The College Dropout

PSG average 62% possession in the champions league. 70%+ in Ligue 1. Our average in the PL is 51%. We spend a lot more time out of possession. They spend most of their time with the ball, much less of the time is spent closing opposition down. They also have a massive squad and much higher quality players vs opposition. How many teams play regularly in the CL that average 51% possession? Would be interesting to see possession stats on the first 3 years of Liverpools Klopp team. By the end they were dominating possession like crazy. That was mostly out of fear from the opposition. They would win any basketball game.

It is tough judging the ball retention thing with Forest because they just don’t play that way. All of their players have poor stats on that. As do pretty much all of ours too. I guess it indicates a continuation of style. The elephant in the room is that those styles don’t scale with European football and establishing a team as a levels elite.

Mate - I know we support Newcastle United but the facts are the facts. I’m not suggesting anything - I’m stating some simple facts.

Seems he’s wrong though? City have moved on. City aren’t Real, waiting for their man to run down contracts. They just move on. Real’s approach is funny when you think about it. They will leave their squad short so the position is open for someone to join for free 2 years later. ‘Endrick and Mbappe are coming next season so here’s a 10/B2B midfielder and Joselu…….You better win it all.’

Celtic go to the play offs. Villa didn’t even play the playoffs because they did so well. And got a better draw as a result. They also did much better in the league. It’s pretty simple. They did better than us in their CL season because they had a better squad. If given a squad equipped for the extra games. I’m confident Howe would do even better.

I think they can. They’ve got loads of saleable assets. That’s Why we are goinf with ‘sure things’. We are the ones without wriggle room. Our only saleable assets are our best players. Everybody else is old or not very good. Their weakest starter is probably Marty Cash - he’s worth atleast £20m. Luca Digne even at 32 still screams £20-30m to Saudi.

I think a 10 also helps Isak to run a little less too. Out of possession with 2 up top is easier on the striker.

That’s mostly down to budget (and ambition). strategically thinking - their approach on a bigger budget is the optimal way to close the gap to the big 6 PSR wise. The path we are taking requires immediate success. We’re signing Elanga because we think he comes in and hits the ground running. I don’t expect us to invest heavily in players 21 or younger like we did with Hall and Tino. Hall in particular was always going to need at least a season to become the definitive #1 choice - he was 19.

Kamara and Mings missed most of the season with ACL injuries - but they were replaced. Their PSR transfer w/Chelsea actually managed to contribute. I think Eddie did the best that could’ve given the circumstances. No real issues with him. I think Villa would be a little disappointed. Apart from having that squad in Aug rather than Feb - the owners/management gave Emery everything he needed to succeed in the season. That is the reason they did better than us, they gave Emery a better squad. Villa beat PSG, Bayern, Leipzeig and Bologna. Drew with Juve.

I think if the club don’t give Eddie a squad capable of pushing in the CL and league they’ve let him down. The first time it was understandable- very quick progression nearly impossible to fill the squad properly. Some naivety in the leadership too. This time we need to do better by Eddie. Eddie does also need to be a little more flexible. If we get new Tino’s and Hall’s (which I sadly doubt) he needs to trust them more.

It’s not really hard to compare. They got to the QFs and qualified for the Europa League. They played twice the amount of CL games we did. Their squad was better equipped for the job. They also didn’t have to sell any players in June despite an aggressive transfer policy to make them so competitive. They did better. Now - is Emery going to do as good a job as Howe and get them back to the CL? Even then that’s all down to Howe. The squad we ended with in June 2025 was weaker than the squad we in July 2024 and weaker still than the squad we had in May 2024. And all the leadership turmoil. I don’t think Villa’s leadership will be giving Emery the same head winds Eddie has had to deal with.

Villa’s ownership seem determined to stick around. They coped with their first CL campaign a lot better than we did. So far their squad isn’t any weaker in terms of non loan players.

He scored 14 in 31 the season prior. Including that hat trick against us.

Aye it’s been a bit of a bargain for them. 34 PL goals in 64 games. They might even make their money back if he’s willing to go to Saudi.

This is where I’m at. I’m not convinced. But if Eddie wants him and he signs - he has my full backing. Lad has talent undoubted too. Fast. 2 footed. Let’s go man.

Let’s ask Isak who he think we should sign at RCB too then. And a CM.

If not Chelsea, nobody in Europe will. We might offer £55m TOPS. More likely the same £45m we’ve offered for Elanga.

Can name a shitload of expensive PL to PL transfers that weren’t successful too.

Fucking hell. RIP. Awful news. Don’t have the words. What a tragic moment. Prayers to their family. Can’t even imagine the pain with the parents, the wives the children. Man. RIP.

This is a massive sweeping statement. I’m very much sure there are better wingers than Elanga for less than £50m. Identifying them is the hard part and a risk we may not want to take. But to act like it’s impossible isn’t right.

I’m not reading that like. I’ve taken it he’s a nice hard working lad. Great.

(A) always a risk of that. We have to mitigate against it to the best of our ability. (B) I don’t think we are. No Miggy or Anderson or Minteh to come in. We have Osula. Fab, Burn, Trippier, Lascelles etc. all a couple years older. Wilson was useful in that season, I love him but he’s done now. Hall has developed and Miley might be develop. But are we overall stronger considering the increased games? I don’t think so. (C) I hope so too. The approach is questionable and we don’t have long term leaders in place around that. Im not upset about anything. Transfer window has been tough so far but it’s not over. An update about the club executives or stadium or training ground would be grey though. I’ve been sceptical about PIF all year. This season was a freehit for Howe in my book. And he delivered absolute gold. I think any manager going into a new season without major signings has been let down imo.

Maybe not Alcarez. But that’s value in players that might not end up elite. Ismaila Sarr was less than £20m iiirc. Not saying him but there’s good value out there for 1 or 2 squad players at decent fees.

Aye it's easier draw wise. But more difficult due to the number of games. Any less than 10 games is a complete failure.

It's a fuckton of high-level games. 10 should be the minimum. Aston Villa had 12. That used to be a run to the semi's.