RicRic

I dont wanna hear about FFP it ruins my day and the fun of us propelling forward thank you  

1 hour ago, Jas10 said:

Yep… our highest priority should be Champions League football. It’s the best way for us to expand and progress in so many ways…

As appealing as a trophy is… it’s not going to advance us anywhere near as much as CL qualification will. And with a manager like Unai… I think it’s something we could sustain if we manage to get in there…

Anyway… why not both?

Could see us winning ECL and qualifying for CL to be fair but we need luck with injuries and player form… an intelligent signing to two would really help n boost us…

and like you’ve said before… now’s the time to “go for it” if we can and while being sensible about it…

strike while the iron is hot as they say… etc. etc. 

Yeah this is definitely got to be the aim and would love this more than winning the conference, id love to see us lift silverware more than anything so it shows just how much i value the conference but at the same time shows just how badly I’d love to see us in the UCL for the first time in my life watching us however we are in it so we are going to try win it and ill be there every step of the way

2 hours ago, Jas10 said:

Chiesa has been returning from serious injury, recovering form and fitness.

Also played under a manager who had been widely criticised and derided by the club’s own fans… for playing boring, negative football.

I’ve never seen Anderson dominate an international tournament, lead his side to victory and absolutely shine and standout in important games.

Chiesa is world class and would be the best forward/winger we’ve had at the club in an age… still fairly young too.

Maybe I’m biased, but he’s one of my favourite players and I love his attitude/personality… he has high workrate and determination coupled with exceptional talent. Exceptional dribbler and a genuine goal threat and game winner & changer…

I love him.

Anyway… his value and worth far exceeds Anderson’s and he’d be a difficult signing to make but a genuine demonstration of our ambition if we could somehow manage it and convince a player like that to join us.

-

Anderson is meh and not as good as the players we have… all imo of course.

Maybe you can get away with older/ageing players in defence and even midfield in PL, but it’s even more difficult to get them performing in forward areas unless they have been world class for a while, there are rare exceptions.

Many players fail to meet the standards of this league now. Serie A has, sadly, fallen so far behind.

He underwhelmed the last time he was here, can’t see him doing much better this time around and just seems like a waste of wages… never seemed to have the character or fight required either… a player who can go missing…

I just don’t believe it’s a genuine link most of all, would be very surprised.

 

Of course… I’ll soon change my tune if it is genuine and Unai actually wants him and we all know he can get more out of players than most…

 

Just the way I view it, I’m no expert. But I feel we are much more ambitious and capable than the recent names being thrown around here…

Look where we are and how well we are doing… why would we go for mediocre players, once again - we don’t need numbers. Why are we making stupid suggestions like Antonio and Delle Alli when we are flying?

We’ve been trimming the fat (why would we add to it?) and raising the quality and standard… I’m sure well continue in that vein.

Some fans need to start aligning their sights and ambitions with the people at the club imo…

Enhancements and potential when and where possible… or just hold fire.

Is Chiesa the only player in the world to you

3 hours ago, Leeroy said:

Really not keen on the idea of 30/31 year old players of dubious quality being signed. Makes me wonder if we’ve either lost our ambition or have FFP issues, but I’d rather we do nothing than litter the squad with aging players who don’t offer any improvements on the team. Free transfers are a good strategy when you’re bringing in players like Kamara and Tielemans who are quality (even if Tielemans had lost his way a bit at Leicester), not players like Anderson who’s already been poor in the league and going to be receiving his pension soon. Some of the other names mentioned as suggestions for a team in 2nd with a world class manager like Dele Alli, I mean WTF?

 

Hopefully people will regain their sanity soon and start talking about quality players who will actually improve us.

Yeah we have low ambitions if we are just going to accept players like anderson and others we have been linked to even Acuna who may well be fantastic is still at a age where we should be staying away from. The position we are in we should be now changing the mindset and looking at more ambitious potential signings and everything you said is spot on.

2 hours ago, Leeroy said:

Haha, I’m insane for questioning bringing in a player who couldn’t even cut it at West Ham? 
 

Ok mate.

Well I’ll be insane with ya

We most certainly have to be looking at Dybala it would be criminal not to, but do i hear hes injury record is abysmal that would be the only concern from me.

3 minutes ago, jacketspuds said:

I think he'd be a great signing, but does he play RW or LW?

If it's on the left side I would rather have him as an option than Zaniolo.

