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

[eamonn]

Ah, sorry, that was it. Roo, not Woo!! And thanks Dave, no idea how you found it that quickly!

[Bent Neilsens Screamer]

What's Lenglet up to?*

*I'm not being serious... I want Bednarek.

Currently top of La Liga on loan to Atletico Madrid.

[edgysatsuma89]

What's Lenglet up to?*

*I'm not being serious... I want Bednarek.

Currently top of La Liga on loan to Atletico Madrid.

Sign him up! 😉

[tomd2103]

What's Lenglet up to?*

*I'm not being serious... I want Bednarek.

Currently top of La Liga on loan to Atletico Madrid.

I do think we could do with some experienced cover at CB for the rest of the season, especially if Torres is going to be out for some time.  Chambers and Lenglet both provided that over past seasons and stepped in on occasions we were stretched back there. 

A loan deal until the end of the season for that type of player could be a decent bit of business.

[paul_e]

Ah, sorry, that was it. Roo, not Woo!! And thanks Dave, no idea how you found it that quickly!

Not Percy but I think that post is the sort that is hard to respond to, not because it's impossible to argue, but rather because it has nothing to it.

a. This isn't even a point, it's a dismissal and should have been included outside the list. Aside from that it's subjective, just because some people think "best defence" and "defence that concedes the least" are different it doesn't make it a fact.

b. This, again, is a dismissal but makes no point of it's own. If goals conceded isn't a good enough measure of what makes a good defence then what else should be included?

c. The sample sizes are what they are, no one can create extra certainty but producing more results, as a statistician you work with what you have and instead of dismissing conclusions you accept that they are a best estimate. You might as well abandon all stats in football in this case and then just argue about opinion with no backup.

d. Again this isn't a menaingful point, there is always outside influence on any stats which is why you have deviation as a core part of the concept. However bringing up things like "The midfield might have played well" is looking for reasons with no evidence or basis just so you can make an argument.

e. This one is a fair point and is worth considering.

f. and we end with another non-point, and a pretty sanctimonious one at that. Might as well just say that the many millions that go into football statistics every season are a waste of money because what a couple of fans see from the stand is more important.

I don't know why Percy didn't reply and I probably shouldn't have bothered myself but it's a post that could've been a lot shorter:

"I disagree with you and I don't care if you have stats because I'm going to ignore them and just go with what I can see".

For what it's worth I don't completely agree with Percy on this, I think most good defences are built around 1 CB who will try to be dominant and 1 who offers a little more cover. Torres and Konsa are best when they're the covering player and Mings is clearly more aggressive but Carlos doesn't really do either and seems to switch between them whenever he feels like it. He's not a terrible defender but I just don't see him ever really forming a partnership with any of the rest because he's just too unpredictable. We need another Mings-like option really.

[Mister E]

... I think most good defences are built around 1 CB who will try to be dominant and 1 who offers a little more cover. Torres and Konsa are best when they're the covering player and Mings is clearly more aggressive but Carlos doesn't really do either and seems to switch between them whenever he feels like it. He's not a terrible defender but I just don't see him ever really forming a partnership with any of the rest because he's just too unpredictable. We need another Mings-like option really.

This makes good sense to me.

[Percy McCarthy]

... I think most good defences are built around 1 CB who will try to be dominant and 1 who offers a little more cover. Torres and Konsa are best when they're the covering player and Mings is clearly more aggressive but Carlos doesn't really do either and seems to switch between them whenever he feels like it. He's not a terrible defender but I just don't see him ever really forming a partnership with any of the rest because he's just too unpredictable. We need another Mings-like option really.

This makes good sense to me.

Me too. Almost everything I have said on the subject of our ‘best defence’ comes with the (often-but-not-always stated) caveat ‘without Mings’, and my consistent complaint is that Konsa/Pau is a weak partnership because neither is dominant enough. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve said that Konsa needs Mings, or Pau needs a right-footed Mings. I also think Carlos/Pau is a pretty weak partnership shored up to an extent by the presence of another central defender (Konsa), nominally playing at right-back. I don’t watch that line-up and think ‘they’re great, that’s the future’, I look at the results they get and arrive at my conclusions.

[KevinGage]

AC Milan were  interested in Diego Carlos in the summer, apparently.

Which sounds mental initially. But then you look at some of the players they've signed in recent seasons perhaps not.

Maybe a swap + £10 million for Fikayo Tomori, if there's any interest there at all.

[PaulWinch again]

I think Bailey has a bit of the Moeen Ali’s about him, supremely talented but not at all comfortable as the focal point. I think Diaby being here released the pressure on him, and I suspect a new wide forward might do similar again.

[Villan82]

I think Bailey has a bit of the Moeen Ali’s about him, supremely talented but not at all comfortable as the focal point. I think Diaby being here released the pressure on him, and I suspect a new wide forward might do similar again.

I think the Diaby element has to be factored into an analysis of Bailey's villa career. His best form in three and a half seasons has coincided with Diaby being here.

[SteveN]

We were previously linked with Jaka Bijol big centre back from Udinese.  Looked good playing for Slovenia in the Euros had Kane in his pocket.  If we could shift Carlos could be a good value replacement

[Gareth]

... I think most good defences are built around 1 CB who will try to be dominant and 1 who offers a little more cover. Torres and Konsa are best when they're the covering player and Mings is clearly more aggressive but Carlos doesn't really do either and seems to switch between them whenever he feels like it. He's not a terrible defender but I just don't see him ever really forming a partnership with any of the rest because he's just too unpredictable. We need another Mings-like option really.

This makes good sense to me.

Me too. Almost everything I have said on the subject of our ‘best defence’ comes with the (often-but-not-always stated) caveat ‘without Mings’, and my consistent complaint is that Konsa/Pau is a weak partnership because neither is dominant enough. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve said that Konsa needs Mings, or Pau needs a right-footed Mings. I also think Carlos/Pau is a pretty weak partnership shored up to an extent by the presence of another central defender (Konsa), nominally playing at right-back. I don’t watch that line-up and think ‘they’re great, that’s the future’, I look at the results they get and arrive at my conclusions.

And it is a spot on conclusion - think it’s apparent that we have a soft under belly at times, sometimes we look solid but increasingly we seem short and physically weak.  Far too many individual errors too.

[TonyD]

Not long now until a world class RB and CH. 

[LeonW]

... I think most good defences are built around 1 CB who will try to be dominant and 1 who offers a little more cover. Torres and Konsa are best when they're the covering player and Mings is clearly more aggressive but Carlos doesn't really do either and seems to switch between them whenever he feels like it. He's not a terrible defender but I just don't see him ever really forming a partnership with any of the rest because he's just too unpredictable. We need another Mings-like option really.

This makes good sense to me.

Me too. Almost everything I have said on the subject of our ‘best defence’ comes with the (often-but-not-always stated) caveat ‘without Mings’, and my consistent complaint is that Konsa/Pau is a weak partnership because neither is dominant enough. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve said that Konsa needs Mings, or Pau needs a right-footed Mings. I also think Carlos/Pau is a pretty weak partnership shored up to an extent by the presence of another central defender (Konsa), nominally playing at right-back. I don’t watch that line-up and think ‘they’re great, that’s the future’, I look at the results they get and arrive at my conclusions.

Really? Show your homework?

[cdbearsfan]

Why... you...