Winter 2025 Transfer Window - hopes, speculation, rumours etc.

[Percy McCarthy]

I’d be looking at a centre half to replace Konsa or Carlos and also another right back to either replace or cover Cash as he’s out a lot over a season.

And yet in that reduced number of games he plays he manages to give away more pens than anyone else in the league and pick up enough bookings to get suspended. He might not play much but certainly makes an impact.

[PaulWinch again]

And it turns out that a spell on the bench hasn't actually turned Mings into Franco Baresi.

I was only half watching but I thought he looked pretty commanding.  Did I miss something?

He was fine - but his inclusion was heralded as the answer to all our defensive woes (by some). It’s not, as evidenced by the second goal. Our issue is systemic more than it is individuals.

In each of his 17 PL games since the Arsenal 2-4, we’ve conceded either 0 or 1 goal while he’s been on the pitch.

Do you want to compare that to the other ‘systems’?

Yeah sorry that I have an opinion that differs from yours, how awful of me. But personally watching how the games play out and looking back to the combinations when we were really good the team was functioning very well it’s not just a few individuals that are at the heart of this. The defence doesn’t operate in a vacuum, so you have to find the balance that gets all parts of the team working. I don’t have an issue with Mings, but long-term him playing all the time won’t suddenly bring us back to the levels we hit in the first half of last season.

[steamer]

A defensive coach could be a good choice

[VillaTim]

And it turns out that a spell on the bench hasn't actually turned Mings into Franco Baresi.

I was only half watching but I thought he looked pretty commanding.  Did I miss something?

He was fine - but his inclusion was heralded as the answer to all our defensive woes (by some). It’s not, as evidenced by the second goal. Our issue is systemic more than it is individuals.

No. Konsa / Mings are the best CB pairing . That needs re-establishing. We need a quality RB (have done for a while). Digne is fine at LB and having a good season.

[ChicagoLion]

And it turns out that a spell on the bench hasn't actually turned Mings into Franco Baresi.

I was only half watching but I thought he looked pretty commanding.  Did I miss something?

He was fine - but his inclusion was heralded as the answer to all our defensive woes (by some). It’s not, as evidenced by the second goal. Our issue is systemic more than it is individuals.

No. Konsa / Mings are the best CB pairing . That needs re-establishing. We need a quality RB (have done for a while). Digne is fine at LB and having a good season.

It’s not just about who is playing, we are being exposed at the back time and time again, pretty much every time we lose possession almost any where on the field.
It is not just about who is playing but how the whole team is being deployed.

[Ian.]

I’d be looking at a centre half to replace Konsa or Carlos and also another right back to either replace or cover Cash as he’s out a lot over a season.

And yet in that reduced number of games he plays he manages to give away more pens than anyone else in the league and pick up enough bookings to get suspended. He might not play much but certainly makes an impact.

Right centre half, right back and most definitely a right winger. As said time and time again this seems to be our Achilles heal.

I’m not sure if this is possible in this window but I hope plans are being made for the summer.

[Dave]

And it turns out that a spell on the bench hasn't actually turned Mings into Franco Baresi.

I was only half watching but I thought he looked pretty commanding.  Did I miss something?

The coherence of the defence was very similar to previous games when he wasn't playing.

Whereas the story being told while he was on the bench was that he just needed to come back into the team, be a "leader" and "organise" and things would be fine.

As Paul says, the issue isn't "Torres or Mings", the issues run deeper than that.

[ROBBO]

We were very disciplined playing a high line, players new what to do and where to be, the defence looked in control. Yesterday any high through ball and panic sets in, Brighton had speedy wingers and put Konsa especially under pressure. It's disappointing after a top showing againsy Man City, I really thought we were going to go on a roll.

[Villa Lew]

Regarding the right back position, Lamptey would be a good buy, thought he was quality last night and a well teken goal, only problem is he is injury prone.

[TonyD]

Only a few hours before we get a new RB and CB. 
They will have lined this up months ago.  Cough. 

[PaulWinch again]

Wide forward is the main need, shortly followed by right back.

[Beard82]

We were very disciplined playing a high line, players new what to do and where to be, the defence looked in control. Yesterday any high through ball and panic sets in, Brighton had speedy wingers and put Konsa especially under pressure. It's disappointing after a top showing againsy Man City, I really thought we were going to go on a roll.

Yeah I think that’s what was so frustrating- thought we had clicked. 

[eamonn]

Percy, I admire the doggedness of your argument very much, and you don't just parrot the same thing every time. It shows patience, creativity and sound logic. But...have I missed your response to the rebuttal to your overall thesis proferred by a poster on another thread a week or two ago? Think he was called Villa_Woo or something. He made a bold list of counter-arguments mostly on a macro-level.

P.Walnuts copied it across to another thread when the clean-sheet argument inevitably reared its head on another discussion but I think you ignored it again. It's not like you to do that, I was quite look forward to seeing you getting your teeth into it and tackle each of the salient points head-on but it seems you refrained ?

[eamonn]

Regarding the right back position, Lamptey would be a good buy, thought he was quality last night and a well teken goal, only problem is he is injury prone.

Ah, the old "buy him after he plays well against us". I'm still waiting for Moustapha Hadji to come good for us.

[Dave]

Percy, I admire the doggedness of your argument very much, and you don't just parrot the same thing every time. It shows patience, creativity and sound logic. But...have I missed your response to the rebuttal to your overall thesis proferred by a poster on another thread a week or two ago? Think he was called Villa_Woo or something. He made a bold list of counter-arguments mostly on a macro-level.

P.Walnuts copied it across to another thread when the clean-sheet argument inevitably reared its head on another discussion but I think you ignored it again. It's not like you to do that, I was quite look forward to getting your teeth into it and tackle each of the salient points head-on but it seems you refrained ?

Close enough:

^^ Have you told lies before?

Shall we say you ‘mis-spoke’? Or would that make it hard for you to deflect?

How about this.. If we were on opposite sides of the Watkins/Duran debate, and I said ‘I prefer Watkins because he has scored more goals than Duran this season’ despite the fact that I know he hasn’t, what would you call that? Whatever word you choose to describe someone who would do that, we’ll go with it.

I don’t have a horse in this race either way, and this is clearly a crusade that means enough to you to bring it up several times. However, since semantics are involved:

a) that’s a false equivalence. The hypothetical Watkins debate is about number of goals, so clearly that’s a narrow quantitative metric with a clear answer. The debate is about which back 4 makes the better unit/team, not about which back 4 has conceded fewer goals.
b) While fewer goals usually means better defence, and statistics can paint a good picture, this isn’t some conclusive, objective, incontrovertible truth that you make it out to be. There’s a lot more to consider, especially if you’re going to make it a purely statistical argument.
c) the sample sizes you’ve used are decent, but not large enough to account for skews such as individual clangers etc
d) correlation is not causation. Your back 4 may have contributed to a tighter defence which concedes fewer goals, but that doesn’t imply causation in its entirety. Quality of opposition, our set up in those games, how well the midfield screened them, how well Emi played etc all contribute, amongst other a whole bunch of other things.
e) if it’s going to be part of a wider discussion about our best team, we also have to consider how that back 4 impacts our attack, not just a stat about goals conceded.
f) the beauty of football is that, unlike baseball, there are a whole lot of qualitative lenses through which holistic judgements need to be made, as opposed to a singular quantitative metric, even if that metric does play an important role in making said judgement

My wholehearted apologies to the rest of the site for drawing this argument out even further…