VillaFaninLondon

They weren't complaining about finishing 6th, they were complaining about the unsustainability of the team. MON was the cause of our later downfall through his reckless spending (on many players who were quite frankly bang average) and actually deserved the criticism. Signing Heskey when we were in a great position to get 4th, putting players like Beye, NRC and Sidwell on big wages when they offered very little to the first team, failing to replace Laursen or Barry sufficiently, failing to have an adequate scouting team in place to find the best players in Europe/South America, I could go on. DS deserves praise this season but we don't want to be another team like MON's hitting a glass ceiling. Progression is key and we have to be improving all the time. Our owners are a lot more wealthy than Lerner was, but getting our signings right is key. This summer was a lot more successful than last and now we've improved this season I'd like to see them go up another level this summer (though would like us to be in the market in January too). That was what failed under MON as far too many of his signings failed in the sense they had absolutely no impact on making our team better and just sat on the bench on their £40k a week wages.

He played a lot in the first 2 seasons at PSG including the first when they won everything except the CL, but as sne says he's had some injuries and I agree it can be more hassle than it's worth going for a player who can take us to the next level but is never actually fit to play. Having said that, he has featured 9 times for PSG this season and if he is available in the summer on a free I do think, given his talent, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a look at him in January if he's available at a cheap price. Wages of course will be high, but then so are Barkley's. I don't get the feeling it will happen, but players like Draxler and Dele Alli would certainly improve us and are out of favour and given the position we're in we might be an attractive option for them with the Euros coming up. I do feel we should look to strengthen this month, you can't stand still in football no matter how well you're doing, and our options are short at the moment with our injuries.

We should be all over that. Another very talented player whose career hasn't quite gone to plan, a bit like Barkley. It would be a great fit for both him and us, even just a loan.

OK, yeah, sorry only just realised you said big South London club which I guess for that part of London Palace are. Yeah he's doing well at Palace and linking up with Zaha must be enjoyable for him. They're a decent side on their good days Palace but don't see them ever being more than upper bottom half of the table, so be surprised if he does a Zaha and stays there for his peak years (unless Palace price him out of a move or no one better comes in for him).

I like Trossard and I think we were linked with him the summer we got promoted. He's not pushed on so much at Brighton but I think that's because he doesn't have so many good players around him. Whether Brighton go down or not, I'd like us to go back in for him. Him, Jack and Ollie would be a really good front three.

Palace aren't exactly a big club He's a huge talent and I'd be surprised if Palace hang on to him long term. Though they kept hold of Zaha for so long so you never know.

Fair enough. I think Chelsea are stacked with midfielders though, I'd be surprised if Loftus Cheek can force his way back into the plans unless they move on one of Jorginho/Kovacic/Kante.

The funny thing is, RLC who went to Fulham has been available every game for them and actually has a more severe track record of injuries than Ross. Maybe if Ross’s injuries continue to be a problem for us we should look at RLC in the summer instead (not sure how good he’s been at Fulham, but he was always considered a talent). I still think Barkley is worth buying if he can regain fitness and stay fit this season, but this lengthy spell out is concerning. He’s really needed for spurs (as is Trez to help defend against son). Olise was mentioned as an alternative, I’d certainly be tracking him as he’s a future star but if we don’t buy Ross it has to be someone of a similar calibre to him and Olise is some way off that at the moment.

The media and FA will love it, now that they're favourite clubs are in the top 2. Another dodgy pen for United last night, but not one mention of its controversy in the press despite Pogba tripping over his own leg. Strange that. But then we all know football is corrupt at the very top. United have been awarded 20 penalties over this and last season (over 54 games), that is a pen every 2.7 games, it's ridiculous. In contrast we have been awarded 6 - that's balanced. Another thing I noticed is how many fouls United get away with, especially Maguire, McTominay and Matic when he came on. Eventually they got a few cards towards the end but those cards should have been coming long before that. But of course they can't have United going down to 10 and possibly losing to Villa, that would be too much.

