By the way, for the purposes of a chuckle, does Grealish or Zaha or Cook count as a big signing (or a combination of a few)? Asking for a friend (@Spurlock) as i remember there being a wager
Grealish on his own doesn’t solve our CM problems though. Cook and Grealish as a double signing, (in terms of the type of players they are) do, just about. Whilst Cook could just be made up bullshit, and be to drive down the price of Grealish, I would not be surprised to see us go for him, or someone very similar from another PL team. Especially if there are other targets we’re after (potentially abroad), that don’t like coming to fruition. The “big/mystery” signing (if it happens, and it’s only you @Dier Hard thats getting my hopes up) will be Martial, IMO. I just can’t see anything else big happening. Nothing stays a secret these days, so we’d have heard a “big name” rumoured by now. Bale? No bloody chance. Kovacic? Possibly, but I think that’ll have to be well underway before Thursday. VDV was a total one off on deadline day. I don’t see anyone with a name like that coming on deadline day again, unless it’s from a PL club, I.e Martial. Our other confirmed business on deadline days recently has just been us finally announcing players we knew we were signing days before. If there’s any business to be done on the final day that’s out of the blue, I only expect it to be from an English club, and I would expect it to be someone rather underwhelming, like another Sissoko. Martial could be the exception. Could.
Today's random updates/musings * We've lost interest in Zaha, no doubt because we remembered Lamela and Lucas are right wingers so we don't need to spend £60m on another one * Speculation is saying that Napoli are interested in Aurier * Other speculation is saying that, if Aurier isn't sold, he'll be a first teamer next season (file under "Well duh...") * Marcus Edwards has been linked with Bayer Leverkusen
Haha! I’d say it’s best to let other posters decide as me and Spurly won’t agree either way unless we signed Bale . Personally I’d probably say Zaha/ Martial would count as big/ marquee - although they’re not the marquee signing I’m personally hoping for. I’m hoping for a CM marquee signing, someone like Modric would be a dream, Kovacic/ Thiago/ SMS/ Vidal as others.
Cook seems like he'd be competing for a place in the 2 of the 4-2-3-1, while Grealish would be more at home in the 3. Backup and competition for Dembele and Eriksen, while growing our homegrown numbers, if either happens. What that would mean for Winks, Onomah, Amos and the like, I don't know. We'll see.
If the whispers (and formations in our Meaningless US Tournament Championship Cup matches) are any kind of marker, we'll be playing 433 next season - although that does beg the question where Grealish would fit in given he's not really played much as a centre mid, and I don't see him as an out-and-out winger up front
From the 7 or so games I saw last season and from what most Villa fans seem to be saying on twitter, Grealish played his best football as a number 8 and not a number 10. I think Poch sees Grealish as a potential Dembele replacement more so than someone who’ll challenge Eriksen/ Dele. He has a Dembele-esque knack of gliding past players despite not being the quickest.
I thought that the 4-3-3 was just an attempt to try something different and get something out of Llorente, to be honest. Pochettino trying to come up with a meaningful Plan B was a good use of a pre-season tour with few regular starters, if that's the case. I've not seen enough of him recently to judge, to be honest.
Agreed. Which is why I think it theoretically solves the CM issues. Whether either of them are good enough or will work out, is another matter. The ideal scenario would be for Skipp to be given a chance and set the world alight! - I’m conscious (and happy to hold my hands up) that last season I said we needed another RB, as KWP was inexperienced. We got Aurier. By 2/3 of the way through the season I was continuously saying “what’s KWP got to do to get a game”. Only Poch knows who is fit for the regime and who isn’t. And I trust Poch. But part of me thinks levy wanders off on his own little spending spree, just ending up with “almost” players. I will not accept that Sissoko was a player Poch genuinely wanted. And it’s these signings I want us to avoid, as all it’ll do is make Levy tighten the purse strings further due to bad experiences. I’d rather we just played the kids who will give everything for the team. Go big or go home, as they say.
This transfer window is probably going to be a huge f**k up now. I contend the reason is not the WC or the deadline date, but that Levy cannot multi-task the horror of new WHL not being completed on time with his preferred time window for attempted transfer Levying. One has had to die a death this summer, and we know which one it is.
Ah, 4-3-3. The fave of AVB (even the academy class of 2012-13 were playing it, Kane doing very well in that formation) . But somebody else has bought Moutinho, and we don't have Bale to dig us out of it as in 2012-13.
But does he have the ability to position himself correctly, win, and retain the ball? Dembele offers so much, it’s probably going to take 2 players to cover his attributes.
The switch to a deeper role only happened during the second half of last season so most wont have noticed it. That’s also where I became a fan of his, before Spurs became an interested party in him. He’s also bulked up a lot when you compare how he used to look so I think he also sees his long term future at CM. His switch is quite similar to how Dembele actually ended up a CM. Has great skill and technique but doesn’t seem to chip in with enough goals/ assists but when played in a deeper role, those same skills allow them to become a dominant and controlling force in the middle of the park and be the starting point for most attacks.
He’s obviously not as physically strong as Dembele and the defensive side is likely something he’ll need to work on. But it’s worth asking are we looking for an actual Dembele part two or another player who can impose themselves in their own way? I’ve said in the past that although I’m not saying he’s anywhere near the level - nor will he likely ever be - but Grealish as a CM is more like Modric than he is Dembele. I think we need to appreciate we probably won’t get another player that’s a carbon copy of Dembele but ultimiatley we need someone who can/ potentially can have a similar impact in terms of controlling the CM.
and Doucoure is now off the market unless someone ponies up big. He's officially signed a new 5 year contract
