TRO

It sadly didn't surprise me.

1 hour ago, Enda said:

Doesn’t matter. Might even be good in the long-term if it convince the club that a few players need their P45.

they didn't need to see that debacle, to know that.

I'll bury my head in the season, like other fans....and forget this game ever happened.

5 hours ago, thabucks said:

Don’t tell @TRO but clickbait linked to 5’6 Angel Gomes …

Oh No.

1 hour ago, MotoMkali said:

I think it's worth pointing out that I think even last season people were saying we didn't have much money. 

And that we had zero money to spend in January too.

I would be shocked, shocked if we were unable to spend roughly 100 million again this year. As we have done for every season we have been promoted. 

The paradox is, that apart from the odd exception....our recruitment success over the years, has been gained from modest signings.

I am not sure, we are geared, to signing big name players.....we have mainly developed our own and increased their value, when they have been with us.

2 minutes ago, MWARLEY2 said:

Louie just doesnt have the physical and technical attributes to make it with us. Thats not a slight on him. 9 times out of ten, wonderkids at 16 don't make it at the very top at 21. He will end up having a really good EFL career if he keeps free of injury though and has the right mentality . The Stockport fans loved him and thought he was a class act  

that's right, but he doesn't have aggression either.

I often talk about stature and I do think it's important, particularly in certain positions.....but smaller stature players can also shine, but the they have to have other attributes like Aggression and pace, to compensate.

You have to have the necessary attributes, to make you effective, whatever they are to dominate opponents.

How tall is he now?

On 18/05/2024 at 00:13, VillanousOne said:

I agree with some of what you are saying, but I don't think Diaby is ever not working the ball to gain openings and space. But he does sometimes struggle with the physical side and decision making, sometimes I don't think we play to his strengths always and sometimes positionally I am unsure of where he is playing, but that is more about him adjusting to our system and what Unai wants.

Criticisms used to get thrown at Buendia because he would try a lot of things, get frustrated and get remembered by some for the things that didn't work, but for me personally i'd rather a player was in the game trying things than letting it pass them by.

but also by example Haaland for City trots around the pitch doing nothing for entire games, he doesn't track back and often doesn't close down, but is lethal in the box or with the ball in front of him. He does defend corners, but compared to Ollie he can literally watch 80 mins of game go by doing sod all. But no one complains about that, they only care he scores goals.

Matt Le Tissier used to do literally walk around the pitch doing nothing, but then score a 35 yard screamer (yeah I get the game was different then).

I don't see the difference between a player coming on and scoring a goal in a 10 minute cameo from the bench, or a player scoring after 80 minutes having done little in the previous time on the pitch.

Obviously I am talking about wingers and strikers, not midfielders and defenders who do need to play a vital role for the full 90. 

But as I said before Diaby is decent at tracking back and working hard (mostly). Sometimes misplaced passes can be costly when we lack the solid structure we had when Kamara was available and weren't constantly rotating players due to injury. Just an opinion though.

I agree, it's why there are no hard and fast rules, alternatives always exist, in football.

For me, Kamara missing is a huge issue (and a related one to Moussa Diaby IMO)....and we can't rely on one, ( who has a long term injury) and I hope its a priority for us in the closed season.

14 minutes ago, tinker said:

He knows next to nothing about Emery and Villa, make no mistake about it we will go for the win and with our strongest team after 6 days rest. Losing this game isn't in the plan, finish as you mean to start next season,  with a win and a convincing performance. 

I can see a real show stopper, yea we may leak some goals but we will definitely score some, 3-1 to villa, maybe 4-1. Top 4 team incoming.

Its fairly clear to me that these pundits, do not research our team, like we do. So I am not sure what we are expected to learn from them.

Its typical lazy media, who just employ " names " who just deliver superficial news and headlines.

There are no Hugh McIIvanney's anymore, with insightful football journalism....just Bubblegum pundits, who were decent players, in their day.

It's not that easy to get sound info on Villa.

