Monkeypuzzle

Ah Stowe House! I got married in a temple in their gardens.

Or Feeney!

A Man City youth player with no League or cup experience at senior level? He would be at least £20 million by their standard, with a buy back clause. Pass!

Don't say that out loud! Some on here will want to replace him since he isn't a "proper" full back, just like they moan about with Cash.

Beauty and the Beast?

£15m seems fine for this guy. Much higher pedigree than Moreno, if a little older, but this guy just won a world cup. I'll be sad to see Digne go, if he does, but this guy as a replacement is a step up. As far as one can tell with out foresight!

I think he is a bit like Nicky Butt, very good footballer but always on the bench because of the quality in his team. Yet quite happy with that sometimes bit part role. It was the same at Wolves for him.

Dendoncker > Adams Why is our Belgian international, strong, solid defensive midfielder so underated by people here. When he is fit he will be a great person to bring in when Kamara is not on the pace. We do not need to replace him.

Just a thought, but, since he seems to offer a similar skill set to Diaby, could he in fact have been brought in to rotate with Diaby? Switching between the wing and just behind/alongside Watkins? As opposed to being a regular starter alongside him.

I like the Acuna rumour. I think he'd be perfect if Digne is going to Saudi, but where is this rumour coming from? I've seen nothing except one villa podcaster.

Where has this "second striker" phrase come from? Never heard it before Emery came in. It is basically a rebrand of centre forward (the deeper lying striker, such as Bergkamp, who plays behind the main striker) so what is the point of this new name?

People losing their heads because of Mings injury. Yes he's a big loss but we don't need to bring in someone new. We have three top quality centre backs still and a decent fourth. This is why we have two players per position. People get injured. The fact that so many think we should buy Maguire is terrifying. Before the Mings injury this forum was filled with jokes about how bad he was. Calm down people. Luckily centre back is where we have the most depth in quality. Let Unai work on next Sunday's match with his players.

One third of our senior players (including Philogene-Bidace, Archer, Iroegbunam and Duran) are currently injured. 9 out of 28 (that's including Hause and Davis). We are struggling with injuries right now so page 911 seems to be the place to mention this! Mings, Hause, Moreno, Dendoncker, Iroegbunam, Traore, Buendia, Ramsey and Duran all out at the moment.

Lots of people seem to be talking about us needing or getting a left winger in. This confuses me as when I have watched us play under Emery we have never used our left midfielder as a winger. Ramsey played the role most often and he was tasked with cutting in and occupying more of a left/central attacking midfield role, leaving space for Moreno or Digne to run past on the outside. He would frequently drive into the box from central areas too. Our right midfielder was often tasked with playing a more winger like role, staying wide and running the flank. When McGinn started to play just behind Watkins and Bailey switched to this wide right position, this is when we saw the best of each. Buendia had sometimes struggled for space and time on the ball when playing behind Watkins and ended up relegated to the bench quite often last season, but in preseason he took on the Ramsey, left/attacking midfield role and it seemed to suit him much better. It is similar to the role he played on the right with Norwich. Not a traditional, down the line winger, using pace and dribbling to make an impact, but rather avoiding focus by starting out wide, then cutting in and either driving forward or playing a killer through ball before he could be closed down. Many on VillaTalk have been complaining that we don't have a top quality right footed winger to play on the left, but if we did that we couldn't use our full backs in the same way. If we want someone to play that Ramsey/new Buendia role then we want a right footed attacker with a more central role and a bit more drive and strength about him as opposed to a pacey winger. This is why I'm not surprised that McGinn played there yesterday. He was the logical choice in that role. A loan is the most logical move for that position as our first two choices are both out and Coutinho doesn't have the strength required for that role against top teams. When fit though, Ramsey and Buendia will do nicely for that position. McGinn was doing well in the Bergkamp role and doesn't play right wing as well as he does more centrally. Diaby seems able to play either the Bergkamp role or right wing. Zaniolo can play both roles too so that moves makes perfect sense, especially with his size and strength. If we do try to get a replacement in for Ramsey/Buendia, I imagine it will be someone like Lo Celso or Guendouzi rather than a left winger. I'd be happy with either of them. I do think we need to bring in a right back too. I'm not fussed about getting a new centre back in to cover Mings. That's what Torres is for. We still have four fit centre backs, three of whom are top notch. Zaniolo, a right back (just not Foyth, someone who won't cost £35 million) possibly a Ramsey/Buendia stand in and a new striker are where out remaining efforts will go I think. Watkins/Archer/Davis/Duran McGinn/Diaby/Coutinho Ramsey/Buendia Bailey/Traore/Philogene-Bidace Luiz/Tielemans/Iroegbunam Kamara/Dendoncker Moreno/Digne Mings/Torres/Hause Carlos/Konsa Cash/Chambers Martinez/Olsen Injured players in bold as far as I know. That's 9/28 of our squad. One third! Luckily we have such depth in most positions that only left midfield is in real trouble right now. However it is the right hand side that probably needs the most help.

Except that Arsenal's deal for Raya is not a compulsory purchase. They do have a choice. That's why he extended his Brentford contract first, so that if it doesn't work out with Arsenal, Brentford can sell him next summer to someone else.

Could I qualify my statement by saying "compared to their more recent past, they are nowhere near as strong and will struggle to finish in a European spot this season in my opinion". Obviously all professional footballers in this league are disgustingly talented and in another country they would dominate.

Maybe, yeah.

Apart from Reece James and Sterling, since Lukaku and Ziyech will never play for them again, who in Chelsea's squad makes our starting eleven, or even our bench? They will be lucky to get eighth this season.

How would it? Carlos is a much, much better player than Foyth. Remember just two years ago Man City tried and failed to buy Carlos. We shocked everybody when we signed him and given time to recover his form he could easily be one of the top centre backs in the world again.

I think it's between him and McGinn to cover that left midfield slot until Ramsey is back firing again. It requires someone who can run with the ball through crowded central areas more than a Lacey winger type ala Bailey. Ramsey should be in contention by the end of the month apparently so not that long. Hopefully we will not miss Buendia that much. We do have a lot of attacking options now. Ridiculous to see people claim that we are light on options in that area.

I really hope we don't go for Adams. He hasn't shown anything to make him look better than Dendoncker. He may have been Leeds best player but that's not hard, is it? We are looking to buy players of a much higher calibre now. Anyone we replace gets replaced by a BETTER player who can genuinely compete for first XI time. I was hoping this move to Chelsea would happen to put these rumours to bed!

If that's the local rivalry talking then ok. However, for several years until very recently, they have been much better and smarter in the markets and on the pitch than we were. Seems a little harsh on the Dingles. The poor things have lots to worry about now, bless 'em. On a related note, I really miss having Birmingham in the same division to take points off and have that local rivalry.

I assume this was randomly made up before they bought Barnes?

Ah, my mistake, sorry!

Good, I think he'd be good here!