Summer transfer window 2021

[paul514]

1 hour ago, CarryOnVilla said:

Who ever does it, must name it “Which defensive midfielder are we getting in January?”

That answer is easy - none. The club don't see what the fans do apparently.

[villalad21]

Can only blame ourselves if we regress this season.

Was a great chance to kick on. Especially from all the free Grealish money. Imagine if we had spent the Grealish money + the usual 70-80 M from the owners. We'd be in such a stronger position, fix the imbalance in the squad.

Edited September 1, 2021 by villalad21

[Marka Ragnos]

25 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Can only blame ourselves if we regress this season.

Was a great chance to kick on. Especially from all the free Grealish money. Imagine if we had spent the Grealish money + the usual 70-80 M from the owners. We'd be in such a stronger position, fix the imbalance in the squad.

I hear you, but it’s about integrating new people, too. Probably an unpopular view, but I think a pause in moving players in and out feels just about right. If we’re hampered by injuries, your words may come back to haunt us, but I’d like to see how this squad functions. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

I love how fans totally ignore our net spend over the past 2 seasons and use this one to have a dig.

[string28]

1 minute ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I love how fans totally ignore our net spend over the past 2 seasons and use this one to have a dig.

wages too so think we need to stop with net speed crap.

[Vive_La_Villa]

Just now, string28 said:

wages too so think we need to stop with net speed crap.

Some of ours fans sound like spoilt brats when it comes to the clubs spending. 

[string28]

Just now, Vive_La_Villa said:

Some of ours fans sound like spoilt brats when it comes to the clubs spending. 

sorry spend but yeah its getting silly now we had to pay more wages for better players so fans need to stop with the net spend. Just lets enjoy the coaching staff now is getting stronger and i love it.

[TRO]

23 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Some of ours fans sound like spoilt brats when it comes to the clubs spending. 

I think, if I have read the posts right that the centre midfield has the least money spent on it and its the engine room....its a top priority area of the team.

 3 wide players have cost, c 80 mill, Bailey,Buendia and Traore......2 forwards have cost c 50 mill Watkins and ings.

Midfield with Luiz,McGinn and Sanson has cost c 32 mill.

I hope we do ok, we will have to see how it pans out....but I can see the concern some have.

[Villarocker]

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

Can only blame ourselves if we regress this season.

Was a great chance to kick on. Especially from all the free Grealish money. Imagine if we had spent the Grealish money + the usual 70-80 M from the owners. We'd be in such a stronger position, fix the imbalance in the squad.

What if the likes of Archer, Chuckie and Philly-Bidace fix the imbalance in the squad? 

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 minute ago, TRO said:

I think, if I have read the posts right that the centre midfield has the least money spent on it and its the engine room....its a top priority area of the team.

 3 wide players have cost, c 80 mill, Bailey,Buendia and Traore......2 forwards have cost c 50 mill Watkins and ings.

Midfield with Luiz,McGinn and Sanson has cost c 32 mill.

I hope we do ok, we will have to see how it pans out....but I can see the concern some have.

Fair point. But we did need creativity and goals  too. Especially after losing Jack. 

[WHY]

1 hour ago, barry'sboots said:

I agree.  If you look at the top sides they all have a clear and visible pattern and structure to their play and a balanced midfield that is geared around their attacking options and their general style of play:

• Citeh - at their best when Rodri/Fernandinho sit and they have so many "8"s and "10"s that can play around him.
• Chelski - have Jorginho (European player of the year), with Kante buzzing around him and Mount as well and loads of bench options.  This works well in their 5-3-2 with attacking full backs and pace and guile up front which is only enhanced with Lukaku returning.
• Utd - have Fred and McTominay with Fernandes in front of them and Pogba possibly joining in somewhere.  They are probably shy of a better DCM option as well, that would allow Pogba to play alongside that person/have more freedom.  This area is definitely their weakest component - I think they are a strong DCM away from being real challengers.
• Liverpool - have Fabinho sitting with hard working players around him - more of a defensive 3 but allows the front three to really go for it and gives the full backs licence to flood forward.  Might change slightly with Elliot in that three.
• Leicester - have Ndidi holding with Tielemans typically alongside and a number of others, including Maddison, that can also play in a three.
• West Ham - have Rice holding with Soucek sitting alongside and a few options in front of this solid pair.

