VillaFaninLondon

AEG again! Can’t stop scoring!

Traoré not defending properly. Chilwell has too much room. Needs to stop.

Probably our best performance of the season given the circumstances. Played 10 men for half the game 1-0 up and won 3-0, another team would have given up near the end but we kept on going and could have had 5 or 6 let's be honest. Played the counter attack to perfection and were very good with the ball. Absolutely superb, professional performance (other than Mings' daft red, which was a bit harsh too) and once again Dean deserves credit for keeping the team structured when we went down to 10 and switching to a 4-4-1. Martinez is a truly great GK, what a signing. Didn't have an awful lot to do but it's his work behind the defence that is so impressive, organises them so well. All of the back four deserve credit but especially Targett, he's turned into such a solid LB and once again today was brilliant defensively. All the midfield good but Jack once again was masterful, just a tremendous footballer and performs week in week out. Special mentions to AEG and Traore who both played well again and both scored (Traore unlucky to go off so early). But MOTM goes to Ollie, worked hard all game which meant when we went down to 10 we could cope. So unlucky not to score but 3 assists isn't bad, the goals will come soon. He gives the whole team a platform to perform and one of the signings that has lifted this team to where it is that's for sure. What a season it's been so far but next four games are tough, will be interesting to see where we are after the Everton game.

Ward should have been off as well.

Feel for Watkins. Deserved a goal today. Targett unsung hero.

Anwar is on fire at the min. Great strike! Watkins has been awesome.

Zaha is a diving pr***.

F*** sake. What is Mings doing.

He’s definitely useful at the defensive side of the game but he also has 0 goals and only 1 assist and as a member of the front three those numbers are disappointing. I was just pointing out that being ridiculed for saying you don’t rate Trez, which is not at all an outrageous thing to say, is harsh. I think as supporters we’re always going to look at how we can improve and I agree with the poster that RW is definitely an area we can upgrade, not necessarily now but maybe next summer unless Traore nails down that spot which so far he has failed to do (though his Baggies performance was encouraging). But I certainly see Trez as doing a job for the team with where we are at the moment.

I think he's suitable against better opposition but against so-called weaker teams where we are the dominant side I'm not sure. For example, we lost against Brighton and W'Ham with him in the side and we pretty much dominated both games with Trez missing big chances. If he'd taken those chances we'd now be at least 2 points better off. He's missed the last 3 games and we've taken 7 points and not conceded a goal. That's not to say that AEG and Traore aren't wasteful too, and they don't work press as well as Trez, but that's why I still think we should be on the lookout for a standout right sided midfielder who can score and create. If we had that, along with McGinn and Barkley's contributions from the middle, we'd be even more of a threat.

Ginny is such a legend, love him.

The guy being slated for saying Trez isn't great is a bit bizarre. Trez for me works hard and is a good squad player but is one in the first 11 I'd be looking to upgrade. His goals kept us up last season and of course we should be grateful for that, but football isn't about sentimentality and we found that out the hard way by sticking with Gabby for so long. Compare his output going forward with Jack and it's night and day. Put someone like Sarr or Thauvin in that position and we'd be a lot stronger. Anyway, merry Xmas y'all, let's hope for a great result tomorrow.

It’s hard for me to admit (as I like to feel the majority of the time I’m fair on our players and manager and judge them on their performances) but I feel I got Dean Smith wrong. 12 months ago after an abject performance against Southampton I wanted a new manager. I felt given the money spent and the tactical errors I believed he was making every game week that we were heading for the drop which would have been a disaster. I certainly didn’t think it would be easy last season but felt our performances at the start were better than in the middle and we were going backwards. I also felt our fans were giving him a bit of an easy ride, seeing as he was a Villa man, and whilst I liked him for that I was trying to look past it. Fast forward 12 months we look a completely different team. We look like his Brentford team did which had won him many plaudits, except in the Prem against much tougher opposition. The signings have improved, the spirit in the camp is unbelievable, every single one of our players seem best mates even the ones on the fringes, and we are sitting pretty in the top half with 2 games in hand. The football is some of the best I’ve seen at Villa for a long time, probably since Brian Little. We have had the most shots per game in the league this season, we are finally starting to dominate possession most weeks, and we’ve faced the fifth fewest shots in the league which is a massive turnaround from last season. So excuse the long post, and of course football can change very quickly, but I now believe DS is the right man and has improved as a manager this season ten fold. He has used those dark moments from last season and absolutely came out on top and I fully respect him for that. Keep playing like this and getting the results we are and he will undoubtedly be up for manager of the year, of that I’m sure.

