ejs1111

I think its 50/50 I'll get my coat

cannot imagine anyone turning up their nose or not being excited about this potential signing. Give your heads a wobble! Torres is absolute class. Very technically gifted, skilled, good pace, and only 23yrs old. He is 1-2 levels above his competition at Villa for his position. He would walk into our 11. This signing would certainly mean 1 player for Villa will be shipped out- likely someone in the Bailey/Traore/Coutinho trio. I for one am very excited to see this potential link and hope this comes to fruition- UTV

Lo Celso has bags of technical quality and can play several MF positions. He's only 27 as well- in his prime. Honestly we could sign both him AND Guendouzi for the price of Gonclaves. I'd rather sign 2 MF players and sell Donk/Nakamba/Sanson/etc. Sell 3-4 squad MF players and sign 2 MF players + bring in 1-2 of our youth (Tim/Ramsey) to compete for 1st11/squad places Sell 1-2 squad D players and sign 1 D player (I think we sell Digne and acquire a younger FB personally, or upgrade Cash, etc) Sell/loan 1-2 squad F/W players and sign 1 F/W player + bring in youth to compete for 1st11/squad (sign big money F/W and bring up Archer) My 2 cents. UTV

Picked up 2 Villa tickets for the DC game myself. Really looking forward to the match- UTV

I'd much rather have Guendouzi in midfield and one of the La Liga linked W/F players we are supposedly in on. We could buy both for the cost of Smith-Rowe.

to add on to that- its also feeling like next season and beyond... as long as we have UE at the helm- we will be a threat to win trophies every season. Albeit in the 2 cups or in a European tournament. UE's track record is that good. This manager just knows how to win. Full stop. Even if we get stretched thin in Europe and finish outside of the top6 one year- I'd still fully expect UE to win a cup or a European trophy of some kind that year to keep the European run moving forward the following season. The man is just a winner.

FIFY we now have UE.

In UE system- we most often attack from LB and defend with RB- 3 across the back- RB slightly forward. Wan-Bis would absolutely be a star in UE system and I would love to have him here. The only WB concern I would have is how well he could play it out from the back. But frankly- Cash is poor at it- so it cannot be worse. Honestly- I would not be surprised to see Villa try to sell BOTH Cash and Digne in the summer. Then bring in a RB (specific for UE system) and youth LB on the cheap that can learn and grow under Moreno. We already have CBs imo. I'm assuming Carlos will return to full health for next season. That gives us 4 CBs (Mings/Carlos/Konsa/Chambers). Sign Young for 1 more year- play him in the cups, etc. at RB I really think Guendouzi will happen over the summer. Great fit for UE at midfield. Can play anywhere- will likely replace SJM or Ramsey in the 11. Thats 2 signings (RB/RM). I agree with others that Donk will be sold to make room. Then 1-2 signings up front. F/W type with pace needed. No idea who we end up with. I think 1 of Bailey/Traore will be sold to make room. 3-4 new signings. 3-4 players sold. Bring back some loanees for next season (Tim/Archer/Ramsey). I think we will be good to go. UTV

Its register. The website called it pre-

It was on the website for the summerseries. By registering with your name- team- etc. You will get an email a day early to purchase tickets before general sale.

The NEW Holte End

I've already pre-registered for this event. I live about 45min outside of DC in the suburbs. Its about a 1hr metro ride to FedEx field for me. The summerseries website says that the July 30th match is being advertised and sold as a doubleheader. So the tickets will be for both Villa v Brentford at noon then Chelsea v Fulham at 245p EST. I'm really looking forward to seeing AVFC live. I have not seen them live since they were in the States and played in Philadelphia about 10yrs ago. Tickets go on sale 4/25

If we make Europe- we will likely keep half the players you listed, and we will also keep several young players currently on loan as well. I honestly only see us signing 3, maybe 4 players max. 2-3 players that are high priced/high value that can challenge 1st11 positions. Maybe 1 more that is young with great potential- like Duran. Personally, I can see us trying to offload Digne (high wages), Phil (high wages), 1 of Bailey/Traore, and Donk. 15 roster players left... sign 3-4 new players. Back to 19. Bring in 2-3 youth from loan (Tim/Archer/Ramsey) and we are up to 22. Now we have youth and depth for cups/early Euro rounds. My 2 cents

OMG! Please tell me this is true- base in DC!!!

