CONFIMRED - Leandro Bacuna

[Nameless]

Signings don't always happen in a logical order.
Stam knows we need a striker, we're clearly working on it. No point putting all other activity on hold until we get one. If Bacuna fills the Williams hole our squad is stronger than last seasons once the injuries clear. Makes the first few games tricky but I suspect by Sept 1 we'll look ok.

[Esteban]

Decent signing I reckon and should have a good grasp of Stam's philosophy. Just hope he gets his head down.

As much as we all want to see a striker come in, it's not always easy to get your top transfer target and sometimes it pays to be patient. Liam Moore is the best example of that.

[Royalwaster]

Decent signing I reckon and should have a good grasp of Stam's philosophy. Just hope he gets his head down.

As much as we all want to see a striker come in, it's not always easy to get your top transfer target and sometimes it pays to be patient. Liam Moore is the best example of that.

Let's wait till its confimred ok?

[Hound]

I don't have anything against Bacuna but

HOW. MANY. F*CKING. MIDFIELDERS ??????

It's like last season all over again. Crying for strikers and all we see is yet another no-mark midfielder being signed. Lack of firepower cover is why we didn't go up last season, not our lack of midfield options. Didn't deserve to beat Huddersfield at Wembley because we couldn't score in a brothel.

So it just makes me sick to hear we're going for more midfielders.

Give us at least two decent fit strikers because at the moment we don't have any. Then we can sign as many midfielders as we like.

We can't expect to go through the season with Joey, Quinn (both injury prone), Swift, Kelly and Evans filling 3 spots each week

Rinomhota is close to first 11 contention I reckon but def need other bodies in there

Not denying we need another striker but in a month or so we could have McCleary, Popa, Beerens, Mendes, JDB, Harriott, Clement and Yann as options for the front 3

[genome]

I don't have anything against Bacuna but

HOW. MANY. F*CKING. MIDFIELDERS ??????

It's like last season all over again. Crying for strikers and all we see is yet another no-mark midfielder being signed. Lack of firepower cover is why we didn't go up last season, not our lack of midfield options. Didn't deserve to beat Huddersfield at Wembley because we couldn't score in a brothel.

So it just makes me sick to hear we're going for more midfielders.

Give us at least two decent fit strikers because at the moment we don't have any. Then we can sign as many midfielders as we like.

And who says we're signing this guy instead of a striker?

[PieEater]

Nobody

[genome]

Exactly, so why get annoyed with the signing?

[Platypuss]

Birmingham Mail seems to confirm there are negotiations going on:

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/f ... r-13456501

reading a bit more about him, I think he is very much the 'Danny Williams replacement' that people have been banging on about. Big energetic CM

Bruce being even more open about it now:

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/f ... e-13462730

[earleypr]

I think Bacuna is a good signing if it happens. He impressed me in the PL at times, he's not top quality but I don't think Reading will get that with their budget. With Danny Williams gone I think the midfield needs a bit more bite, maybe Bacuna can contribute to that.

Agree that a striker is a desperate priority though. That's going to be the hardest deal to pull off given that they'll have to spend big for even average quality, and/or count on a last minute loan on deadline day. So it makes sense to me that they're focusing on other areas for now.

[maffff]

If he joins, team will look something like this:



GK - Mannone, Jaakkola and Legg. looks healthy, Mannone should be good at this level and Jaakkola has shown he can be a decent backup, wouldn't be afraid if he were thrown in.
CB - Moore, Ilori, McShane with Andresson backup. Blackett often used left of the three. We've seen Evans and Joey dropped back for the centre and we've seen Gunter used the right of the central three. Plenty of options
RWB - Gunter, Watson, plus we seem to be trying more to use a winger at the back, so Popa/Clem,Clement may be used more. Bacuna has been utilised there too.
LWB - Obita, Blackett and Richards. Fine, if Obita stays fit, can be a little defensively suspect otherwise.
CDM - vdB, Evans. Bacuna has played holding midfielder too.
CM - Kelly, Swift, Quinn, Rinomhota. Bacuna was a box-to-box midfielder at Groningen and has been used there at Villa on occasions. Between them there should be suitable options to replace Williams. Very impressed with Rinomhota, could develop into a very good player. Wouldn't complain if we got Baker, but where would he fit in? Presumably would usurp Swift if he's still out of form.
Wings - Barrow, GMac, Beerens, Popa, Clement, Harriott. Bit of pace there now, bit of guile with the others, likely to disappear sometimes. Questions on fitness over some, can see Clement anywhere along the front (might be better off the striker). We have options. Bodvarsson can play on the wings too.
Strikers - Kermorgant, Bodvarsson, Mendes, Smith and Loader. One proven, very good, striker for this level that fits the team perfectly. Bodvarsson and Mendes should be sufficient. Loader and Smith could potentially end up very good.

Wouldn't complain if we got any more depth in, if Baker ended up here, if we signed another good striker/different type of attacker to go up top etc. But once injuries clear up that's a squad that should be easily embedding itself into the playoffs.

[From Despair To Where?]

Can't see him signing before next Wednesday

[bcubed]

obvious song if he joins

Bacuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase
Bacuna Matata! Ain't no passing craze

[maffff]

I've done a quick look at Bacuna v Williams - comes with a health warning that Bacuna has been used across multiple positions, so a direct comparison may not apply.

