Greenfly

11 hours ago, Mazrim said:

I think Traore is what you might call Mercurial. I'm prepared for some disappointment if the payoff is there as often. Its intriguing.

This is why I'm a big fan of Trez and Conor. They can do nothing all game, then all of a sudden they win it for us with a moment of brilliance. I'd rather they do it all the time obviously, but they have a habit of showing up when they're needed, like batman or something.

11 hours ago, Mazrim said:

I think Traore is what you might call Mercurial. I'm prepared for some disappointment if the payoff is there as often. Its intriguing.

This is why I'm a big fan of Trez and Conor. They can do nothing all game, then all of a sudden they win it for us with a moment of brilliance. I'd rather they do it all the time obviously, but they have a habit of showing up when they're needed, like batman or something.

9 hours ago, Hornso said:

The goal should be just to survive this season. Who have we got next?

Everton. They've won their first two having scored 5 and conceded 0.

If this deal looks like it's going to drag on too long, I think we should set a deadline to pull out. We can't really afford the deal to fall through with no time left to sort an alternative.

47 minutes ago, Enda said:

No chance.

Beye, Balaban, McCormack, Richards, N’Zogbia.

And Lescott, surely.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this personally based on what little information I've seen, but I agree with the sentiment that we shouldn't be so negative without him having even signed.

Can we all just promise that if he does sign, we'll actually back him and give him a chance? Vocally writing someone off too fast is the worst thing you can do for their confidence.

1 hour ago, mikeyp102 said:

Villa website tomorrow:

09:10 - 

09:20 - 

09:30 - 

09:45 - Rashica, Martinez, Traore all confirmed

I'm up for work at 3AM, and you can bet I'll be straight on Twitter for the updates.

2 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

watch this save.... (time stamped for you - but from 10min 4 sec)

 

 

Hnnngh

I'm wracking my brains trying to figure out what this guy offers that Trez doesn't. The idea is to trade up, not sideways.

7 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

Saves like this are top class.

 

Holy moly. How on earth did he stop that dead?

I'm starting to get hyped about this now.

1 minute ago, AerialThreat said:

I personally feel like his distribution is better than Leno’s. Emi is very comfortable with the call at his feet even when he’s being closed down. You just can’t play for Arteta if you aren’t. 
 

He’s a real presence and really settled our defence after the restart. His size will surprise you as will his agility. He made a save from Mahrez in the FA Cup semi where he just snapped down on the spot to block the attempt - brilliant.

This is all great to hear. His lack of game time is a concern to us, but this all sounds very promising.

Just now, AerialThreat said:

Hi folks

Friendly Arsenal fan here!

Just dropped by to tell you just how good a keeper you’re getting in Emi Martinez. (Can confirm the deal is 100% done!)

We’re gutted to be losing him but we need to sell to raise funds for signings - we can’t afford to have two £20m+ rated keepers.

One thing worth mentioning - he’s the best keeper I’ve ever seen in terms of claiming crosses. It’s like he’s got superglue on his gloves!

Wishing you all the best for the season ahead!

Gareth aka @AerialThreat (Twitter)

That's music to my ears. We've had bad luck with keepers who just love to punch or slap the ball rather than catch it.

What's his distribution like?

2 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

They are going straight back down by the looks of it.

Once against signing too many players all at once. Like they learned nothing from the men.

It's too early to say that yet, but it's not looking good. I don't understand why they let Mel Johnson leave, when she scored so many goals last season.

Just now, MaVilla said:

just watched the "instagram story", shows her and some friends/family having a meal at the Belfrey, then walking outside showing the entrance.

the belfrey is literally a mile or so from Bodymoor Heath Training Ground isnt it?

Yeah. It's practically down the road.

56 minutes ago, bickster said:

I just saw the highlight reel against Citeh from last week. A 3 month old kitten would be a better goalkeeper than the one we've got

Lisa Weiss has been doing better against Reading overall I think. Not much she could've done about either of the goals.

Edit: it wasn't Weiss playing against City, by the way. She's a new signing.

Looking at what we have and who were linked with now, I'm saying 12-13. I'd take 14-15 though, it would be a nice improvement.

You never know of course, Watkins + Grealish could be the best combination in the history of the league for all we know.

41 minutes ago, Exeter Fan said:

I see Super Ollie Watkins is impressing already

Absolutely. I've watched that goal loads of times this morning. I find myself not watching Grealish's inch perfect switch, or Trez's superb cross. To me, the most interesting part of it was Watkins' movement. He spent the whole time in a clear goalscoring position, and it's crazy to think we've gone so long without somebody who does that.

13 hours ago, MrBlack said:

Is this sarcasm or not? Can't tell.  26 could be argued as young for a gk. 28, not for me. 

Yes, some GKs continue at the top level beyond 33, but most dont

That's what I mean by "pretty" young. 28 is around the age most goalies seem to become first choice, as far as I can tell.

1 hour ago, Villarocker said:

Just out of interest guys, for those who probably know a lot more about Rashica and foreign football than I do, would you class this a marquee signing if it happens? 

Rashica is almost everything to Bremen that Grealish is to us, except he isn't an academy product. To put it into some context, imagine if Grealish left us. That's more or less what it would be like for Bremen losing Rashica.

I'm not saying that he's as good as Grealish of course, and I hesitate to call him a marquee, but I was excited by the idea the moment I heard the link. Honestly thought a team higher in the league would've snapped him up by now.

7 hours ago, MotoMkali said:

Yeah but his dribbles decreased to under one a game. I hope he can bring that back up so we aren't reliant on jack to keep bringing the ball forward. 

The thing we lacked more than anything last season was someone who knew when to be in the box on the end of attacking plays. Given the choice of a poacher's instinct or a dribbler, I know which I'd prefer.

2 hours ago, sne said:

How can he be priced at £20m when he's almost never played a game of football in his life? 

Competition
	Championship	50	64	14
	Premier League	15	16	6
	Reserve League	15	19	6
	Premier League 2	14	12	4
	U21 PL Elite Group	8	10	1
	LaLiga	4	5	2
	League Two	1	3	-

 

That's his entire career and he's 28 y.o. Hope the club knows what they are doing and not just stockpiling goalies.

Bear in mind he's still pretty young for a keeper.

Sane to Villa for 31 million. Decent.

Heaton is an absolute monster, or best signing on this evidence. He alone will ensure our safety this season.

Hourihane showing definitively why he must be around the starting 11 - defensively he's suspect, but his set pieces are game changers.

It was nice to see Jimmy too. He didn't have much chance to prove himself, but he clearly offers something different to Wes. I'd say he's plenty good enough to be backup this season.

All in all, if we play like this all season, we're going to be just fine.

Hourihane will be better as cover or a rotation option for Grealish and McGinn. He rocks in those positions, not so much as a DM.