Summer transfer window 2021

[Kiwivillan]

12 minutes ago, est1874 said:

With respect, I don't think you've watched Wood play very much if you think he's just someone to lump balls forward to. His technique is fantastic, he times his runs extremely well to get in the right places for square balls and crosses, and he's a pretty deadly finisher. For reference, his goals to shots conversion rate is (sorry to say) a fair bit better than our Ollie.

I'm not saying he's a better player but he's certainly far more 'dynamic' and useful than you're implying.

Don't think I can ever forgive him for missing that sitter against Italy in the WC which would've seen us make the quarters. Having a Kiwi play for Villa would be insane but can't see him coming

[Vive_La_Villa]

I like Wood. But at 30 in December, 20 million is just not good value. Which is why it’s not going to happen.

[Philosopher]

Just now, Villa Stu said:

I agree with you mate, just think his style, pace, control on the ball, vision and skills will make him an outstanding wide forward. He has been brilliant there for the academy. Brings players in, assists and still gets a bag load of goals

I think his skill and creativity is not at the standard to be top class there. But as a centre forward his movement, pace, workrate and finishing can make him world class. As a wide player he look like a fast striker playing wide, rather than a natural wideman to me.

[est1874]

1 minute ago, Philosopher said:

They can be found. There are plenty around. Another target man , when we have two is not the answer.

He's not a target man - that's the point. There's a good article on The Athletic about him which addresses the subject perfectly. I'm not sure I'm allowed to link it in full so let me quote it as it makes my point for me:
 

Quote

It is too easy to stereotype a player like Chris Wood when you don’t watch Burnley week in, week out. A physical frame, plenty of height — he was already six-feet tall when he was 14 — and Burnley’s long-passing approach makes the label of “target man” seem obvious.

[...]

“He has a lot more to offer than being a target man,” former team-mate and striker partner Sam Vokes tells The Athletic. “He is good with his feet, runs in behind, is very good in the air and a threat in the box.

“There is a stereotype of players of a similar ilk and Chris would tell you that there is a lot of work rate that goes into playing with two up-front. It means there is extra work because you have to make up for that extra man in midfield not being in there.”

[...]

That was an early example of the threat that Wood poses, showing his burst of speed but also his ability to stretch the play. As Burnley counter-attacked against Tottenham (below), he timed his run to get beyond the defence, receiving a pass from Robbie Brady and finishing coolly.

 

And so on.

To be perfectly honest, it seems like you're running the rule over a player you know nothing about.

[Villa Stu]

4 minutes ago, Philosopher said:

I think his skill and creativity is not at the standard to be top class there. But as a centre forward his movement, pace, workrate and finishing can make him world class. As a wide player he look like a fast striker playing wide, rather than a natural wideman to me.

Long term maybe, but this season I can see him getting most of his game time as a wide forward especially after excelling there in the academy. Disagree that he looks like a fast st playing wide, IMO he has taken his game to another level whilst playing there. I think he needs to bulk up a bit to play st

[MotoMkali]

5 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

Has Smith ever employed a big DCM at any club? I don't think it fits with how he wants the team to play but seems like an obsession in here. 

He looks like he has a lot of potential on the ball. Above the likes of Rice, Ndidi, Phillips etc for Progressive passing and Dribbling. Plus he can actually score from outside the box unlike a certain John Mcginn who constantly wastes good positions by shooting from there., 

His defensive stats are already excellent so could slot in straight away. And he has bags of potential. 

[Gillz]

Honestly, With Buendia in the bag - the main area we needed to improve has been taken care of decisively by the club. 

With the addition of some of the promising youth players to the first team squad (Barry and Chukwuemeka in particular) i actually dont think we need much more this window.

The only pieces left i think are some depth at LB. If the money is there a Rolls Royce standard DM would be great as well - but they are almost impossible to find and im not sure its suits the way Smith lines up. 

 

Essentially - with Buendia in i already consider this a successful window.

[Kiwivillan]

10 minutes ago, Gillz said:

Honestly, With Buendia in the bag - the main area we needed to improve has been taken care of decisively by the club. 

With the addition of some of the promising youth players to the first team squad (Barry and Chukwuemeka in particular) i actually dont think we need much more this window.

The only pieces left i think are some depth at LB. If the money is there a Rolls Royce standard DM would be great as well - but they are almost impossible to find and im not sure its suits the way Smith lines up. 

 

Essentially - with Buendia in i already consider this a successful window.

100% agree. Cover for several positions and will be great window

[pas5898]

44 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I like Wood. But at 30 in December, 20 million is just not good value. Which is why it’s not going to happen.

Wood, Tammy etc will never happen because neither player will come to us to sit on the bench. 

We have Watkins, who scores plenty,  barely gets injured and perfectly suits our style of play. 

If not, we have a 25 million pound Brazil International to prove himself fit in pre season.

[Kiwivillan]

1 minute ago, pas5898 said:

Wood, Tammy etc will never happen because neither player will come to us to sit on the bench. 

We have Watkins, who scores plenty,  barely gets injured and perfectly suits our style of play. 

If not, we have a 25 million pound Brazil International to prove himself fit in pre season.

