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Whilst I'm resigned to him joining Arsenal you can't discount the possibility of us seriously throwing enough cash to win the signature. Some may recall that actually Spurs were front-runners for Watkins for a big part of the window and allegedly we were just far more aggressive in the bidding war and made sure we got our man...

On the eyetest, my biggest problem with him was his passing and it felt to me this season in his cameos he's managed to cut out some (not all) of his sloppiness. What has surprised me is looking up the statistics is that he actually as quite good passing stats, both this year and last. The accuracy of his passing in short and medium certainly doesn't seem to be a weakness of his at all and is very interesting when you compare with Douglas Luiz Nakamba: Douglas Luiz: To not be unfair on Dougie, as you can see from the progressive distance stats, he certainly is far more ambitious with the balls he plays and this is a key component on how we set up on the counter. However it was interesting to dispel the myth Nakamba is "sloppy" in possession, he may be unambitious as he focuses on short/medium sideways passing but it feels reassuring he might not necessarily be a liability in this area when it comes to possession retention.

If there were any doubts, it seems clear on games in which we won't have time on the ball Nakamba needs to start. His tenacity has been huge so far in a pressing Leeds side. Question marks over his ability on the ball but has cut out a decent part of his sloppiness from last season. You can see why Grealish said he was the player with the most stamina he's played with, he's been Gana-esque. That energy is very much needed in our team which has looked sluggish in recent weeks.

In my post I specifically mentioned how Rodrigo De Paul specifically isn't one of the more languid 10s like Ozil or more pointedly like Barkley. He gets involved in a functioning midfield 3 more often and is similar to 10s to who seem to play deeper (Bernardo Silva/Houssem Aouar).

Agree with @Zatman don't see him performing the more utility role Barella/Brozovic offer but Vidal isn't getting any younger. Fair point regarding Udinese owners, can imagine there might be some bad blood with the wrongly thinking the Sheff Utd Hawkeye thing relegated them

After given it some thought in the summer I would like to see us go in for Rodrigo De Paul of Udinese, as our #10 with the cash we may have earmarked to make Barkley permanent. He seemed to very close to signing with Leeds in the summer for €35m but don't believe Leeds were able to stump up the cash. In terms of creative output, he's up in their with the best in Europe but what would suit us is his style isn't of mecurial Ozil type that can float in and out of games but instead a far more gritty midfielder which as you can see from the comparisons has shades of KDB lite to him and seems more focused on positive creative build up rather than just getting on the end of moves. Certainly worth a watch, I really think the way he drifts to the left flank is quite Barkley esque and would lead to him combining with JG well but with the consistency and grit that Barkley isn't currently affording us. He will certainly be a coup, Leeds will be certain to come back in for him with Liverpool recently mooted with an interest, regardless it would be the statement signing after our '3rd season' in the premier league in which FFP becomes far less onerous and will earmark our intent into cracking into Europe as a regular force.

Since Barkley's return I have been more and more frustrated with the soft underbelly of our midfield. It's clear watching Ross trot back casually that it's putting too much pressure on McGinn and Luiz, whether its tactical by Dean or fitness it certainly is our weakness at the moment. HOWEVER, the downside he offers defensively even if he isn't involved directly in the build-up he massively seems to unshackle Watkins. Watkins has scored 9 of his 10 goals this season when Barkley has been on the pitch I believe and I don't think that is a coincidence. Ross is frustrating to me to no end in how soft he's made out midfield 3 however I'm not sure whether it is tactical by Dean and looking at Watkins numbers since Ross return we certainly have to consider the benefit he brings on that side.

Matty Cash is honestly one of my favourite Villa players at the moment but I think despite Traore leaving him exposed time and time again, he has struggled in certain games - I think that was certainly the case vs Burnley and Leeds is another that springs to mind which is was back when Trez was in the XI. All in all for his 2nd season as right back and first in prem he's doing incredible in what is probably one of the hardest roles in the league. Have high hopes for him and so impressed with how he's acquitted himself so far but have the feeling teams are clocking on to the fact he can got at.

