Summer transfer window 2021

[nick76]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

yeah.

so we have Grealish, Buendia,Traore,ElGhazi, Philogene-Bidace, maybe Young for those roles....and possibly Bailey or McNeill.

is this smacking of Southgate and his full backs? and 2 strikers.

Look, I love wingers, but come on...lets have some balance.

 

Just saying as I see it with previous ESR rumours and now Bailey rumours with even more speculation tonight that it’s happening.

Looks like Grealish, Buendia and hopefully Bailey being the player for the three roles behind Watkins with Traore and JPB as back up and El Ghazi if he’s still around after the window closes with some dubious links he’s leaving though.

I feel the same though about midfield, Dean doesn’t really seem to favour DCM players and for the two general midfield roles as he has Luiz, Nakamba, McGinn, Sanson and elder Ramsey (plus arguably younger Ramsey and Chuck).  I wouldn’t mind a top DCM but think we’d have to sell one or two of the mentioned and Smith seems to like all of them, so despite me agreeing with you, we have more than enough bodies there who Smith likes but not the type you want.

Obviously everybody knows I think we are light at striker with only Ollie to rely on.

Edited July 26, 2021 by nick76

[Philosopher]

2 hours ago, Made In Aston said:

Because Jose isn't proper manager

Jose failed at Spurs and Man U for the same reason. The defense and DM's in those teams lacked the concentration, and quality (in some cases) to provide the solid defensive base his tactics need as a foundation. Give him, or allow him to build an effective defensive unit and he will get results. Not pretty, but effective.

 

[Dave-R]

Just now, TRO said:

such is Jacks overall ability, its hard to pin point these things, but you are right, he can slow things down at times, to our detriment....but he offers us so much more.

but I wouldn't swap him for anybody.

Nah I wouldn't swap him but Smith could actually try get him to speed up in the instances where we need to be faster. I believe last season there was one particular time we had a counter opportunity from our box, Jack was given the ball and I shouted nooooo don't give Jack the ball. Then Jack went on the mother of all runs and he didn't score mind you but it was such a fast and rapid run that he caught so many off guard with it, shame he didn't score when he'd got to opposition box. The problem with that run WA snobody was there to support him, maybe we could of scored with the slide pass rule but nobody ran with him. Which is another problem of ours. I find when our ball runner be it Winger or attacking players runs that we don't haveany runners in support. The ball runner then has to slow down completely only to see opposition flood there area and regroup all while our guys look like they have taken fag and tea breaks with biscuits. From intercepting to movement on counters we have to arrive before opposition re organises because facing off against a team that has got its shape back is tough work.

I just hope TRO that we move faster this season, it's time we took the league by storm and rode the lightning, shocking teams before they can breathe leaving them wondering what the hell happened.

[MaVilla]

35 minutes ago, TRO said:

you only have to return to the Southampton game at home....where they just poured forward and we had no answer until we just fouled them to get the ball and the rest is History.....Ward-Prowse and Romeu, just controlled the middle. until we was 0-4 down, it was pants...just one game to highlight the issue.

yeah, i will be really disappointed if we dont buy at least 1 midfielder this summer....

i mean....im loving the Buendia signing, and the other rumours about wingers etc, but we really need a midfield general.

[eholm]

Some really good and varied opinions on here tonight about precisely what we need and why. I think this only serves to demonstrate that there is still much work to do across several positions before we can even consider a top 4 or even 6 challenge. To be honest we won’t be able to solve all the issues in this window but hopefully we can do enough to have a squad capable of challenging for Europe, even though this is a mighty big ask imo. 

[eholm]

55 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

Also, in terms of action zones, 41% of our action zone was our middle third, which is the joint lowest in the League with leeds.

 

 

Good stat.....and one which perfectly demonstrates how little we dominate midfield and therefore how little we dominate games. Dean and co must be aware of this....

[rubberman]

Plenty of action still to come this window, I have no doubt. 

I also think we will see big improvements from players in the same way Targett and Konsa progressed last season. Douglas and Marvelous have potential to step up and move forward with the club's aspirations.

Keeping an imoriving core together and adding quality incrementally will be far more sustainable than major changes every season. 

[Kiwivillan]

19 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

yeah, i will be really disappointed if we dont buy at least 1 midfielder this summer....

i mean....im loving the Buendia signing, and the other rumours about wingers etc, but we really need a midfield general.

What if Buendia plays the "Scholes role" as someone described him in Watford game. There's your midfield general

[Kiwivillan]

EDIT: Had to update as using wrong data as missing game 1 and Newcastle postponement threw me. 5th not 1st

So had a look at the total shots conceded when Barkley was out for 7 games in a row with hamstring injury. 

I've said often I think he was big factor in our midfield "being overrun"

Well it turns out from game week 10 to 17 we ranked 5th in PL for least shots conceded. 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Kiwivillan

[Radness]

3 hours ago, thabucks said:

Very good point well made. Just watch Barca and Messi - they press from the front in swarms and try and get the ball back …. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/barcauniversal.com/barcelonas-pressing-intensity-over-the-years/amp/

Not sure how Bailey and Traore fit though into this system of high press … Suppose tracking back can be taught and worked on . 

