Summer transfer window 2023 - rumours, links and discussion.

[CoolClaret]

You said they didn’t have a sniff when in fact they had some massive chances that they should have scored.
The week after (I think) we were at Millwall and played them off the park for 80 minutes and they equalised late on. Luton was a much tougher game.

Forgive me for a bit of hyperbole.

The point being if we played that game earlier in the season we probably conceded one or two.

I looked at xG we restricted them to less than 1 which isn’t bad going away at a physical team that came 3rd in the Champ.

[Big Vinny K]

Forgive me for a bit of hyperbole.

The point being if we played that game earlier in the season we probably conceded one or two.

I looked at xG we restricted them to less than 1 which isn’t bad going away at a physical team that came 3rd in the Champ.

I just watched the game with my eyes and it was one of our poorer performances and we struggled.
And I think Ekdal would get found out massively due to his lack of pace in the Premier League.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

I just watched the game with my eyes and it was one of our poorer performances and we struggled.
And I think Ekdal would get found out massively due to his lack of pace in the Premier League.

And won yet again without conceding a goal. Does Ekdal struggle at international level?

[CoolClaret]

I just watched the game with my eyes and it was one of our poorer performances and we struggled.
And I think Ekdal would get found out massively due to his lack of pace in the Premier League.

Bad matchup for us and we’d have lost that game earlier in the season (hence my point)

I don’t think he would with two quick lads either side of him.

[claretspice]

I'm another who isn't sure about THB. Really good footballer but I thought he lacked a yard and got beaten in the air a little too easily to be worth a £15m investment. Ekdal doesn't have the range of passing, and might be a shade slower than THB, but he was far more secure in the air and he read the game extremely well and looked to have really good game intelligence. He also looked to me an organiser which may again become important given we lacked a bit of leadership at the back, particularly from set plays, against City.

We couldn't have played him in the man to man system adopted against City, and I'd worry about hom for pace against the other top sides if we are going to try and squeeze up as we did against City, but there'll be a lot of more physical games where he'll come into his own.

[Big Vinny K]

And won yet again without conceding a goal. Does Ekdal struggle at international level?

I don’t know - he’s only played half a dozen times hasn’t he ? I haven’t watched any of the games - have you ?
I know their results in last couple years have been pretty average and they’ve conceded quite a few goals.

I like Ekdal - he’s definitely reads the game well and is decent in the air too. Personally I just think against a lot of teams in the premier league he would struggle to cope with the pace of the strikers and I think that’s why others will probably be picked before him. Hope I’m proved wrong as we got him at a bargain price and I’d like to see all of our players do well.

In terms of the Luton game all I was saying was I thought it was one of the games where we struggled to cope with the physicality and pace of their forwards. I know we kept a clean sheet but I think that was more down to the Luton strikers missing big chances (and some good defending too). I don’t really understand the “we lose that game earlier in the season” sentiment - we hardly lost any games all season and that’s because we were easily the best team in the division !!

[Pickles]

Possibly Al-Dakhil is ok, but Vitinho and Roberts are not as good as Taylor at LB

I'd agree on that if Kompany wasn't manager. But he is and despite the weaknesses it's very obvious that Vitinho or Roberts playing at left back is better than Taylor playing there.

[gandhisflipflop]

Think we will see a busy deadline day

[Cap]

Everton linked with Balde
https://talksport.com/football/1539566/ ... -rejected/

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

I don’t know - he’s only played half a dozen times hasn’t he ? I haven’t watched any of the games - have you ?
I know their results in last couple years have been pretty average and they’ve conceded quite a few goals.

I like Ekdal - he’s definitely reads the game well and is decent in the air too. Personally I just think against a lot of teams in the premier league he would struggle to cope with the pace of the strikers and I think that’s why others will probably be picked before him. Hope I’m proved wrong as we got him at a bargain price and I’d like to see all of our players do well.

In terms of the Luton game all I was saying was I thought it was one of the games where we struggled to cope with the physicality and pace of their forwards. I know we kept a clean sheet but I think that was more down to the Luton strikers missing big chances (and some good defending too). I don’t really understand the “we lose that game earlier in the season” sentiment - we hardly lost any games all season and that’s because we were easily the best team in the division !!

