MadridVilla

300% of zero is still zero

I think you misinterpreted what I said. The point is that Davis should be starting based on our current squad. But there is no way he makes the bench for most other clubs in the league. That's how weak we are up front.

I'm not sure laughing at someone's hair can be considered discrimination based on the colour of someone's skin, but my apologies for any offence caused, it obviously wasn't my intention.

The same Kodjia who had the most ridiculous pineapple hairstyle last season and then never headed the ball in case it ruined his hair? It's laughable how weak we are up front where Keinan Davis is arguably considered our best striker by quite a few, the same Davis who has scored a grand total of 2 goals in 4 years, which is 2 less than Wesley has scored in half a season. I like Davis, but the fact is that he should not be a starting Premier League striker yet. He wouldn't make the bench of most other clubs in the league. On a side note, does anyone have the number for Jordan Bowery's agent? Asking for a friend

The big difference between academy football and the professional game is the physicality of matches, so I would look to exploit that against a bunch of kids. Sure, they will be able to pass the ball around for fun but up against a physical team they won't stand a chance. For that reason I'd play Wesley, mostly because he's the most bullying of the strikers we have, and also just to try and get him on the scoresheet and break his duck. For me the problem with Wesley at the moment is an extreme lack of confidence and overthinking what he's going to do with it. Hopefully a goal or two can help him get some of that confidence back. On the other hand if he can't score against a bunch of schoolboys then he really is as useless as we all think. If we don't win this game it will be the most embarrassing defeat since the Bradford tie in the semis, arguably even more embarrassing. There should be no excuses and I hope that they will take this game seriously enough. Interestingly Liverpool will have the element of surprise on their side, as we will have no idea who we're up against, how they play, what formation they'll set up with and so on. Still, no excuses for our easiest passage through to a semi-final in a long time, and I hope we have the tie won by half time.

I agree with you - and I really do hope things pick up in the rest of the season. I think the point I was trying to make was that things NEED to improve, otherwise we are on track to relegation. I think they can because we have dropped points in so many games that even if we stem that flow in just a few games our form will improve, but at the moment based on current form we will go down. We absolutely have to get behind the team over the next 3/4 games because they could be the difference between survival and relegation.

In all honesty I think we are going to get relegated - it won't stop me supporting them every game, but the promotion bubble has definitely burst. We've already lost 10 games and it isn't even the halfway stage of the season. Carry on this way and we could be looking at 22-23 losses, which only leaves 15 games for points. Of those 15 we have played 7, won 3 and drawn 4 with 15 points. That leaves us with 8 other games to win or draw, and 25 points left to safety. If we win all 8 of those games (spoiler alert: we won't), we would get 24 points, finishing with 39 points and probably be safe. Any less than 8 wins and we would likely be relegated. My rough guess is we will finish on 33/34 points and go down. It may only be back of an envelope maths but to me the writing is on the wall - we are not good enough. Unless we can turn these wins into draws and draws into wins we are toast.

Well, that's an interesting XI. Like having Hause in there as a natural left-footer, I hope he's ready for the speed of the PL. Lansbury in the squad could be brilliant, or it could be awful. He's looked promising off the bench at times, let's see how he plays from the start. I really wish we could drop Wesley but he is still our best fit striker unfortunately. I'd be happy with a point here today.

Having watched on TV I can sympathise with the Leicester fans - it definitely occurred to me that we were ill-disciplined. It's not something I ever notice so for me to notice it would suggest there is some truth to what they are saying. We were conceding stupid fouls, picking up yellows across the pitch and even Grealish was going down more easily than usual. It actually spoilt the game even more for me that the only way we thought we could try and have a go was to chip away at them, picking up yellow cards in the process, or trying to win free kicks. It's not how I want to see any team play, certainly not Villa.

Exactly my thinking. Why bother signing Wesley if we don't play to his strengths? Our game is focused around hold-up play from the strikers and crosses into the box, and he is useless at both. I'm not saying he is a bad player but he is such a bad fit for how we play.

