Monkeypuzzle

50 minutes ago, TRO said:

It makes a huge difference.

if you don't have that....you have to be extremely exceptional.

1 hour ago, MWARLEY2 said:

He is 5 inches taller probably 3 stone heavier and is a far stronger runner on the ball. Aaron is a very good footballer. So is Philogene. But for the left hand side / number 10 Emery has specific requirements. 

Really? No kenneth Williams GIFs from anyone?

In his last post match interview Pep basically hung Grealish out to dry and put him on the transfer list. Now I wouldn't want to pay anywhere near what they paid for him, but if a fee could be agreed, would people want him back? Personally, if the money is right, I think he would fit in to that LM role perfectly in our system.

Ok, so I did some maths. I was curious about just how consistent Villa have been under Unai, since he took over. I don't like looking at win percentage stats as they ignore those oh so precious points that you get from a draw. It makes them look like losses.

Anyway, last season, under Unai, we earned 15 wins and 4 draws out of 25 league games. That's 49 out of 75 points - 65% with a total goal ratio of 40:26

In the cups we did poorly, losing both games. 0%

Using the same points system for cups as the league, that means 49 out of 81 points for the whole season - 60%

That's mighty impressive in your first season, taking over just before Christmas. So how does this season compare?

So far this season we have earned 18 wins and 5 draws from 30 league games. That's 59 out of 90 points - 66% with a total goal ratio of 62:42 (scaled down to compare to last season, that would be a total goal ratio of 52:35)

We are in 3 cup competitions this season and have won 8 and drawn 3 out of 14 games. That's the equivalent of 27 out of 42 points - 64%

In total, this season so far, we have won 26 and drawn 8 out of 44 games. That's the equivalent of 86 out of 132 points - 65%

So in conclusion, last season, with the exception of 2 cup games, Unai and Villa earned 65% of the available points. This season we have again earned 65% of the available points. The main difference is that we are both scoring and conceding more goals this season (30% more goals scored and 35% more conceded in the same number of games). Therefore I would predict we earn 65% of the points from our last 8 games in the league, which would be another 15-16 points. If nothing else, it shows how consistently successful we have been under Unai's guidance.

Does anyone know how our form this season compares to last season (just under Unai). Obviously the Stevie G drag factor had an effect at the start of last season, but under Unai we shot up the table. Have we maintained a similar win percentage this season? Or has it improved or dipped slightly? I'm curious to know how consistent we have been under his leadership.

If they can keep the Victorian red brick aesthetic, as in some of the designs I have seen, I think it would be the best looking modern stadium in the world. I think they were shown as theoretical designs on the Holy Trinity show.

So how does he compare to the likes Seb Revan and Ben Chrisene?

12 minutes ago, StewieGriffin said:

I want to cry.

I want to be happy that his wage/squad spot has been freed up.

I want to be sad that I wont see his maverick ability in the flesh again (unless we play Villarreal, obviously).

I want to be happy he's going to play more.

I need a hug

Somehow, reading that in Stewie Griffin's voice works really well.

20 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

Oh no.

Yeah, wording like that is similar to "I'm not racist, but..." Never going to be a good debate after that, so I just won't engage.

12 minutes ago, paul514 said:

I wouldn’t. 
If we sold him for 120m it’s almost pure profit that allows you to buy a few hundred million pounds worth of players.

the occasional massive sale would do wonders for our buying power.

if

the owners want to put that kind of money in. If.

Is there a player in his position that is better than Douglas Luiz, who would come to Villa, or who would cost less than £120 million? I don't think there is. So selling him for any amount would leave us worse off. I don't think we are that desperate for money that we need to sell our best players.

Usually a club can sell their best player for a huge sum and reinvest that money in players that improve the whole team. Liverpool did that when they sold Coutinho. Sometimes this strategy can go wrong though and the new players don't lift the team enough to recover from the loss. This happened to Spurs when they sold Bale and us when we sold Grealish.

Aston Villa this season are in a slightly different situation now though. If we sold our best players there simply aren't good enough replacements available and the overall strength of the starting eleven is too good to strengthen other areas enough to make up for the loss.