If you can read the game well you don’t always need to be lightening quick. The Ekdal ‘lack of pace’ is a bit tiresome already and reads like he struggled every time he’s played against us.

[Andy_G]

Neither Mee or Tarkowski were particularly quick and whilst they did struggle with pace on occasions they were good premier league defenders.

The difference for me is that I think Ekdal has more quality/ability and with the right support could do very well.

[123EasyasBFC]

Coutinho getting the injured today could have another knock on affect for the Ramsey deal

[ClaretInLeeds]

Why? Ramsey hasn’t been anywhere near the two squads Villa have named this season.

[Nori1958]

Coutinho getting the injured today could have another knock on affect for the Ramsey deal

He's leaving anyway, replacement was sat in stands

[FCBurnley]

Villa have a Euro match at Hibs on Wednesday. Let’s see if Ramsey is in what will be a weaker squad. Unless of course he has signed for us which is looking les and less likely

[123EasyasBFC]

Why? Ramsey hasn’t been anywhere near the two squads Villa have named this season.

Hasn’t been near because they had players, but buendia, Coutinho and Jacob Ramsey all injured, just a thought as to why Villa are dragging their feet

[123EasyasBFC]

He's leaving anyway, replacement was sat in stands

Zaniolo is buendia’s replacement

[Nori1958]

Zaniolo is buendia’s replacement

Ok

[Carlos the Great]

15m for Clarke apparently on the cards .. he must be some player if Tella only worth 9m ..

[Vegas Claret]

15m for Clarke apparently on the cards .. he must be some player if Tella only worth 9m ..

well I hope he's a lot better than I think he is, stats were good last season, seems excessive in price

[ksrclaret]

15m for Clarke apparently on the cards .. he must be some player if Tella only worth 9m ..

Really? Can’t see anything.

[Vegas Claret]

Really? Can’t see anything.

there was a 'football insider' report yesterday but that's it
https://www.footballinsider247.com/sour ... ar-clarke/

[ksrclaret]

there was a 'football insider' report yesterday but that's it
https://www.footballinsider247.com/sour ... ar-clarke/

Cheers. The other post read as though it was happening. Not sure id want us to pay that for him but we might get a bit more desperate the closer we get to September.

[Vegas Claret]

Cheers. The other post read as though it was happening. Not sure id want us to pay that for him but we might get a bit more desperate the closer we get to September.

agree

[Newcastleclaret93]

15m for Clarke apparently on the cards .. he must be some player if Tella only worth 9m ..

Quite clear Southampton want considerably more than 9m for Tella

[Nori1958]

well I hope he's a lot better than I think he is, stats were good last season, seems excessive in price

If reports are to be believed we've been after him all summer, so someone rates him, price seems about right if you look at what some who played for us last season are being touted about at

[Vegas Claret]

If reports are to be believed we've been after him all summer, so someone rates him, price seems about right if you look at what some who played for us last season are being touted about at

absolutely, there's a reason I'm sitting on my couch eating toast and not managing Burnley

[Taffy on the wing]

I'm curious.........are there any statistics that prove Ekdal is slow? He always looks to have bags of time when i've seen him.

[Culmclaret]

No reason to think that Ekdal is particularly slow. One incident in his debut game at Norwich, when Pukki got in behind Roberts and Ekdal was chasing him, seems to be what most people are going on and to be fair Ekdal was at least matching Pukki for pace.

[Taffy on the wing]

No reason to think that Ekdal is particularly slow. One incident in his debut game at Norwich, when Pukki got in behind Roberts and Ekdal was chasing him, seems to be what most people are going on and to be fair Ekdal was at least matching Pukki for pace.

It gets mentioned as absolute fact...all the time on here.
I can't imagine Kompany would buy a "slow player".

[Nori1958]

I'm curious.........are there any statistics that prove Ekdal is slow? He always looks to have bags of time when i've seen him.

Most of us have seen him play, and can form our own opinion and mine is that he's not slow

[DCWat]

Most of us have seen him play, and can form our own opinion and mine is that he's not slow

I wouldn’t call him slow but he’s not exactly speedy. Not an issue if he reads the game well enough, which he did pretty well in the league below. Time will tell at the level above.

