Summer 2021 transfer window

[Del Woppio]

Why take that risk with our best player (who also happens to play in the most pivotal role in the team)? We don't take that risk anywhere else on the pitch. Jonny is out for a while and we potentially have Marcal, RAN and even Saiss to do a job there.

The drop-off from Raul to Fabio is immense. It may not be so pronounced in twelve months time, but we can't just ignore the lessons of the past 14 games.

Tbf you could call Fabio the RAN equivalent, then the cover being Marcal/Saiss, which are worth about £5m between them. £22m is far too much money for an insurance policy. What we need is another Jota - somebody to share the load in the wide positions, who can also fill in up top in case of emergencies. That player may well cost a lot of money, but at least we'll get the minutes' worth. We can't be spending big money on a player that, in the ideal world, would barely even see the pitch, because the minutes are shared between Raul and Fabio

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Which bit of Otasowie's 10 minutes since Christmas have you enjoyed, out of interest?

The 45 minutes against Chelsea changed the game, gave Neves space and allowed Neves to run the show. He then was one of the few to come out of the Burnley game with any credit and in three second half minutes against Brighton he showed the rest of the team how to find an attacking position in the six yard box from midfield. Unfortunately he did a Donk and fucked it up , but he was in the position , made the run and found the space.

 

[Jinky]

Sitting here quietly and remembering the time I wrote off Paul Gladon after 45 minutes of football.

You were 30 minutes behind me.

This got me wondering what the big man Gladon is up to these days. He's 28 now, and playing for Willem II in the Eredivisie.

4 appearances this season... 0 goals. Never change, Paul!

 

[Deleted Cyber]

WJ might be better than Cutrone and Bonatini, but it's not a particularly high bar.

Same value Cutrone?

 

[AndyWolves]

Fuck me, the penny has just dropped with what Nuno was trying to do with Adama. He was trying to get Adama to play centrally so he can fill in for Raul if required. I can't think of any other explanation as Adama looked so useless there!

So, we sell Adama and find someone who can play wide right and centrally. Simples!

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Fuck me, the penny has just dropped with what Nuno was trying to do with Adama. He was trying to get Adama to play centrally so he can fill in for Raul if required. I can't think of any other explanation as Adama looked so useless there!

So, we sell Adama and find someone who can play wide right and centrally. Simples!

Traore cannot lead a line . His assets do not include the ability to hold up and link play. He is not quite a one trick pony but he is. CLose to it. It’s a bloody good trick though if he has enough to aim at . We need WJ near post Neto coming in from the far and the attacking midfielder attacking the 18 yard line to the penalty spot when Traore skins the full back. Then we have three options in the box plus Neves just outside and hopefully Jonny in case of an overhit.

 

[prawnking]

Tbf you could call Fabio the RAN equivalent, then the cover being Marcal/Saiss, which are worth about £5m between them. £22m is far too much money for an insurance policy. What we need is another Jota - somebody to share the load in the wide positions, who can also fill in up top in case of emergencies. That player may well cost a lot of money, but at least we'll get the minutes' worth. We can't be spending big money on a player that, in the ideal world, would barely even see the pitch, because the minutes are shared between Raul and Fabio

Our team doesn't fall apart without Jonny. Marcal, RAN or Saiss could do a varied but serviceable job there. Four options for one role.

Fabio is not ready to share significant minutes with Raul (who we don't even have a return date for). This is not about WJ or £22m, but an insurance policy for our most pivotal position on the pitch doesn't sound too bad to me

 

[Trips]

Our team doesn't fall apart without Jonny. Marcal, RAN or Saiss could do a varied but serviceable job there. Four options for one role.

Fabio is not ready to share significant minutes with Raul (who we don't even have a return date for). This is not about WJ or £22m, but an insurance policy for our most pivotal position on the pitch doesn't sound too bad to me

I dont think anybody has said 'Don't sign anyone' but the point raised has been is spending £22m on WJ the best option.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Villa have 20m Wesley as Watkins back up. 22 games 6 goals

I dont think anybody has said 'Don't sign anyone' but the point raised has been is spending £22m on WJ the best option.

And that has been critiqued as it’s far too early to say that.

 

[Nando]

Again I disagree. The starting 11 is your best 11 but your bench should be close behind. Our bench , in certain areas is a long way behind our starting 11 and Fabio, as the replacement for Raul is a long way below the standard required atm. WJ may sort that. From what we have seen he has several Raul like qualities. He looks to me a better prospect than Cutrone or Bonatini did at this level. It is a squad game now and that whole squad needs to be of the right standard. It is in the best clubs. Look at the array of talent on a big six bench. If that is who we want to challenge that is where we need to aim. Look at Everton’s bench. Look at Villas bench. Even Southampton. Their reserves in the striking department show that we need WJ type atm and for the future not just a stop gap.
mid everyone is fit and we go 4231
Rui
Samedo Donk Boly Jonny
Neves Moutinho
Traore MGW Neto
Raul

the reserves
Ruddy
Hoever Coady Kilman RAN
Otasowie Saiss
Podence Vitinha Fabio
WJ

That looks stronger to me with him in . I would also want to see more of Otasowie this season too. I have liked his cameos. He has influenced the game when he has played and should have scored.

Again - your expectations are so unrealistic it is staggering. United are the wealthiest club in the world, City and Chelsea have a back catalogue of riches established before FFP came into play.

Villa have backup options of Tom Heaton, Neil Taylor, Marvelous Nakamba, Bjorn Engels, Ahmed Elmohamady, Kortney Hause, Jacob Ramsey and El-Ghazi. Their backup forward is Keinan Davis who has 2 goals in 58 league appearances. They've recruited well in terms of their XI, but they have no quality in depth.