I think that is the glorious part about this final run-in. It truly is in Villa's hands. The players all control their own destiny regarding Europe. We play everyone around us- Aston Villa will truly earn Europe this season if they qualify.

Since UE has been appointed Villa have achieved over 1.8-2PPG. Currently over 2PPG. Which all includes ManU, Brighton, Chelsea, and Spurs victories. NO reason to believe or think that torrid pace cannot continue. We are only 1 game/week for the rest of the season. Kamara/Cash/Coutihno will be returning- could be as soon as this weekend for some. My opinion is that Villa go 4-2-2 in the final 8. 14 points. 1.75PPG- which is tailing off a bit for Villa. But that is still 61 points- and should be good enough for a Euro place- provided ONE of the 4 wins is against Brighton. UTV!

Liverpool only have 1 game in hand. And they are dreadful this season away from Anfield. The Euro places are still in Villa's hands regarding Liverpool, we have a 3point lead. Brighton have 2 games in hand- against Newcastle and Man Citeh. They will certainly drop points- likely lose both games. Not to mention Villa play Brighton at home final match of the season. The Euro places are still in Villa's hands regarding Brighton as well. Brighton have a very difficult run of fixtures to close the season. If anyone will run out of steam- it will be Brighton. They will be playing 2 games per week for the nearly the rest of the season. UTV

I meant backing off by remaining compact and letting Barnes have the ball wide- keep the angle on him so he cannot get around him. Young did this 2nd half to avoid getting beat with pace. Oh and yes it was a fabulous goal.

agreed. It appears that Villa are peaking at the right time- the end of the season. Villa are truly making a push for the Euro spots- whether they finish in one idk- but outside of the top2 we are playing better than anyone and picking up points.

The Barnes goal was class- but preventable. In hindsight Young should have remained compact and allowed Barnes to receive the ball. He committed and got too close- Barnes had a fabulous first touch and ghosted him. Young needed to back off and give the respect/cushion to allow Villa to recover on D. Once he was beat I thought for sure he would grab his jersey and take a yellow- but he let him go.

I'm pulling for both matches to be draws. Or a draw and ManU win.

I honestly think Brighton will tail off at the end of the season. Too many games left and not enough depth. I just looked at the end of April for them... 3 matches in a week. Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday. That packed schedule are two winnable games for them as well- Forest and Wolves. Could easily drop points due to fatigue in that run. Then they have 5 matches in May on the books- but 2 extra games need to be fit in as well. 12 matches over the final 7 weeks for Brighton. That is pretty brutal physically.

I disagree. Brighton for example- their games in hand are Newcastle and ManCity. Those matches have not been rescheduled yet either. They will have to jam them in to an already crowded final 7+ weeks of the season. They will likely lose both games, or draw with Newcastle- since Toon draws with everyone.

I think you would see all the media talking heads spontaneously combust.

around a decade ago we were on equal footing with Spurs. We then made poor managerial hires, acquired poor players, etc...and started our slide down to eventual relegation. Spurs (to their credit) went the opposite direction- climbed the table and consistently challenged and qualified for Champions League. In my opinion we are seeing the beginning of a transition period where Villa are ascending and 1-2 of the big6 sides are going to fall. Everything moves in cycles- my guess is Villa and 1 of Newcastle/Brighton/Fulham/Brentford will ascend with Spurs/Liverpool/Chelsea falling to mid table obscurity for awhile. My money is on Spurs and Chelsea to slide and struggle to claim top7. Spurs are poorly run atm- swapping managers too often and its hurting their ability to build a squad. Chelsea are now run by an owner with a fantasy team mentality, they too will struggle to build and maintain a cohesive squad. Without Europe- eventually both clubs would be forced to have fire sales and rebuild. Are they smart enough/capable of doing it? I don't think so with current upper management staff. We are extremely lucky to have the owners we have and UE managing us. Long may it continue!