Missing a lot of chances and the longer he goes without a goal it's a concern. We have a top, top player in Jack who will create so many chances per game, but we need someone to tuck them away and Ollie isn't delivering at the moment.

We played well, disappointed with some of the chances missed but we were always in the game. My main gripe was after deservedly levelling after outplaying them all the 2nd half we give a silly pen away. It was soft but the team must know United always get pens if you breathe on them in the box and there was no need for Luiz to go pursue like that as there was no danger on. Just chalk this one off and move on, we’ve a good chance of beating spurs playing like that.

How has Matic not got a yellow yet the dirty f***er.

Watkins just cannot finish his dinner.

We’ve had the ball on their half a lot but hardly any shots, we need to start pressuring their goal rather than hitting hopeless balls into the box.

Mings should have cleared it.

Rubbish start so far. So sloppy in possession.

Then don’t comment.

It’s more the expectation of him being fit and the communication around it that bugs me. Of course I don’t want a reoccurrence and much longer out (and I’m sure Villa, Chelsea and Ross don’t want that either) but just tell us what is going on. He was supposedly almost ready 2 weeks ago, was nowhere against Baggies, then Palace (then after that DS was quoted saying he was “very, very close”) and then the tweet this week saying “back soon”. If this is the case I don’t see how he can’t be a bench option by now. I’d rather they just told us that he’s back training but we don’t want to risk him until he’s ready, then there wouldn’t be such an outcry of his absence.

Mings will be better for this game, United don’t have big strikers.

I just love him as a player and think he strengthens us a lot, especially with so many games recently, hamstrings are nasty but you have to hope he’s fit soon.

Why did avfc say Ross back soon on twitter then he’s not in the squad again today? He would have been a great option to bring on in the 2nd half, wtf is going on. Hopefully a good performance today regardless.

If Barkley isn’t at least on the bench you wonder what the feck is going on.

We have such a rubbish record against Man Ure, but so did Spurs up to a few years ago and now regularly they beat them (not saying we're as good as Spurs, but we're progressing into a decent team). It really seems to be a monkey on our back, 3 wins in the PL era against them, we've been rubbish over the last decade but even then we have beaten Arse, Spurs, Cit£h, Ch£ls£a, Liverpool at least once in that time period, just not them. It's annoying. Mings to come back in for Hause and I would go Barkley in for Traore (but he might decide to have Barkley as a bench option). We got a decent point up there last season, but I'd really love to beat this lot. All the media are talking about is them and not us, hate the publicity they get. Jack still being linked despite the fact that they couldn't afford him, it really would be nice to do these but given how dangerous one or two of their players are and how much the officials seem to favour them I'd certainly take a point. Hopefully the extra days rest will give us a bit more energy.

That's the team I'd like to see I think. Hause has done well but I think Mings-Konsa is our strongest CB partnership and I think Mings is more suitable for this game. Will be nice for the Barkley-Grealish combo to be back for this game. Will cause Man Poo a few problems I'd guess.

I definitely think we should keep tracking the Championship, there are some top talents there like Olise at Reading who is destined for great things, but I'd also like to think a top 10 finish this season will allow us to attract players from the top European leagues. Sides like Ajax always produce top talents and I'd like us to be seen as a good option for these players before making the jump to a truly top side (though obviously I hope we can become that in future). We certainly are playing the right sort of football to be attractive to these players, though playing European football will be a lot more of a pull. Leicester are a side who really exploit the European market well and I'd like us to do the same. Interestingly, this link shows the league table compared to expected goals for and goals against: https://understat.com/league/Premier League/2020 Our expected points is 27.25 so we are actually slightly underperforming Man U (surprise, surprise) are overperforming as their expected points is only 22.28 Southampton and Everton are actually massively overperforming despite the hype about them this season Both City and Chelsea are underperforming. That's why I think 50-55 points is a bit pessimistic. Keep playing the way we are and we could easily eclipse 60 points. I'd like to think we could beat our highest points total in a 38-game season (64) but of course I'm keeping my feet firmly on the ground at the moment.