Monchi - President of Football Operations

[Jas10]

 

 

Thanks Monchi, now get cracking with those signings

[Captain_Townsend]

Badge looks class on his profile. 

[Tomaszk]

1 hour ago, IrishVilla10 said:

Why? Because we’re not taking a punt on a 23 year old who’s had one season with spezia? I could list all the signings we’ve made who show we’ve got a good scouting network. Backed up by the fact we have the third best value squad in relation to transfer fees and player worth in the league. 

 

35 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Nah, just in general I don't think we cast the net wide enough and are pretty wasteful/lavish with our incredibly generous owners' funding.

Bolded bit. Since Lange and McKenzie arrived yeah? Yes please. I'd like to see that list and feel better about our recruitment.

Obviously I wouldn't include John McGinn from before they arrived, signed five years ago on a recommendation by Steve Bruce's mate. 

Or incredibly well-known international Mousa Diaby signed for £30-50m. Every team in the world knew about him.

Or incredibly well-known and now-international after Bouba Kamara signed for £0. Every team in the world knew about him.

You can include them all on your list if you like.

As I said, I'm hoping Monchi sorts us out in this regard.

 

13 minutes ago, IrishVilla10 said:

Everyone wants to be Brighton though, why most teams don’t take a similar approach who knows, there was lots of talk about us looking at Alvarez before he went to city but who knows if that was the case. The problem is now as well it’s not as simple as picking up cheap young talent from abroad, that young winger palace just bought cost 26 million, Forrest paid 20 million for a defensive midfielder from the same league last season, Brighton are about to pay 20+ for a 19 year old from ligue 1 too. So that model is now becoming more expensive as well as having more risk involved  

You could name signings from every season we’ve spent back in the league in relation to what our goals were at the time and credit our scouting, apart from maybe the spending of the grealish money. 

Not arsed about replicating any particular club. No one can argue Brighton aren't very good at it though. The money generated is mental. Aided by daft clubs willing to overpay them as well of course. I want better than whatever it is we're doing at the moment.

Their method is getting more expensive but it's still cheaper than... buying overpriced big names on huge deals because a manager wants them.

In fairness, someone like Emery could actually demand that. He's got a plan in his head and let's say he says he must get Lo Celso and he costs £40m - I'd think that's a bit much really, but Emery has the track record of being able to do that! When we were wasting millions doing what Gerrard wanted, that was seriously moronic.

I just want us to get better! We've obviously fluffed up some big spending recently, even taking out the huge gaffs. Bailey and Buendia have disappointed for £65m + over £40m in wages. I sincerely hope Torres shows he's fit for purpose now we've been stitched up with Mings injury. I sincerely hope Zaniolo isn't in and out constantly with niggling injuries that kept him out of 70% of Galatasaray's league games. We've ended up with Olsen on big bench money who isn't fit for purpose. 

I like that we brought in two Spanish scouts with Monchi and Emery, let's start casting that net wide.

[Tomaszk]

1 hour ago, wishywashy said:

A huge part of recruitment stems not from ability/potential but the fit of the player. Digne is an undoubtedly quality player: pretty easy to argue that he's 100% an above average Premier League LB. However, he's objectively a terrible fit for Villa. His quality stems from his elite crossing, which is nice and all but Emery isn't particularly heavy on that and it isn't *particularly* useful when none of our attackers are taller than 6ft (Still absolutely no idea what Gerrard was doing, deciding that pumping crosses with one of the smallest teams in the league was a good idea). Look at how Man City operate vs Chelsea: the former's signings tend to do much better because they're actually good fits for what Pep wants, and the scouting team has identified said players as such. Chelsea, on the other hand, have no idea what they're doing and the players that they sign have fit pretty dreadfully, despite their objective world-class quality.

Agree.

1 hour ago, wishywashy said:

As for the reductive idea of dismissing Diaby/Kamara as examples of good recruitment because everyone knew who they are... what??

Let's debate!

They're obviously good signings, but it's not an indicator of a good recruitment team is it? Signing good players for huge fees is very easy? Who can't do that if they have the money? Seriously.

If Man Utd had offered Kamara £170k a week (more than us) and signed him, they're not being smart or operating efficiently. They just have a big budget and we don't.

