barry'sboots

18 minutes ago, Peter Griffin said:

I kind of agree, but I think we need to spend more on a striker. 60m+ and get someone really clinical. I think I would prefer to stay with what we have and introduce Archer to the 1st team rather than a striker of 30 to 45m. Maybe Timo Werner would be available at that price, I like him but he would still be a big risk.

I,m not sure we could sign a striker for that much?? A 60m+ striker probably wants to be at a CL club??

25 minutes ago, RicRic said:

We just need to sign one £30-£45 mill Striker, a CM £25-30 mill and a LB £15 mill… bloody hell we really wasted a lot on Wesley

Agreed, we need those three. I would also like another 10/wide option to give us four - assuming BT, Trez and El Ghastly are moved on and JPB goes back out on loan. I am also assuming that Ings leaves and it gives us a three striking options of Ollie, Newbie and Cam. I would personally consider keeping Davis as a 4th option, particularly as we can now use 5 subs and he does give us something very different.

I would love Gallagher. Seen a report valuing him at £35m. If we were to sell Luiz for the mooted £25m, then adding £10m and getting Gallagher would be great business. My only reservation is whether he is too similar to JJ and SJM i.e. he is an 8/10 and whether, for balance, we would be better off spending that money on an 8/6 i.e. someone who is a little more of a sitter or possibly even a straight 6 like Kondogbia or Sangare (as I understand them) and looking at Kamara as the 8/6. Ideally, sell Luiz, Sanson and Nakamba and replace the three with Gallagher and a 6.

I've seen a lot of criticism of SJM on here which I think is unjustified. Put some proper more defensive presence into our CM to free him up and I think we will see his quality.

12 hours ago, DaveAV1 said:

I agree with this, it is very much a case of getting the right balance. I also believe that players in general will need to accept that it is a squad game now and being on the bench is a fact of life now for almost all of them. Particularly with 5 subs next season. 

I have been told, by someone who knows the Grealish entourage quite well, that part of his logic for going there was that he wouldn't have to play as much due to squad depth and that would give his shins a rest/elongate his career. Makes sense - some players accepting squad/rotation as a positive.

12 hours ago, Zatman said:

What has he done to deserve a chance? He has managed nearly 30 games and has offered little so far

I dont care what his name is. Ronald McDonald might do better 

I'm sure I saw that, based on games since he took over, we would be 9th in the table?? Compared to 16th, from memory, when he came in?? Ant the Gerard period also includes 2 games each v Citeh and Plop.

That's not too bad given that he has been missing any kind of DCM - crucial to his system - since Nakamba got injured early on.

I am not 100% convinced as yet but I am a million miles away from your position.

12 hours ago, Zatman said:

I dont disagree I have always said Arteta is a bluffer

I just worry the club are going all in on a rookie and lets be honest we are definitely going all in this summer

I think we are going all in BUT I think the players we are buying and looking to buy would be very useable by any manager!  That is the benefit of having Lange and crew??

5 minutes ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

I agree he could have been great for us, but not sure he’ll be wasted at City.

It could take time for Haaland to learn Pep’s style, plus he is already quite injury prone and will need to rest a lot. Alvarez to me looks like a perfect Guardiola player and could surprise people by becoming very useful.

I agree. He sounds like the perfect false "9" which Pep likes.

22 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

So it’s looking like…

Kamara - Free
Coutinho - 17m
Carlos - 26m
Bassey - 18m
Bissouma - 30m
Top Striker - 50m

£141m total out.

I imagine we can bring in at least £60/70m as well so that’s not bad going.

(Very conservative estimates to prove a point - I get some people value our players a lot higher)

Davis - 6m
Trezeguet - 3m
El Ghazi - 5m
Luiz - 20m
Targett - 12m
Ings - 20m
Konsa - 14m
Sanson - 8m
Traore - 8m

It’s going to be a fun Summer.

 I have you right for the most part but would add:

Buy

Tarkowski - Free

Olsen - 3m

Hickey - 20m

Madueke - 20m

And would probably spend less on a "9" leaving Oliie as first choice.

Out - 160m

Sell

Ming's - 30m (Geordies want as per the Express)

Hause - 10m

I have you as 20m plus short but I would, in an ideal world, absorb this by selling Nakamba instead of Luis.

in - 100m

if all of that happened we could be some outfit next year.

