Despite the irony of the title, I must say I am very impressed with the business we have done in the last week. It’s been quite a crazy week for our club, but lets break down the transfer news so far;
Incomings:
Manzambi – 60M Euros
Gomes – 35M Pounds
Outgoings:
Rogers – 117M Pounds
Tielemans – 35M Pounds
Dobbin – 9M Pounds
Overall, I think this is fantastic business, particularly with Morgan and Youri costing a total of £12m! A very exciting time to be a Villa fan – change is inevitable. For me, the only key piece to the puzzle is Unai Emery, and arguably John McGinn. But key players arguably include Kamara and any goalkeeper, whether it is Dibu or not.
Rumours include Jackson, Garnacho and Palhinha, which is ironic considering he is hated by the fanbase – but lets hope that can change because I do think he is a good player!
One thing that shocked me was Rogers going to Chelsea. Where did that come from? I thought he was pretty much set on Arsenal if he was to be leaving, but apparently not. Tielemans to United strikes me as quite a realistic transfer – we’d have all thought that was realistic if he was still at Leicester.
Quick word on the World Cup – very impressive England performance. Funnily enough I actually took a shine to Rogers starting once the lineup had been announced, but then I quickly realised that I’d just read thirty minutes before that he was off to Chelsea! As for Konsa, probably the easiest header of all time but was glad to see him start and score in the World Cup – they all count!
A game that I really wasn’t fussed about and didn’t even move or react to any of our goals, but a game that would’ve really annoyed me had we have lost from 4-0 up because that would have just been extremely weak and embarrassing.
Now, the final. I generally have liked Argentina as a footballing nation, but this current group of players excluding Messi, Martinez and a few others are just so hateable. It is similar to Spurs – one of my more favoured clubs in the Premiership, but I just can’t stand the current group of players. Glad Spain won, they played much better anyway, but Argentina showed that you can go more than 90 minutes sitting back, and that it was actually our overall quality and poor defending that lost us the Semi-Final.
Overall a decent World Cup, and looking forward to getting club football back, but I must say I generally disconnect during the pre-season, and it’s going to be very difficult not making the Super Cup due to financial means, but priorities are priorities.
As an alternative, and it is a might rather than a certainty, try this. There is a public broadcast station that was created in the time of the Basque Country seperation. It claims, and I have checked, that they will stream the game for free, It can be watched on a laptop or phone.
The webpage is . https://www.eitb.eus/en/ select Etb1 and enjoy. Remember the time difference.
Blimey Gerry; very impressive research.
As it happens now going to my daughters to watch on Villa TV but thanks for the information / effort; much appreciated.
I coughed up £30 before the Walsall game to become an AVTV video member. Also gives me access to full replays of every game so it’s worth it for me.
Looking forward to tonights game and hoping to see how Garnacho and a few others shape up.
Another pre season defeat but lots of players still not available. Does anyone know if Alysson is injured again? Manzambi and Abraham are both injured too I presume. Garnacho will probably play in the next couple of friendlies. Special mention for Hemmings who reminds me of Jacob Ramsey and can save us a few quid.
Hopefully when a few more are out the door such as Digne, Guessand and Bailey, we will see a few more incomings because we are woefully short of a squad capable of challenging in the PL and CL.
Mmmm – not making excuses but Sociedad’s third goal was a yard offside and that really decided the game.
The fourth a rookie error by the GK.
Having said that when we rook off the better young players we showed nothing. Lynch really didn’t shine.
Really good signs from youngsters – Cisse, Hemmings, Madjo and, to a lesser extent, Burrows.
Always disappointing to lose but it’s a friendly and it’s about minutes and learning about the younger players.
Another one I didn’t watch, the friendlies just don’t interest me unfortunately. I haven’t watched a minute of pre-season, not even highlights.
Think the only one I watched last year was Villarreal and that’s because I went.