EverBlue86

Its a big loss but funnily enough we are in our strongest position ever financially and are near enough debt free. Its hard to understand without understanding that our real owner is widely known to be Alisher Usmanov who is one of the richest blokes in the world. Farhad Moshiri our owner (whos own wealth was a gift from Usmanov) is widely accepted to be the front man as Usmanov via his holding company USM overtime pumps in money via sponserships to avoid FFP as Usmanov couldn't invest his own money if he bought into us officially. An example was he sponsered our training ground for £6 million per year in 2017 which has doubled to £12 million this year, along with Megafon who sponser us & has tonight paid £30 million for just first refusal on naming rights with a further naming rights deal for an unknown amount in the pipeline (which is very suspect when much more attractive clubs like Spurs are struggling to get naming rights sponsers). Add the new stadium and alot of our highest earners out of contract in the next 12-18 months the club has the opportunity to grow in the next couple of seasons. Recruitment has to improve mind however Ancelotti hopefully will be a key attraction.

Wouldn't say its arrogance tbh mate, when fully fit our bench at present is: Iwobi Walcott Calvert Lewin (well maybe not) Delph Schnerderlin Baines Sidibe I would say all of those would be in contention of being in your starting 11 (not being disrespectful when I say that). No shame in that - its your first season back up & we have spent alot of money since USM purchased us (4th or 5th biggest spenders in the league since 2016) its just we pissed alot of it up the wall under Walsh/Koeman so any progess has been slower than hoped. However look at City vs Spurs- City dominated but the match ended a draw. Relegated Cardiff beat Utd at Old Trafford last season - Villa can certainly beat us Friday I just hope we show up fully prepared (and Kean up top for the love of God).

Must say im looking forward to the match its certainly imo one of the best fixtures in English football but Sky only think football was invented in 1992 so never gets much a mention! Personally really hope you are open as we struggle to break teams down at times whereas our best performances tend to be when we have space on the counter to exploit. Wouldn't be shocked if it ended a draw our away form isnt great.

Yeah its ironic as many of our fans said Zouma was responsible for our solid defence towards the seasons end yet Keane has gone about without much praise but when you see how shaky Zouma has looked so far for Chelsea it makes you wonder! But I agree Mina is fantastic its a shame he was injured so much last season - we are short in that department though hopefully we bring another CB in Janaury as I dont rate Holgate as backup so ideally I hope we stay injury free at the back! Digne is 50/50 he was holding his hamstring but Silva said after the game it was just a precaution so God knows - Baines is supposedly fit as a stand in but Digne is miles better. Gbamin - very shaky 1st game against Palace off the bench but we were down to 10 men and he had no pre season with the squad. Against Watford much better - He's a big unit and we were bullied last season in midfield by Watfords 2 man midfield of Doucoure/Capoue but he really helped us in there. He's more box to box than Gueye and is more offensive in his passing but doesnt do what Gueye did for us. What do you think is your lads strongest area at present? From what I've seen your midfield looks to be more of a threat than your forwards. Is your defence solid?

Looking forward to this one a fixture I've missed in recent years. Defensively we've been very good with about 8 clean sheets in 13 games - Pickford gets the plaudits but Keane & Mina have been fantastic at the back for us. Going forward depends what team turns up - if we are on song we can rip teams to shreds but when we are not we love wasting chances. Calvert Lewin is championship level and all last year it was like playing with 10 men - He's played the last 2 games due to Kean having no pre season but Kean came off the bench against Watford and looked impressive so I hope he starts - Iwobi will also make an appearance at some point who I think was a shrewd signing for us as he was Arsenals biggest creator of chances last season and one of the best in the league which we do need as Siggurdsson can blow hot and cold. If you set out to defend I think it could be a 1-1 result. If you come out attacking and let us play on the counter I think 1-3 Everton. I imagine we will likely go: Pickford Coleman Keane Mina Digne Gbamin Gomes Richarlison Gylfi Bernard Kean Would rather Iwobi over Bernard but I think he will likely come off the bench having had no game time as of yet. The Snake may also make an appearance off the bench if fit! Anyway lets hope for a great match!