Leicester were simply the better team on the day. No complaints there. The issue I have is how predictable the game was. Clearly Smith has one way of playing - attack - and today it was our Achilles heel. The naivety to charge forward and allow Leicester to counter attack so often was just unbelievable. We should have shown more respect to the threat Vardy offered because he had a field day today, we played right into their hands. Heaton great as usual but possibly shouldn't have been beaten at his near post for the second goal. Back line were not able to cope with Leicester's front line and it didn't help having the injuries as well. Midfield could not compete at all with Leicester, all of them to a man were beaten on the pitch. Grealish looked isolated out wide but even when he moved more centrally he couldn't control the game. Wingers were up against it today and couldn't really get into the game. Wesley is Scott Hogan in disguise, I'm absolutely convinced of it. He is completely useless in this side, and why we signed him I have no idea. He's a square peg in a round hole. The rot is setting in right before our biggest games of the season over Christmas. I won't lose faith in us just yet but it won't be long before I'm resigned to relegation.

Started well then they were completely flummoxed by the first goal. Haven't really been able to cope with the Leicester press and we are giving the ball away cheaply as a result. But once they get through the press, they make the back line look quite average. Lucky to still be in the game with that goal before half time, but I think we can still get something from the game with a much better performance second half.

It's a sad reflection of just how far Villa have fallen, but on the other hand just how amazingly Leicester have managed to establish themselves as a decent Premier League side, not just a one-off miracle winner then back to relegation. The management and ownership of the club has been nothing short of remarkable, and a lot of credit has to go to their late owner for that. I wouldn't be feeling depressed because Villa are a club progressing to establish themselves like Leicester have. It's a long-term project that stems right from the top of the club all the way to the academy, and it will take time for results to establish themselves. Hence why I would be reluctant to make any knee-jerk changes of manager, sell the best players etc. Keep the faith, we will be in their position one day.

Almost no chance of winning this game, especially if we play like we did against Chelsea. We need to accept that in recent years Leicester have the best team in the Midlands and at the moment are title challengers. Just because it's Leicester, their ground is smaller, their fans have god-awful clappers and 'we always used to be better', that means nothing. They are simply a better team with a better manager, so I won't get too upset if we don't get anything from the game. I just want us to play positively and make it competitive as the home side, any points we get will be a bonus.

Completely agree, I remember thinking how hard he was trying to do it by himself. Sadly it seems when he tries so hard he struggles the most, he is best when he is free to play his own way and doesn't feel burdened by carrying the rest of the team. Given that both McGinn and Hourihane were ineffective tonight, there's not a lot of choice he has other than to do it all. At the end of the day he plays in a certain way and games like tonight where we are up against it just don't suit his style because we don't have enough possession of the ball in their half to allow Grealish to run at players, so he's forced to come deep to get it where he gets fouled in midfield before he can cause problems. It would help in games like tonight to have a striker who can hold the ball up well and allow Grealish et al. to get the ball between their defence and midfield lines where he is lethal, but alas, Wesley has a trampoline for a right foot

1 point off the bottom 3 now.

Can't believe they didn't kill that game off, gave us a chance to steal a point which we couldn't take. Villa only looked decent in spells and couldn't sustain any pressure. Quite a few poor performances tonight, Mings was error-prone, McGinn ineffective going forward and even Grealish didn't offer his usual productivity. A deserved loss but at the same time frustrating not to take a point when Chelsea gave us the chance.

I know what you're trying to say, and I agree, but it seems strange to me that we can get a point at Old Trafford and yet some aren't satisfied because it wasn't 3. Yes we had our chances but look at the stats, United had nearly twice as many shots, twice as much possession etc. We would have been lucky on the balance of things to win the game. On a positive note, the fact that we're coming away from Sunday knowing how close we were to winning is a good sign for the rest of the season. The ambition this club is showing is very exciting.