On 15/05/2024 at 14:27, VillanousOne said:

people always focus on the negatives, amongst the poor performances where he has been ineffectual have been really top drawer performances where he has been quality.

I remember the bizarre argument around El Ghazi and even Trez where somehow goals and assists weren't enough from a winger/fwd- (and yes I think Diaby is levels above them) but the fact is if a player does nothing for 89 minutes, but scores a goal or gets a vital assist in that one minute does it matter? If he costs us possession and we lose because he is crap those 89 minutes, then yes a good point to say we need better.

But the fact is, he gets subbed if he is poor, and even when he is poor he is still tidy and works hard. Usually he creates chances.

I know he is frustrating and can get bullied out of games, but he can also be sublime and has all the attributes to be the player we think he can, coming to a new league and get heavily marked and press takes any players time to adjust to. He's not Bailey Mk 2 he's just a player that needs time to adjust to the best league in the world.

'pah he can only score goals and create chances, he's sh*t'

 

I get your point, but negatives, presented constructively are important references, to show improvement.

Unai will address the so called negatives, that's what he does, to improve players.....and he has improved, all of ours.

your point, about does nothing for 90 minutes etc.........The very top teams, work feverishly for 90 minutes, watch Man City, constantly working the ball, to gain openings and space. You can't just rely on "moments" when you are the top.

If a player, scores a goal, but does nothing for duration of the game, it does matter....because that kind of play is not sustainable, for ambitious teams.

We are WIP....so players will have good bits and not so good bits to their games. The objective is to progress to a point, where they more consistent, and we will recruit, better quality too, to gain that consistency.

Currently, We can beat anyone, but can equally, get beat by anyone.....we have to become harder to beat, and consistency, will improve....that does not mean parking the bus, or deploying more players to defence. We have to become harder to beat in the confines of our attacking style.

Moussa, is still acclimatising to us and our way.... I think he will be the player we want him to be.

Our eyes don't lie.....but saying that, we need to be patient with him.

He can be frustrating, but he can equally be stimulating. If the manager is happy with his progress, who are we to doubt that.

I trust Unai's assessment, and when he is "fully charged" and comfortable with all the info he has been given, I think we will see a more effective player.

We have to remember, Unai is no slouch, when it comes to info and some players take longer to compute it all....some are better students, than others.

Moving from another league, country and environment, is a challenge.

If Unai is happy with him, so am I

PS I think he, along with others, will benefit, when a new central midfielder comes in, who can give him a platform to play from.

7 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

It's completely reasonable for the manager and the players to be frustrated at the lack of support the team received, but if they're honest with themselves, they should be able to see that it's not inexplicable, or indicative of some wider cultural failing. Let's be honest, even if they'd received the fulsome support of everyone in the ground they would probably have lost, and even if they'd won, they still probably wouldn't have qualified for the CL with us just needing a point at Palace. If they'd been level on points with us the fans might have felt somewhat differently, and for thinking about why they weren't level or ahead of us, the players and the manager need to look at each other, not the fans. It's not the fans that led them to lose every meaningful game in the run-in. 

It's not our battle to get in to anyway.......when it is, it's worth fretting about.

We are Champions league, and we do it right.....our fans was magnificent, and the backing of Emi, was defiance at its best.

We don't want to get in to a North London beef, do we?

3 minutes ago, MotoMkali said:

I think it's worth pointing out we can clearly go toe to toe with anyone right now so we don't really need any signing to massively increase the quality of the first 11 beyond shoring up weaknesses. It's now about building the squad out which you can take more risks on, with less proven players. 

Olympiakos, says Hi.

7 hours ago, CarryOnVilla said:

Booing your own team isn’t good, but is the most basic form of criticism that can be made. The manager and coaches are the ones that turn it in to constructive criticism. 
 

what can be done when your own fans actively supporting the opposition, just to get one over the rivals? 
 

“yeah boys, you got to lose this for the fans.. they don’t want you playing CL football, because it means arsenal will win the league. Hope you understand”

Ange was clearly peed off, with it all.