Sounds great, but the do have Busquets, probably the best DM on the planet.

[RicRic]

1 hour ago, Dave-R said:

Nah I wouldn't swap him but Smith could actually try get him to speed up in the instances where we need to be faster. I believe last season there was one particular time we had a counter opportunity from our box, Jack was given the ball and I shouted nooooo don't give Jack the ball. Then Jack went on the mother of all runs and he didn't score mind you but it was such a fast and rapid run that he caught so many off guard with it, shame he didn't score when he'd got to opposition box. The problem with that run WA snobody was there to support him, maybe we could of scored with the slide pass rule but nobody ran with him. Which is another problem of ours. I find when our ball runner be it Winger or attacking players runs that we don't haveany runners in support. The ball runner then has to slow down completely only to see opposition flood there area and regroup all while our guys look like they have taken fag and tea breaks with biscuits. From intercepting to movement on counters we have to arrive before opposition re organises because facing off against a team that has got its shape back is tough work.

I just hope TRO that we move faster this season, it's time we took the league by storm and rode the lightning, shocking teams before they can breathe leaving them wondering what the hell happened.

That last part i love it thats why i always think in my head its the hope that kills you ... i see us saying on here alot Mcneil would be playing in this position and that position, i sit here wondering if only every other fan knows how serious this club is right now and where we are heading because we wouldn’t be getting happy planning on formations with Mcneil’s and others in that bracket , we are elevating to different heights but many cant see it 

Anyway i have a good gooooood feeling that Leon Bailey will be unveiled at Aston Villa soon enough and my brother the Liverpool fan says theres no chance he would go to Villa ( Another one that doesn’t know about our vision) so would love to prove him wrong thinking my Aston villa are not a huge club.

[TRO]

2 hours ago, rubberman said:

Plenty of action still to come this window, I have no doubt. 

I also think we will see big improvements from players in the same way Targett and Konsa progressed last season. Douglas and Marvelous have potential to step up and move forward with the club's aspirations.

Keeping an imoriving core together and adding quality incrementally will be far more sustainable than major changes every season. 

thats what I am hoping for.

[TRO]

2 hours ago, Radness said:

Sounds great, but the do have Busquets, probably the best DM on the planet.

oh and he can play a bit....not all DM's are cloggers or stoppers.

[est1874]

So. Still nothing?

[Wes]

Bettinelli is going to Chelsea so the number of back-up, experienced, home-grown Goalkeeper options are diminishing.

[Steero113]

5 minutes ago, est1874 said:

So. Still nothing?

[HKP90]

11 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

What if Buendia plays the "Scholes role" as someone described him in Watford game. There's your midfield general

What are his stats on winning the ball/ second balls? Anyone know? (somebody on here is bound to know). 

 

[Zatman]

11 hours ago, rubberman said:

Plenty of action still to come this window, I have no doubt. 

I also think we will see big improvements from players in the same way Targett and Konsa progressed last season. Douglas and Marvelous have potential to step up and move forward with the club's aspirations.

Keeping an imoriving core together and adding quality incrementally will be far more sustainable than major changes every season. 

Not just that Cash and Ollie could improve from last season

[Laughable Chimp]

6 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

What are his stats on winning the ball/ second balls? Anyone know? (somebody on here is bound to know). 

 

I mean, what do you mean by winning the ball/second balls? I could see a host of stats covering those.

Fbref has a scouting report on him when he was in the PL and he was really good at them back then.

https://fbref.com/en/players/66b76d44/scout/3232/Emi-Buendia-Scouting-Report

99th percentile for tackles won

93rd percentile for successful pressures

90th percentile for interceptions

87th percentile for ball recoveries.

47th percentile for aerial duels percentage won.

70th percentile for amount of aerial duels won.

All relative to the position of Attacking midfielder/Winger

Keep in mind this was 2 years ago but by all accounts he's gotten even better since then although perhaps not in these categories in particular.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Laughable Chimp

[HKP90]

16 minutes ago, Laughable Chimp said:

I mean, what do you mean by winning the ball/second balls? I could see a host of stats covering those.

Fbref has a scouting report on him when he was in the PL and he was really good at them back then.

https://fbref.com/en/players/66b76d44/scout/3232/Emi-Buendia-Scouting-Report

99th percentile for tackles won

93rd percentile for successful pressures

90th percentile for interceptions

87th percentile for ball recoveries.

47th percentile for aerial duels percentage won.

70th percentile for amount of aerial duels won.

All relative to the position of Attacking midfielder/Winger

Keep in mind this was 2 years ago but by all accounts he's gotten even better since then although perhaps not in these categories in particular.

Perfect. I mean.. all of those really. You/Fbref just expressed it much better than myself. 

I do have a slight reservation in we have both McGinn and Buendia in the line-up that we could be dominated by teams with decent heading ability in midfield.