Villaphil

6 hours ago, villa4europe said:

I'm not sure what signing araham would achieve, he's 26 now, coming off 2 poor years at Rome including a bad injury, would still be circa £20m and would be let's say a 4 year deal on £100k+ per week 

I can see an argument for him being better than what Duran is right now but by the end of his contract he wouldn't be 

Just don't see it as a forward thinking transfer, it's an easy safe transfer that ultimately wouldn't get us anywhere - and I think it's villa fans that constantly link us to him because the striker pool is so small right now he's just an easy name that we all know - personally I'm OK with Duran being back up but if we were insistent on getting say a 22 year old proper number 9 with bags of potential I don't know who that is, if it was a goal scoring wide man or number 10 I could shout some names out but a number 9 I haven't got a clue, and that's the only reason Abrahams name pops up, not because he's realistic or good enough 

We don’t need back up next season, we won’t be able to rest players in the Champs League, the way we did in Europe this year.  We need someone who will be able to start multiple Premier League games, but accept, to begin with at least, they are behind  Watkins for the big games. Don’t think Duran is there yet, in terms of fairly consistently starting in the Prem.

5 hours ago, CarryOnVilla said:

 Tammy Abraham links and ideas are just fan service. 
 

 

Wasn’t the deal to sign him all but done last year ?  We didn’t go elsewhere for a striker, it’s not that ridiculous to suggest that is because we were prepared to wait 12 months ??

7 hours ago, paul514 said:

Why on earth would we extend Digne's massive contract? When you have two 'older players' for a position you get rid of one for a younger option. It should be Digne due to wage and the fact Emery brought in Moreno.

Kimmich........Not happening.

Jack.......Not happening.

Abraham, you may well be correct but who are you getting rid of? 

Contracted salaries, on renewal, can go down as well as up.  Diaby turned down more money from Saudi.  Maybe Lucas fancies a go at the Champions League ??

17 hours ago, GingerCollins29 said:

In order of priority:

DM: cover for kamara and rotate with DL/BK

RB: An upgrade on cash to alllow konsa to play centre half

LB: An upgrade on either digne or moreno, providing we sell one of them. 

LW/SS: To challenge Leon and Moussa, whilst buendia and ramsey get back up to speed. 

Kimmich covers the first 2, extend Digne’s contract does the third, Jack the forth, and I think we can get Abraham on the cheap, from Roma.

2 hours ago, alreadyexists said:

I think FIFA advise they should be five years unless the country has different rules, and in England there’s no limit.  

Once there’s a player on a 9 year contract being paid £300k a week, that turns out to be crap, these long contracts will become less common.  No way of shifting them on, given the wages and the speed at which the transfer fee gets amortised.

29 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

This is the only AOC I want 

We definitely need a left wing(er).…… I’ll get my coat 

23 minutes ago, bobzy said:

We could absolutely offer him £1m/wk for 1 season.

We won't.  He won't come.  But we could.

V Sports could pay him £150m over the next 3 years to front their MLS expansion plans, whilst charging Aston Villa £100k a week for his side hustle of turning out for Aston Villa every week.  Certainly sounds FFP compliant ?????

5 minutes ago, Tayls said:

Time to move on. 

There’s no way Marseille were going to sell before this game with Monaco.  Not saying it’s happening, just that it never was going to happen before this game had been played.

12 minutes ago, TRO said:

I know, you have to take reports with a pinch of Salt....but any player with genuine interest from us, who claims to be waiting for bigger clubs, needs to be dumped.

Character, is crucial, and only players with a firm interest in joining our project, should be considered.

we don't want mercenaries.

Agreed about mercenaries, but also don’t mind waiting for Man City / Real Madrid to decide to pass on a player before we sign them.  If we are the highest placed team that is keeping an eye on a player, is that player really going to take us forward ???

Guendouzi and McKennie noise coming straight out of the Lange playbook.  Quiet on Guendouzi (Target 1) with loads of noise (including fee) around McKennie (Target 2).  Noise on Target 2 (Also see Calum Wilson) putting pressure on Club and player ref Target 1 (Also see Ollie Watkins).

Ref Benteke or Wesley debate ….
 

Jhon Duran Duran

He’s bigger than me or you

He’s gonna score 1 or 2

Jhon Duran Duran

4 minutes ago, May-Z said:

I actually think Leeds did a really good job tactically today.

They knew we'd pass it out so put three high to press and filled the midfield to pick the passes into their or the knockdowns from from.

Kamara is absolutely shit hot, so he looked good, but every else was taken out of the game. 

However, when we made space, we used it well and attacked well. 

It was a scrap, but we won that scrap. In the past we would have rolled over. 

Thought Leeds had a clear tactic to force the ball into Konsa whose distribution doesn’t quite match that of Mings.

14 minutes ago, M_Afro said:

Harry Maguire is better than Mings (and I rate Mings). If he were available at the right price/wages then he would be a great fit for us. Unfortunately I just think he would be too expensive and therefore I’d give it a miss. I also think there’s absolutely no truth in the rumours.

6 month loan would suit everyone involved??  Villa need improvement, Maguire needs game time and Utd want to be able to sell him in the summer.

2 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

According to FBref he is 

Lucas Digne Stats, Goals, Records, Assists, Cups and more | FBref.com

I think what's clear to all of us and born out in stats too. Digne isn't a pacey full back, he also never dribbles with the ball at all. He doesn't make a lot of tackles. He's a very good passer of the ball and he creates a lot of chances.