I feel like their playing styles are all much clearer and their midfields are all better balanced and structured to suit their playing style.

I am still unclear as to what we are actually looking to achieve in midfield. 

• Dougie was our star player following Restart but his form dipped badly in 2021.  He is still young though and is highly talented.  He is certainly different to the midfielder that those top 6 sides have at the base of their midfield with the possible exception of Jorginho, who is more metronomic/ball playing but benefits from having Kante alongside him. 
• SJM has looked better since the start of this season.  His partnership with Dougie looked great at the start of last season when we were hammering Liverpool and Arsenal (a) and Barkley was firing as a "10" in front of them.  I am still not sure whether he is better sitting, alongside a holder, or the furthest forward of the three.
• Nakamba is limited but probably works in games where we expect to be under the cosh BUT does not operate very well against a high press.
• Sanson - who knows.  Looks like a box to box "8" from what I have seen and could work well in tandem with SJM as two "8"s alternating duties.
• JJ has looked decent at the start of this season, but like SJM I'm not sure we know his best position as yet.  Ideally, for me, he would have gone out and got 30+ starts in the championship but we need him given the lack of signings.
• Chuk - looks a great prospect and I'm glad that he is around BUT we really can't be relying on him to start many games this season at his age.

I don't think we have a strong enough "2" in there to play behind a front 4 with Ings at "10", although maybe if Dougie and SJM can recapture their form of the early part of last season they could.  Personally, I think a CM three of Luiz; SJM and Sanson/JPB will be our "go to" midfield in a 4-3-3.  I hope that Dougie and SJM can re-capture their form of early last season or else we might be in for a tough time.

 

Credit where it’s due, brilliant post and great detail

[TRO]

1 minute ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Fair point. But we did need creativity and goals  too. Especially after losing Jack. 

it never was and or either for me....we needed both....but I think replacing Jacks attributes has blinded us to a degree.

It was great enhancing the creative element of the team, no gripes from me.......but someone has to feed them?

All the top teams make a clear address to CM....Its not by chance they all have quality there.

If Dean thinks we are well served there, who am I to argue.....but,we will see.

Ps the only thing I am unsure about is what Sanson could bring.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, barry'sboots said:

I agree.  If you look at the top sides they all have a clear and visible pattern and structure to their play and a balanced midfield that is geared around their attacking options and their general style of play:

• Citeh - at their best when Rodri/Fernandinho sit and they have so many "8"s and "10"s that can play around him.
• Chelski - have Jorginho (European player of the year), with Kante buzzing around him and Mount as well and loads of bench options.  This works well in their 5-3-2 with attacking full backs and pace and guile up front which is only enhanced with Lukaku returning.
• Utd - have Fred and McTominay with Fernandes in front of them and Pogba possibly joining in somewhere.  They are probably shy of a better DCM option as well, that would allow Pogba to play alongside that person/have more freedom.  This area is definitely their weakest component - I think they are a strong DCM away from being real challengers.
• Liverpool - have Fabinho sitting with hard working players around him - more of a defensive 3 but allows the front three to really go for it and gives the full backs licence to flood forward.  Might change slightly with Elliot in that three.
• Leicester - have Ndidi holding with Tielemans typically alongside and a number of others, including Maddison, that can also play in a three.
• West Ham - have Rice holding with Soucek sitting alongside and a few options in front of this solid pair.

I feel like their playing styles are all much clearer and their midfields are all better balanced and structured to suit their playing style.

I am still unclear as to what we are actually looking to achieve in midfield. 