1 hour ago, wishywashy said:

Real Madrid's Galacticos policy of signing superstars hasn't made their recruitment team look shabby... seven CLs since the turn of the millennium, I think?

Real Madrid spending £120m on Jude Bellingham isn't smart or clever. It's obvious! Every club in the world would do it if they had the money.

Clubs being stupid and overspending on...£100m on Mudryk, doesn't mean people that don't do that are good. It just means they're not stupid.

1 hour ago, wishywashy said:

 Just because a scouting team isn't signing random South American players doesn't mean they can't be good at what they do (and we have, our resident south american wonderkid literally scored two days ago...)

If we start making more clever signings of younger, high ceiling players LIKE Douglas Luiz for £15m, we'll end up in a better place than spending £55m on Digne and Bailey and paying them £50m. Would you like more Dougies or more Coutinhos?

I want us to be better. Not wasteful. Not excessive. One day, if NSWE turn round and say, actually no money this summer, things are tight...it would be nice to know we can operate smartly and not blow money willy nilly.

Also...

10 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

Monchi did come into this party late so he gets a pass still, but this is far from sensible. I hope he has time when the window closes to have a good look at future planning.

Up the monster Monch.

Edited August 22 by Tomaszk

[sidcow]

On 20/08/2023 at 19:50, Captain_Townsend said:

Badge looks class on his profile. 

Phew. For a minute I thought it was a Chelsea badge 

Edited August 22 by sidcow

[IrishVilla10]

10 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

I want us to be better. Not wasteful. Not excessive. One day, if NSWE turn round and say, actually no money this summer, things are tight...it would be nice to know we can operate smartly and not blow money willy nilly.

I understand that completely but our goal since promotion has been to move up the table and establish ourselves in Europe, something that’s extremely difficult using the model you’re suggesting. If it came to it which I hope it doesn’t, we would manage. https://myoldmansaid.com/the-player-aston-villa-were-scouting-that-bizarrely-led-to-signing-jhon-duran/?amp

[wishywashy]

21 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Let's debate!

Woo!

Quote

They're obviously good signings, but it's not an indicator of a good recruitment team is it? Signing good players for huge fees is very easy? Who can't do that if they have the money? Seriously.

If Man Utd had offered Kamara £170k a week (more than us) and signed him, they're not being smart or operating efficiently. They just have a big budget and we don't.

Real Madrid spending £120m on Jude Bellingham isn't smart or clever. It's obvious! Every club in the world would do it if they had the money.

Clubs being stupid and overspending on...£100m on Mudryk, doesn't mean people that don't do that are good. It just means they're not stupid.

There have been plenty of obviously very good players signed for huge fees who don't end up succeeding. Maguire was a sensational defender at Leicester who ended up being shoe-horned into a position at United (high-block for a defender not capable of turning and accelerating very well) that was so unsuited to his attributes that he was a blatant flop. I think the pressure's even greater for recruitment teams at huge fees to produce successes as the expectations are so high, and therefore they must ensure that players are absolutely best positioned to succeed: have to be great fits for the club. If they accomplish what they're signed to do, then it's a success.

Quote

If we start making more clever signings of younger, high ceiling players LIKE Douglas Luiz for £15m, we'll end up in a better place than spending £55m on Digne and Bailey and paying them £50m. Would you like more Dougies or more Coutinhos?

I want us to be better. Not wasteful. Not excessive. One day, if NSWE turn round and say, actually no money this summer, things are tight...it would be nice to know we can operate smartly and not blow money willy nilly.

I think the ambitions of our owners has in some kinda way worked against the policy of signing these promising players like Luiz at times, as we've gone through about 2 squad rebuilds over the past 3 years alone with a pressing need for immediate improvement. Luiz only really came good this season: the first two years he was very, very raw and honestly not one of our key players. But with the squad in a more healthy state (up until Summer 2022 our squad had massive holes that we were kinda desperately plugging!) we're now in a state where we can add to that with promise with Duran, and honestly high-risk high-ceiling investments like Zaniolo, even if he is pretty well known.

