MadridVilla

I do think a lot of the criticism of Wesley's performances are justified, but that's not to say he's a bad player altogether. The lad is only 22, settling into a new country and playing in a league which is vastly different to the Belgian league. Yes some of his performances have left a lot to be desired, but writing him off after a few poor games is a little unfair on him. Hopefully the second half of the season he will have settled and will start to show some of the potential that Smith saw in him in the summer. As someone who hadn't seen Haller before yesterday, I would say there was no way he was worth £40m based on that performance alone. Obviously it would be ridiculous to assume that based on one bad game, so I don't see why Wesley should be the same after a couple of bad games. It's also worth noting West Ham have two good centre backs who had done their homework and managed to win the aerial battles against Wesley. We should have changed our style of play knowing this, but there was still an insistence to go long to him when he was clearly second best. He's probably lacking in confidence at the moment - we should be getting behind him if anything.

A decent point on the face of it, both sides were fairly evenly matched. We really need to be seizing on games like that, because for all the possession we had towards the end they never really looked like scoring bar that Grealish chance. Still, some positives to take from the game and onto Arsenal.

Fingers crossed for a good result tomorrow, it would be great to get some more points on the board against a West Ham side who are possibly better than us on paper. If we lose, there mustn't be a hysterical reaction about it as there's still plenty to come from this team this season. Hopefully Marvelous gets a chance in the first team as he looked very tidy on the ball against Crewe, I remember thinking how little he gave the ball away - if we are going to build from the back he appears on first glance to be a good man to distribute the ball around the midfield. That and the fact that Luiz has been with Brazil in the international break, I would expect Marvelous to start if he is match fit. Still unsure who our best two wingers are for now because nobody has yet cemented their place in the team imo. Hopefully tomorrow can answer some of those questions. ------------------------Heaton-------------------------- ---Guilbert----Mings----Engels----Taylor--- --------------Marvelous----McGinn-------------- -----Trezeguet-----Grealish---------Jota-------- -------------------------Wesley-------------------------- Predicting a 1-1 draw, which I think would be a reasonable point.

That's a good question - I didn't see that. Possible he was trying to claim Grealish had fouled him, but that would be tenuous. More likely that there was contact, but the camera was obscured by the referee. Regardless the goal probably should have stood - Villa gained no advantage from it as Grealish had already played the ball.

I'll be honest here... that did look like a dive. You can see Grealish leaves his left foot dragging along the ground from before Cahill makes contact, and the moment of 'impact' is conveniently obscured on the replay by the referee. Obviously can't tell for certain as the replay isn't great, but it does look like a dive. I'm not sure VAR would have overturned the ref's decision. Trezeguet's two bookings were also fair enough. Not saying the referee was without fault by any stretch of the imagination - the inconsistency in bookings was ridiculous. We were up against it all game and Palace were the better side. We didn't deserve any points from that game anyway. Move on to the next game.

Part of Dean Smith's managerial strategy is about creating competition for places. A game like Crewe in the cup is exactly the right game for players to stake a claim for a place in the starting 11. Given that we have the squad depth and are relatively injury free at this point in the season, I would absolutely make a number of changes to give the players who will be knocking on Smith's door at Bodymoor Heath an opportunity to get themselves a starting position. Having said that, we still need the firepower upfront to win the game. My team would be: ----------------------------Steer-------------------------------- -----Elmo------Konsa-------Hause------Targett---- --------------Marvelous------Hourihane-------------- ----El Ghazi --------Lansbury------------Jota-------- --------------------------Wesley------------------------------ I'd be aiming to go at them early and try to get a couple of goals ahead by half time, then replace the players likely to get a game at the weekend when the game is relatively safe. I'd love to have a cup run but I'm not sure playing a full strength side is good for two reasons - firstly, the players fighting for a starting position will be deprived a chance to prove themselves, and secondly there is another important game on Saturday where the players have to be on top form to win - any fatigue or knocks from a midweek cup tie might be the fine margins between winning and losing. And if we are struggling in the second half then bring on the cavalry, just as at Yeovil last year. I'm hopeful Smith will give the cup a serious go this year, particularly as there are a number of players used to the Saturday - Tuesday routine of the Championship. Of course, the usual 'Aston Villa Early Exit' ® would not even be a surprise anymore, given the utter dross we have seen in the League Cup in recent years - in fact, since we made the semi-finals in 12-13 we have only made the fourth round once in 15-16, and that was only because we had the bluenoses in round 3 Fingers crossed we get the job done professionally tomorrow and safely into the draw for the dreaded round 3.

I'm pretty sure most of their fans just dismissed us as relegation fodder who they could breeze past, and if they couldn't it would be 'typical Everton'. Quite clearly it was the latter, though I think that would be harsh on Villa. I would say that we won the game rather than them losing it. Having said that there were a (admittedly small) number of Evertonians who seemed to think we would be alright. We could definitely be the media's "surprise package" this year, even though to us Villa fans it would really not be a great surprise at all. It's probably mostly reflective of how ignorant other fans are, and I don't blame them because why would they take any more than a passing interest in our business? It will be nice to turn some heads this season and defeating teams like Everton without conceding will go some way towards that.

