Adam2003

Yeah agreed you’re not wrong at this point but there is always more turnover between tournament squads for one reason or another than we expect, whether injury or drops in form etc. Stones has already been in the squad for 2016, 2018 and now which is itself pretty astonishing. I’d assume he’ll be first choice in the WC and will then be in his 30s after that point so more likely to get shifted for future tournaments depending how form and fitness hold up. Getting in the squad is a nice realistic target for Konsa as there is a lot of competition. But then I guess a year ago people were saying that about Jack as he’d never been near a squad…

Weird to think of Schmeichel and Nielsen being teammates given the timing of their Villa careers.

21+6+15+3!

Minor bugbear triggered by several posts saying 36/37 mins but it was actually about 45 mins. On after 69 mins. 21 mins plus 6 mins injury time is 27. 15 mins of extra time plus 3 mins injury time at the end of it. I’m a dork but he played for a normal half of football rather than 36 mins as Twitter keeps saying.

He deleted it. Not sure if that’s good or bad…

He deleted it. Not sure if that’s good or bad…

Effective yes, but I noted from the commentator yesterday that we have had fewer shots than any team in the latter stages (less than half of the other semi-finalists at the start of the game), more touches per shot, and spent far more time rolling the ball around the defence. Even yesterday in a winning semi-final there were moans and boos from the Wembley fans at times when the ball was just taken from a dangerous area and worked back to Pickford. Generally the games have been pretty dull at around 60 mins which is why the England fans (not the Villa fans!) have been singing for Jack to be subbed on. Totally agree with you on ‘not the Jack Grealish show’ and also totally agree it’s effective and tends to be how teams win tournaments but Ukraine aside it’s been a grind for the most part and I don’t think we need to pretend otherwise. No-one will care if we beat Italy of course and maybe this is the best way for an international team to play given limited time together so I’m not being critical.

I think all Southgate does is manage the media well and keep a good mood in camp… but the credit I’ll give him is far more ‘qualified’ coaches and managers and tacticians have failed to do those things. In fact doing those things is probably 90% of the very weird job that is England manager. So while I don’t really rate him as a coach, I can see that much better coaches would have failed to deliver this. It’s complex! International management is not really about being a great coach - as you can tell by most of the rest of the coaches in the Euros to be fair…

Think as well he’s come on ahead of Sancho, ahead of Rashford, etc etc. They haven’t even had a kick. He’s got himself right into the mix in this squad going into the final which considering where he was a year ago is amazing. Fair play to him. Will be needed against Italy I think. They look class and don’t concede many.

I dislike Southgate as much as the next man and have issues with his Grealish relationship but he turned to him when he needed a goal against Germany, he turned to him today and he’ll likely turn to him when Italy go ahead at the weekend. However it all plays out Grealish and Mings have both played their part in getting to England’s first final in 55 years so I think they will be feeling pretty good despite not being on the field every minute/starting every game.

I’d be interested in a couple of screenshots of your favourites, just saying…

And flipside to the point I just made is this… moving here has absolutely transformed his career and he seems the sort who might now stay forever. He’s clearly loving life. I think Mings would be captain if Jack wasn’t but I also think Martinez is a solid contender. Such a leader and such a high standard. Arsenal what were you thinking?

I’ll step in here just to add some support to the chap getting yelled at because I had a similar thing a while back… and not to speak for someone else but personally I’m not at all negative and am confident we WILL keep Martinez (and Grealish), it’s more just acknowledging that for the first time in my three decades supporting Villa we have at least two players who the likes of Real Madrid would be improved by and that bids will come in if they keep that form up on an international stage. There’s nothing negative about that at all, it’s a sign of how well we are doing and hopefully we just keep on improving and signing more of this quality - could Buendia be the next one of that standard?

What VAR confirmation was he waiting for with that last save?

Yeah too many Spurs, Liverpool, Man United players in this Brazil side. I’m firmly Argentinian for this one.

Urgh. Urgh. Urgh. Vomits.

Basically game the season we went down. (Bruce has lots of faults and I don’t want to derail this thread but I do think he stabilised the culture of a club that just expected to lose every game after that awful couple of years).

Given that we learned fairly recently that Villa covered up child abuse for 20+ years let’s just not jump to saying that means an organisation should be shut down because then I’d have to support Brentford or someone and I’ve waited a long time to actually enjoy supporting this team again…!

Yeah agreed. You read on here sometimes “why do players have an agent not just a PA?” - and it’s stuff like this. Negotiate with the club who owns what image rights and then understand the tax implications of that vs extra money on salaries vs bonuses etc etc - I’d be surprised if this one is just “here is more money per week” given how his profile has exploded. Still personally I’d guess that gives the club more things to throw at him because those will have been less of a factor in previous contracts.

Nice, I like this outcome as well.

I think also US structure with drafts/trades etc means transfer speculation is less of a trade.

Headed goals are statistically easiest to defend against with a well-drilled defence, and international squads are usually less well drilled (less time together) so there will usually be more headed goals at international level. Interesting stats on the other leagues though.

Wouldn’t be a thing according to normal human psychology. When elite level training involves bullying those who ‘make it out’ are convinced they’ve survived something that ‘made them who they are’ - this is the same principle military training is based on (which is more my expertise than actual sports coaching admittedly). If you are one of the ones who makes it through and becomes a millionaire your outlook would normally be “well I guess they knew what they were talking about.” Not disputing the bullying and you may even be right, just saying how the psychology normally works (and I agree it’s messed up). Think it’s more likely if we get him it’s because we will quadruple his wages and they will only double them, or the equivalent proportions.

Even if they’re right, if we DO sell Grealish (I don’t think we will) then getting these lads in is necessary. I’m with you and think we will finish above them if those stars align.

He’s wearing his own U18s shirt and I love the confidence of that haha.