Honestly, I think that looking at the squad as a whole, it's not been particularly wasteful or excessive bar a few cases. Honestly, I insist that Coutinho was a success and worth the investment in a roundabout way: he was a medium-risk, very high reward signing that significantly elevated the attention and reputation of the club, even if on the pitch he was pretty bad. I'm pretty sure we had like the 10th/11th most expensive squad in the league last season and we finished 7th, which honestly I reckon is a success. It's 8th now IIRC, so let's see where we go from there.

 

Edited August 22 by wishywashy

[Tomaszk]

3 minutes ago, wishywashy said:

Woo!

There have been plenty of obviously very good players signed for huge fees who don't end up succeeding. Maguire was a sensational defender at Leicester who ended up being shoe-horned into a position at United (high-block for a defender not capable of turning and accelerating very well) that was so unsuited to his attributes that he was a blatant flop. I think the pressure's even greater for recruitment teams at huge fees to produce successes as the expectations are so high, and therefore they must ensure that players are absolutely best positioned to succeed: have to be great fits for the club. If they accomplish what they're signed to do, then it's a success.

I think the ambitions of our owners has in some kinda way worked against the policy of signing these promising players like Luiz at times, as we've gone through about 2 squad rebuilds over the past 3 years alone with a pressing need for immediate improvement. Luiz only really came good this season: the first two years he was very, very raw and honestly not one of our key players. But with the squad in a more healthy state we're now in a state where we can add to that with promise with Duran, and honestly high-risk high-ceiling investments like Zaniolo, even if he is pretty well known.

Honestly, I think that looking at the squad as a whole, it's not been particularly wasteful or excessive bar a few cases. Honestly, I insist that Coutinho was a success and worth the investment in a roundabout way: he was a medium-risk, very high reward signing that significantly elevated the attention and reputation of the club, even if on the pitch he was pretty bad. I'm pretty sure we had like the 10th/11th most expensive squad in the league last season and we finished 7th, which honestly I reckon is a success. It's 8th now IIRC, so let's see where we go from there.

Don't disagree strongly with much there. Perhaps it's the level we think we're currently delivering at where we differ.

With the funding available (absolutely loads) to set up any  infrastructure we want. I think we're working at about a 6/10 when we should be working at 9 or 10. That's where I am more or less.

Emery is our secret weapon. Our magic man that can actually massively lift the squad to the very brink of possibilities. If we can get him the players to match his ability, we're basically title contenders in the next two years. That's probably not quite possible, but we can get pretty close.

It's unlikely we can work it where we just spend £200m a season. Then there's the nightmare scenario of Emery leaving to Real or whatever. We need to be in a position where we don't need his magic to do anything of note.

We can both be happy if we get better than we currently are. On and off the pitch.

[wishywashy]

21 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Don't disagree strongly with much there. Perhaps it's the level we think we're currently delivering at where we differ.

With the funding available (absolutely loads) to set up any  infrastructure we want. I think we're working at about a 6/10 when we should be working at 9 or 10. That's where I am more or less.

Emery is our secret weapon. Our magic man that can actually massively lift the squad to the very brink of possibilities. If we can get him the players to match his ability, we're basically title contenders in the next two years. That's probably not quite possible, but we can get pretty close.

It's unlikely we can work it where we just spend £200m a season. Then there's the nightmare scenario of Emery leaving to Real or whatever. We need to be in a position where we don't need his magic to do anything of note.

We can both be happy if we get better than we currently are. On and off the pitch.

Yeah, I think that's where we deviate, but I don't disagree with anything else you've said either: especially regarding the risks of manager-led projects and post-Emery. It's more of a bygone approach but I can see (and agree) why it had to be the case for a club in our position (especially in October 2022) to hire one of Europe's best managers.

In either case, it's very exciting times for Villa. Monchi's specialisation at Sevilla was identifying high-ceiling players such as Douglas Luiz for peanuts, and Emery has a very strong reputation when it comes to elevating players who need 'fixing'. It's a matchup that won them several Europa Leagues at Sevilla and defined both of their career peaks in terms of success, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. I think Zaniolo is the mold of transfer we'll be seeing a lot: medium/high-risk with baggage (that the top top clubs may avoid) but with a very high ceiling that could massively elevate the team. And I think we can afford to do that now that we have a squad that can pretty much finish 7th at bare minimum.

Edited August 22 by wishywashy

[lexicon]

About time we had a guy like him able to get good deals for players on the periphery of the squad. 

