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rubberman

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Everything posted by rubberman

  1. rubberman
    I think West Ham should be able to take points off Spurs - they are struggling now. An Everton win would be a lovely bonus. Can't see Liverpool failing to beat Palace at the weekend, Utd at home vs Bournemouth is an easier game and City have Luton so really should get back to winning form. Getting something from Arsenal would be huge.
  2. rubberman
    I've developed a huge man-crush on Pau. Such an elegant player to watch - everything is so calm and cultured.
  3. rubberman
    Agree. But they also had a pretty draining game and we have fresh legs to change things up if Unai sees fit. I fancy we'll see a different approach vs Arsenal - they have proper midfielders so we won't have quite the run of the game there. Can't help but be confident that we can get another result here.
  4. rubberman
  5. rubberman
    Much as I love Ramsey, he doesn't seem to be back to the level needed yet - in his last couple of cameos he's looked well off the pace. I'd keep Tielemans in that role.
  6. rubberman
    Will be good to have Boubs back and fresh. Worried that Cash/Dougie will pick up yellows and miss the Arse game.
  7. rubberman
    1/2 hour time splits are really weird - especially when you have to work with people outside the time zone. Anyway - currently in the optimistic phase of match day. 2-1 Villa. Will no doubt come back and post the opposite in a few hours time as the nerves kick in.
  8. rubberman
    Huge hope. Nervous expectation. Everyone plays to their best and (don't give away a soft early goal) there's no reason we can't do this. Huge statement a win would be, massive.
  9. rubberman
    Konsa, Cash, Moreno, Tielemans and Diaby (with Ramsey and Bailey for the last 30). Bailey/Diaby is a bit of a toss up for me.
  10. rubberman
  11. rubberman
    https://theanalyst.com/eu/2023/11/premier-league-five-knee-jerk-reactions-to-the-weekend/ Opta's season simulation now has us favourite for 4th and with 0.6%, the next best behind City, Liverpool and Arsenal to top the lot. (so you're saying there's a...gif) While obviously a small chance, 0.6% is more than the rest of the league combined (inc Newcastle, Utd, Spurs, Brighton etc...)
  12. rubberman
    Yes I agree. I think the fact we won influenced what they showed. There were definitely a few good chances spuds missed early on that weren't shown. Never mind - we're 4th.
  13. rubberman
    Soff Hueng-min
  14. rubberman
    Yes - it is likely to have plenty of goals. Tough to call. I hope we have the edge especially with their injuries and a 2 week tactical masterclass from the boss. 4-2 Villa.
  15. rubberman
    It's going to be interesting to see over the next few games. For me, those were aberrations caused by the injuries to Mings/Carlos (I think) early in the games and before Emery had a chance to drill the replacements as it was so early in the season - Pau had only been here a couple of weeks. I think both the first choice and back up defenders now have it nailed and while the high line may get occasionally beaten, i don't expect us to be done over in the same way, even by the best attackers.
  16. rubberman
    I'd be disappointed with less than 4 from the next 4, but think 8 is absolutely achievable (and would be amazing). Spurs aren't all that, are in dodgy form and have major injuries. City and Arsenal are not unbeatable and won't be looking forward to visiting fortress Villa Park - they will also play in a way that suits us. Bournemouth needs to be a win in the context of this tough run. I sense we'll rise to the occasion of 'big' matches and will hopefully have Moreno and JJ available for some minutes.
  17. rubberman
    Still chuckling at that forest lads combined 11!
  18. rubberman
    Standard first choice team. Let's make this another statement.
  19. rubberman
    But we are in a tile race. It may not last, as many think spurs won't, but for the season so far we are in touch with games against the other contenders to come. Sure - it may be unlikely - but our form is good enough and we have key players to come back. I'm not writing us off yet - let's see where we're at at halfway.
  20. rubberman

    Unai Emery

    rubberman replied to PeterSw's topic in Villa Talk

    It's all rather moot anyway. Utd won't be getting rid of ETH while the Ratcliffe part-purchase is still pending. He wants control of footballing side as part of the agreement so they'll not want to jeopardise that by switching now IMO. (Though never underestimate the Glazer's chance to bollox things up I suppose...) Anyway - I'm more interested in seeing how Unai brings back Moreno and JJ (hopefully after the international break), while managing the incumbents. Digne's done a pretty good job this season si is not going to want to lose his place and there's already a bit of a fight for starting places further forward. Ideally it pushes everyone to step up even more.
  21. rubberman
    Because a lot of their 'valuations' are very undercooked until there's an actual sale. We've had Martinez (28m valuation), McGinn (27m), Konsa (25m), Luiz (55m) etc around for a while now, where Newcastle have bought a lot in more recently (Botman, Isak, Bruno, Gordon), so proportionally we have more undervalued players than they have.
  22. rubberman

    Unai Emery

    rubberman replied to PeterSw's topic in Villa Talk

    On the one hand, I'm sure there will be clubs eyeing up Unia, it's very obvious what an amazing job he's doing. Likewise De Zerbi. But in that article Carragher says he'll want to prove himself at Champions League level, implying that will be with another club, while at the same time saying we have a very good chance of making CL qualification ourselves. Doesn't seem to occur to him that that means Unai can just carry on the job here.
  23. rubberman
    Well, we've been up there with them since Unai arrived so don't see why we should accept that they are better than us. It's a bit like Gerrard's chelsea quote. Anyway. What we need to do is continue the form and pressure on those around us and see where we end up. What happens in other games will happen regardless. I think we'll have enough for Forest and would be happy with 0-1 and another 3 points.
  24. rubberman
    1/3 of the season is gone and they are 7 and 10 points behind us already. As we saw when we were 'stuck' in 11th last season it takes a lot of work to catch up that many points. It would need the top 5 gang (and most importantly, us) to have a run of bad form as well as them completely turning things around to catch up. Certainly not impossible at this stage, but getting harder by the week. I can see Utd getting worse as it gets more toxic there and no real signs of improvement at Chelsea yet, though I think they are more likely to improve.
  25. rubberman
    Nah. They draw and we win and we're still 7 ahead of Newcastle, but also level on points with Arsenal (will need 3-0 to go above them in this scenario). Don't think we should be thinking anyone is a gimme to finish above us while we are still amongst them. Getting into the top 4 for the next international break would be huge for momentum.
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