Moreno is a different type of player. He's very fast, dribbles all the time, tries to get in to score goals himself but he's not a good passer of the ball, not progressive passing and doesn't make shot creating actions. He's more a winger playing in FB

I see different players with different qualities for different situations and opponents.

What ! You mean Emery will have options, other than replace like for like but with a slightly worse player ???  That can’t be it, surely.

Any chance Emery is thinking of being able to stack both Digne and Moreno on the left hand side, rather than just ditch Digne.  Maybe it’s horses for courses at left back, but with the ability to stack both when called for ???

DCL anyone ??

15 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

This is exactly what will happen. 

Im absolutely flabbergasted we haven’t signed another central midfielder. 

To be honest, a lot of it is probably down to the fact our squad is bloated and we as a club have absolutely no idea when the time is right to sell players. Often, we wait til the end of their contract or wait for them to be sidelined for an extended period of time before we look to move them on. That obviously means they either leave on a free, on loan, for a very small price or not at all.

For all the good that has happened over the last few years, I’d actually argue we’ve been fairly poorly run when it comes to the footballing side of things, especially given the money spent. I know that’s something a lot of people don’t like to hear but we’re a mess right now and that is inexcusable given the investment in the playing squad. 

Completely agree on timing of a sale.

However, just to throw it out there, Mings has 2 years left on his contract, do we offer the significant bump he would likely want, to extend his stay, or sell?

My guess is Gerrard wants to run the club properly and thinks there’s better quality and value out there, vs extending his stay.  Obviously the dynamic changed with the Carlos injury.

I’ve not seen much on this conundrum from the Mings > Gerrard brigade.

2 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

Purslow being in Aus would say to me not much is imminent.

Or we are going to have a chat with Rashford, at the weekend?

1 hour ago, ender4 said:

Maybe.

We’ve spent a fair chunk, but then have sold/released some players as well.
 

Feels like we have 1 more purchase to go, irrespective of whether we sell.  

For example, let’s say we sell El Ghazi for £5m.  Does that make the difference between us buying a striker or CM for £30-40m?  I’d say it probably doesn’t IF the right player becomes available for the right price.

Makes a difference to the price we’d get for El Ghazi, that’s for certain, and that runs into millions.  I’d imagine we’re trying to line up a few departures, but want them to go within a few days as we  don’t want to create this inbuilt discount that everyone can assume.

4 hours ago, villa4europe said:

Dybala can play off him can't he? 

I thought he could play a 10 as well as a striker 

Yes but where’s the fun in using that kind of logic ??  Tammy’s coming home

2 hours ago, Indigo said:

Preece seems like a good guy but he really doesn't help himself does he. Didn't he literally say we were done transfer-wise only like last week or something.

Done, as it is, was the phrase he used.  As in, no purchase without sales.  I think he’s right.

What will Tammy do ?

It’s happening !!!

Wow, El Ghazi not on penalty duty tonight, he must be off soon !!

40 minutes ago, USA_Villa said:

I'm not quite sure why I'm sitting here feeling a little bit nervous for the upcoming season and beyond. Any why is this, I ask myself?

• It does seem as though the transfer strategy has changed from Smith to Gerrard. Smith purchased young players, with potential, and with the likelihood that we could sell them on for a profit in the future. 
• With Gerrard's signings, we are purchasing players at the top of their purchase price and paying them, most likely, the top paying contract they are ever likely to receive
• I understand the need for coverage in all positions, but is this at the expense of our youth being given a chance, and us seeing these talented young players leave?
• In all honesty, which one of our youth players do you see coming through and playing at least ten full games this year, similar to JJ?
• It does seem as though we've gone a little 'All-In' on Gerrard. I hope this strategy works, as I'm not sure NSWE will go through another round of spending in the same manner as before.
• How will Gerrard and the training team cope without Michael Beale around? It will be his first time managing without his number one guy. 
• We performed very badly against the Top 6 under Gerrard last season. Why?

I really hope this season is a success, but I'm not sure it's a foregone conclusion. I've seen other teams with good players not gel, or not work out as planned. 

Don't let me down Stevie. I'm still 50-50 on you, and I'm hoping you put these nagging doubts I have to bed.

UTV

A lot to unpack there, but taking it in turn:  We spent a lot on young players that would be good enough to progress us up the league structure whilst they develop and get better, with the intention that they get better as the team progresses and so take us even higher.  See Mings, Konsa etc.  Gerrard’s point to the board was that whilst that made football and financial sense (see links to our squad gaining £186m in value since purchase), at some point you are going to need experience and serious quality if you wish to progress further, after all we are looking to oust Man Utd and Arsenal from European spots.  Buying young players tends to leave your squad thin on experience. Due to this policy we are now in a position where players that have served us well are now unable to help us rise those extra places into the top half and above.

The 2 risks Gerrard has taken, is Digne and Diego Carlos, both of which were cheaper than you might expect, given the issues at the clubs involved, therefore mitigating some of that risk.

With regards to youth players, yes we’ve some gems, but look at Chelsea, their youth players get experience abroad, the championship and even the Premier League, that tells you, you can’t perform to your best whilst also blooding a lot of youth players.  The new left back is here because Chrisene isn’t ready yet, and he may never be, but the premier league is not the place to test that out, yet, at least.

Beale will be a miss, but I expect Critchley to do a cracking job, and we’ll bring in further support, if needed.

I’d answer the top 6 question by pointing out our lack of defensive cover in midfield, which has been filled now and I expect us to be far more resolute in defence this year.  Wouldn’t be surprised if we went and got another 6 type player, especially if Dougie goes.

UTV