13 hours ago, Spoony said:

Liverpool are a good team and are better than Aston Villa. I’d expect Liverpool to win for that reason, but you never know. Maybe we will win. We have done before. Could also be a draw.

Back to you in the studio. 

They were better than us last year but 7-2 didn't show that on the night!

On 08/05/2022 at 08:13, ferguson1 said:

Three home games in nine days, starting Tuesday evening. It’ll be a real tough one, but every side is beatable. Under the lights and a sell out crowd, we’ll give them a good game.

Changes in these three home games will need to be made, but I’d start the same side on Tuesday as the one that started yesterday. It worked and I think it could suit us for this game especially. Konsa needs a good game and fingers crossed he has one.

Leaving Coutinho on the bench against his old club would be a big call, but the right one to start the game I reckon. Gerrard even used his subs well yesterday and will be crucial again here.

                                                Martinez

                 Cash            Konsa            Mings          Digne

                                               Chambers 

                            McGinn                          Luiz

                                                Buendia

                                 Ings                         Watkins
 

 

Subs: Olsen, Feeney, Young, Nakamba, Iroegbunam, Sanson, Chukwuemeka, Coutinho, Traore.

Here’s hoping Man City win well today and dampen this Liverpool side. Going to say an entertaining 2-2 game. 

That's a fair bit of effort when you could have just said I think he'll go with the same starting XI?

On 27/04/2022 at 14:42, TRO said:

I agree, with your point.

They still raise questions

• Is Nakamba good enough for a first team nailed on?
• Is Tim developed enough to be playing every week?

Still important players in my reconing, but sustained first team, right now, not so sure.

If we sign a No6 with sufficent quality, they can morph in to an 8 depending on the dynamics of the game and move with the reading of the game, better quality usually gives more flexibility......Most top players can play more than one role, with competence.

I assume that he was talking about the run in and saying that he would rather play with an inexperienced or lesser "6" than an "8" playing out of position, which I agree with (I think!).  Obviously, next year, we will have a world class "6" to sit behind two of our "8"s! 

On 26/04/2022 at 11:26, BOF said:

I think our problem is we have too many attacking midfielders.

McGinn? A number 10, Ramsey, 8, Buendia, 10, Luiz, 8, Coutinho, 10, Bailey, 10, Sanson, 8, Chukwuemeka, 10, Traore, 10.

That leaves Nakamba the only actual 6 and Iroegbunam is more box to box and starts in the 6 position at u23 but not sure where he'll migrate to with the seniors.

The above gives an extra problem when your preferred formation is 433 or a variant of that.

I don't disagree that we need a proper "6".  I think everybody realises that and Stevie does as well.  I see:

6. One of Bissouma/Phillips/Kondogbia/Kamara (ideally) with Marv as back up and Tim out on loan

8's . We play two from four of: SJM, Luiz, JJ or Sanson.

10. We have Coutinho, Buendia, Bailey and maybe one other.

I see Traore moving on - he is great when he is on but just not consistent enough or high enough energy to play in the PL for me.

I am not sure what Chukie is - is he an 8 or a 10??  He really, in my book, needs a loan to a top Championship side but he probably doesn't agree.  May be academic to debate anyway if he is off.

I think a midfield three of 

--------------------------- Bissouma --------------------------                 OR               -------------- Luiz --------- Bissouma -----------

-------- Luiz ---------------------------------------- SJM ------                                     ----------------------- SJM ----------------------------

could be really effective.

Luiz (or Sanson as cover/rotation) maybe that bit more disciplined/almost a second sitter/double pivot, allowing SJM (or Ramsey as cover/rotation) to drive further forward and link up with the 10's in front?

On 21/04/2022 at 10:39, TRO said:

I think when ,we fix the defensive midfield issues......and John McGinn plays further forward, his form, will return, to what we know it.....The one scoring in the 0-3 demolition of Arsenal, even if it was disallowed.

I can't believe that there are some on here who want to discard SJM.  You only have to look at his Scotland form to see that there is a real player there when deployed in a way that suits his game.

1 hour ago, CVByrne said:

Back then there was only a big 4 - Arsenal, United, Liverpool & Chelsea. Then in the final years Spurs & City emerged. We spent a level that should have had at least 6th or higher every season. So don't go thinking that performances that got us where the money would expect us was anything to do with the manager. We failed to succeed in that era with the money spent we won nothing and never got CL.

