Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo (AKA Monchi)

[VillaTim]

Thankfully it hasn’t cost us an fa cup or champions league yet

Yet ultimately it will .
We just got battered by one of the worst teams in the EPL.

[SamTheMouse]

We're certainly not a mess as a club. We're in a great position.

Nonetheless, the squad has a couple of gaping holes in it, and most of our best players were signed under Smith and Gerrard.

Monchi's performance so far hasn't exactly been stellar, and frankly letting so many players go in the middle of the season without having improvements lined up is tantamount to dereliction of duty.

Could they really not wait until June?

[andyh]

If we have brought in Malen, Garcia, Rashford, Asensio a CH and maybe Felix by Monday.
On top of offloading Carlos and Duran for €80m plus Buendia off the books.

If Monchi still a donkey? I’m just trying to work out the rules here.

[adrenachrome]

Thankfully it hasn’t cost us an fa cup or champions league yet

Yet ultimately it will .
We just got battered by one of the worst teams in the EPL.

We didn't get battered. We controlled most of the second half.

They are fighting to stay in the PL, and we were coming from a CL game after which which we rarely perform well with a depleted defence.

They deserved to win based on effort and commitment, but we had a perfectly good goal disallowed.

[DesBremner]

OK Genuine question
Have the signings we have made since Emery was appointed improved the squad overall
I am not pointing the finger at Emery as it's not his desicion in isolation
Rogers - good investment
Pau -improved playing style going forward defensively gets bullied too often
Duran - great ROI

Struggling to see where any other player has helped in "taking us to the next level" ?

Squad seems weaker now than when the scouse idiot was in charge

[PaulWinch again]

Well I do think our hideously ponderous play of late does show the importance of Pau. That’s not to say he doesn’t make errors, but he passes like, and has the vision of, a quality midfielder. It makes a big difference to the stodgy play we see, because his range is so good.

[pauliewalnuts]

Well I do think our hideously ponderous play of late does show the importance of Pau. That’s not to say he doesn’t make errors, but he passes like, and has the vision of, a quality midfielder. It makes a big difference to the stodgy play we see, because his range is so good.

Yeah but because he's not Terry Butcher, lots of people don't get that.

Torres is vitally important to how we play. Just as important as Kamara.

[PaulWinch again]

Yep and it’s really bloody noticeable when we’re just aimlessly (and slowly) passing the ball sideways and backwards.

[ozzjim]

In fairness one of the few qualities Carlos did show from time to time was an ability to play a great diagonal pass. Neither Konsa or Mings have that quality. Hopefully whoever we sign this week does.

[pauliewalnuts]

Yep and it’s really bloody noticeable when we’re just aimlessly (and slowly) passing the ball sideways and backwards.

Exactly, across the back four with zero clue how to advance it.

[brontebilly]

Well I do think our hideously ponderous play of late does show the importance of Pau. That’s not to say he doesn’t make errors, but he passes like, and has the vision of, a quality midfielder. It makes a big difference to the stodgy play we see, because his range is so good.

Yeah but because he's not Terry Butcher, lots of people don't get that.

Torres is vitally important to how we play. Just as important as Kamara.

When he is playing well...for me he hasn't done so consistently since before his injury after Xmas last season. You can't simply ignore his poor form before this injury, as often happens players when they are out for a while. He was struggling in possession too, not to the level of Konsa and Mings but not great either.

None of our centre backs have performed this season and Martinez standards have dropped too. Thankfully we have just invested in forwards who can really help defending from the front....

[pauliewalnuts]

Well I do think our hideously ponderous play of late does show the importance of Pau. That’s not to say he doesn’t make errors, but he passes like, and has the vision of, a quality midfielder. It makes a big difference to the stodgy play we see, because his range is so good.

Yeah but because he's not Terry Butcher, lots of people don't get that.

Torres is vitally important to how we play. Just as important as Kamara.

When he is playing well...for me he hasn't done so consistently since before his injury after Xmas last season. You can't simply ignore his poor form before this injury, as often happens players when they are out for a while. He was struggling in possession too, not to the level of Konsa and Mings but not great either.

None of our centre backs have performed this season and Martinez standards have dropped too. Thankfully we have just invested in forwards who can really help defending from the front....

Torres is great on the ball and is instrumental with us playing out of defence, his ball-carrying is vital, he moves us up the pitch.

The fucking state of Konsa for a long while now, though, he's reverted to Gerrard era Konsa.

[PaulWinch again]

Yep he is, even off form he is a significant level above the other defenders on the ball.

[eamonn]

Fair play to Lange on Durán, he deserves a Fortnum & Mason hamper from Emery and Monchi. But he also brought in Dragusin for Spurs. Whatever you take about our motley crew of centre backs, that guy is just.....blose.

[pauliewalnuts]

Didn't he also bring in Kamara for Ł0 though?

That's worthy of gratitude.