[Paddy1882]

Ekdal is our best out and out defender in my opinion and a threat in both boxes. Might not be as good on the ball but the best defensively again in my opinion.

[Rick_Muller]

Relatively speaking Ekdal is slow compared to Al-Dakhil, who was recorded as the second fastest player in week one of the Premier League if I recall correctly.

That said, Ekdal is not slow.

[Hedontplayforyou]

Is there a storm brewing in the Burnley transfer market? It feels a tad quiet at the moment . I sense waves

[123EasyasBFC]

If Ekdal had Al-Dakhils pace I don’t think he would be someone available to us, I think he’s a brilliant defender and equally good on the ball just not a quick as al-dakhil, Beyer and by looks of it O’shea

[Hedontplayforyou]

Al-Dakhil is particularly quick for a centre half. As someone else stated earlier Ekdal with 2 of those three at the side of him could work a treat.

I’d expect Ekdal to start against Sheff Utd and Luton in games where we know they are likely to target us aerially given what happened last season. You could add Everton to that list too, although their style of play may change by the time we play them as I suspect the Managerial merry go round at Everton will continue if Dyches men roll over and get battered a few more times like they did today

[Fez]

Fabio cannavaro was slow and small. He didn't do too shabby, not that I'm offering a comparison between the 2

[DCWat]

Fabio cannavaro was slow and small. He didn't do too shabby, not that I'm offering a comparison between the 2

Absolute Rolls Royce of a player, one of my favourites.

[Silkyskills1]

I'm curious.........are there any statistics that prove Ekdal is slow? He always looks to have bags of time when i've seen him.

Of course there is. In a match at Norwich a few months ago a Norwich player ran past him. What else do you need for confirmation?

[Pearcey]

Maybe I’m getting old but when has it been important for a centre half to be quick? The likes of Tony Adam’s, John Terry, Laurent Blanc, Bonucci etc haven’t done too bad for themselves. How many quick centre halves play for the top sides at the moment?

[Fez]

Maybe I’m getting old but when has it been important for a centre half to be quick? The likes of Tony Adam’s, John Terry, Laurent Blanc, Bonucci etc haven’t done too bad for themselves. How many quick centre halves play for the top sides at the moment?

So many more as well. Absolutely right. As a centre half, your biggest attribute is reading the game (positioning) for me.

[CoolClaret]

Maybe I’m getting old but when has it been important for a centre half to be quick? The likes of Tony Adam’s, John Terry, Laurent Blanc, Bonucci etc haven’t done too bad for themselves. How many quick centre halves play for the top sides at the moment?

The game has changed a hell of a lot -

Strikers dropping in to midfield areas, inside forwards running in behind, teams pressing all over the park and full backs either coming into midfield or bombing on as meant that the modern centre half (at least in teams with a bit more of a progressive style) have a lot more space to cover - especially teams that play with a high line/block.

[Pickles]

How many quick centre halves play for the top sides at the moment?

Take whichever teams you consider to be the top ones and then multiply it by about four.

[gandhisflipflop]

So many more as well. Absolutely right. As a centre half, your biggest attribute is reading the game (positioning) for me.

Was it not Maldini who said that if he had to make a tackle it was because he already had made a mistake or something like that.

[claretspice]

Maybe I’m getting old but when has it been important for a centre half to be quick? The likes of Tony Adam’s, John Terry, Laurent Blanc, Bonucci etc haven’t done too bad for themselves. How many quick centre halves play for the top sides at the moment?

When teams decided to station their centre backs in and around half way to press high. In that situation pace at the back doesn't half help.

[randomclaret2]

Im sure VK will take on board all the helpful advice being offered on here regarding Centre Backs

[Fez]

Was it not Maldini who said that if he had to make a tackle it was because he already had made a mistake or something like that.

Thats right. Probably the best reader of the game there's been as well. Bold statement, mind

[PremierLeagueClass]

Im sure VK will take on board all the helpful advice being offered on here regarding Centre Backs

How dare people provide footballing opinions on a football messageboard. The sheer audacity of it.

[JohnMac]

Im sure VK will take on board all the helpful advice being offered on here regarding Centre Backs

I should think so too; we don't come on here for the fun of it!