Agreed.  Everton finished 5th and we finished 6th but we, and they, were the highest spenders outside of the top 5 (wages and transfers with Everton's transfer spend having been a bit more historic).  O'Neill and Moyes performed to their XG in modern day parlance but we had an opportunity to do more I believe.

1 hour ago, Delphinho123 said:

I honestly don't know what to expect this transfer window. I want to be enthusiastic, but then I remember our activity from last Summer and it fills me with dread. Not least because it showed a lack of preparation and footballing expertise within the club. I had very little hope at the start of the season as some posters on here can attest to. Here's why. 

Top Line: The club didn't know/expect Grealish was leaving. And that fuc**d everything. 

We went into the window in a strong position. Genuine challengers to the top 8, one of the best players in the world, and off the back of a really good points haul - albeit we finished 11th. 
The window started excellently. We bought Buendia who I know still divides opinion on here, but it was an excellent signing given we beat Arsenal to his signature. We had someone to complement Grealish on the right side and he slotted almost immediately into our 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation. At this point, I was expecting another solid window.
The club then gets word Grealish is leaving, something they didn't expect given the exposure they gave him during the kit launch, and they panic. We then go and sign Bailey - a player who prefers to play on the right hand side and in exactly the same position as Buendia plays? Why? We already have Buendia there and Traore, who, I don't rate but understand he has a place in the squad and is probably a reasonable back up. Bailey is an exciting talent but he doesn't fit. 
We then go and sign Ings. Why? This goes against everything the club wants to do in terms of sell on value, reasonable wages, long contracts etc. We can argue on here all day about having two good strikers at the club, but we're an 11th place team with some glaring deficiencies in other areas of the side that need urgent attention. Why go and sign another striker to compete with your record signing off the back of a very strong season playing as a lone striker? It's a panic move and it's a bad decision. 

After Grealish leaves, we then hear the famous Purslow interview about signing Ings, Bailey and Buendia to statistically replace Grealish' output. We don't sign any more players and the window shuts. We're left with two right sided forwards and a striker who doesn't suit our system. We haven't actually bought a left sided player to replace Grealish and we haven't bought any midfielders - an area that obviously needed improving. The season starts and everything mentioned above, becomes a problem for Smith. We start playing different formations to accommodate Ings and Watkins who play awfully together. We're playing Buendia as a 10 and everything we'd built the season before, had crumbled to try and accommodate and justify a downright awful transfer window. Oh, and teams are still walking through our central midfield - Imagine the shock!

What we should have done when Grealish left is spend the money on a left sided forward to replace him. Play Buendia on the right where he's excelled for Norwich and sign two new central midfielders to sure us up in the middle of the park. It was painfully obvious to see at the time and doesn't fall into the category of 'hindsight is a wonderful thing'. It was fu**ng obvious at the time. The squad was left with a massive imbalance. Two 'top' strikers, three/four right sided forwards, no left sided forward and no defensively capable midfielders. 

That's why I'm nervous about this Summer window. We sign players that we don't need, that don't fit a system and we continue to neglect areas of the side that desperately need improvement. 
Honestly, if we don't sign at least two defensively minded midfielders then you can forget any kind of success next season. 

Rant over. Sorry for the long post. Like I've said before, this Summer will at least be exciting even if it's reckless. 

 

I have you spot on.

The positive this year is that we do seem to be making our priority - albeit it is only press talk I accept - to sign a very good player in the CDM area, if you believe the links to Phillips, Kondogbia, Bissouma etc..  Equally, we seem to be linked with a new CB and a back up LB - both deals are key.  We now seem to targeting the right positions and the right quality of signings to make the squad competitive at the right end of the table.

Anything on top, other than Kessler, Cam and JPB returning, I suspect, will depend upon outgoings.

17 hours ago, TRO said:

I honestly believe, with a few of the right players in the right positions, will affect the others in a positive way and some players, we have lost faith in, their form will come back.

........

sadly, we are easy to beat....and that has the opposite effect.

