Summer Transfer Window 2023

[Marka Ragnos]

28 minutes ago, Villaphan04 said:

You could probably say that about every team in the PL outside of Manchester City... 

I really feel the exact opposite of you. IMO it really seems like NSWE have really shut down leaks with most everyone outside of Percy/Ornstein. And a lot of the other leaks are coming from the selling club's side (especially when we are buying a player from a non-British club, it is usually from a report closer to that club). 

The exact opposite means utter, earth-shattering confidence. Enjoy that now!  

10 minutes ago, tomsky_11 said:

Does it?! Without any changes at all in the Summer I'd be more confident of us getting into Europe than finishing bottom half.

I'd argue the results thus far under Emery (and IMO some of what we saw under previous managers too) show the existing squad already gives us a solid base to be challenging for European places, and that we are more likely to be looking at maybe 2-3 big additions to the first XI than a massive turnover of squad. Exactly what we need now is quality to build and take forward what we have, not quantity and basically starting with our budget spread too thinly.

 

I mean, if you read my post as saying "Just add more player mix and money and stir," that's certainly not what I meant. I'd say we need a whole lot of intelligent buying.

[Delphinho123]

1 hour ago, IrishVilla10 said:

It was a valid point from kiwivillan, last season it was as if we had no idea what Buendia was good at when we had so much information available from the two previous seasons. Then he got unfairly benched for the majority of Gerrards time here. 

Nonsense. Same argument as Hogan and his intelligent runs. Buendias performances have nothing to do with anybody else. He’s been poor on several occasions and played well more recently. That’s on him, nobody else. 

[Philosopher]

1 hour ago, IrishVilla10 said:

It was a valid point from kiwivillan, last season it was as if we had no idea what Buendia was good at when we had so much information available from the two previous seasons. Then he got unfairly benched for the majority of Gerrards time here. 

This is utter rubbish. We played 2 10's under Gerrard the system was practically made for someone like him. And Smith and the scouting team had their eyes on him for a while. 

Buendia's good games can be counted on one had. He has literally had 3 good games for us. That's it.

[gwi1890]

24 minutes ago, Philosopher said:

This is utter rubbish. We played 2 10's under Gerrard the system was practically made for someone like him. And Smith and the scouting team had their eyes on him for a while. 

Buendia's good games can be counted on one had. He has literally had 3 good games for us. That's it.

Yes 2 10’s who else plays with two 10’s bunched together with no forward runners from midfield? I know a lot of managers play narrow formations but the only outlet for our creative players were the fullbacks making predictable runs due to our predictable build up from the book of idiotic tactician. Buendia always needed development to his game I think the price tag blinds people from realising this, but now under Emery he’s making strides maturing and improving.

Edited March 8, 2023 by gwi1890

[Philosopher]

5 minutes ago, gwi1890 said:

Yes 2 10’s who else plays with two 10’s bunched together with no forward runners from midfield? I know a lot of managers play narrow formations but the only outlet for our creative players were the fullbacks making predictable runs due to our predictable build up from the book of idiotic tactician. Buendia always needed development to his game I think the price tag blinds people from realising this, but now under Emery he’s making strides maturing and improving.

You just made my point. Buendia needs development! He isn’t rubbish, neither is it his teammates fault he didn't perform. Buendia continually plays himself into trouble. Isn’t strong enough, tricky enough, or quick enough too avoid losing possession when under pressure. He always wants to play that perfect through ball or clever flick, even when it isn't on (which is often the case) None of these are his teammates faults, they're his. He has had a couple of good games lately and is improving. But if you judged him on his attacking play upto now, it's  not been good enough overall. 

We love him because he harasses and works hard defensively, but most of his bluster doesn't even lead to a turnover because he's so slow and lightweight. 

I want him to succeed as much as anyone else, when we signed him I was salivating over him and Jack in the same team. But the reality has been depressing. He is  creative, but limited, he needs to get smarter, and choose his moments better, to become a useful player.

 

[trillvillan]

Next French super star centerback - El Chadaille Bitshiabu. Sign him up before he goes for 60m+. 

[Keyblade]

3 minutes ago, trillvillan said:

Next French super star centerback - El Chadaille Bitshiabu. Sign him up before he goes for 60m+. 