[mambo3]

I've done a quick look at Bacuna v Williams - comes with a health warning that Bacuna has been used across multiple positions, so a direct comparison may not apply.

Why are we buying players from Teams lower than us and then all of a sudden they are good players.

[Oilroyal]

I've done a quick look at Bacuna v Williams - comes with a health warning that Bacuna has been used across multiple positions, so a direct comparison may not apply.

Why are we buying players from Teams lower than us and then all of a sudden they are good players.

2010 – 2013 Eredivisie League, made 125 apps
2013 – 2016 Premier league, made 97 apps
Only last year 2016-2017 has he played in a team that finished lower than us.

I wouldn’t say all of a sudden, he’s a good player, more like we have an opportunity to sign a proven player who's looking for a new club and a fresh start

[LWJ]

I've done a quick look at Bacuna v Williams - comes with a health warning that Bacuna has been used across multiple positions, so a direct comparison may not apply.

Why are we buying players from Teams lower than us and then all of a sudden they are good players.

Because Villa's season last year can be considered an anonymity if you take into consideration their squad and their squads performance in the last 5 years compared to ours.

The way i'm viewing this transfer is that he is cheap because of the issues he has at Villa, mainly with the fans. He's a player with obvious qualities, is probably at a minimum a decent Championship player and brings something to the squad. Ignoring some of the comments he made, lets give a chance here before we write him off.

I think if the fees were reported to be higher than fans wouldn't be so critical..

[RoyalJones]

If he joins, team will look something like this:



GK - Mannone, Jaakkola and Legg. looks healthy, Mannone should be good at this level and Jaakkola has shown he can be a decent backup, wouldn't be afraid if he were thrown in.
CB - Moore, Ilori, McShane with Andresson backup. Blackett often used left of the three. We've seen Evans and Joey dropped back for the centre and we've seen Gunter used the right of the central three. Plenty of options
RWB - Gunter, Watson, plus we seem to be trying more to use a winger at the back, so Popa/Clem,Clement may be used more. Bacuna has been utilised there too.
LWB - Obita, Blackett and Richards. Fine, if Obita stays fit, can be a little defensively suspect otherwise.
CDM - vdB, Evans. Bacuna has played holding midfielder too.
CM - Kelly, Swift, Quinn, Rinomhota. Bacuna was a box-to-box midfielder at Groningen and has been used there at Villa on occasions. Between them there should be suitable options to replace Williams. Very impressed with Rinomhota, could develop into a very good player. Wouldn't complain if we got Baker, but where would he fit in? Presumably would usurp Swift if he's still out of form.
Wings - Barrow, GMac, Beerens, Popa, Clement, Harriott. Bit of pace there now, bit of guile with the others, likely to disappear sometimes. Questions on fitness over some, can see Clement anywhere along the front (might be better off the striker). We have options. Bodvarsson can play on the wings too.
Strikers - Kermorgant, Bodvarsson, Mendes, Smith and Loader. One proven, very good, striker for this level that fits the team perfectly. Bodvarsson and Mendes should be sufficient. Loader and Smith could potentially end up very good.

Wouldn't complain if we got any more depth in, if Baker ended up here, if we signed another good striker/different type of attacker to go up top etc. But once injuries clear up that's a squad that should be easily embedding itself into the playoffs.

First of all, thank you for the summary, this looks pretty accurate and I agree with most of this.

I would buy a top quality striker in this window to help us next season when Kermorgant is gone. This is where I think we need to spend money. Additionally, I think that Swift will switch in and out of good form this season, and that's where Lewis Baker would have been helpful. I think that we should definitely buy an attacking midfielder if Kelly isn't going to be used in an advanced role this season and I would also buy a ball winning midfielder if Rinomhota is kept within the under 23s squad, Quinn stays injury prone and Bacuna is utilised as a full back/winger instead. I may be mad saying we may need two more central midfielders but hopefully Quinn and/or Rinomhota can stay fit to fill the void that Williams has left. I would however buy an attacking midfielder seeing as Clement is being used on the wings and if Kelly isn't used in an advanced role.

Would still like to see a back up left back come in as I really don't like Blackett playing in that position, a top quality striker, possibly an attacking midfielder and of course, Leandro Bacuna.

[Snowflake Royal]

I've done a quick look at Bacuna v Williams - comes with a health warning that Bacuna has been used across multiple positions, so a direct comparison may not apply.

Why are we buying players from Teams lower than us and then all of a sudden they are good players.

Because mambo, one player does not make a team, Villa could have a squad of duffers and Bacuna be a world beater, it doesn't mean he'd have got them to second on his own. Because players don't always perform to their best for every club or in every season. Because we'll find our options pretty fecking limited if we only try to buy players who finished higher up the league than us.

[3points]

Could see bacuna being used as a right wing back as well if we play Gunter as a centre back

Think Clement might be used to give Swift some competition in an attacking midfield role as well.

[From Despair To Where?]

I've done a quick look at Bacuna v Williams - comes with a health warning that Bacuna has been used across multiple positions, so a direct comparison may not apply.

By the looks of that, Williams is slightly better going forward, Bacuna slightly better defensively but we're talking small margins. Williams's passing is more accurate but Bacuna less likely to get caught in possession.

All in all a similar standard of player to Williams, although bearing in mind, bar last season, Bacuna has been playing at a higher level.