• Dougie was our star player following Restart but his form dipped badly in 2021.  He is still young though and is highly talented.  He is certainly different to the midfielder that those top 6 sides have at the base of their midfield with the possible exception of Jorginho, who is more metronomic/ball playing but benefits from having Kante alongside him. 
• SJM has looked better since the start of this season.  His partnership with Dougie looked great at the start of last season when we were hammering Liverpool and Arsenal (a) and Barkley was firing as a "10" in front of them.  I am still not sure whether he is better sitting, alongside a holder, or the furthest forward of the three.
• Nakamba is limited but probably works in games where we expect to be under the cosh BUT does not operate very well against a high press.
• Sanson - who knows.  Looks like a box to box "8" from what I have seen and could work well in tandem with SJM as two "8"s alternating duties.
• JJ has looked decent at the start of this season, but like SJM I'm not sure we know his best position as yet.  Ideally, for me, he would have gone out and got 30+ starts in the championship but we need him given the lack of signings.
• Chuk - looks a great prospect and I'm glad that he is around BUT we really can't be relying on him to start many games this season at his age.

I don't think we have a strong enough "2" in there to play behind a front 4 with Ings at "10", although maybe if Dougie and SJM can recapture their form of the early part of last season they could.  Personally, I think a CM three of Luiz; SJM and Sanson/JPB will be our "go to" midfield in a 4-3-3.  I hope that Dougie and SJM can re-capture their form of early last season or else we might be in for a tough time.

 

perfectly illustrated point IMO.

[Peter Griffin]

1 hour ago, paul514 said:

3 hours ago, CarryOnVilla said:

 

That answer is easy - none. The club don't see what the fans do apparently.

Or maybe the fans don't see what the club sees

[TRO]

I was never in favour of blowing all the grealish money, because I think we need to keep our powder dry too.

but I think one player of a merchantable quality could transform this team and I don't think that was too much to ask.

However, its not happened, so we just have to get on with it.

[CVByrne]

48 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I love how fans totally ignore our net spend over the past 2 seasons and use this one to have a dig.

and believe net spend is even a thing. 

Discussing net spend kind of shows ignorance towards how transfers are done 

[MWARLEY2]

3 minutes ago, TRO said:

I think, if I have read the posts right that the centre midfield has the least money spent on it and its the engine room....its a top priority area of the team.

 3 wide players have cost, c 80 mill, Bailey,Buendia and Traore......2 forwards have cost c 50 mill Watkins and ings.

Midfield with Luiz,McGinn and Sanson has cost c 32 mill.

I hope we do ok, we will have to see how it pans out....but I can see the concern some have.

Yeah TRO . We can add Nakamba to that figure as well .but its still low.

And this is where its subjective .but comparing the quality of our midfield to the quality of our wingers would in my.mind be something like this from top to bottom in terms of top being the best and the bottom being.......now we have 6 wingers and 6 centre midfielders

Buendia / Bailey 

Luiz

 McGinn / Traore

Ramsey / El Ghazi

Bidace /  Chukwuemeka / Sanson 

Nakamba / Trezuguet

 

 

 

[Xela]

12 hours ago, desensitized43 said:

There appears to be a few like that in our squad. I follow all the players socials and it's extremely rare to see Guilbert, Sanson or Luiz post in English. It's not anything to "get" at them. Football is a universal language but it does make you question how much they've committed to playing in England, especially in the case of Luiz who'd been on the books of Man City (although loaned out abroad) for a couple of years before coming here.

Maybe I read too much into it, Aguero's English was horrible even after a decade in England...and have you ever heard John McGinn speak? Can't understand a word of it 

 

11 hours ago, CVByrne said:

Sanson has only moved here this year. I'm sure he'll learn fluent English soon if he's not already close to that.

It's more than just learning the language though. Sometimes people and their families don't settle. Even more so during a global pandemic. 

Interesting posts. I made a comment about 2 weeks ago with a theory that I thought we would only target overseas players who were fluent/very good in English from the get go. This wasn't initially the case. 

Guilbert, Wesley and Luiz all signed speaking little to no English. This can't help a player settle. They were all Suso era signings. 

Since Lange took over, the overseas players we have signed:

Martinez - fluent

Traore - fluent (educated at Whitgif school when he was a youngster at Chelsea)

Sanson - fluent (his interview when he joined was in excellent English)

Buendia - good level of English

Bailey - native tongue. 

 

Also been linked heavily to McKennie as well, which would make sense. Its only a theory but can see something in it. Perhaps why we haven't gone for a French or African DM, if they can't speak English?