Good memory! I think the description was something along the lines of #8 from the continent that has played at the highest level (champions league?) and would be buying from a team of a higher stature than villa (currently anyway). Really keen to see this one get over the line, can't say I know much about him but watching videos he seems amazing at breaking up play than evading his man and driving up the pitch - exactly the sort of movements which tend to release Grealish and result in a lot of our chances. I understand we smell an opportunity here in terms of lowballing but £15m down from £30m in the summer seems a good enough deal to me?

Preece claiming no city interest and seems to be backed up by Manchester Evening journos. I know he mostly knows nothing but the optimists of us can cling to it in the meantime!

Would expect a higher level but certainly seems the liverpool game has certainly put some of our players in the shopping window for the loan market.

This is one of the names I'm most excited for, it seems we beat some pretty stiff competition when we signed him in the summer and Exeter staff seem to rate him above both Watkins and Ampadu in terms of ceiling. In addition Guardian did a profile on him as one of the best talents to keep an eye on; I didn't manage to catch the Liverpool game but how did he play? It seemed like he was one of the youngest on the field.

With a fully fit Barkley available for selection, do you play him and shove AEG right and drop Traore, even knowing AEG cant cut in on that wing and be as much of a threat. Or do you keep Barkley on bench knowing he's come here having been promised first team football. Tricky decision for Dean Smith.

Can't give him enough credit for the turnaround in performances. I believe @TrentVilla called it with the addition of other attacking players allowing him to focus on actually defending, and boy can he defend when he puts his mind to it. Consistency throughout the season will be key but beyond pleased with how well he's played this season. I heard that Terry manages the defences in LB + LCB and RB +RCB and it seems that has helped Targett become a lot less isolated as he was at points last season. Definitely a superlative but hear me out I believe that Terry may be teaching him the ways of his old teammate Ashley Cole! A long way to go to but a technically great fullback who focuses on doing the dirty work well definitely fits the description for Targett at the moment and whilst I am aware its a bit OTT I never thought in a million years I'd dare to make the comparison last season.

I'm not sure I'm really buying this if he's one footed he should play in the middle idea. Yes on the wing playing with one foot is noticeable as when 1v1 with fullback the option of going outside on crossing is pretty much negated HOWEVER playing in the middle at this level probably requires use of both foot far more? Whilst its probably not as noticeable to us as spectators playing in the middle requires you to be comfortable receiving and playing one touch passes with both feet and a good #10 drifts to either side to create overloads. Some of the most two footed players I can remember play #10 (Cazorla, KDB, Messi). I think the wing is still the best role for him, yes his technical ability on the ball would be nice if more play ran through him in the middle but our #10 play is best as almost second striker like Barkley does and I think Traore getting more time to think on the ball on the wing suits him in getting up to speed in the prem. I think he really brought the best out in Cash as well, hopefully if he has a run at RW we can see Cash bomb on a bit more on the overlap as we saw for the disallowed goal as it would be nice if we had consistent crossing threat for Watkins given that was his bread and butter at Brentford.

From Grealish's recent interview it sounds like we had no idea Barkley was going to come until after the Fulham game, so maybe Traore was attractive to us as he could've played in that role should Barkley not fancied the move. I have to be honest, have struggled to see what Klopp and Dean have seen in him to both be willing to spend such a large chunk on him, I know we generally counter attack down the left side via Jack but I thought we'd have seen more of a showcase of Traore's supposed pace by now? Regardless he had very few minutes in the last season with Lyon in a year in which the league was called off by March anyway, he needs minutes in his legs more than anyone and so for that fact I'm more than happy to reserve judgement until end of season like we saw with Luiz and Konsa, I just hope that injuries don't force us to rely on him and some bad performances knock his confidence - his style of football with the flair seems like it needs confidence to work.

I wouldn't say every team has doubled up on Jack so far (they should do however) but they don't e.g Trent vs him in the 7-2. My comment on our tactics isn't about what the teams do vs us, it's that we choose not to progress play down our right side - which would allow Matty to get higher up the pitch at times and be under the cosh a bit less. Regardless it's not a criticism, nearly every team has a favoured side at the expense of the other and it is beyond clear that ours is our left. It was more a praise for Matty given his performances despite having a role in our system that puts him under quite a lot of duress.