If we sold Martinez we are losing the world's best goalkeeper who is also a vital personality in the dressing room. The only comparible keepers are at Liverpool and Man City, who wouldn't sell to us and even then wouldn't have the same effect on the dressing room.

If we sold Douglas Luiz I can't think of any player in the world who would influence our midfield in quite the same way. He could quite easily start for Man City, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid. If there are players capable of what he does then they already play for a top Champions League team and again, they won't sell them to us.

Even players like Haaland and Kane wouldn't contribute as much to the team as Ollie Watkins does at the moment. They are better goal scorers but they don't contribute as much in other ways.

What we would lose by selling our best would outweigh what we might gain by upgrading in positions like Matty Cash's, John McGinn's or Jacob Ramsey's. We need to sell off expendable players, quality youngsters and take advantage of special circumstances (Dybala's contract for example and free transfers) to improve our weakest positions. Weakest being a relative term. We are, after all, second in the Premier League, over half way through an injury riddled season. It is much harder to improve now than it was even a year ago.

8 hours ago, TomC said:

I don't think that's controversial at all. I, at least, agree 100%.

Deano used Dougie and McGinn in the double pivot when he used a 4-2-3-1. It didn't work. McGinn's abilities are best used further forward.

Last summer, I thought that Tielemans was signed to rotate with Doug and Kamara in the double pivot, but now he's being used further forward, too...if we're 3-box-3 in attack, it's been Doug and Tielemans on the front of the box, and Doug and Kamara on the back of the box.

We also have JJ and, when he comes back, Buendia competing for positions at the front of the box. Arguably Zaniolo too.

So yes, we need cover in the double pivot. To me, Donck in the double pivot is like Olsen is as a GK. Olsen is a competent shot blocker, but today's goalkeepers need to do more, i.e. pass the ball, especially in our system where we pass the ball around in back so much. Donck is a competent ball-winner, but his passing limitations mean he just doesn't fit our system.

The problems is, if you find another player who can win the ball and pass, i.e. another Doug or Kamara, he's a good enough player that he's going to want to start and he's going to be expensive. But the "big" clubs have been managing this sort of problem for years. That's part of us moving up in the world.

 

Have they though? Who is Man City's quality back up to Rodri? Who do Liverpool have now that Fabinho has gone? Who do Man Utd have backing up Cassimeiro? Who is backing up Rice at Arsenal? Partey was rumoured to leave before he got moved to right back and then got injured. The big clubs do NOT have answers to this problem. Having injuries to your best players and first choice eleven affects any squad. Teams have their most successful seasons when they are lucky enough to have very few injuries to their first eleven. Otherwise they just do the best they can without a perfect replacement.

Is there a reason that Bogarde never seems to play? Their manager, Joey Barton, was raving about him last season. Is he just not deemed good enough this season?

1 hour ago, Made In Aston said:

I'd be shocked if Dougie was sold in January. I don't think Arsenal would pay the 80m+ needed for us to even consider it. Also we don't want to sell and Luiz is not likely to down tools to force a move. I think a new contract is more likely than a sale at the moment. 

If we accept a bid anywhere near as low as £80 million for Dougie I will truly despair. In today's market he is worth at least £120 million! He contributes more than Rice @ £105 million and is miles better than Calceido @ £115 million.

16 hours ago, est1874 said:

Let him go, sell Chambers, and look to buy a better CB than both.

Maybe we release Lenglet, sell Chambers and reinstate Hause to become our secret LCB cover secret weapon?! No? Oh well, poor guy.

GK - Martinez, Olsen

RB - Cash, ???

CB - Konsa, Carlos

CB - Mings, Torres

LB - Moreno, Digne

DM - Kamara, Dendoncker

CM - Luiz, Tielemans

RAM - McGinn, Bailey

LAM - Ramsey, Buendia

CF - Diaby, Zaniolo

ST - Watkins, Duran

Who are you selling to replace in this squad? RB is the only spot with a vacancy. There are also a few senior players to sell who don't make the two players per position idea. For me, as well as Chambers, Hause and Traore going when possible, we could look at someone like Frimpong or Dumfries coming in for right back competition. Someone like Ferran Torres may come in whilst Buendia is still out, Ramsey is getting up to speed and Zaniolo has not made quite the impact they may have been hoping for. 