Southampton have no actual backup at RB or LB and their first reserve CB is Jack Stephens who is fucking dreadful. Their bench options in front of that are Will Smallbone, Diallo, Nathan Redmond, Moussa Djenepo, Michael Obafemi, Theo Walcott and a bunch of kids.

Everton have over recent years recruited appallingly which has left them with a bloated squad of very highly paid, ageing players. Players like Gylfi, Delph, King Tosun, Iwobi, Bernard may look good on paper in terms of depth, but they cost £130m+ before you factor in their wages. That is not sustainable.

 

[Jinky]

I dont think anybody has said 'Don't sign anyone' but the point raised has been is spending £22m on WJ the best option.

And this leads us around nicely back to my original point, which is that everyone keeps saying how difficult it is to sign a back up striker/option. We've failed time and time again, so I don't see how people can realistically expect better than Jose, for a lower fee. £22m really isn't *that* much in today's market. Clearly if WJ fails to score between now and the end of the season - and his performance levels don't improve - it makes the decision a lot easier. But if the expectation is we're going to pack him back off to Spain regardless and just wonder out to the transfer market and sign someone better for less money, I'll have some of whatever those who think that are taking, please.

 

[prawnking]

I dont think anybody has said 'Don't sign anyone' but the point raised has been is spending £22m on WJ the best option.

I don't know what this obsession with £22m is... when anyone mentions the £35m for Fabio or £27m for Semedo the answer is 'well it isn't your money!', but suddenly it matters with Jose?

WJ is a red herring, I've already commented on him, but I can see people already settling into the complacency about Raul that we've had in previous windows.

A lot of us want this elusive 'can play wide but also cover for Raul' player, but as has been previously stated, they're like rocking horse shit. What if we can't get him? Back to flogging Raul for 90% of every first-team game in his comeback-from-a-fractured-skull season with a raw teenager his only back-up? Er...no thanks

 

[prawnking]

But if the expectation is we're going to pack him back off to Spain regardless and just wonder out to the transfer market and sign someone better for less money, I'll have some of whatever those who think that are taking, please.

...as well as signing a top CH and CM, don't forget, and selling Adama and getting a replacement

 

[Trips]

Villa have 20m Wesley as Watkins back up. 22 games 6 goals

That would be Wesley who has been out injured all season upto now, great back up option he must have been providing

 

[slink]

A waste of what? It's up to Nuno to manage squad minutes and contentment. Fabio can have minutes but if we need to replace Raul for anything more than 15 mins at the end of every other game then Fabio is demonstrably not ready to shoulder that. And it's not just like popping a rookie in at full back, this is a pivotal role in our team.

We shouldn't just push Fabio to the front of the queue because of his price tag. Nuno already gambled on that once and it backfired badly. I agree the best of all possible worlds would be a flexible attacker, but if we can't get that then we need something else than just Fabio, 'waste' or not

A massive waste of money if you ask me. If Raul comes back and the injury has no affect on him he’s going to be playing the majority of the time. I want Fabio to be the player next in for those games where Raul isn’t playing or we can afford to take him off. You can’t have a £22 million insurance policy just in case which imo is what WJ would then become. In your opinion Fabio isn’t ready for more than 15 minutes but i think he is and definitely will be in 6 months time.

If we need another backup when we play 1 up top then £22 million for WJ is not ideal. I’d rather go for a cheaper older option or what i think we need more is a flexible option. Again i know that’s not going to be easy. I just don’t see how WJ would play often enough is basically the long and short of it.

 

[Trips]

And this leads us around nicely back to my original point, which is that everyone keeps saying how difficult it is to sign a back up striker/option. We've failed time and time again, so I don't see how people can realistically expect better than Jose, for a lower fee. £22m really isn't *that* much in today's market. Clearly if WJ fails to score between now and the end of the season - and his performance levels don't improve - it makes the decision a lot easier. But if the expectation is we're going to pack him back off to Spain regardless and just wonder out to the transfer market and sign someone better for less money, I'll have some of whatever those who think that are taking, please.

The thing is though, has he shown enough to be a competent back up to Raul? Hes looked ok, but hardly been brilliant in his games so far. Still time to prove himself but it's not a definite yes. If he proves himself not up to it then we havent found that back up have we?

 

[Deleted Cyber]

That would be Wesley who has been out injured all season upto now, great back up option he must have been providing

What like Raul? I f do isn’t know he was injured Tbf but the point stands as he is like for like with Watkins.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

The thing is though, has he shown enough to be a competent back up to Raul? Hes looked ok, but hardly been brilliant in his games so far. Still time to prove himself but it's not a definite yes. If he proves himself not up to it then we havent found that back up have we?

Now who is moving goalposts? This debate started because posters were already talking about not signing WJ as he isn’t up to scratch and I piped up with my 10p to ask how the hell we know that in such a short time.

 

[Trips]

What like Raul? I f do isn’t know he was injured Tbf but the point stands as he is like for like with Watkins.

I'm not sure what your point is. Villa went into the season with Watkins as there only option up top, we did the same with Raul.

You used Villas bench as an example of them having back up for their striker, they didn't

 

[Nando]

What like Raul? I f do isn’t know he was injured Tbf but the point stands as he is like for like with Watkins.

He is absolutely nothing like Ollie Watkins. They are not even remotely similar footballers apart from both being strikers. It is no surprise they've improved by having someone up top capable of controlling a football