[AvfcRigo82]

46 minutes ago, lexicon said:

About time we had a guy like him able to get good deals for players on the periphery of the squad. 

I love this guy!

In his 9 weeks here so far he's been an absolute revelation and a class act in what he has overseen so far on transfer dealings - and I don't think he's quite done yet either for this window! 

Monchi the Magician! 

[gwi1890]

these new signings fit in like a glove , well thought out profiles to fit the system.

[Made In Aston]

7 minutes ago, gwi1890 said:

these new signings fit in like a glove , well thought out profiles to fit the system.

No misses so far. Perfect recruitment! 

[Tomaszk]

18 minutes ago, DJBOB said:

To be fair, we have been linked to many but Zaniolo was the only former Monchi signing was he not?

Diaby, Torres, and Youri were not. 

Tielemans signed before Monchi joined.

I'd be surprised if he had much to do with the targeting of the other two.

Perhaps it's coincidence the Zaniolo and Acuna links. Lenglet makes it look more like he's going back to what he knows though. 

Is that a bad thing? Not definitevly no. Is it an indication we're improving on our scouting and casting to net as wide as possible? Also no IMO.

Not judging too harshly, he's not been in here long enough to properly sort the department out. Just a comment.

11 minutes ago, villan95 said:

I suppose you could argue Tielemans is the only player we've signed this window hat hasn't worked with either Emery or Monchi before. But yeah doesn't bother me.

Yep.

If you can't secure "the perfect player", like say Nico Williams who we clearly wanted, no harm to going to one you know to reduce risk.

[StanBalaban]

It's occured to me that having someone of Monchi's standing in the game is not just great for recruitment, but seems to be pretty handy at clearing unwanted player off the books too.

Not meant as a dig at Purslow, but it could be that Monchi has a bigger swinging rolodex.

[Jas10]

Quote

How key was Unai Emery in your decision to join the club?

“Obviously, the presence of Unai has been almost the decisive reason to come to Birmingham.

“He is currently one of the top-level coaches in the world of football, with an infinite capacity to work and an eagerness to continue growing.

“I have also worked with with him and a large part of his team (Javi, Pablo, Victor, Moises…) previously, for three-and-a-half years in Seville, where we achieved very important sporting achievements.”

Is a good relationship with the head coach the key to success?

“It is fundamental.

“Working together, in the same direction and with the same goals is key to achieving any future success.

“Each fulfilling their role but also trying to add and contribute to the work of the other.”

Quote

Could you explain what your role entails and how it fits into the structure at Aston Villa?

“I assume the role of President of Football Operations.

“Fundamentally, my work, together with Damian Vidagany, will be to support the needs and everything that involves the first team.

“As well as directing and coordinating the sporting side of the club, following the economic guidelines set by Nassef and Wes, as owners of the club, who will also be responsible for the development of the club.

“And also the sporting guidelines set by Unai Emery, head of the sports section.”

Quote

Tell us about our five summer signings and what they will bring to the squad - Youri, Pau, Moussa, Nicolò and Clement?

“I think all of them have something important and necessary to offer at this time, they have needed little adaptation to be able to give their best performances.

“They are all international players and I think that, together with those who were already in the squad, they will provide options for the coach.”

It was a busy summer window with plenty of activity both in and out of the club, how do you reflect on it overall?

“It has been a very complicated and hard-working summer, but I think we should be satisfied with what we have done, as we have kept all the important players plus the arrival of the five.

“The sales have basically been to balance our FFP, but in most cases we have repurchase options, so I think we have covered our backs.

“I am happy with the work we have done, and I want to congratulate all the people involved, especially Sharon and Damian and the entire Communications Department and Player Care Department.”

 

 

 

 

Edited September 19 by Jas10

[Tomaszk]

So excited to see how he can improve us.

No one doubts Unai. Look what he did for players most were wavering on. McGinn, Mings, Konsa, Luiz, Watkins. Absolutely transformed.

We don't need to spend massive to get top players because our manager is that good he lifts the 7/10s to 9 & 10/10s.

We must get the big purchases right. Genuine, guaranteed quality. Diaby is a perfect example.

[stewiek2]

Up for a Global award for best sporting director...