You're right, we're playing great football at the min and long may it continue. Keep dominating teams the way we are and we'll get lots of points anyway. Though we would be wise to be more cautious against Man U, Chelsea and Spurs (especially with the high line).

We took 7 points from those same fixtures last season so I'd think 6-8 is a reasonable return considering we were pants last year. Most likely wins would be Palace and Everton, but we're well overdue a result against at least one of the others. Chelsea will probably have too much quality for us, Man U I'm not sure as their home form (bar the Leeds game) has been iffy but they are capable of blitzing opponents even with Ole in charge. Spurs will sit in and play on the break against us, which won't really suit us, unless we play the same tactic on them. I'd worry about Son and Kane on the break but if we can keep them quiet (big IF) then we could get at least a point. I'd take 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats. That would put us on 29 points from 17 games which is still very good. Any more than that and we've done really well. It's also possible we could only take 4-5 but any less than that would be disappointing. Hopefully we can start well by beating Palace which would give us confidence going into the tougher run of games.

DS said Barkley is fit for this one and Konsa 'should be fine' so will be interesting to see what he does. We've missed Barkley but given the recent form of Traore and AEG I think he may be on the bench, unless he comes in for McGinn. Given Ross can't play against Chelsea it might be a good move so it keeps McGinn fresh for Chelsea. Hause has covered well in Konsa's absence but Konsa has to come straight back in if he's available. It's another game we should win if we're on it but Palace will be seeking a reaction after getting bummed by Liverpool. I'll take a solid 2-0 win.

GET IN VILLA!!!

I’ve always said there’s a player in there. Hopefully now he can start showing it regularly.

El Ghazi should have a hat trick, couldn’t even get on the bench a few weeks ago lol

I think that's the team most would go for if both Barkley and Konsa are available. Confident if that team plays it would put Boggies to the sword. Be nice to see Heaton back in the squad. Wouldn't mind one of the youngsters like Barry to be on the bench if we have 9 subs but maybe a bit too soon. Whether it's Traore or AEG who starts, they have to start putting the chances that come their way in the net. Far too wasteful with their powder puff shots and no wonder Jack was frustrated at the end of the game on Thursday.

I just had a quick check on their forum (being nosey, as you do) and one Boggy said: "I believe we should get someone to man mark Grealish, he is their only threat!" The guy must be trolling surely. Of course Jack's our best player by some distance but that's because he's phenomenal. Barkley (if he's fit, I know), Luiz, McGinn, Watkins all walk into their team from a midfield/attacking sense, our back five would I think all start for them too, a combined 11 would have very few if any Albion players in let's be honest. Even some of our squad players would add something to their team. Diangana and Gallagher look decent talents to be fair, but their first 11 really is quite poor for this level. I think that particular poster is confusing this Villa team with last season's one when the reality is we've improved a fair bit. It's like when the bluenoses talk about Jack being a big fish in a little pond (check out Small Heath Alliance, they're obsessed). I just laugh because to them we're a humongous pond, if we're a little pond they shouldn't even exist as a football club, they talk like they're Bayern or Real FFS Anyway, back to the game. They are at home and you'd like to think they won't sit back all game. Hopefully the players will be angry about the Burnley result and be determined to win this game. We've allowed so many games we deserved to win slip from our grasp this season, I hope tomorrow we don't make the same mistake again and the ref and officials don't let us down again. It's important we get some wins before a difficult few games at the end of the month and in January.

I'm assuming Luiz, Cash and Konsa will definitely be back (Luiz and Cash suspension ends and Konsa was ill for yesterday but isn't injured). I'm not sure on Trez, sounds like he'll still be out. Barkley is the big one, I assumed he'd make at least the bench yesterday but he was nowhere to be seen. DS said he should be available soon after the Wolves game so I'm guessing he's training properly again. I know hamstrings can be risky but it has been a month now. Hopefully he left him out yesterday so he could start him against Boggies, with him on the pitch yesterday I reckon we'd have won and we're a better team with him in it. If all those players are back minus Trez, I think we'll comfortably win on Sunday. We have dominated in 3 of our last 4 games, yet only won 1 in the game we didn't dominate. Our finishing needs to be much better than yesterday.

The annoying thing is we've dominated the whole game and it's our fault we haven't won.

So **** frustrating. Every shot we take just goes sky high into the stands. Every single one of our players should be taken aside tomorrow and taught how to hit a shot properly.

El Ghazi's finishing is absolutely shocking. We are so wasteful.