Get him for the name alone. Glorious. We can't let Leeds have the player with the best name, Crysencio (Jilbert Sylverio Cirro) Summerville.

[trillvillan]

1 minute ago, Keyblade said:

Get him for the name alone. Glorious. We can't let Leeds have the player with the best name, Crysencio (Jilbert Sylverio Cirro) Summerville.

I'm happy we were just able to sign Coutinho based off the "inho" - now he's more then likely leaving in the summer, we need to find another "inho". Maybe we just need to sign Chiquinho from Benfica, idk now im throwing sh*t to see if it sticks haha.

[IrishVilla10]

3 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

Nonsense. Same argument as Hogan and his intelligent runs. Buendias performances have nothing to do with anybody else. He’s been poor on several occasions and played well more recently. That’s on him, nobody else. 

How is it nonsense? You sign a player who performed fairly well for the worst team in the league playing a certain way, then he gets championship player of the season playing that way. And don’t use him how he was being used at Norwich. 

[IrishVilla10]

2 hours ago, Philosopher said:

This is utter rubbish. We played 2 10's under Gerrard the system was practically made for someone like him. And Smith and the scouting team had their eyes on him for a while. 

Buendia's good games can be counted on one had. He has literally had 3 good games for us. That's it.

Buendia played 1 game as a number 10 for Norwich and 112 on the right. So where’s the rubbish? 

[IrishVilla10]

2 hours ago, Philosopher said:

This is utter rubbish. We played 2 10's under Gerrard the system was practically made for someone like him. And Smith and the scouting team had their eyes on him for a while. 

Buendia's good games can be counted on one had. He has literally had 3 good games for us. That's it.

And just to add are you genuinely trying to use Gerrards “system” as an argument as to why Buendia hasn’t done well. Emery playing him every week should tell you enough. 

[VillaChris]

I assume someone like Mike Maignan is totally unrealistic if Emi leaves?

Brilliant command of his box tonight so would have the personality needed to fill that void rather than a keeper who makes decent saves but stays on his line constantly.

[Shaun Teales Moustache]

15 hours ago, tomsky_11 said:

Pretty much all his creative stats per90 have dropped under Emery when compared with earlier in the season under Gerrard/Danks. Some, like xG, shot creating actions, key passes and passes into attacking areas have almost (or in some cases more than) halved.

 

I thought this was interesting, so I looked into it a bit further for Buendia and a few others. I compared the stats under Gerrard versus those under Emery (both only PL games this season, 11 vs 12 games, but all stats are per 90 mins). Gerrard's opposition was a fair bit easier with an average table position of 12.4 versus Emery's opposition's 9.8 based on the current league table (Gerrard's games included 2 of the top 5, and all of the bottom 5. Emery's included all of the top 5, and 3 of the bottom 5).

Since Emery has come in, almost all of Buendia's volume stats are way down - touches down from 62 to 47. His Shot Creating Actions have gone way down from 4.25 to 2.53. Passes, tackles, carries, attempted take ons, blocks, etc. are all down. But his actual productivity stats are way up. Goals, up from 0.2 to 0.3. Goal Creating Actions up from 0.2 to 0.51, which would be good for 19th in the league (6 of the 18 players ahead of him play for Man City - the only players ahead of him from outside of the top 5 teams are Wellbeck and Mitoma). That's exactly the kind of productivity you'd be looking for from him. That would work out at around 8-9 goals and 14-15 GCA over a season if he played 75% of the minutes available, or 11-12 goals and 19-20 GCA if he played every minute. I think most people would be pretty happy with that.

McGinn's stats have also followed a similar pattern - most volume stats way down, yet he has been way more effective. Shots down from 1.8 to 1.2, but Shots on Target are up from 0.4 to 0.5, because they're not all pot shots from distance. Touches, Tackles, Interceptions, Blocks, Passes Completed, Passes Attempted, Completion %, Progressive Passes, Progressive Carries are all down. Shot creating actions are up from 2.1 to 2.8. Goal Creating Actions are up from 0.20 to 0.78, which would be 4th in the Premier League this season, behind only Mahrez, De Bruyne and Foden. If he can add a few goals to his game again, he'll be back to his best.

