Tomaszk Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 Just now, nick76 said: Whatever Emery wants and what he was hinting at twice earlier in the year after buying Duran. Agree. As should everyone. IMO it'll be a wide attacker, not a striker. Probably someone who can play off a forward or wide. If it is a striker, all good. We very well might see another formation opened up to us. Can see two out and out strikers being very useful against very defensive sides. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 1 hour ago, Adam2003 said: I think the striker situation is seen as different (rightly or wrongly) because we saw competition bring the worst out of Watkins, and he thrives as being the ‘undisputed’ striker. We can say “well he needs to grow a pair” but I’d rather do what keeps him scoring goals and just have to trust Emery to judge that. In Jan all I’d be looking to sign is a top class right back, if one is available, and a better backup goalkeeper. It's more if we get an injury to Watkins and he's out for 3 months. We've no experienced Striker to come in. I think we need someone who is capable of doing what Watkins does in terms of leading the line while also being content with his role in the squad. Someone who is 31/32 and experienced in Europe. Or we need a player who is versatile to play as second striker or as striker as their main role. There is a gap there as Duran is too young and raw. Striker is a specialist position 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 2 minutes ago, Tomaszk said: Agree. As should everyone. IMO it'll be a wide attacker, not a striker. Probably someone who can play off a forward or wide. If it is a striker, all good. We very well might see another formation opened up to us. Can see two out and out strikers being very useful against very defensive sides. The type of player we need is a Ferran Torres. Player who is very capable across the front line. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted December 18, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted December 18, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, Adam2003 said: I think the striker situation is seen as different (rightly or wrongly) because we saw competition bring the worst out of Watkins, and he thrives as being the ‘undisputed’ striker. We can say “well he needs to grow a pair” but I’d rather do what keeps him scoring goals and just have to trust Emery to judge that. In Jan all I’d be looking to sign is a top class right back, if one is available, and a better backup goalkeeper. You stole my thoughts. Well said. Every club at any time is capable of getting injuries. Almost no club can afford to bench an entire "mirror" squad of replacements to be slotted in whenever an injury occurs. There's no special reason to think (touch wood) that Ollie is especially vulnerable to injuries. Bailey, Kamara, and Ramsey, on the other hand ... I don't think we really need any transfer right now UNLESS a golden opportunity from the desk of Monchi appears. Edited December 18, 2023 by Marka Ragnos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightoffyour Posted December 18, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted December 18, 2023 32 minutes ago, CVByrne said: It's more if we get an injury to Watkins and he's out for 3 months. We've no experienced Striker to come in. I think we need someone who is capable of doing what Watkins does in terms of leading the line while also being content with his role in the squad. Someone who is 31/32 and experienced in Europe. Danny Ings it is 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adbo9 Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 If we were to buy another striker, i think itd be a centre forward - big no9 to throw on and mix it up in certain situattions..... someone in the mitrovic mould......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 Sure Emery would love to bring in Gerard Moreno from Villarreal but he's on a long contract and has a very high release clause (£85m). Even if he was available for the €35m or so it was claimed in the summer I doubt we would spend that on a 31 y.o. But you never know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allani Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 1 hour ago, Marka Ragnos said: Sorry, can't agree with Alan Shearer on Villa needing more depth up front in January window. First of all, same could be said for almost any club in the Premier League. Everyone thinks that. Everyone wants another star forward, so the market will be awful and hyper-inflated in January. Secondly, unlike some players, Ollie actually seems to work better without "competition" on the squad breathing down his neck. He flourishes when he's King Ollie. When he feels threatened, he begins to make mistakes. Finally, we already have a complement of excellent forwards who can step in as CF's if not strikers. Diaby, Bailey, and even Zaniolo are all capable. To be fair we haven't seen Ollie with (proper) competition under Emery - so we don't know how he will react. I would say Ollie looks the most confident we have ever seen him at the moment. So maybe confident Ollie, who has a manager who tells him that signing another attacker isn't about putting his position in the team at threat but is about giving us more options across the front line to play with Ollie and to give him more time and space, will "react" less badly than he has perceived to have done before. The point is that neither Smith not SG knew how to play Ollie and Ings in the same team or how to rotate them. Emery will know exactly how he wants each of his players to play and how they all need to interact with each other. I