WakefieldVillan

Pretty poor tonight to say the least and it's the home games like this where he needs to make an impact. When he receives the ball on the half way line I genuinely am not sure which team he's going to get the assist for! Rather see him off the bench or maybe playing in a more central role (4-2-3-1) and I think tonight was crying out for a 'Benrahma'.

Taking off the claret and blue specs.. oh... I think a point was probably a fair result. We had the better chances, they looked more composed on the ball. Tale of two halves for Jack, probably our best player in the first 45, possibly our worst in the second period. Slightly disappointing we got worse with the man advantage, if anything it hindered our play with them sat back and hitting us on the counter. Engels MOTM for me, had a really solid start to the season.

Realistically I would have hoped for at least 5 points after our first four games (Expected loss at Spurs, a win against Bournemouth and a point in the others), so we're 2 points off what I thought we would be, hardly catastrophic. Think we need to be aiming for 8-10 points in the next 5 and we will be doing just fine, won't be easy, but we never thought this league would be anything else. The crowd at VP as such a huge part to play. My main worry is if we go several games not picking up any points and how it will affect our confidence.

I agree... to an extent. I would still have him on the bench in away games, but not as a starter. I like him, he is a nice, intelligent footballer and can pick out some wonderful passes just think he may be a bit of a luxury away from home when we need to dig in a bit more.

This for me. Jota should not be starting away games, most of the games where we are going to be up against it and playing more counter attacking. But this is probably for the Jota thread. Will give Luiz plenty of time before judging him, but think some supporters were overrating him after 15 average minutes at Spurs. The potential is there so hope he lives up.to the hype.

Definitely nothing to fear in this game, we head here off the back of two decent victories and will have a new-found confidence. As long as we settle into the game well, with no mistakes (IE unlike Bournemouth) then I feel quite confident we can take 3 points or at least 1. I think if we get the service into Wesley he can bully their two centre halves (whether that be Cahill, Dann or Kelly) and exploit a possible lack of pace?! Would start with @wedge team, but with El Ghazi instead of Jota (purely because I feel that he offers more defensive cover on the flanks and for me that is Palace's biggest strength, whether that be with Zaha, Meyer or Townsend.

I think most people are in agreement that his strength, hold up play, the bringing of other players into the game are all strong attributes to Keinan's game with the main concern being the lack of goals. Well hopefully the one he scored last night will give him the confidence to perhaps back himself a little more and to get more goals which will be a great thing for Villa and put pressure on Wesley which is what it's all about - pressure for places.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but found it astonishing that posters wanted us to go with a full strength team tonight. Perfect team selection, perfect night barring the injury to Taggart (hopefully nothing too serious), delighted Davis got on the scoresheet, Nakamba looks a great addition, Lansbury produced two moments of real class and a great finish from Guilbert. Good fitness for the fringe players and I think the likes of Hause and Konsa needed the 90 minutes because at times we were shaky at the back. Meanwhile Crawley knock out Norwich and Crewe beat them only last week! Good night all round though, now for Palace...

I don't think anyone has said this, I think some people just think we should have enough quality with our so called "second string" to get the job done against a league two side. Whatever side we put out I would hope and expect 100% commitment.

Reading many of the comments on here it seems that it's pretty divided on whether we go with a full strength side (and take the competition seriously) or we make wholesale changes (and effectively go out with a whimper!). I really do not believe, under this current regime, that we will take this game lightly whether we make the changes or not - I may have to come back on here later tonight and eat my words, but I will be amazed if our "second string" do not get the job done if that's the route that Smith takes. I think we are all in agreement the Premier league takes priority, but don't for one minute think that we can't also have a good cup run, because no doubt about it we can. What I like about our squad at the moment is that there is good competition in each position (the way it should be) and not a "huge" amount of difference in terms of quality of performers should we alternate the starting eleven. I personally feel that picking up any injuries / suspensions to real key players (basically our spine) is, after the result, the most important thing tonight and also I feel that by not selecting the fringe players (as they currently are) it sends out the wrong signal to them and could bring disharmony to part of the group. So with all that said, (if all fit) I would go with Steer, Elmo, Konsa, Hause, Targett, El Ghazi, Nakamba, Hourihane, Lansbury, Kodjia, and Davis. Prediction 1-3.

Think you're being a tad harsh and it's easier to say after a victory but on another night they go away with a point at the very least. Although Heaton didn't have a shot to save, they had one cleared off the line, hit the post and missed a complete sitter, if that was the other way around I would be thinking "what if"... That said, Calvert-Lewin as your main striker doesn't bode well.

Not for me. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Since Jack was given captaincy our record as been impeccable, his performances have been top notch (as has Mings). As for last night, he played well in a good team performance, he ain't going to run games for 90 minutes like he did in the Championship but he can (and will) make a positive impact. As others have alluded to, it's nice to see we have other "match winners" in our squad now.

