david-avfc

I think squad restrictions are going to be the biggest limiting factor in the actual transfer business vs fan expectations - people throw out so many names to buy but never say who could be sold to make way in the squad. If you look at our European registration apart from Olsen (to be replaced with one of the young keepers) and Tim Iroegbunam (who isn’t trusted by Emery) there aren’t any obvious choices to move on - Zaniolo and Lenglet will immediately be replaced with the returning Mings and Buendia, and Kesler takes a homegrown slot so doesn’t really free up any squad space. There will be some tough decisions in the summer for Emery if we want to bring players in.

I was impressed by Haraldsson and several of their players to be honest (apart from number 22, he makes Neal Maupay look classy), they were actually a really good side and I would say arguably they looked better than us. Despite the hype around their young centre back Yorro it was the other centre back that caught my eye, it turns out he also regularly plays right back so seemingly that would be a good fit for Emery's system.

The buy option is €38m including add ons, confirmed by Galatasary - it’s a total non starter in my eyes. Even if it is £15m he’s done virtually nothing in pretty much an entire season, what’s the point in wasting £15m on a player who hasn’t been good enough? He’s already behind Rogers in the pecking order and we still have Ramsey and Buendia to come back.

“There’s only one Pau Torres”

Kamara is out until October, at best, and who knows when he will be fully fit and back in form, we’ve seen with Moreno and Ramsey the injury can cost more than just the initial recovery time If we don’t sign a solid player to cover defensive midfield it’s lunacy, it’s clear how much we’ve struggled without one in the last couple of months.

Pau is a lovely player to watch and I'd rather have him in the villa side than some of the cloggers we've been forced to endure of the many years I've supported the team, but as good as he is on the ball I never get the impression he's going to put his body on the line to stop a goal, he is too passive on the defensive side of things at times and today unfortunately all 3 goals he is culpable for not doing anywhere near enough to deal with the crosses coming in

No one is questioning his ability or how good he has been for us... but that yellow card, 10 seconds of the allocated stoppage time left to play and he leaves his foot in like that... it's beyond moronic. Perhaps Emery should have subbed him (especially as he got away with one a few minutes earlier) but the player shouldn't be that stupid, especially that late in the game what was he hoping to achieve such a careless foul that late on

Looks like he'll be a really good player, he beats opponents with ease with the ball, can also compete physically but then best of all for a 21 year old has a decent end product too, When we signed him not many people got it, even Boro fans were surprised, but seems like we've unearthed a gem with this lad

According to whoscored stats we have the 3rd most bookings but only the 11th most fouls, and we’re fouled more than we foul others. Something seems amiss doesn’t it.

It’s only closer to Konsa because of how far Zaniolo jumped out of the way! He played well on everything else but there’s no excuses for the job he did in the wall, was something you’d expect in a kids game, kids jumping out of the way of the ball, shouldn’t be seen at PL level and it cost us as a goal at a crucial time of the game.

When he was playing regularly for Gerrard he looked OK, overall he is an OK player for a low end Prem team but we’ve moved on from that level since we signed him

Not a great performance and mistake led to a goal but to be fair playing on average once every three months isn’t going to get the best out of anyone, need to part ways for both parties sake in the summer

Really nice goal both the finish and build up play. Could be a top striker if he keeps developing and remains sensible

I don’t think Southgate “hates” villa but it’s abundantly clear he has his biases towards the big clubs, impossible not to see if you watched England for the last 6 or 7 years. It’s always the case that players outside the Sky 6 clubs have to do at least twice as much as those who do play for the chosen clubs To get in the squad or start games.

I don’t think Watkins will ever suit Southgate’s style, pass it around sideways and hope someone does something. Watkins has a lot of great attributes but generating something out of nothing isn’t one of them, he needs a proper team structure behind him but having a detailed plan how to attack the opposition isn’t how Southgate operates