really don't think that Ollie's issue was so much about wanting to be King Ollie but it was more about neither manager knowing how to play him and Ings, therefore the players didn't quite know what they were supposed to be doing and it took them a while to figure it out. I think this is also why Ollie hasn't (so far) looked as good when playing for England as he's not entirely sure what Southgate wants him to do. Does he want him to play like he does for Villa or does he want him to play like Harry Kane (I think the answer is obviously the latter)? You could easily argue that Diaby is another star forward - and there have been no real issues with the way that Diaby and Ollie interact in attack. If we sign another attacking player then it is likely that they will be someone who can play across the front line and so isn't a direct "threat" to Ollie's position but is capable of playing that role if Ollie is out for an extended period or needs some rest. We actually looked alright with 4 attackers on the pitch yesterday (Ollie, Duran, Bailey and Zaniolo) because they each knew what their role was, where they were positioned and what freedom they had to roam when that would give us better options. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 This guy was mentioned as a target a week or so ago on some site. Might be something in it if Barca has decided to recall Lenglet. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 Normally like what this guy says but… Timo Werner??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 17 hours ago, VillaChris said: Joshua Zirkzee one to look at. Only 22 and came through at Bayern Munich. Had a one in two record at Anderlecht two years ago and scored 7 already this season for Bologna. Surprisingly never capped by the full Netherlands team but will surely be in their March squad. He's 6ft 4 so similar to Duran but much more experienced at top level. Bologna are 4th though so probably won't want to let him go mid season when CL is a very real prospect for them. sign him. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted December 18, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted December 18, 2023 1 hour ago, Adbo9 said: If we were to buy another striker, i think itd be a centre forward - big no9 to throw on and mix it up in certain situattions..... someone in the mitrovic mould......... But ... Spoiler we're not buying another striker in January. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted December 18, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted December 18, 2023 That guy's video persona is like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. I can't think of many Villa questions where Timo Werner is an answer. 38 minutes ago, Sulberto21 said: Normally like what this guy says but… Timo Werner??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMAICAN-VILLAN Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 39 minutes ago, Sulberto21 said: Normally like what this guy says but… Timo Werner??? I actually always said I liked Werner lol. Tenacious, hard working and quick. Not to be depended on as a " striker " though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBOB Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 Duran's made every match day squad aside from injury and has been a substitute in 10/17 matches now. It would be a lot to ask of a 20 year old but I think he's going to be asked to shoulder the load if Ollie's out for any time. Whether we like the quality or not, we do have a back up striker. The only position where we don't have a natural replacement is at RB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Waring Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 Duran > Werner 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBOB Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 Chambers and Traore are surely out in January whether on loan or permanent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 1 minute ago, DJBOB said: Duran's made every match day squad aside from injury and has been a substitute in 10/17 matches now. It would be a lot to ask of a 20 year old but I think he's going to be asked to shoulder the load if Ollie's out for any time. Whether we like the quality or not, we do have a back up striker. The only position where we don't have a natural replacement is at RB. But imo Konsa is a better level RB than Duran is ready to be our striker. This is nothing against Duran but if Cash was out (and even if he wasn’t as shown recently) then Konsa is more than capable as a defensive RB. Maybe not the free ranging RB equivalent of Moreno but still a top player whereas Duran is so raw and at the moment such a step down in so many factors to Ollie because of his rawness it’s a much bigger weakness for us than RB imo. So it doesn’t matter to me about “natural” I’m more concerned about level, effectiveness and quality. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 5 minutes ago, DJBOB said: Chambers and Traore are surely out in January whether on loan or permanent. Depends if Traore is fit. If he isn’t fit it’s unlikely he goes anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 51 minutes ago, sne said: This guy was mentioned as a target a week or so ago on some site. Might be something in it if Barca has decided to recall Lenglet. He's only played RB 20 times in his career, apparently. Stats-wise looks like he's comfortable on the ball and can pass, which certainly fits the system. No idea if he's any good, though, as this is the first time I've ever heard of him, let alone seen him play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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