I for one was not expecting such negativity, maybe I should know better by now... What we should take from today’s game is that we went to Old Trafford and came home with a point, which we haven’t done in a decade before today. Say what you like about United but I think it says more about how well Villa played today. Secondly, what a pleasure it was to watch Villa take the game to United away from home - it paid off as we were the better side, especially in the first half. Full credit to Smith and co for the tactics today, I thought they were spot on. For those having a bit of a whinge tonight because we didn’t win, whilst I love the ambition, we shouldn’t be disappointed with a point at OT given where the club is at the moment. A draw was a fair result overall, even if the goals we conceded were sloppy. This season isn’t about winning these kind of games and it won’t be defined by these games. We’re going to have to be patient before the club really makes it to competing with United in the league.

Not sure what the reception for Bruce will be like, but it would be nice if it were a positive one. I know that he didn't leave on good terms with the fans, but it was best for both parties we went separate ways in the end - we got promoted and he got a job in the PL. Especially the season he took us to the play off final, he deserves a lot of respect with everything happening in his personal life to stay focused on the job in hand, even if we came up short. In the end, it was a lucky break we lost that game so the new owners could come in. I can't say I hold any personal grudges against Bruce even if it didn't work out for him at Villa. Having said that, I fully anticipate quite a hostile atmosphere, maybe even another cabbage heading his way. It's Newcastle and Bruce, neither of whom are popular in B6. It's a real must-win this early in the season, otherwise we'll be in the bottom 3 at Christmas. With 3 consecutive games against the current bottom 3 around Xmas/New Year I'd rather we were ahead of these teams coming into the game to take a little bit of pressure off. First game I can get to since Crewe away so hopefully they can replicate that scoreline? We can dream...

The worst thing about today's game was the mindset of the players. Yes we had a few big players out but their body language and effort in the first half made it quite clear they didn't expect to win the game, and in a way that was part of what cost us the game. Then two more first half injuries and they never believed they had a chance. Even though luck was definitely not on our side this weekend, to be that apathetic about the first half was unacceptable all around. The first goal was a dreadful tackle from Mings from the free kick - I have no idea what he was thinking. Then leaving Neves on the edge from the free kick is unforgivable - how did they not think to leave a man on the edge of the box like normal? Credit to Smith for inspiring a better second half performance, but it wasn't exactly hard to be better than absolutely useless. Trez and Nakamba our two best players for me, and Konsa didn't look out of place in the defence. El Ghazi was okay and offered a threat but never delivered anything of quality. McGinn was outplayed by Moutinho all game. And credit to Wolves where it's due, as bad as we were they ran rings around us at times and Adama was completely unplayable. If it weren't for a bit of luck and some better performances in the second half we would have been picked off 3-0 or 4-0. Rest up over the international break and let's rip Newcastle to shreds.

Taylor??? The man was never in position. Nowhere near Adama when he hit the bar, and lost the ball for the second goal. He was poor.

Terrifying how easily the house of cards collapses when Grealish is out of the team. 17th a good finish

We've looked beaten since the first whistle. Defensively Targett had rings run round him, the midfield is completely bypassed every single time Wolves come forward and going forwards we've only been putting in deep crosses. We have no chance and will be lucky if this is only 3-0 at full time.

This will certainly be a close game, and I can see a draw coming. For me that is not a bad result, but 3 points would be much appreciated. Wolves are a decent side but desperately missing Boly at the back - whether Wesley will be able to deal with 3 centre backs will be interesting to see. It's games like this is really wish there was a pacy strike partner for Wesley to play alongside, someone who can break the lines and keep more defenders busy. With one up front, Wolves can simply man mark Wesley and still have 2 centre backs free to close down wider players or midfielders along with wing backs. So for all their problems at the back, I think we will have a hard time getting Wesley into the game. Ideally the wingers would play a little more narrow and free up the wings for the full backs to exploit the wide option - the classic FM raumdeuter role. Defensively we have actually conceded the 4th most goals in the league so far, despite a lot of positive opinion on our defence the statistics do not match. Wolves' strength is attacking and even though Adama is generally regarded as useless on this forum, he's had something of a renaissance recently and he will provide Targett with a few issues. In fact, he was in the WhoScored European team of the month for October, alongside Grealish. Jimenez is a good finisher and they have a couple of other goalscorers in their squad. It may not be one of our traditional derbies, but it's the best we've got this season, so bring it on.