We saw the significant impact that having a proper DCM can have on Stevie's set up in the first few games before Marv got injured.  4 wins out of 6 and the two losses were narrow defeats to two of the best sides (if not the best - we'll see soon!) in Europe.  I will be the first to admit that I was not a huge fan of Marv but with Stevie's influence and set up Marv looked very effective.  I am more than happy for Marv to stay as back up (possibly whilst Tim gets some first team minutes on loan and builds up his CV) but I think adding a Bissouma/Kondogbia/Phillips/Kamara (?) will elevate our midfield to a new level and will allow Dougie (if he stays?), SJM and Ramsey to focus on what they do well.  SJM has consistently looked fantastic for Scotland in a more advanced role that he hasn't been able to consistently play for us.

Equally, an upgrade at CB to bring in a leader like de Vrij and better back up at full back (Kessler's return plus, ideally, Hickey to compete with Digne) would strengthen our defence.

I think you are spot on - get the platform right and other players will also benefit from this.

I make it 4 signings in the summers - de Vrij, Bissouma, Hickey, Coutinho (or equivalents) - with more exits and I think we could be very competitive. 

I don't know what to expect!!

I doubt Gerard will make material changes.  I would like to see Sanson unless Stevie has already made his mind up about him.  If Digne is injured and we have to play Young (although I would prefer to see Chrisene as he is the future) I would prefer us to play three CBs and go 3-4-1-2 or 3-4-2-1.

If the Villa team that turned up in the second half against Arsenal or the first half against Spurs (minus the sloppy goal) show up for 90 minutes, we have a great chance of winning, but that has not happened for a while.

4 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

Ings for Bissouma would be an exceptional deal for us… how realistic it is… I have no clue

Its what i've seen the media talking about.  It would be great for us imho.  Ings hasn't looked at the level I'd hoped he would, he is over 30 and he injury prone.  Cash in, move on and go and buy Darwin Nunez ??

15 hours ago, The_Steve said:

I would not be shocked if Trez, AEG, Traore, Hourihane, Davis, Targett, Luiz and McGinn are gone come the summer. Not sure what Guilbert’s contract situation is either but he won’t be around. Questions remain about the striking options. 
 

With the vote for 5 subs I get the feeling we are going to see more game time for the youth - especially with Bidace, Barry, and Archer returning from loans (assuming they don’t go on subsequent loans). We’ve still got Carney and Timmy for midfield options, plus Kane at right back. 
 

A holding midfielder has to be the priority. 

I can't see us selling SJM/I really hope we don't.  We know what he can do operating as a proper 8/10 (we have seen it in the past and we see it every international break for the Scots) and that's where he needs to be next season with a proper DCM behind him.  

------------------------------ Bissouma or Phillips/Nakamba ---------------------------

--------------- SJM/Sanson ---------------------------------- Ramsey/Chukie ----------

I am assuming that Dougie is off in the summer.

I'd definitely keep him around as a bench option - he just offers something that we do not have anywhere else in our front line. 

See several reports saying that Citeh are not happy with Jack and he is complaining about playing time etc..  Lets bring him back home - a cheeky £50m bid over the summer??

5 hours ago, Adam2003 said:

While I agree with your general point, Brighton have won 7 games. Whatever they are doing and however nicely they tap it around, I don’t know if we can say it works well

I accept that they have gone backwards since the start of the season BUT I think this is principally due to a lack of talent at the top end.  Even so, they are comfortably mid table.  Put Watkins, Buendia and Coutinho up front and I think they might be pushing for Europe? 

2 hours ago, nick76 said:

Mate, you know I only have feelings for you

You can forget me ... I only have eyes for the Blue Rinses!!

8 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Hopefully the Ollie from last night will turn for us on Saturday.

Aaggh. Is that your homosexual tendencies showing now??

5 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

I think you’re talking about his movement for the final pass, which isn’t always perfect.

But his general movement (eg creating wide options, knowing when to come deep, etc) is excellent.

That’s why I think he benefits from more pace and width around him, as he’s good at dragging centre backs out of position and creating space.

I think you can never have too much pace on a football pitch which is what excites me so much about a fit Bailey.  I sat behind his runs when he came on against Everton and you could see Ben Godfrey - who I do rate - *****ing himself when Bailey got on the ball.

Can't wait to see him get properly back in the mix - hopefully after this break - and rotate/sub in with Phillipe and Emi.  I think Ollie will benefit from the space created by Bailey stretching the back line.