WakefieldVillan

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...

13 minutes ago, wilko154 said:

So we should never try again in the cup competitions?

We were able to play midweek games last season, there's no reason why we can't now.

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.

1 hour ago, kurtsimonw said:

Just didn't seem to have anything really. 

Only time they threatened is if one of their terrible crosses deflected to someone or the ball pinballed in the box. 

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.

15 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

A big chunk of me thinks Mings should be our captain, but i won't lose sleep over it.

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

2 hours ago, Teale's 'tache said:

I agree, I think it will be the same team.

I'd expect us to try and keep it very tight the first 10-20 minutes after the slow start against Bournemouth and El Ghazi is more useful than Jota in those circumstances 

He's better at working back and defending his full back, and also his height is useful both defensively and going forward. I wouldn't be surprised if Jota comes on at some point though, depending on how the game is going.

I think if we had some better options in his position El Ghazi would probably be out, I just don't see us moving our team around too much to enforce that change, certainly not moving our best player and captain out wide where he'll have less influence and have to work back half of the time.

All that said, if El Ghazi doesn't perform tonight it is going to give Smith a headache going forward. 

Everton are a good team, but I've a feeling we might get a point out of this, I'm going for 1-2.

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?

2 hours ago, GingerCollins29 said:

It seems from peoples team selections on here that we have a question mark over the wide forward position, most dropping el ghazi and putting grealish, mcginn or hourihane there...

Who else apart from AEG, trez and jota could play there?

Kodija, davis, jack, mcginn, jourihane, elmo, guilbert...?

For me kodj would not be as effective as AEG or jota, davis is a battering ram, nothing more, jack and mcginn do their best work through the middle, as does hourihane. Guilbert is a possibility but never seen him play competitively. Elmo would not work...

Will AEG come good?

 

 

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.  

2 hours ago, useless said:

If we can't hope to beat a mid table team like Everton, then who can we hope to beat? They're of a similar standard to most teams in the Premier league outside of the top six. Whilst it will be a difficult game, if we're dismissing our chances of beating them in an home game at VIlla Park then something really has gone wrong, we're in the Premier league now, at some point we're going to have to beat good sides being as though we'll be playing one pretty much every week.

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.

21 hours ago, terrytini said:

God knows I’ve no enthusiasm for disagreement, ( so please view this as nothing more than a small observation !) but...

Ill say  straight out ordinarily I wouldn’t comment on a guy who played 10 minutes.

But your comments perplexed me..

And especially since some were interested how he did I thought I’d chip in.

Because my opinion, at the game, was that for a DM he didn’t really do any DM ing. I didn’t mind, As like I said, what do you expect in 10 minutes.

And today was the first time I’ve properly analysed the game....and thought the same.

Then I read your Post and I thought “ jeez how did I miss all that ?”....so I’ve just watched his 10 minutes again.

Then I had to watch it again, while referring back to your observations, as I couldn’t see what you were referring to.

(I have to confess one of the reasons I rewatch games several times is I am pretty poor at any details, I’m more of an overall atmosphere person).....so it didn’t surprise me I missed it.

But the second ( and third ) rewatch meant I finally knew the bits you must have meant....but ( in my eyes/ opinion) they didn’t look like that to me.

The raking 40 yard pass, if I’ve got the right one ( there were only about 4 passes so I think I’m right) was (as I see it) a standard, no pressure on him, 20 metre pass out to the wing. About as run of the mill as it’s gets.

Then twice in a minute later on he picked the ball up in front of the Back 4 and made ( again in my view) very basic ( Whelan - esque) passes. 

I didn’t / don’t think there was anything good ( or bad) about any of them. Not arguing, just saying we see things differently.

He certainly looked comfortable on the ball, but then, I think they pretty much all do !

There WAS one moment of very nice skill when he brought a clearance down well and dinked a little side pass.

But what did stand out, for me, was his absence for the third, but especially the second, goal.

The third I pretty much go along with you saying Sissoko  was all but gone....but I reckon he had the chance to foul him.

The second though ? Jack loses the ball but there is a moment when a sharp DM could get a tackle in. Luiz doesn’t appear to try to.

Do I blame him, fault him, or whatever....absolutely not. First game, only 10 minutes, opposition rampant.

But it suggested to me he’s not ready ( up to speed ).At least for the defensive side. Which you raised yourself.

Anyway...I’m not trying to make a song and dance about it. 

 

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. 

48 minutes ago, Jonsi77 said:

Perhaps they are not good enough to start. Though expect to see Luiz start vs bornemouth, Hourihane is not in starting standard in PL.

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.

17 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

now....i dislike Conor in the DM role.......

but, in all fairness watch Spurs 3rd goal, Luiz gets ran past like hes not there, and Luiz doesnt even try to bust a gut to get back, if Conor did that we would all go nuts......hopefully Luiz just needs to get up to speed, but that wasnt acceptable by Luiz, just as it wouldnt have been acceptable from Conor.

P.S - i hope Luiz or Nakamba replaces Conor next week

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 

Was a tough debut for him and he took a fair bit of criticism in the match thread.

I didn't think he was too bad, he was obviously isolated and lost out physically at times, but I think he will be a handful for defenders of the 'so called lesser sides'.

Obviously disappointing that he dwelt on the ball for the goal but I'm sure he will learn from that, I think he just didn't want to give the ball straight back to Spurs (which was happening most of the second half) but you can't get away with it at this level. I don't think it was a foul and Jack's reaction for me said it all.

That aside I thought first half he played quite well but ran out of steam along with most of them.

7 minutes ago, AndyM3000 said:

There's no way Taylor over Targett was the call, on any level.

Yet, he's been faultless. 

10 minutes ago, penguin said:

Weird how people see things differently.

Wesley has been fine and a constant occupation for the defenders including for the goal in which he drew in and bullied Sanchez, think the lazy calls are very harsh especially as it's such a thankless task being the lone striker for a team with >30% of the ball and his first competitive game for us.

Correct.. looks like he's today's fall guy