He has played mostly on the left this season and thats why he is best for us however he is classed as a RW primarily but shining better at LW 

And he reminds me of a player that a Liverpool would sign and turn into a world class machine 

Crysencio Summerville pay 30 mill and bring him to VP we won’t be disappointed

Cyril Ngonge plays primarily on the right, we require a player that is a known threat on the left side where ramsey/zaniolo occupy as thats our current weak area so I’m not so sure on this being the one that fires us over the line

Bailey and Diaby are more than sufficient on that right side , however we would need them to be able to play more central and on the right when its time to be flexible. 

Diaby so so wasteful and frustrating to watch at times, Bailey was absolutely outstanding today his hit new heights … JJ has to be more clinical poor from him But looking alot more better… Pau must start!!! Carlos and Lenglet pairing frightens me… Moreno has to be less risky…

Mcginn today excellent performance from him very enjoyable to watch…. Luiz average… but im delighted with that win but we need to be more convincing i think we can agree having said that I’ll blame finishing because we set up many many chances.

2023 you was quite something UTV!

59 minutes ago, eholm said:

My thoughts exactly. I'm not sure how we are placed from a squad registration situation. Have we got any 'places' left for anymore senior players?

Im not the best expert in ffp and squad capacity numbers but doesn’t appear we are too restricted but not sure

2 hours ago, eholm said:

Agree mate. It will be interesting to see how this window pans out…..I still wouldn’t be totally surprised if we did nothing (although would be a bit disappointed). Let the fun and games begin !!

Id probably be lets say surprised if we didn’t  at least sign one but two might feel like a treat.. either way we will be smart and these last couple matches will have highlighted more missing components which we need to get over the line.

Cash is a excellent player but we have outgrew him in our trajectory so hes not exactly playing terrible he isn’t at the level we are currently at so a new right-back is key for us and allows konsa and pau to pair up again. 
 

I think Emery sticks with Ramsey/Zaniolo well even Tielemans who has played well in that area but he may look for a player across the front line to add to watkins and duran. 

3 hours ago, TRO said:

so, are you telling me one quality CDM in a squad of 25 is sufficient to launch an ambitious assault on the Premier league? and other competitions.

No one has suggested you buy a player, soley based on a 3 match ban or form dip.

The suggestion is based on an eye test, to witness how a young CDM facing an Arduous league campaign and a European cup campaign, and a possible domestic cup, might need some help in a position, that is extremely demanding.

CDM is one of the most crucial positions on a football field....and it requires a combative and robust approach, which attracts suspensions and injuries, not to mention form challenges.

To have one, is a squad weakness imo.

Simple as this and we wouldn’t want to miss out on the opportunity and fall short towards the final and crucial part of the season

23 hours ago, eholm said:

Yep, agree on YT. I’m just not sure we will do a great deal in Jan, principally due to FFP and so if we are able to recruit for an attacking position after getting a RB, I would prefer someone who could cover Ollie and also give us more creativity in the central no10 area to enable us to better negate the low block tactics that the majority of teams we play will now look to do. These players cost big money so doubt that will happen until the Summer…

Yeah FFP thats the only thing holding us back, well and probably sides like Newcastle too.

Yeah better cover for Ollie is key for us because we are solely reliant on him, but we will try and sign a hybrid player someone that can play there and on the left behind striker. 
 

Our priority i would assume is the RB position and would like that to be a similar profile of Alex Moreno.

Might do a buy and a loan deal for two players. I see at least two coming in and two going out. 

53 minutes ago, eholm said:

What’s with the aggression?? Years ago this forum used be great for reasoned discussion and debate - now, any difference in opinion or aspect often generates this type of response. 
 

FWIW, my opinion, is that he needs the games to get to his pre-injury level asap and so the alternative i.e. recruiting another player seems a bit premature as that player would also require time to adapt to our system, new country etc etc. especially when we have other areas of the squad that are more in need of reinforcements e.g. RB. 

There was no aggression fyi and i only like to see us debate without crossing the line especially villa fans no place for that here

7 minutes ago, eholm said:

I think that some, including myself, have disagreed with your JJ comments as your initial post inferred that you wanted to replace him and Zaniolo with a new addition. This made no sense to me but now you have clarified that you were referring to using YT as an alternative until JJ gets back to sharpness, then that seems a good approach - after all we have 4/5 players in the squad who can fill that LHS role. 

Im open to whatever is going to make us able to cement a top four finish, i expect Emery to be mapping that out as we speak other than preparing for Saturdays fixture, the window opens very soon and we should be drawing a shortlist to make things happen. YT has shown a good level there but i also wouldn’t go against bringing in a new recruit for that position to strengthen us but i feel RB is priority. 

