rubberman

I've developed a huge man-crush on Pau. Such an elegant player to watch - everything is so calm and cultured.

1 hour ago, ender4 said:

I feel like we are going to be a little drained for the Arsenal game. We gave every ounce of blood and sweat in the Man City game, it's very very difficult to do that 2 games in a row.

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.

13 hours ago, Jas10 said:

Best in the world

 

 

47 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

I'd play a compact midfield 4 just to make it tight in the middle. They won't hurt us from the sides as much as they will from popping it around and winning the midfield battle.

Getting Moreno to do a pushed up left back role will gives us some width when needed.

Cash - Konsa - Torres - Moreno

             Luiz - Kamara
   McGinn           Ramsey
           

          Diaby
                  Watkins 

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.

Will be good to have Boubs back and fresh. Worried that Cash/Dougie will pick up yellows and miss the Arse game.

2 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

I didn't realise they did half hour splits

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.

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.

33 minutes ago, GeordieVillan said:

Konsa or Carlos at centreback? Konsa or Cash at right back? Moreno to start at left back? Ramsey or Tielemans? Diaby or Bailey?

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.

21 hours ago, tomsky_11 said:

In like-for-like games vs last season (or equivalent), we are only 2 points better off at present and the entire gain comes from matches Emery was not in charge of last season.

This might not be so bad as it sounds though and may well mean we are on course to a CL spot.

The 8 like-for-like games that Emery also managed last season achieved 19 points both this season and last, so a pretty high 2.38ppg

We have 17 games left that Emery also managed last season (or equivalent). We picked up 30 points from those same games last season, so 1.76ppg. Add that to our current total and we are at 58 points.

Our 2 point gain this season comes from 9 points in 5 fixtures that earned 7 points last season before Emery's arrival. The remaining 8 fixtures of this kind only brought 5 points last season so plenty of opportunity for gain.

So to get to 70 points we only need to equal Emery's like-for-like record last season and then get 12 points from the remaining 8 fixtures he did not take charge of last season.

Those 8 fixtures: bou(0) MNC(1) shu(1, replacing Leeds) ful(0) BRE(3) ars(0) CHE(0) cry(0)

I feel like we'd be favourites in 5/6 of those 8 games this season under Emery, so 12 points should be more than achievable.

Quote

Aston Villa Are More in the Title Race Than Tottenham

In case it wasn’t already clear, Aston Villa are a really, really good team. Under Unai Emery, they have gone from mid-table afterthoughts to genuine top-four contenders and maybe, just maybe, title hopefuls.

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...) 

11 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said:

 

I also thought we looked superb on the highlights. I know they don't tell the whole story obviously, but honestly, from just those clips I thought we looked the better team. Funny how highlight packages can tell a different story to the actual game sometimes.

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.

45 minutes ago, Sulberto21 said:

Not really. Most of their ‘chances’ first half were offside. 

Soff Hueng-min

43 minutes ago, PieFacE said:

This game has the potential to be a bit bonkers. If we can not concede early , i'd fancy us to win. I'd like us to just keep things tight for 20 mins and look to hit on the counter. Don't think it will happen tho. 

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.

43 minutes ago, JPAngel said:

see: Newcastle and Liverpool

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.

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.

12 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

23

Odysseas Vlachodimos

15

Harry Toffolo

19

Moussa Niakhate

40

Murillo

43

Ola Aina

16

Nicolas Dominguez

5

Orel Mangala

6

Ibrahim Sangare

10

Morgan Gibbs-White

9

Taiwo Awoniyi

21

Anthony Elanga

Never heard of most of this lot

Still chuckling at that forest lads combined 11!

Standard first choice team. Let's make this another statement. 

6 hours ago, ozvillafan said:

Now while I agree that we aren't in a title race, they still underestimate us and Emery. Long may it continue.

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. 

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.

6 minutes ago, Monkeypuzzle said:

I don't understand how Newcastle's squad is considered more valuable than ours? There are only about four of their players I would want in our squad. Fewer as regular starters. We are better in just about every position, especially with our second eleven players. They have relied on mid table players being in excellent form, managed by a great manager, for the last two seasons. If they don't invest heavily in their squad soon I can see their bubble bursting.

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.

8 minutes ago, Pongo Waring said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/11/03/unai-emery-aston-villa-champions-league-jobs/

"it's a matter of time before a champions league make him a offer he can't refuse"

F off Carragher. The top 6/Media don't like Villa being in the top 6.... So the media come out in full force to unsettle Emery and Villa.

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.

40 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

Arsenal will finish on about 85 points I reckon, maybe less but that's a very big ask for us to compete with them still once April rolls around.

Newcastle will get nowhere near that, even last season I think they got 72 points in the end and they had two very long winning runs so we can finish above them and the more points they drop with 3-4 key players out the better.

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. 

1 hour ago, MrBlack said:

What I really love about this is Man United and Chelsea don't even get mentioned... can they really both stay this bad all season? I'm sure they can, but something nags at me. 

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.

14 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Would rather Arsenal beat Newcastle.

Beat Forest and we'd be 8 points clear of Newcastle (and potentially Brighton if they don't win at Everton which is possible).

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.

Fully on board, kool aid drunk, top 4 finish selected. 

(maybe need an overly optimistic option)