Jores Okore and Nicklas Helenius (Denmark), Leandro Bacuna (Netherlands), Aleksandar Tonev (Bulgaria), Antonio Luna (Spain). These are the players signed or said to be signing. You wanted it? You got it.
Wanted what? Hidden gems from the continent. Instead of overpaid dross from home. An all-you-can-eat Euro Buffet. This is what that process looks like. If everyone was already talking about them, then they weren’t exactly hidden. Luke Murphy? He wouldn’t cost a fortune either.
So we’ve been to YouTube and Wikipedia, and followed links to Google translations that make you wonder why anyone thinks computer translation will ever work. We’re on the hunt for encouraging signs.
Because they’re not household names are they? What will they bring?
Well, for starters, they’re young and hungry. (Like “proud” and “bright,” these might be words you’re getting sick of.)
But they’ve obviously got potential. Will it be realized? Who knows.
What we do know is that when Lambert said he wanted a certain kind of player, he meant it. And Villa have been busy finding targets that fit the bill. We’ve been ready to act, and have acted quickly.
None of us quite knows what to make of it. We were giddy. Now we’re a bit wary.
Me, I think it’s the right thing to do. We want competition for places. We want options off the bench. We want players who aren’t the objects of bidding wars. Yet.
Some are calling for more experience. I understand. I can easily see myself saying the same thing. But after I saw Lambert finish experimenting, settle on a side, and bring them together, I’m okay letting this window play out the way Lambert wants. I think he’s earned that.
Remember, he did something that’s got to be virtually unprecedented in EPL history, remaking an entire team in one season, new starters in virtually every position (depending on how you count Gabby and Delph). Some will say that staying up, even in such a context, wasn’t anything to be happy about, because simply avoiding relegation isn’t much to stir the blood, never mind be proud of.
But, to me, the bigger picture wasn’t the placing last season. It was that a massive transformation was undertaken as urgently, and economically, as possible. A team of strangers, the vast majority of whom had never played a full Premier League season let alone played together, found their feet and showed the mental toughness to shake off a miserable season of hard lessons and claw themselves to safety. That’s not to be underestimated. Those players had something.
And as terrifying as it was at times, Villa ultimately finished six points off ninth. Not bad for a bunch of lower-leaguers, no-name foreigners, and academy graduates.
So if Lambert & Co. have settled on these players (and they’re seemingly first choices), I’m betting they’ll have something to offer. (I, for one, like the idea of six-and-a-half-foot striker with good feet. It can’t hurt having him come on 15 minutes from time to offer something different while he plays understudy to Benteke.)
Some may start, some won’t. Some may go on to shine. But the team, top to bottom, is almost certainly better off with them replacing the players who weren’t featuring down the run-in.
What does it mean for the players Villa are keeping? Fight for your place. You want to star on the big stage, you’re going to have to earn it, week in, week out.
The transformation won’t be finished this window. But it’s certainly not slackening. Not every move is going to work. That’s okay. They never do.
Case in point: Joe Bennett. Even though Lambert stuck with him, and he never hung his head, the purported interest in Luna says that Lambert isn’t going to just dig in his heels to prove us wrong. Bennett is certainly still fully in the frame. But if the position can be upgraded, Lambert seems willing to admit it. Just like with Karim El Ahmadi.
It won’t all come together overnight. But Lambert isn’t going to have to spend half a season trying to figure out what he’s got. He knows what he’s bought, what they’ve done, what’s he’s thinking they can do. Starters are established, new boys have to make their case.
Last year’s side won’t have to spend half a season figuring out who they are. They’ve played every team twice. They’ve seen every ground. They’ve seen what van Persie and the like are all about. They know what the grind of a full season requires.
For the record, I don’t think we’re cracking the top six. But I think top-half will be an entirely reasonable goal. Not an expectation, but a goal.
So there you go. Anyone interested in chicken-fried steak with cream gravy?
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