 

[CVByrne]

2 hours ago, barry'sboots said:

I agree.  If you look at the top sides they all have a clear and visible pattern and structure to their play and a balanced midfield that is geared around their attacking options and their general style of play:

• Citeh - at their best when Rodri/Fernandinho sit and they have so many "8"s and "10"s that can play around him.
• Chelski - have Jorginho (European player of the year), with Kante buzzing around him and Mount as well and loads of bench options.  This works well in their 5-3-2 with attacking full backs and pace and guile up front which is only enhanced with Lukaku returning.
• Utd - have Fred and McTominay with Fernandes in front of them and Pogba possibly joining in somewhere.  They are probably shy of a better DCM option as well, that would allow Pogba to play alongside that person/have more freedom.  This area is definitely their weakest component - I think they are a strong DCM away from being real challengers.
• Liverpool - have Fabinho sitting with hard working players around him - more of a defensive 3 but allows the front three to really go for it and gives the full backs licence to flood forward.  Might change slightly with Elliot in that three.
• Leicester - have Ndidi holding with Tielemans typically alongside and a number of others, including Maddison, that can also play in a three.
• West Ham - have Rice holding with Soucek sitting alongside and a few options in front of this solid pair.

I feel like their playing styles are all much clearer and their midfields are all better balanced and structured to suit their playing style.

I am still unclear as to what we are actually looking to achieve in midfield. 

• Dougie was our star player following Restart but his form dipped badly in 2021.  He is still young though and is highly talented.  He is certainly different to the midfielder that those top 6 sides have at the base of their midfield with the possible exception of Jorginho, who is more metronomic/ball playing but benefits from having Kante alongside him. 
• SJM has looked better since the start of this season.  His partnership with Dougie looked great at the start of last season when we were hammering Liverpool and Arsenal (a) and Barkley was firing as a "10" in front of them.  I am still not sure whether he is better sitting, alongside a holder, or the furthest forward of the three.
• Nakamba is limited but probably works in games where we expect to be under the cosh BUT does not operate very well against a high press.
• Sanson - who knows.  Looks like a box to box "8" from what I have seen and could work well in tandem with SJM as two "8"s alternating duties.
• JJ has looked decent at the start of this season, but like SJM I'm not sure we know his best position as yet.  Ideally, for me, he would have gone out and got 30+ starts in the championship but we need him given the lack of signings.
• Chuk - looks a great prospect and I'm glad that he is around BUT we really can't be relying on him to start many games this season at his age.

I don't think we have a strong enough "2" in there to play behind a front 4 with Ings at "10", although maybe if Dougie and SJM can recapture their form of the early part of last season they could.  Personally, I think a CM three of Luiz; SJM and Sanson/JPB will be our "go to" midfield in a 4-3-3.  I hope that Dougie and SJM can re-capture their form of early last season or else we might be in for a tough time.

 

Very good post and good question. I think Dean wants a core of 2 hard working players with attacking qualities and defensive qualities. McGinn and Sanson seem to have those (to what level is can be argued) but they are the type of all rounder which Dean sees as the core of what he wants from his midfielders. To that you can add a more defensive ball winner in a 3 or a more attacking player in a 3 or those two in a two.

I think this is what Smith wants from the midfield. Then it just becomes finding the different players of the required quality to fit into those systems

[CVByrne]

8 minutes ago, Xela said:

 

Interesting posts. I made a comment about 2 weeks ago with a theory that I thought we would only target overseas players who were fluent/very good in English from the get go. This wasn't initially the case. 

Guilbert, Wesley and Luiz all signed speaking little to no English. This can't help a player settle. They were all Suso era signings. 

Since Lange took over, the overseas players we have signed:

Martinez - fluent

Traore - fluent (educated at Whitgif school when he was a youngster at Chelsea)

Sanson - fluent (his interview when he joined was in excellent English)

Buendia - good level of English

Bailey - native tongue. 

 

Also been linked heavily to McKennie as well, which would make sense. Its only a theory but can see something in it. Perhaps why we haven't gone for a French or African DM, if they can't speak English?

 

The only two players there we signed that hadn't Premier League experience were Bailey and Sanson both as you say speak fluent English so integration would be quicker