ejs1111

Not fussed about Spurs. Madders will have his seasonal injury bug hit and their form will drop like a rock. Not to mention sometime this season they will inevitably get all Spursy as well and bottle everything.

Imagine the UE plaudits after Villa's run of winnable games over the next 3 weeks. We could easily be sitting top2 or 3 after 12 games (assuming we take care of business). UTV

Get that bloody star on the other side- we are moving forward now aren't we?!? FFs

and you keep pushing this narrative... when in reality the vote was over 75% in favor of the round badge from the AVFC consultation if I remember correctly. I'm thinking it was more 50/50 hehe

I'm with an earlier poster as really starting to not like this Heck bloke. Completely agree with the elegant and timeless comment above. However regarding the bold passage about majority- our current round badge was voted in by like 75-80% in favor. I'd argue that is a super majority. This whole ordeal is ONLY happening because of Heck imo.

Luiz/Kamara/Youri/Donk gives us a very solid CM rotation for Premier League, EUCL, and cup matches.

This CB signing makes perfect sense and I really hope this goes thru. Same CB profile as Pau. This would give us 5 CBs- and we NEED 5 given how UE plays with 3 CBs every game. You would have to think Chambers/Lenglet are battling for the 4/5 CB spot. Both players are perfectly capable and good enough quality to play in lower cup matches and EUCL matches as well- so we can rotate our back line. The loan makes great sense as well. It was well discussed that Mings injury was significant and likely be longer than the 6-8 months recovery (like Buendia). This means Mings is out the entire season- so we needed another CB this year for depth. Now we have will have our back line sorted with squad depth. Hopefully we can spend the final days of the window going after a wide attacker that can provide depth at the forward line as well. Someone in the Ferran Torres mold. UTV!

I'm hoping that UE can be Villa's version of Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex. Change the team culture permanently and stay at the club as our coach/manager for 10+ years. I feel he could win us 3-5 trophies in 10 years between Europe and the cups.

Zaniolo looked quite impressive to me in his 20min. Extremely comfortable on the ball. You can just tell he's calm, very technical, and smooth in possession. Within minutes he was moving into space demanding the ball just like what Buendia does- trying to dictate play- have everything run through him. Difference is... he's a unit. Opponents won't knock him off the ball like Buendia. Once he shakes the rust off and gets used to his teammates- Zani will be a terror for Villa opponents.

We don't even have 5 healthy CBs right now- we have 4 (Pau/Konsa/Carlos/Chambers). Which is why we need another CB imo given how we play 3 CBs every game now.

with the window about to close- there is NO WAY Villa will sign 3+ players. Ppl here on VT need to give their heads a wobble and start thinking realistically. We will at most sign 2 players, more likely 1 player at this point. The question becomes... what position to target? I am of the opinion still that CB needs another body. When everyone in our back 4 is healthy (barring Mings) we only have 7 players... thats not enough for 2 per position. We need 1 more- unless UE plans on using Freeney or Revan this season- and I doubt it. RB is covered with Cash/Konsa/Chambers, LB is covered with Moreno/Digne. But we are honestly short at CB given how often we play with 3 CBs, only Chambers is left- and he's covering RB and CB. We need another CB- for rotation, injuries, suspensions, etc etc. If Villa are going to sign 2 players before the window closes- then go for another attacker- wide forward type who can play ST and out wide. If not, then we roll the dice until January with Watkins/Duran/Zani/Diaby up top.

I can honestly see us trying to sign 2 more before the window closes. A winger/wide forward type. Personally I still think it will be Ferran Torres. Ansu is too costly imo. Ferran provides cover on the wing and can compete up top with Watkins and Duran in a pinch. I also think we will keep Digne now given Acuna's injury. Moreno/Digne has LB sorted. I'm still of the opinion that Cash/Konsa/Chambers is perfectly adequate for RB. However with Ming's season ending injury we need another CB- given how often we play with 3 CBs. I'm hopeful our 2nd signing before the window closes will be a loan signing for a young CB, or 1yr deal for an older experienced backup CB. If we play with 3 CBs we really need 5 in the squad, especially when 1 of them shifts over to RB often (Konsa/Chambers) UTV

I think its safe to say Pau will look miles better this weekend after having another week to settle in. Plus playing at home against a weaker opponent. Every week in the 1st11 he will get more comfortable and continue to impress. UTV

Its 50/50

The high line works when the F and MF are getting pressure on the ball and making it difficult for them to drop balls in over the top. Our F and MF press was very poor and disorganized on the day- we seemed a step behind all day- this gave NUFC ample time to get their heads up and drop passes over the top. If we were pressing effectively- those passes would have been HOOFs in desperation and not properly timed. Everyone has to work together as a team for the high line to work. That did NOT happen on Saturday- and it exposed the back 4. UTV

Watkins cannot physically start and play in the 50+ matches Villa will have this season. Archer will start and play in likely 15+ matches this season. Not to mention coming off the bench in numerous more. Archer will feature in the cups (league and FA) plus many of the EUCL matches. Watkins will primarily play Premier League and the vital EUCL/cup matches. He will have plenty of opportunities to play and get regular football here at Villa. This answer seems so obvious to me. I don't understand why people keep bringing this up. If UE was at all concerned about this we would have already brought in WF/ST options in this window- and Archer would be on a loan spell or sold. In the US tour he was dangerous at times and had some good scoring chances against Premier League sides. Against lesser teams in the cups and EUCL he will find it much easier and scoring for fun. UTV

He wasn't done any favors with Bailey in front of him. Might as well had Casper on his kit instead of Bailey. Bailey was atrocious tonight and frequently left him 2v1- which contributed to Pau looking poor on D. Not to mention Bailey was rarely an outlet when Pau was isolated on the sideline. There was a reason why Diaby and Bailey switched sides before halftime. If Pau is going to play LCB in a 3 with Cash- he needs JJ or Buendia in front of him to do the dirty work and track back and help. That will make his life alot easier. Thats not to say the Pau didn't struggle today. But I lay alot of the blame at Bailey's feet as well. Its a team game and he left Pau out to dry often. Bailey was just very poor in nearly every aspect tonight.

