The College Dropout

Agreed. PIF have been fortunate that they everything Staveley and co. did has paid off. Things that are entirely led by them move so slowly. Or wrong like letting Eales hire his pal.

You can’t capitalise on success on the pitch without big risks. I am tempted to take that Villa risk. But do it in August rather than January. Had Villa put together that squad in August they are comfortably top 4. I wouldn’t mind us spending £250m net and needing to sell next June to the tune of £50m or so. I wouldn’t even be against signing a couple of older players that wouldn’t mind moving to Saudi in a year if needed. I just don’t think the club will do that and I don’t think we have many of those types of players. Of the current squad the best candidates would be Barnes, Joelinton, Bruno but none of them seem the type. Schar and Trippier too but wouldn’t be able to justify the £30-50m we would need.

Aye. It feels a bit like the year after Leicester won the league. The biggest threats to the top 6 are neutered by FFP. Villa are likely to have to recycle their team and lose depth - let’s see to the degree this will happen. We can build but let’s re how much we can invest. The top 6 are going to spend heavy again.

Murphy’s issue is not his output. It’s his general play. His lack of ability to play manoeuvre in easy and difficult circumstances.

Bowen is not the right age but he’s well worth £60m like.

He was weak against Brighton but overall he wasn't terrible. And most of the issue was tactical. It didn't resolve when he had a year to settle in either. It was only resolved with the tactical shift.

I don’t think he was terrible. That was a tactical thing mainly which will be the same for any signing. In any case, he had about 2 months playing time, and another 2 months when he came back before hitting top form. Isak, Botman, Bruno all hit the ground running. Especially Isak and Botman.

Where has this come from?

Settling in period is a bit of a myth. Which of our foreign signings needed a settling-in period?

Takeaway penalties and Murphy and Mbeumo’s G/A will be similar which is fine. It’s difficult to beat Murphy on that. But it’s his all round game that Murphy is weak. Mbeumo improves our ability to keep possession and is lethal in transition. I’m just not sure we need that profile of RW.

£60m for Mbeumo is about right but could also be too expensive for us.

Aye which is also why the other European competitions have been devalued. Real Madrid won the UEFA Cup 2 or 3 times. in those decades theyd didn't win the European Cup. At the time, some of the best teams in Europe played in the UEFA Cup. Barcelona won the Cup Winners Cup several times. I don't think Real Madrid have played in the UEFA Cup/Europa League in the last 30 years.

They played better against Liverpool. But Liverpool put up more of a fight.

Honestly don’t like that. PSG were great but Inter were bad. PAG weren’t even that great either.

On paper Villa might Be better than Inter.

The semi?

Inter have played too nice. Should’ve started aggressively, fouls and all. Try to rattle PSG physically and mentally. Tbeuve let PSG dance all game

Often does that when I see him. He looks great on the eye the way he plays but….

Inter need to get to kicking PSG and grown manning them.

Oh and he's got no presence.

No he is not. All that shouting he does unsettles a defence. Pickford does not command his area because he's too small - inviting pressure on a defence. Nick Pope coming and plucking balls from the sky does so much to reduce pressure on our defence and act as a leader. Pickford can be a ping a ball and is a good shot stopper. And to his credit, always turns up and performs for England. But he wouldn't be an improvement on Pope for us. He's only 31, rarely injured. We could get him for a decent fee... but he wouldn't be an upgrade.

Nick Pope is better than Jordan Pickford though.

Good.

Because Trent is brilliant at defending

I’m with you here. But nothing concrete has landed. Tonali came out of left field though rather than months of rumour. I’m