MOTM - Wesley, big, strong, athletic, scored one played a huge part in the second, bullied their centre halves all game. Closely followed by Mings / Engels / Jota and the 12th man - The Holte. The atmosphere was electric. Our fans deserved that. I thought we rode our luck at times and on another day that might have gone against us but so relieved to get our first win and hopefully we can push on now and have the belief that we can compete at this level, because at times tonight, we played some lovely one / two touch stuff and both goals were tremendous bits of interchange / quick thinking / clever play. Love it. We may lose more than we win this season, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's f@#!/# great to have a really likeable squad again. UTV

I agree with every bit of that until the very last digit! Hope I am wrong though! Come on you Villa boys!

No problem with the 1-year contract extension, he has been a steady performer throughout his tenure here and his performances over the 10-game winning streak culminating with our play off success and a decent AFCON, I would say he has earned it. I must say I might have had a total different outlook back in December 2018 after his performances against Stoke and Leeds! Funny how things can change eh?

This is why I was hugely disappointed we didn't sign Benrahma. I am not writing off El Ghazi and I think Jota can still give us something different in wide areas, but Benrahma would have give us that extra bit of depth to our flanks.

I think 100% of us fans hope we can beat them and I firmly believe that the players and management staff will go with the intention of winning this game and hope to do so, they definitely won't be writing it off and neither are we. I feel that the ones that would take a point now are just wanting us to get off the mark in this league and build from there, confidence is a massive thing in football and 3 defeats on the spin might sow seeds of doubt into a few of the players.

I'd take a point too if I was offered it right now - I just think it is vital to get a point on the board because otherwise any confidence will take a real hit. I was hoping for 4 points from this and the Bournemouth game but even then I wasn't taking anything for granted, it's a tough league and we may need a few weeks to get used it. I have a feeling we will lose 1-2 but I really hope I am wrong, whatever happens we need to cut out the individual mistakes and at least let the Toffees earn the victory. I'd consider Jota for El Ghazi and Targett for Taylor, but failing that I don't think we need to start changing formations just yet (and I am a fan of a 4-2-3-1), also Grealish stays centrally for me, more chance of influencing the game and he's our key man.

I'm totally with you on this one Terry, I thought at the time of reading dontdoitdoug's post "was I watching a different game?" And I've had to just watch the 10 minutes again and I concur your thoughts exactly.. the only 40 yard taking ball I saw was from Engels not Luiz. Dont get me wrong, I have high hopes for him and think (hope) he will do extremely well for us but he wasn't that good on Saturday at all.

What about Bjarnsson?

I had sky sports on in the background and wasn't paying much attention but then glanced at the TV and noticed a rather dashing claret and blue tie and thought this guy knows his stuff... Then the penny dropped and I caught a fair bit of the interview and even my other half was engrossed with what he had to say and how he eloquently speaks.. Loved the bit about 'wanting to compete' and not making up the numbers and calling out what a "great club," we are.. I know it's just words at the end of the day, but I can really warm to the guy and he really does come across that he knows what he's doing and is proud to be working for us... What a complete turnaround from last year, and hopefully it's just the start of this 'great club' returning back to the very top.. where it belongs!

Heaton Elmo Engels Mings Targett Hourihane Grealish McGinn El Ghazi Wesley Trezeguet Subs; Steer, Konsa, Taylor, Luiz, Jota, Kodjia, Davis Basically the same team that started against Spurs but Targett coming in for Taylor as it should be a game we try to play on the front-foot and we should have a lot more possession than we did at Spurs. I think it's important to keep the back 5 settled as much as possible. I thought Luiz looked off the pace when he came on and might need a bit more "easing in" time, Jota and Kodge were poor when they came on (in albeit difficult circumstances) therefore I don't think they are the right choices. Naming the subs is just as hard as naming the first eleven with the likes of Lansbury, Chester (inj?), Nakamba, Guilbert, Hause not in the 18 above. Won't be easy (no games will be this season) but I think we might nick this 2-1 with the 12th man behind the deciding factor UTV

At the end of the day Taylor playing well on Saturday (which most agree with) can only be a good thing as at least it puts pressure on Targett (and Hause) to perform when they are selected. In an ideal world we would have two unbelievable left backs and Taylor would have left this summer, but we haven't and he's here so let's just hope when he is selected he can perform as capable as Saturday. Taylor would obviously be disappointed if he didn't start on Saturday, but I think even he would see the reasoning behind a decision to play a player, in Targett, who is much better going forward.

Agree. Yet people were screaming for Luiz to start today. For me that 3rd goal highlighted just why he didn't. That's not a dig at Luiz as such (all 3 subs were ineffective in difficult circumstances) but he didn't look match fit (understandably) Hopefully moving forward him or Nakamba will step up to the plate. Conor today was pretty much like many of our team, decent first half, not at the races in the second.

Was surprisingly relaxed when I heard about him starting today, I thought going with the most settled back 4 in this match was the way to go (& I am definitely not a Taylor fan) - but today, he played very well and fair play to him. Defended well and distribution was fine. I think Smith keeps players in the side if they are playing well and by that token he should start against Bournemouth and I think he will. However... Not dismissing Bournemouth (I dont think we can dismiss any team in this league) but, at home, I'd like to think we would set up to be on the front foot and if that's the case Targett would be better suited, so will be interesting to see who gets the nod. But today, well done Neil