KMitch

Yeah, of all the fouls in this game, that boot to the face was one of the cleanest.

West Ham fans really are dispicable... Booing our players every time they go down for an obvious injury... Cash gets a cross in the face and goes down, crowd boos. Chambers is bleeding and goes down to get cleaned up, crowd boos. Douglas Luiz gets a boot to the face, gets a chorus of boos...

VillaTalk Logic: If we win: Gerrard is a tactical genius for not rotating his lineup If we don't win: Gerrard is naive for not rotating his lineup Konsa lost his place because when he was out injured, Chambers played a blinder... Chambers played well again the following game, so Konsa needs to buy his time. Sanson hasn't done anything at all in his appearances to warrant a start. JJ had an off day last week, but he's young and inconsistency is something ALL young players will deal with.

Can't write a story about Villa without shoehorning Arsenal/Spurs into it somehow too...

This is absolutely 100% his agent playing games. I read somewhere that his agent doesn't have other clients and is trying to play hardball with Villa to try to maximize his own gain.

We have to sign him permanently... Coutinho is going to be a major selling point for other signings this summer. Digne himself said the prospect of playing with the Brazilian was a main factor in his decision to sign for Villa vs other suitors. "Come to Villa! We're going to qualify for Europe this season, and we're looking for you to help us get there. We've already got Coutinho, so you know we're serious about this goal and aren't all talk..."

Very happy with our performances these last 3 matches. The tweaked system has worked wonders and we seem to have found the best way to attack while still staying strong at the back. I'm still not completely sold on Gerrard as the manager yet, but he's starting to turn me around. These last three matches were brilliant, but we were absolutely horrible the 3 before that... Let's see if we can continue to pick up points and close out the season strong! UTV!

Aren't they the same thing? They're just recording Season 3 of the Leeds "All or Nothing" documentary.

"We aren't fickle..."

I don't rate Konsa anywhere near as highly as most on here do. I don't think Chambers is as good in the air as Konsa is, but Chambers is much better with the ball at his feet and is better in defending 1v1 situations. Chambers will continue to impress if given a run of games.

Thought he was brilliant today. Looks to be a great signing, especially for a free transfer!

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I still can't believe Coutinho is playing for Aston Villa. He's one of the best players in the world... Amazing performance from him today.

Pretty sure this will happen now

What is going on here???? UTV!!!

We've been playing like a team missing confidence. After that first goal went in, we've looked like the side we are on paper. Best half of footy this season so far.

OMG... How did that not go in????

Coutinho... I'm in love... Beautiful play the past few minutes.

Was almost just seriously hurt by an awful tackle. Straight red after VAR review. Targett looks to be OK after some treatment, but that could have easily been a leg break if it caught him at a different angle.

Welp... I'm deflated... Glad to see we sacked Deano for Gerrard to try to reinvent the wheel all over again.

Well... Looks like everyone is as pessimistic as I'm feeling as well. I hope we stop the rot, but I don't have any confidence at the moment.

Statistically, he's better at going forward than Cash, but he isn't an attacking fullback. He's very much a defensive fullback in France.

Most likely because Targett sees Digne as being an elite player but most of our fans are already grumbling that he "isn't much of an upgrade" on Targett.

I don't see this as a lack of confidence, more so than someone being self aware. Imagine if we signed Haaland (again, imagine for a moment) and Watkins says "I'm out, I can't compete with him and I want to play week in and week out and not try to fight against someone way better than me" would you hold it against him? Everyone knows damn well that they aren't even in the same conversation with regards to ability. Why is it any different with Targett & Digne? Side note, I do think we have several players who wilt under pressure, which is why we played so much better last season without fans in the stadiums and most likely in training as well. When you don't have the anxiety of playing in front of a hostile crowd, you'll be able to concentrate better. Targett was clearly one of them, but I don't see his current situation with wanting to leave vs fighting for the starting spot against one of the best LBs in the Prem as indicating he's soft.

We paid 11 million for him 3 years ago. I don't see how he's dropped in value since playing nearly every game for us until January this season.