Do we need another striker?
It’s quiet, and even the made up transfer rumours seem to have dried up. With that in mind I got thinking about the striker situation, and whether or not we need another striker at Villa Park.
At the moment we have four at the club, and they are Darren Bent, Gabby Agbonlahor, Weimann and Delfouneso. Looking at that I’d certainly think we could do with another body, but with more pressing needs in the squad, is it an area of real priority?
I asked Up the Villa contributor and tactic wizard Sam Tighe @stighefootball how Lambert liked his Norwich side to line up, and it seems he likes to mix between having two and one up front, and often reacts to how the game is panning out. We’ve discussed previously how this is a good thing, and I’m looking forward to seeing our formations next campaign.
Bent is and should be the number one striker at the club, and after the signing of Holman I hope that we see more of Gabby up front now. He’s done well in the wing position at times, but for me he’ll always be a striker, and he has the attributes to be a real pain. If they’re both on form and we can get the service to them, there are not many defenders who will look forward to playing a partnership of Bent and Gabby.
We’ve been big fans of Weimann for a while, and I was delighted to see him given more of a chance last season. He’s a real talent and is a great back-up option at this stage of his career. I could also see him starting games as well because he’s more of a physical presence, and puts in a great shift everytime he’s represents the club. I remain unconvinced about Delfouneso, and even though I think he has some very good qualities, I just can’t see him getting the run of games he clearly needs to show whether or not he truly has what it takes.
For me I think we could certainly do with one more body, and I’d like to see a more physical striker come in. Holt has been mentioned, but at the £6 million talked about I hope we don’t go near him. Someone of that build with an eye for goal would be great, as I fear we’re a little lightweight up top at the moment. Maybe we’ll look abroad for a cheaper option, and in the proposed signing of El Ahmadi it seems Lambert might have an eye for a bargain.
Equally though I wouldn’t be too annoyed if we used our transfer budget to address more important areas. Defensive midfield was certainly one, and that has hopefully been sorted should the aforementioned El Ahmadi deal go through okay. Wing was another and the signing of Holman has added to that department. I still think we could perhaps use another midfielder, but defence is the key area, and I wouldn’t be too opposed to looking for 4 or 5 new players to come in should some of the current bunch move on.
Perhaps we could spend the money here and look at the loan market, and we saw the impact Keane made last season. What do you all think? Do we need another striker? Are you happy with our current options? Any players you’d like to see come in?
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i too am not convinced with the fonz, he has never really done it for me. if we were to buy another stiker(baring in mind its always good to have 4) it would have to be someone young not wanting to play every week. weimann for me is a good 3rd choice so if we were to buy, it would have to be someone who would push him on, not push him down the order. with this in mind, that narrows both field and also transfer figure we are looking to spend. that all being said, we could just promote jack grealsih to 4th choice striker and yet again develop from within #utv
Maybe we do need another striker but I agree that we have more pressing needs, especially at the back. Plus, a more solid midfield will hopefully create more for our existing strikers. I think we’ve got to give Clark a chance or else he’ll go the same way as Cahill and we definitely need one new centre back (maybe two) and two new full backs. If the current transfer bid is successful I really look forward to seeing El Ahmadi, Makoun and GG together in midfield. Apparently Lambert reacts to the strengths/weaknesses opposition so we could see many variations. I can’t wait!
Agree on Clark mate, he has to start at centre-back this season for me, real talent. I like the sound of those three in midfield. Solid, can keep possession and Gardner has the talent to create and score a few.
Like you I’m really excited/interested to see Lambert actually adapt his formations and tactics. I swiftly fell out of love with O’Neill because of his hatred of change, and from what I hear of Lambert he’ll change things two or three times a game if needs be. Exactly what you need in modern football.
Got to agree, I like the fonz, but one thing I will agree with when AM said he needs to be more cut throat and aggressive. For me lets get a 6 – 9 mil striker in and get rid of Hutton and dunne (who is slowing up but have to say has been great for us) and replace them with experienced mid twenties players. I think that is all we need for sure.
I do believe we need another striker and attacking midfielder. Then our defence is a big problem. Hopefully we can address those areas before the season start. We need to get these guys in before pre-season so that they can get use to each other.
In three years from midfield we have lost Barry, Young, Petrov, Downing, Milner, Reo Coker and Sidwell. We have replaced them with Ireland, Makoun and Nzogbia. There’s the problem. It’s not rocket science!
Ireland, makoun, nzogbia … Bannan, Gardner, herd
Where as I agree wholeheartedly that does not replace the quality we sold it does go some way to replace he numbers
I agree Colonius81. The problem is that whereas during the O’Neill regime we were looking to buy quality financial restrictions means we are now simply making up the numbers. El Ahmadi? I don’t want to down a man before he has been given a chance but he sounds a bit like Salifou to me. I am not being pessimistic but trying to be a realist. There is a lot of hype at the moment with the new manager. However good he may be, and I believe he is very good, he can only work within the limitations of his budget and if that budget means he just has to make up the numbers……. The danger is the present hype will lead to too high expectations which will not be fulfilled and the backlash will hit the manager.
Yes, for what its worth, this individual believes that we need to bring another striker onboard.
Without Darren Bent contributing to the cause, I think we are quite impotent up front.
Gabby all too often flatters to deceive, and just doesn’t seem to have the potential of a fifteen goal premier league season in him. Young Weimann looks promising, yet is far from the finished article, and still has a lot to prove, while Nathan Delfouneso just doesn’t cut it as far as I’m concerned.
He (Delfouneso) hasn’t improved at all since opening his premier league account at Fratton Park, in fact if anything, he’s gone backwards.
Another long term injury to Benty, or heaven forbid, a loss of form by our record signing, and our ‘goals for’ column will look pretty sickly once again.
We cant risk going into the new campaign with the current quartet of strikers. They wont do the business.
I think that Ciaran Clark has always played poorly at CB and is to weak to play there. He is however an excellent DMF and he and another maybe El Amahdi could stiffen up our flimsy midfield. We need two CBs with experience and ability more than strikers.