Villa4Europe seems very bitter about us, our new stadium has been roundly praised since details released as even the Kopites begrudgingly admit it. Its exterior is a blend of modern glass but also features brick work that blends in well with the local Dockland area to comply with UNESCO. Unlike other new stadiums who could be put in any city in any country - this one is developed specifically to the area/city/heritage which fans love. The stadium inside has deep stands, has a 13,000 home stand based on Dortmunds 'yellow wall' and has the ability to easily adapt to safe standing should legislation change - it can also be increased to 62k in future. The stadium is also part of a 5 billion pound regeneration project including retail outlets, bars, a plaza, marina, office towers its going to look fantastic on the Liverpool Skyline lit up in Blue overlooking the Mersey. So Villa4Europe - dont worry about us mate I would be more concerned with your owners having sold your ground to themselves to try get around FFP - granted I dont know too much about the purchase but I would be very uneasy about no longer owning your own ground especially with these new breed of owner who care about nothing but the Premier League cash cow. On transfers its the same every year - fans say we will be crap and the usual suspects like West Ham who do their business early are raved about and will do fantastic yet we always end up finishing above them. We finished 3 points behind wolves with a better GD and thats with having no decent striker whereas they had Jimenez and a settled team (we had a new DOF, manager, style of play and 6 new players to get adjusted/bedded in together). This time last season we had only signed 1 player (Richarlison) yet come Deadline day we had signed a total of 6 - our DOF Marcel Brands always does his business late as he haggles for a good deal. Considering we've bid for Zaha and Kean, our front 4 could be come the windows closure: Kean Richarlison Siggurdsson Zaha For me thats the best front 4 outside the top 6 - both Richarlison and Siggurdsson scored around 15 goals each last season - add a quality centre forward like Kean whos capable of getting around 15 and a player like Zaha who got 10 last season and seems to be developing into a real talent and imo we have a big chance this year of hopefully challenging Utd and Chelsea who are shakey at present. Gueye will be a big miss for us and im gutted he's gone - but its not like we will be playing with 10 men - Silva is aiming for a replacement for him and I still think we'll sign Zouma - if not we'll definitely bring in a replacement. Under Brands we are a completely different set up to the one that was wasting money under Koeman/Walsh who are responsible for alot of that list of garbage in that wage table. Good luck anyway lads for the season, hopefully you stay up as always liked Villa you're a Proper Club.

He's not as good as he was in his prime obviously but he was the worlds highest paid player 2 seasons ago and still hit 9 in 21 last season that's just a little over 1 goal every 2 games, as a back up striker to Lukaku that's a brilliant goal ratio which on a free transfer is great business.

good business by hull that

Disagree Villa89, we are more than happy to have a forward thinking manager build up a young team that can compete without having to spend silly money, the days of City style takeovers are most likely over with FFP coming in (used to keep the status quo) so we know the limitations but Im very happy to be challenging for 4th and having a manager who wants to play attractive football and aim for the top rather than Moyes and his negative antics. Although like most evertonians a trophy is the main aim give me the FA Cup over 4th anyday old fashion I know! Howard Coleman Jagielka Distin Baines Barry McCarthy Mirallas Barkley Atsu Lukaku the main thing is he's building a young spine to the team: ST: Lukaku 21 CAM: Barkley 20 LW: Atsu 22 (on loan but rumoured to include option to buy) CDM: McCarthy 23 CDM: Besic 21 CB: Stones: 20 RB: Coleman: 25 LB: Oviedo: 23 its why evertonians are delighted right now we are trying to build a young spine to the team that can gel together down the years and have ambition its central to what Martinez is trying to achieve.

Alright lads, everton fan but recently got a Villa fan marry into the family so thought I would keep an eye out for you lad's results etc. wont post often but will be a friendly face im sure! good luck for the season apart from the 2 games against us!