Small piece on Cash's performances in The Athletic piece, I have to say two stats took me by surprise Only Allan, Oriol Romeu and Stuart Dallas have won more tackles than Cash (15) this season, Only N’Golo Kante (24) has made more interceptions than Cash’s 21 in the Premier League this season Albeit I saw very little of cash when he was a right back at Forest last season, I did not expect a converted winger to be this solid defensively. As much as I'd like to see him spread his wings, it seems a tactical decision to throw him to the wolves so we can progress play down Jacks wing. There are times when he's clearly over worked and teams might target that as Leeds did to great to success, I do think that despite his reputation Trez needs to be doing more to help Cash. Regardless its been a great start for the lad and I hope he can keep it up this season as his proactive style of defending really does snuff out attacks before they have time to materialise.

Do you have a link to it?

Probably wrong timing to post this but I feel Grealish doesn't fully trust Watkins still. Maybe its just PTSD from our previous strikers but I do think Watkins passing can be quite sloppy and its his weakest attribute, thought maybe we'd have seen some more give and go's with Grealish by now. Outside of that I couldn't be more pleased. Our 2nd goal was a thing of wonder - on the face of it an 'easy' finish but I feel thats the sort of chance that would have flashed across the face of goal for a throw in before Watkins arrived. His hold up play is reminding me of prime Benteke too, never realised we were getting someone this strong.

Seems to have gone under the radar but the proactivity from Martinez to intercept McGinn's torrid backpass from Partey just after the goal was ruled out was so so important. As we all know going down 1-0 down that early, immediately after a goal disallowed would have massively changed the course of the game. It also showed immense speed of thought from Emi, as that was actually the 2nd highest xG chance of the game across both teams!

Superb performance from Dougie after a drop off in the Leeds and Southampton games. Arsenal put Lacazette on him as they did with Fred to stop him from dictating but he eluded Lacazette fantastically and took him out of the game. Much of that is also attributable to McGinn alongside him, whom I believe he is building some chemistry with. They have to be played as a double pivot going forward to me as both can take turns to support the attack. I'd almost argue that McGinn's passing range has dramatically improved due to Luiz's influence. Regardless of having McGinn helping him play out from the back Dougie offered the centrebacks assistance so often and really helped take the life out of any embryonic arsenal attack. His composure on the ball in these games are absolutely critical, too often in the past our DMs have shat the bed after sustained pressure and just given it back to the opposition.

I found some fairly interesting graphs on Villa's playstyle this season so far It seems there is a concerted effort to almost bypass our midfield looking at this first graph. This of course makes sense for predominantly counter attacking ream but it worries me how extreme our lack of possession in midfield is and I believe that Leeds and Southampton were games which were predominatly won by their teams midfield press. The second graph is far more comforting showing how clinical we are when we do attack and the third graph has us in good company as a similar profile to City, Chelsea and somewhat Liverpool. Showing we are good at creating chances through passing but not typically through the traditional wideman (which I wouldn't categorise JG as). It might be a tad reactionary but the first graph has made me question whether this midfield composition has legs at the moment, whilst it's a style that has on the whole worked for us bypassing the midfield, I feel there will be games this season the just pass to Jack on break tactic will lose effectiveness and we should be able to rely upon our midfield to control possession and slowly create chances that way. Individually I believe Barkley, Luiz and McGinn have the quality for that but it makes me wonder if Dean has them on specific orders to release the ball immediately?

The biggest disappointment tonight was uncharacteristic little assistance he gave Cash defensively down the right today. Leeds had so much joy there and Cash being isolated led to many of their chances.

https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2020/october/Chukwuemeka-pens-pro-deal/ Signed a professional contract, must say I know very little about him outside for the few scoutvideos that make there way over here, seems like he's very highly rated and may have the physical attributes to make some minor cameos in the first team in this season. Wishing the best for him.