Villa have done fantastic business this window. If you include the kids plus Carlos (who is like a new signing due to his injury), we basically have brought in about 6 new players. Which is a big number for our depth Pau- CB, near world class, likely 1st11 Tielemens- CM, top class, challenge 1st11 Diaby- RW/WF, top class, likely 1st11 Carlos- CB, very good player, likely 1st11 for cups/Euro matches, rotation Philogene- RW/LW, good youth player, likely player for cups/Euro matches, rotation Archer- ST, good youth player, likely player for cups/Euro matches, rotation We have excellent competition for places now at nearly all positions, which is raising the level of play for everyone. Its a beautiful thing to see. Not to mention we have gone this entire preseason without JJ and Moreno! If Villa don't sign any more players- the additions listed above would likely be enough to see us through barring massive injuries. Ideally I'd still like us to bring in another WF type (like a Ferran Torres) to compete with Watkins/Archer etc. UTV

Funny thing is non-Villa people are going to have watched the US tour and seen how lovely we play... but then saw all the goals we conceded and thought Villa are going to struggle. Few ppl are thinking that we just were soft on the press in the US due to tactics and/or the heat- which made our high line vulnerable. Likely nobody watched us dominate Lazio aside from Villa fans. I think the Premier League will be in for a shock when they see a fully fit and firing AVFC side after having UE preseason drilled into them. UTV

Villa to win their own 'treble' this season UECL trophy FA Cup League Cup Lets climb the football cup table and pass Chelsea in a few seasons. Put some distance between the top6 clubs with cup totals and everyone else. UE could well be Villa's version of Wenger. Long may his reign continue. UTV

The away kit looks really nice to me. While at the DC (Maryland) match the stadium had kiosks set up and they were selling merch for all the teams. Several were selling home/away kits for Villa. After the match I picked up an away kit- they actually had a XXL in the box for my dad bod. haha- It looks really sharp in person. I know people are complaining about the kits- many wanted a simpler appearance. But the main reason why I like the design? Its UNIQUE. No other club in the Premier League or world football has a kit that looks like this. It does force you to study it and try to make out the different lions on it- I like that- and the link to our history. Thats my take. UTV

The media links to Adams must be drivel. As a previous poster said- I'm an American also and have seen him play many times. He's a younger version of Nakamba. All hustle, press, and tackle. Can't pass progressively to save his life. He would be a poor fit overall here given the system change we have gone thru at Villa with UE. Maybe I'm wrong- perhaps UE can teach him how to pass better- but I have my doubts personally. IMO we are much better off keeping Donk who is an taller and stronger player in the same position, albeit less mobile. Money better spend elsewhere for me. UTV

League - 5th FA Cup - Winner League Cup - Winner Europe - Winner Villa doing our own treble!

exactly this. During the preseason the press has been much less intense- especially in the US with the heat index. It was very noticeable when I was watching at DC. Brentford were not being clamped down and allowed time on the ball to actually see and play those balls over the top. In the Premier League I fully expect Villa to be in their faces more and those passes 'over the top' will be alot more of a hoof and hope ball. I'm not worried about being beat over the top at all. I actually think this was done by UE intentionally- weak front press to force our back line to be exposed to more balls over the top and through in preseason matches. This would force Villa back line to work on stepping up, communicate, etc in real time.

I disagree. MLS has a host of problems- which will forever keep them down and unable to compete financially with Europe. The league and 'owners' aren't interested in changing the way the league is set up and run atm. One of the big issues imo- MLS is a single entity league. MLS actually owns all the teams- teams are run by investor-operators who just pay a fee to gain access to the team. Its like they are leasing the team from MLS. All the teams have a hard salary cap which is very low- something like 10million per season. They have all kinds of confusing rules and even their own currency for making trades/transfers within MLS- this is done because MLS is in essence dealing with itself (since they own all the teams). Another problem- they restrict international roster slots- every team starts with only 4 per 25 man roster. You can trade these slots to increase it (something Miami did to gain all these foreign players). But MLS does this to restrict player access to the league and keep is primarily US based players. This model could work if US had the youth academy infrastructure of most European countries (UK, Germany, etc)- but they are not even close. So- despite the enormous population- the talent pool is poor- or undeveloped until a much later age. So the league quality suffers. Lastly- there is no football pyramid here- no promotion/relegation. With no threat of relegation, numerous MLS teams have no incentive to be competitive- especially given that MLS actually owns them. The owner-operators just do enough to keep them afloat and allow the team value to artificially grow as more teams are added to the league. Then if another owner-operator want to take over, they pay the buy in fee and 'purchase' the team (lease) from the current owner-operator. I'm witnessing it first hand with DC United, the ownership group are the same ones who also own Swansea. They are absolutely terrible owners who know nothing about football and do the bare minimum. Its a shame really.