 Someone gets it. I think Smith even said we'll look at Wesley pre season to see if he's up to speed if not we're looking at the market 

[MessiWillSignForVilla]

Didn't know where to put this, the transfer thread seemed a decent place for it (mods feel free to move it if it should be somewhere else), but reading Gregg Evans' piece in the Athletic on the Euros and how Villa's transfers won't be affected by it, this line was at the bottom;

Quote

while Benjamin Pavard of France even visited Villa Park with his father in 2015 — and wanted to join — but the club felt £1 million was too much to pay for the teenage defender.

I hate Randy Lerner...

[nick76]

1 minute ago, pas5898 said:

Wood, Tammy etc will never happen because neither player will come to us to sit on the bench. 

I want a striker to come in and fight Ollie for his job, this will make Ollie better and if the other player is better then great for us.  We now have two great creators, we need to make sure we take advantage of that.

8 minutes ago, pas5898 said:

We have Watkins, who scores plenty,  barely gets injured and perfectly suits our style of play.

barely gets injured doesnt mean he cant get Ben Mee injured in the future, doesnt mean he wont have a dip in form after his first season in top flight, doesnt mean we dont need to look more than one dimensional and when stuck scoring we dont try something different.  If we are to progress we need more than one style of play

10 minutes ago, pas5898 said:

If not, we have a 25 million pound Brazil International to prove himself fit in pre season.

seems a reactive response if he's he can prove himself which doesnt seem like the detailed planning these owners, management and recruitment team do...

If player is available that makes up better, even if a striker we should get them.  Hoping that Ollie doesnt get injured or have a dip in form and that Wes returns to full fitness and proves himself seems a very big risk.

I can see from this forum that people seem to fall on either side of the fence of needing another good striker or not so nobody is convincing anybody but for me, not having another quality striker bought is a little silly going into the season. 

[HKP90]

31 minutes ago, Gillz said:

Honestly, With Buendia in the bag - the main area we needed to improve has been taken care of decisively by the club. 

With the addition of some of the promising youth players to the first team squad (Barry and Chukwuemeka in particular) i actually dont think we need much more this window.

The only pieces left i think are some depth at LB. If the money is there a Rolls Royce standard DM would be great as well - but they are almost impossible to find and im not sure its suits the way Smith lines up. 

 

Essentially - with Buendia in i already consider this a successful window.

As you say in your second paragraph I think we still need better defensive options in midfield to protect our back four. Where we differ is that I think it would be a key signing. Without one (assuming Nakamba doesn't step up, which he might well do) against sides who keep the ball well, we'll still be a team that struggles to get our front line engaged at times, albeit one with a devastating attack when we do manage to get the ball forward.  

[Jas10]

 

[Philosopher]

1 hour ago, est1874 said:

He's not a target man - that's the point. There's a good article on The Athletic about him which addresses the subject perfectly. I'm not sure I'm allowed to link it in full so let me quote it as it makes my point for me:
 

 

And so on.

To be perfectly honest, it seems like you're running the rule over a player you know nothing about.

I have watched him myself, and while not slow he isn't quick, and isn't particularly mobile. For a big man yes, but compared to someone like Watkins there's no comparison. This article makes him sound like Wesley but better in the air.

[Jas10]

Like the look of this Sarr kid, great passing range. I wonder how good he is defensively…

No objection to us signing young, potential stars…could be a masterstroke…

I wonder what @Villan4Life thinks of him.

[Jas10]

[Philosopher]

1 hour ago, Villa Stu said:

Long term maybe, but this season I can see him getting most of his game time as a wide forward especially after excelling there in the academy. Disagree that he looks like a fast st playing wide, IMO he has taken his game to another level whilst playing there. I think he needs to bulk up a bit to play st

Mostly agree except for the fast striker as a wide man. That how he looks to me. He needs to bulk up and be more robust to play senior level. And the wide play is to make him a more rounded player learn where his wingers want him to run. He will probably play wide for the seniors as well as cf once makes his breakthrough. Long term is definitely a striker.

[Jas10]

could be or develop into the DM we need…

[Dave-R]

We need someone better than Watkins.

Not to put Woods down or anything but the whole idea of upgrading a squad is to bring better in than what you have already. The whole idea of making upgrades ontop of what you have has a purpose or few and one of those is you bring better in so that the already existent players have to up there game even more. It does make sure that players who are there already don't get abit set in there ways and keep trying to evolve and consistently improve so the new players then have people breathing down there backs.

Watkins is better than Woods and if we bought him here it'd be a strange one. We'd be buying worse not better and I do not know how Watkins is going to or be expected to improve off that move. The fact he wouldn't feel he has someone fighting to jump in his place could make him feel less bothered over time and some bad habits may creep in.

We need someone else who can play the way he does but in a different way, who can also score as he does and make Watkins feel his place is threatened.

That's all anyway if we choose to bring someone in after giving Wes a chance, Davis is certainly never going to make Watkins place feel threatened. I think Barry could down the line, if we started giving Barry minutes and he actually puts some of those stunning performances in he has done for the youth side and also scored some goal, Watkins would have a legitimate threat breathing down his kneck.