25 minutes ago, NorthEastVillan said:

Think thread title needs changing to "Sunday Kick-About 1 of 1"  

Now,now....we need to follow the managers stance.....Humility.

7 hours ago, Pongo Waring said:

Do we even need to play this game, Cant we just forfeit it? and send a message that there is too many games in a season.
Let the players go on a early holiday

can't the girls stand in?

I don't think the squad is big enough, to expect quality exits.

We have witnessed first hand the devastation injuries can bring and we have 4 quality competitions , next season.

I don't think there will be too many exits, unless they are surplus to requirements players.

It's also prudent to keep a happy camp together....team spirit, is paramount.

We are 150 Years old, and these guys don't come around very often....we are blessed to have him.

17 minutes ago, useless said:

Not being bothered about not entering a compeition - because that's all it is,  to stop a rival from winning the tile, really isn't a big deal, especially when you've entered that competition many times before as is the case with Spurs. If it was us winning a competition, even just the League Cup, then of course I would take that no matter what. Many people on here said they would rather take Champoions League than win Conference League, which is actually way worse than what I've said, that's denying us a trophy

you are entitled to your opinion, no problem there....but this goes deeper than that.

A team cannot lose sight of its own objectives, by being side tracked with the results of a rival.....it's commonly labeled as jealousy.

It's really not a good trait to be embroiled with....clearly some spurs fans have been pre-occupied with it.

We as Villa Fans, should stick to being a great Villa Fan...and block out the noise, its only an attempt, for distracting from our passion, anyway.

If a team and its supporters, want to be strong....they have to make their own objectives priority, otherwise the mentality, becomes fragile and fragmented.....The noise in our stadium, compared to spurs, was a stark contrast, and both wanted Champions League football.

Personally, I don't give a flying **** what our local rivals are doing( good or bad) I just want to focus my energy on Villa. I feel for every second, I give to thinking about our rivals, I am denying my own club, that valuable thinking time.

Tunnel vision for me....A S T O N   V I L L A  only...sod the rest.

5 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

You opened this whole shittake with you would rather villa lose a match to prevent blues winning the title. Trying to brush it aside now is making your argument weaker. 

so, why would you want Villa to lose to prevent Blues a title? Do you hate blues more that you love Villa? Or is it something more pathetic like you can’t handle the idea of them lording it over you. 

This what it really is with Spurs/Arsenal. Its spurs fans and their fragile ego… they can’t handle their arse friends/family/colleagues giving it the victorious banter, so they actively support spurs to lose to prevent the lording. it’s not about entering competitions as you’re trying to claim,  it’s about trivial banter being taken far to serious by people who lost sight on their love for their own team 

in a nutshell.

Spurs fans, need to get their focus back, to supporting Spurs, and ignoring Arsenal....they've been sucked in, by fans of a stronger personality.

I think Ange, has been shocked by it all, and probably thought he had seen it all, after managing Celtic....He clearly looks rocked by it.

I don't think there is ever, any justification for wanting your own team to lose. I think if fans do, they have lost sight of the main objective.

I don't think, it would have made any difference to the result anyway, so they have done themselves no favours.

Looking forward to the window.

30 minutes ago, HalfTimePost said:

I think my ideal summer looks something like the below. Some good quality players around the team that add to our depth and maybe aren't first names on the team sheet.

Allows us to be more strategic (Moreno/Konsa or Hermoso/New at FB), sensible deals from contracts ending over next 2 years. Plus Unai taking an under performing big name and getting their career back on track.

• Mario Hermoso (LB/LCB) (exp. '24)
• Youssouf Fofana (CM) (exp. '25)
• Jonathan David (ST) (exp. '25)
• Federico Chiesa (LW/ST) (exp. '25)
• And a RB

 

Mbappe.

9 hours ago, Okonokos said:

where's the deck chair sellers and " Lucky men" .......not a proper beach, that.

whether he goes or stays, He has always given the impression, he is happy with us.

hard not to like the lad. Not the most gifted, but a trier.