The College Dropout

Aye but we’ve spent £50m on a new CM. Not sold any. And our academy lads in that position have developed. Hall can also play there. We’re much stronger there now compared to Jan.

Tbh I don’t think they expected us to finish 4th. Our January was not a ‘let’s go get a 4th spot’ window. If we were in a similar spot this season. I don’t think they do the same things.

But with that slow build we must also accept not everything will be perfect. We may be left purposely a little short so we can get ideal targets for ideal prices down the road. In our position we have to make trade offs so it’s not perfect.

I think no matter who we signed - if fully fit - these would all start the season with the shirt. If we signed Anderson, imo he would start on the bench until Schar levels dropped or rotation comes in. Likewise I think Burn has the LB position to lose and even if he loses it - I reckon it’s more of a job share. If Gordon plays on the left the problem with Miggy is that his competition is Murphy

From January we started all of our first team CM options. We were very light in midfield. Had the injuries to Longstaff and Willock happened 6 weeks earlier it would’ve cost us the CL spot. The fact we have signed a CM (arguably 2) without selling any suggests there was a sizeable gap in the squad. It was a risk. And it worked out. But we were light and it could’ve cost us.

I think it’s a bigger threat to midtable Prem teams and the likes of Sevilla. The elite is always the elite. If Real wanted the lad he would be there. These are the type of ‘coup’ signings West Ham would love to make.

Szob didn’t want to come most likely so that’s not fair. He looks perfect for us so I’m glad we are targeting great players. Barnes will score goals. I’m certain. It’s Gordon’s quality I still don’t trust fully. I really want him to play RW as he has the potential to offer what Almiron does off the ball (he doesn’t atm) but is a better technician.

A 10 is a perfect window right? It’s not perfect there’s glaring gaps in the squad. I’ve given it a 7 because it’s all good solid transfers that will benefit us in the long term.

I could be wrong. But I don’t think he goes straight into the team and nails down the position. He’s 18. Only been playing fullback for a year. How many 18 year olds are first team regulars in the PL?

Rate the window a 7. Still starting Burn, Miggy - not even improved in his position and no backup for Schar. I like all of our signings though.

Good work. I don’t think the buy back clauses are such a good idea for a club like Villa.

We definitely need a solution for those half spaces. Could be tactical rather than personnel. City have a DM. But they often defend in a 442. Just blocks out a lot of space. We defended in a 442 first half against Villa. Compact too with Miggy at RW and narrow. I think that helped. A 4141 would also plug those gaps but that negates a counter attack though.

Thanks. I genuinely think some people find any criticism inflammatory though.

The All Or Nothing ones are better because they start in preseason and have proper scene setting. We can’t criticise the old regime so there’s no detail.

Hall is a good option at CM from what I’ve seen too.

They can pay up his contract. What’s done him in is the audio. There’s probably a dozen rapisy footballers playing weekly in the PL but none of them have that audio.

There’s this weird narrative around PIF and Howe. That they are impatient and idiotic… they think of them how Boehly actually is. So they always say put pressure on Howe to suggest if things don’t go perfectly he will be sacked. Whole time Klopp underperformed last season. But there’s little talk of pressure on him if he doesn’t deliver top 4. Likewise Poch has a billion dollar team but they’re not talking about pressure for him.

So they are going to sell him? From the very start I thought if he was not convicted he would go to Serie A to rebuild his career. Give it 2-3 seasons and someone would bring him back to the PL.

I do think he’s hit a bit of lull in performances and teams have setup plans against him. But he’s still a wonderful footballer and his floor level of performance is higher than what we are used to.

People have accepted that the lad is a little slow physically yh? I remember when that was a running joke but it’s always been true.

Liverpool game is a good measuring stick. we’ve struggled against them even under Howe. And I think we’ve struggled against 10s in box midfields. Against Villa and Brighton last season we won because our press was so dominant. But they had opportunities the other way. I wonder if Liverpool stick with it. Apparently they were better when they went to 10 and perhaps stopped the box. Beating Liverpool would be great.

Micah is ace.

Raheem Sterling was a standout player for Liverpool when they finished 2nd. Close to 40 G/A for Liverpool by the age of 21. And a lot of premier league games and minutes. Compared to Gordon with half the experience and half the contributions.

Hope there’s performance related bonuses that could get us up there.