For me new top RB so konsa can play in his normal CB position and if we are happy with Tielemans and Ramsey rotation then we must find a forward player that can rotate with watkins and LM/LW 

Lenglet not good enough cannot start there for me too shaky and Carlos does silly passes and gets us into trouble 

49 minutes ago, TRO said:

One of his biggest fans here.....but his performances are lightweight, right now.

One of his biggest fans too btw people have taken what i said out of context as @TRO rightly said his performances are not cutting it at this moment in time and we cannot afford to wait for him to reach that level right now, for me tielemans must start there when fit … ramsey and zaniolo have to hold a spot on the bench.

1 hour ago, eholm said:

Ramsey not good enough? He was phenomenal last season on the left and will be at that level again very soon. Only way to get him up to full speed is to play him - short term pain and all that......

Stop mentioning last season ffs  look at the position we are in you think we got time to wait until he gets back to last seasons levels NO we need someone playing there who has momentum and full energy, never said hes a bad player hes a top player when operating at the levels he did last year… we cannot afford to drop out because we are waiting for him to hit full speed. 

1 hour ago, lexicon said:

RB is the only position I think is an issue tbh. I want to see Pau and Konsa as our CB pairing with someone more cool, calm and collected than Cash at RB. 

No i can’t watch ramsey and zaniolo start on that left side of midfield any longer they are not good enough right now… we need a a RB too nahuel molina hopefully from atletico after that not too fussed. 

2 hours ago, JPJCB said:

Really **** pissed off with that tbh and it’s the first time I’ve rated an emery performance as a “poor”.

Manure’s one strength is playing on the transition and we allowed them to play the game that way despite being in the lead for most of it and being in a position where we should have been able to absorb pressure. There’s a mitigating circumstance that we’re missing both Kamara and Torres (the loss of the former by that Brentford red card is turning out to be a big big miss and something that Martinez should be throroughly embarrassed about given his role in it) but still the gameplan needed to be to drop deeper an absorb their press which we didn’t do. Conceding three goals to these lot is an embarrassment.

Martinez- 7- I don’t think he can be blamed for any of the goals

konsa - 8- Motm- the only leader on the pitch

carlos- 5- looked positionally suspect on a few occassions

lenglet- 6- not terrible considering but lost the ball in dangerous positions

digne- 6- was fine but Moreno outshone him when he came on 

dendoncker- 5- decent in the tackle but contributed to lack of control

luiz- 3- ill drive him to arsenal myself on that performance. Numerous occasions teammates looked for an option in the middle and he was nowhere to be seen. He was being marked closer than usual but made no effort to move into space. The opposite of leadership

mcginn- 5- looked good every now and then on the ball but influenced the game too little. Should probably have been dropped a bit deeper once our lack of control in the game became apparent

ramsey-4- I’d drop him for diaby based on current form and ease him back in via cup matches 

Bailey-5- similar to McGinn. Decent when on the ball but influenced the game too little

watkins- 3- didn’t do anything of note which isn’t really good enough for a striker with his ambition 

Few overreactions here… understandable after what we just witnessed… let me start bu saying this defeat is only cushioned by my persistent pre match prediction that we would lose and Hojlund would score, now the manner of the loss is what drove me to anger… Dendocker who i did not want to start actually played okay, lenglet far from a player that should be starting for us especially the way we play too slow and made silly mistakes… diaby and zaniolo not enough time on pitch….
 

Ramsey useless and now those that questioned me when i said he shouldn’t be relied upon at this moment in time as a starter will now get what i mean… bailey looked electric, cant say much more than that and without stating the obvious but will pau torres and Kamara are ESSENTIAL!!! for us and cannot afford to be missing for too many games.

This f**king bastard side United have been a thorn in my side ever since i can remember, that club could be in the f**king conference and still beat us … the losing to united curse continues even if it has been broken a couple of times recently its just a side we hardly get the best out of it… not much annoys me than losing to man united other than liverpool but not as much as united… Anyway onto the next

2 hours ago, GlobalVillan said:

First time we are going to Old Tafford and not hoping for a shock result!

Times are changing...

EDIT: Just a shame we have so many players out.

This is so true was saying it to myself today but still think were gonna lose just because of certain things which i mentioned not long

Dendocker and Lenglet hmmm yeah its looking grim by the minute paired with Hojlund not scoring yet and United desperately needing to end their bad run of form. 
 

Loss or Draw can’t decide but we wont win… please make me be wrong.

2 hours ago, Pinebro said:

We really need to win

Are you watching spurs right now

Im not but they won apparently im in spain atm lol

After their defeat to West Ham I don’t have a good feeling about this one ill take a draw right now