Or we may sign no one. That is a very strong squad that might even be leading the Premier League at Christmas, so who knows?

3 hours ago, Tommo_b said:

I really like Zaniolo, think he looks quality… granted this might be why I’m not a football scout at any level. 

Oh I didn't mean that we have no long term plans for Zaniolo. Just not in the left midfield position. I'm pretty sure we brought him in with either a Bailey replacement (that viewpoint might have changed now with his improvement) or Diaby competition role in mind for him. With Buendia and Ramsey out for twelve and six months, he has had to play a different role to the one originally planned.

3 hours ago, KMitch said:

Pretty sure Diaby was signed because Williams didn't want to leave Bilbao.  With Bailey looking significantly better this season, we'd be better off spending big on finding a better left sided player to compete with Buendia next season instead of Zaniolo.  

You mean someone like Ramsey? With him and Buendia, we have our left side. Zaniolo is just covering that position whilst both were out injured.

15 minutes ago, Adman said:

I was listening to the claret and blue podcast (Dan Bardell) today and I think they're right about our intent this window.  They don't hink we need anyone, and there's a good arguement to not sign anyone.

Backup keeper - perhaps we reason that the drop off would be that big from Emi that it's not worth the expense to bring someone in now.

RB - who are we going to get as an upgrade to Cash in Jan who's not costing a fortune?

The rest of the squad looks pretty good with Ramsay and Moreno due back imminently.  We also have to consider longer term injuries (and any players sold that we might want to buyback) and how they will affect the squad in the summer.

If we sell Traore, Chambers and Dendonker, they haven't really played so wouldn't be missed that much.  We've got some really good options on the bench that need more minutes. ..So if we keep our powder dry, see where we finish and go from there

 

 

Agree mostly but one question. Who do we play if Cash gets injured? Is Konsa really the long term answer in that position? I think a new right back is worth investigating in January. Whether or not we can find one, I think we will be looking.

I think that right back is the only position where we are in desperate need of someone. As competition for Cash, like Digne is for Moreno. Moreno's injury shows how important it is to have quality back up for every position. After that it depends on replacing players one for one. There are lots of positions that could be discussed in this way. Olsen in goal, Dendoncker in defensive midfield, Duran up front. Those players are all capable of performing for us but aren't getting used much so maybe they might move on. We also have a couple of players to move on. Hause and Chambers. Also Traore is on the peripheral so I think we can expect some outgoings in January as well.

On 12/11/2023 at 00:18, Pongo Waring said:

How about Jobe Bellingham from Sunderland?
 

 

You know he's a big Birmingham City fan right? I imagine, just like his big brother, that the last thing he would want is to come to us.

@abdulaziz1 If you mean cut backs then Moreno is a master, yes. The beauty is that we have both players so can vary the delivery of assists based on the opposition's strengths and weaknesses! Happy times!

What position was Chrisene playing? I assume Moreno was at left back, so where did Chrisene play?

On 12/11/2023 at 21:40, abdulaziz1 said:

Dinge is good but he lacks something attacking wise. His shots are ok but most of his crosses aren’t good. Moreno adds a different dimension to our game. But at certain games Dinge would still be very important. Good to have both.

I've never seen a statement about a footballer that I disagree more with. He is quite possibly the best crosser in our squad, one of the best in the Premier League!

No, no, no! Don't get excited guys! Remember, the papers said he was unhappy about his lack of game time and was going to demand a transfer in January. Genuine ITK stuff. Oh that's right, it was just more rubbish in the media about the genuinely exceptional squad we are building here!

1 hour ago, Delphinho123 said:

I think Cash, Digne, Konsa, Watkins and Luiz have all been outstanding this season too! 

I'm just teasing! Yes, you are correct, we have multiple players in excellent form this season. We really are seemingly 'doing a Newcastle' where there is a huge increase in form for an extended period of time.