this defensively (take the new players with a pinch of salt ofc): but something like this in attack:

yikes i forgot they spent 65m on him..... goes under the radar a bit, but Newcastle have spent what.....270m net over the last 2 seasons?, they cant be far off FFP limits? We have spent 30m net over the last 2 seasons. (on transfer fees).

13m, apparently. a steal tbh.

Jonathan David looks rubbish.

Belgium have zero pace defensively, and virtually zero pace in the front like, its like watching a group of OAPs struggling to keep up. shows how important athleticism is, in the modern game.

time for us to sign him up then!

you know what, if we are going to play the midfield holding two under Emery, for the first time....in basically ever, i can happily say i think the midfield two is one of our strongest positions now. i cant believe im saying that lol. with kamara, Luiz & Dendoncker, then one of Sanson or Timmy, or someone else as the 4th option, i honestly think basically most other areas of the pitch need upgrading before our central midfield now. madness.....its been a running joke with Villa that our central midfield was a big problem, so nice to have three quality players for the holding midfield 2, rather than the old hat of wedging Ramsey & McGinn etc in to a midfield 3 and it being a mess week after week. the 442 hybrid/4231 suits our players so much better, and we finally have 2-3 quality central midfielders.

If you look back, he has played that role more times than any other for Belgium (at least in the 12 months I looked back).

Starts for Belgium as right centre back (of a back 3).

dont worry chap, we've got McGinn.

Wish we had bought Mitoma for 3m, but.... Kamada's contract end this summer, he is a very good player and would be a huge marketing coup, we should go for him in Jan for a knock down price, said we should go for him last year also

said it before, we really should sign one of japans top players, some good players and the marketing from it would be huge.

kamada & Mitoma (Brighton) both look great.

Mitoma is quality for japan (running Germany ragged), 3m Brighton paid for him. watch someone pay big bucks for trossard, and Brighton just slot Mitoma in his place. Cue silly money for Mitoma in 1-3 years.

i think the latter, i dont think its a surprise that after each supposed "mini break/mini pre-season", where Gerrard said he would have time to instil his "system", we actually got worse.