Ramsey's stats have followed a similar pattern - most stats are down, but GCA is up from 0.11 to 0.28. He could really do with a big game soon though, as he's getting left behind a bit. His 1 goal and 2 GCA all came in the Man Utd win. He hasn't been involved in a goal in his last 8 games.

Even Watkins, who is clearly in great form, is touching the ball significantly less now (from 30 down to 25), but his productivity has been elite  - from 0.10 goals to 0.62, from 0.29 GCA to 0.41.

 

Nothing too unexpected there, but based on that, I don't think it's fair to say Buendia's "creative stats per90 have dropped" when you see the same pattern for the others playing in a similar role, and also look at the context of why the stats have changed in that pattern. For example, as a team, we are putting in almost half as many crosses now (20 per 90 under Gerrard, 12 under Emery), because peppering crosses into a 5'11" striker between two or three massive center backs probably wasn't that great of an idea. They may have been chances, but they weren't good chances. This is probably also a large part of the reason we are involved in way less Aerial Duals now (from 29 to 20 per 90), which is great, because aside from Mings, everyone else is pretty poor at them. We are passing it almost the same amount, but it's all happening further back the pitch where there is space, and then we're being incisive when we do move it forward.

For me, that's all just down to the difference between a manager with a specific plan and instructions for each of his players, and a manager who just sends his team out and tells them to produce a bit of magic.

Edited March 9, 2023 by Shaun Teales Moustache

[paul514]

5 hours ago, VillaChris said:

I assume someone like Mike Maignan is totally unrealistic if Emi leaves?

Brilliant command of his box tonight so would have the personality needed to fill that void rather than a keeper who makes decent saves but stays on his line constantly.

We aren't signing AC Milan's first choice keeper.

There is a couple in spain worth looking at, Henderson will be available at a good price if you want a known PL quantity.

For what it is worth I don't think Emi will leave, the biggest clubs either don't want an expensive keeper coming in or they want someone better with their feet.

Edited March 9, 2023 by paul514

[Kiwivillan]

According to podcast I listened to the other day we owe 150 million in unpaid player transfer fees but this is SOP for PL clubs

[trillvillan]

7 hours ago, VillaChris said:

I assume someone like Mike Maignan is totally unrealistic if Emi leaves?

Brilliant command of his box tonight so would have the personality needed to fill that void rather than a keeper who makes decent saves but stays on his line constantly.

Much better goalkeeper in Alban Lafont. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

If we have to sign a keeper I’d love it to be Simon. He seems the perfect fit for Emery.

[Delphinho123]

8 hours ago, IrishVilla10 said:

And just to add are you genuinely trying to use Gerrards “system” as an argument as to why Buendia hasn’t done well. Emery playing him every week should tell you enough. 

Emery pretty much has to play one of Buendia or Bailey in every game given our squad limitations. 

I actually think Buendia has been a bit better recently but I’m not sure him starting matches is testament to Emery liking him as a player. Maybe he does, but it’s not like we’re overflowing with options. Bailey is the alternative in most games…

Credit where it’s due, like I say, I think he’s improved a bit lately. He’s better than Bailey, or at least more consistent. 

I fully expect us to go and sign at least 2 attacking players in the summer window and I’d be surprised if Buendia is a starter in our ‘best’ XI next season. 

Edited March 9, 2023 by Delphinho123

[Zatman]

11 hours ago, Philosopher said:

This is utter rubbish. We played 2 10's under Gerrard the system was practically made for someone like him. And Smith and the scouting team had their eyes on him for a while. 

Buendia's good games can be counted on one had. He has literally had 3 good games for us. That's it.

Mentioning the Gerrard system undermines any argument here

Was no system, no coaching. Peak Messi/Ronaldo would have been nullified

[Zatman]

8 hours ago, VillaChris said:

I assume someone like Mike Maignan is totally unrealistic if Emi leaves?

Brilliant command of his box tonight so would have the personality needed to fill that void rather than a keeper who makes decent saves but stays on his line constantly.

No chance he is one of the best keepers in the world and better for them than Donnarumma. Milan form fell off a cliff when he got injured