11 Feb 2021 09:19:02
Seems like Brighton have prioritised their game Vs us on Saturday, over their cup quarter vs Leicester last night. Majority of their main attacking/ midfield players were on the bench.
Always tough against Brighton because they play decent football, but won't look to dominate the ball if it means we will be free to counter. Should be a good game though!
11 Feb 2021 10:01:22
Won’t be easy Chris, Brighton have conceded just 2 goals in their last 6 league games. They have also beaten both Leeds and Liverpool during that period. However we lost the first fixture and so that should be all the motivation the lads need, and therefore hopefully we’ll come away with something . 🤞ðŸ».
11 Feb 2021 11:47:00
Personally I think us at our best, beat them at their best. However that is rarely the scenario, we looked tired in the last few games, hopefully the extra time off gives us chance to get our energy levels back!
11 Feb 2021 14:27:14
Hopefully we'll have a midfield to speak of. This defending and counter-attacking makes me anxious.
11 Feb 2021 16:02:23
I am just the same Dave, and totally agree mate.
I feel we should play Sanson, as I think he would give us a bit more bite, direction and control in the middle.
Personally I think he would help McGinns game, far more than Barkley does.
11 Feb 2021 16:45:32
Have you seen Sanson play Dave?
11 Feb 2021 17:53:50
Only twice on the betfair exchange chris, like Golovin.
I do like what I have seen of him, but again he should be given a fair chance to settle.
Youtube footage is not a great indication, so I usually take a look at whoscored. com, and have a read on strengths and weaknesses.
Martin Laurence, is pretty good in terms of a players overall qualities, and usually gives an unbiased run down.
11 Feb 2021 18:11:50
I’ve seen him play 5 or more times for the full 90 minutes.
I feel he would give us all the things Dave suggests in his post. He’s also got a great engine, and doesn’t hide or stroll around expecting somebody else to do the grafting.
Everybody I’ve spoken to over here who know anything about football have said the same. That is that Villa have signed a really top quality player for a bargain price, and they are all totally confused as to why he hasn’t been involved in any of the games yet.
11 Feb 2021 18:22:21
Agree Mark, the 2 full 90 minutes I watched were as you say, no hiding, or strolling around.
He is honest and hard working, a player with a good pass and shot on him.
11 Feb 2021 18:23:14
Fair enough Gents, I’ve been limited to YouTube which, as you say Dave, isn’t the best.
11 Feb 2021 21:16:38
I’m hoping the £14M (+) we spent on him is going to save us £30M (+) on Barkley
UTV.
11 Feb 2021 23:17:26
Same here Ally, can`t be doing with Barkley, would be a liability and a very risky purchase if you ask me.
12 Feb 2021 14:55:08
I think the way you feel about Barkley, is the way I was feeling about Traore after the Burnley game😂 but he’s grown on me since, something must have been said to him after that because he’s been working twice as hard. Hopefully Barkley can make the same change.
12 Feb 2021 16:49:10
I don’t think we should lose sight of the fact that Barkley had a terrific start for us and was one of the key players when we took Liverpool apart. Together with Jack the early signs were that they were going to form a long lasting lethal partnership. Sometimes it does take time after a bad injury to get back to previous levels, so I’m definitely not giving up on him just yet. I would however like to see Deano alternating Barkley more than he is with the likes of Sanson and Ramsey, who are both definitely our players for the long term, both talented, and therefore both deserve the opportunity to establish themselves in our midfield.
12 Feb 2021 17:37:56
Oh 100% Mark, I still see it as his won us 6 points alone really.
12 Feb 2021 21:07:37
I am not sure the Barkley move will come off to be honest we not only have the asking price issue but we also have Barkley’s salary in excess of £100k to find, and given his age and his injury record then I think we will look for better value elsewhere. Given the financial issues with French football I think a lot of premier clubs will be shopping across the channel this summer us included.
12 Feb 2021 22:04:25
What’s the asking price issue John?
12 Feb 2021 22:51:27
It’s more the cost of the total financial package Chris, even if the fee is £20 million and I am sure Chelsea will push for more than that, a three year deal at £100 k a week is going to push the overall cost of the contract including the fee to something like £35 million overall. Given Barkley’s age I can’t see him taking a massive salary reduction to join us and, come the end of the contract he will have little resale value, as our approach to recruitment over the last couple of windows is based on signing young hungry players this suggests to me that he doesn’t fit the profile and therefore maybe we look elsewhere. Personally I like Barkley I think he adds to our midfield and takes some of the creative pressure off Jack but I don’t think the numbers add up, although I will be more than happy to be proved wrong.
13 Feb 2021 09:10:14
Although I think we will have to start paying higher wages if we want to push on and attract top player, I don’t think that will be the case with this one. If Barkley wants to play football and have a career, he has to accept that he won’t be playing at Chelsea, and for him to move away he has to take a pay cut.
It wouldn’t surprise me if a few was agreed with Chelsea, he agrees a lower wage with us, but Chelsea pay him the difference between our wage and what he’s currently on with them, for the remainder of his deal, which I believe at the end of this season will be two years. Following them two years he drops down to our wage.
That sort of deal is not uncommon.
13 Feb 2021 09:44:19
I hope you are right, however given the rumours of who Chelsea are being linked with ie Haaland, Rice, Upamencano, Alaba to name but a few they are going to look to maximise what they can pick up from sales and I am not sure they will look to subsidise Barkley’s fee particularly if he has two years left on his contract. I do agree we have to start paying more to attract better players but I think that the club would be more likely to do that if they were signing someone like Abraham rather than Barkley given his age his injury record and potential resale value.
13 Feb 2021 13:36:37
I think that them say topping up 20% of his wage, rather than paying 100% for a player they aren’t going to use, will be a decent prospect for them.
We are doing the same for Hogan at the minute.
13 Feb 2021 15:34:00
I thought Birmingham signed Hogan on a permanent deal in the Summer Chris, about 2 million wasn’t it?
13 Feb 2021 16:23:07
They did Mark, but Hogan wasn’t out of contract with us. So he wasn’t going to give up the ridiculous contract we had him on, so the solution was we sell him to them, subsidise the difference between the deal blues were offering him and what he was on with us, so we make up the difference. This lasts until the contract he had with us was due to expire, then he just receives his Blues wage.
It happens often.