What a fantastic night last night was down at VP, atmosphere was rocking and the team were fantastic to a man. They really had to put in a shift to win that game and it seems to mean so much more than a win in the Championship. In all fairness to Everton, even though they were second-best in the game they still had their chances, and had they scored a couple of easy chances we would still be sat on 0 points. Thankfully the luck was on our side although I have to say I felt we probably deserved to win that game regardless. Hopefully that will be the kickstart our season needs and we can get out of a relegation battle before we ever get into one, certainly if we play that well every game we have nothing to worry about. It's nice to announce ourselves well and truly back in the PL as a quick browse of the Everton forum yesterday showed that a lot of fans still think we will be exactly the same as 15/16 and go straight back down, despite the completely new owners, manager and team. I think we would surprise a lot of people if we stayed up, which based on last night's performance seems ridiculous. It's even more enjoyable when you remember last summer we couldn't pay a tax bill and had a winding up order looming over our heads - now our record signing Brazilian striker is scoring goals in the Premier League. Whatever happens this season I still think it's a minor miracle that we're in this position anyway. Enjoy the long weekend Villans, and keep watching that El Ghazi goal over and over again... UTV

It's set to be a fantastic occasion tonight and the first night match of the season which adds an extra twist to another instalment of the most played fixture in English football between two greats of the English game, Aston Villa and Everton. Everton have had a fairly good start to the season keeping two clean sheets and earning 4 points, but they've only managed one goal in those two games. Villa have only scored 2, so one would expect a low scoring affair. Having said that, Moise Kean made his debut last weekend and looked threatening in front of goal, while Villa have certainly been creating the chances to score a lot more. Hopefully this will be another close game and I can see a draw on the cards, possibly a 1-1. However even if we don't get a result tonight I still don't think there is cause for alarm - it's only the third game of the season and the team are still clearly settling in after a large upheaval this summer. This Villa team do have the quality which they've shown in glimpses, whether they can perform across 90 minutes remains to be seen. I would expect the full backs to remain the same though it would be interesting to see the new boys given a chance as they looked good in preseason. Still, DS is the man watching them daily in training so we can only trust what he's doing. Also think it would be nice to see Hourihane in the team as well as what he offers with set pieces is almost indispensable to the team, particularly if chances are few and far between. Realistically, I expect an unchanged side from the Bournemouth game assuming there's no injuries. It's another test to see what level this Villa team are at this season - whether they can mix it with Everton or whether they are a level below. Let's see what the footballing gods have in store for us tonight - maybe some divine VAR intervention in our favour?

So many awful takes on VAR floating about from pundits and to be honest some of the criticisms are borderline ridiculous. Let's debunk a few of those now: 1. "It's ruining the emotion of the game" The argument goes that fans cannot celebrate a goal in the same way as before because a) they have no idea if it will be given, and b) if it is referred to VAR it takes too long to decide whether it is a goal or not. The first argument is completely ridiculous: so far it has not crossed my mind once when a goal goes in that VAR may rule it out and I have still celebrated goals just the same as before. If a goal is referred to VAR then I would argue it doesn't take emotion out of the game but actually adds more emotional drama - fresh from the elation of scoring comes the fear of it not counting after all. This is surely only an addition to the emotional rollercoaster of football? On the flipside, if the other team scores you can still cling onto a small shred of hope that it won't count; when it inevitably stands at least you have the comfort that it is a legal goal, and if it is overturned the sudden turn of emotion from disappointment to unexpected joy is anything but taking emotion from the game. I agree just as the next man that VAR can take too long in some cases, but this only builds tension and hope for both teams. And if the first thing you think when your team scores is whether VAR will rule it out, then I bet you're fun at parties. 2. "Football is about imperfections and mistakes" The mistakes that make football so special are misplaced passes, that Gerrard slip, moments of madness that change a game etc. The unpredictability of what will happen next is why we all love football. But this does not extend to refereeing decisions, because nobody wants to see referees making mistakes that costs teams points, money and league positions. Referees should be the pillars on which the game is built - they should be consistent, fair and correct otherwise there is no integrity in the fairness of the game. Football should not be decided on refereeing mistakes, but on the mistakes of the players themselves. The reality is that football is big business now and sadly there is no longer the acceptability from the PL shareholders for their money to be lost because of incorrect decisions from referees which could be avoided using replays. 3. "VAR is too clinical/precise" If you're offside, you're offside, whether it's a mile or a millimetre. There's no buffer zone where you can be offside but you're "only just so we'll let you off". Besides, not that I'm familiar with how precise the offside technology is, but I doubt the replay cameras have the resolution to measure to a millimetre whether someone is offside or not. Football is a game of fine margins in many aspects; John Stones' goal line clearance last season is the proof of that. I don't see why VAR should be any different. I know this post might get stick but I'm not 100% on board with VAR either - I'd rather see a review system in place for teams to decide when to challenge a call. That way, it adds a new element to the game as managers or captains have to decide whether to review a decision or not. I also think that close offsides should be allowed to play through and ONLY if directly results in a goal, free kick or corner should VAR check whether it is offside or not (of course, this can be checked while play continues). The communication needs to be better to fans in the stadium - as soon as a check begins it should appear on the screen and why. But some of the comments about VAR leading to half-empty stadiums where nobody celebrates goals anymore is syptomatic of the social-media driven faux-outrage movement. Nobody really thinks that will be the case, and if you genuinely would give up supporting your team because you can't wait a minute to see whether a goal counts then you're not a proper football fan anyway. Football is still a game full of emotion with VAR - it's just a shame nobody has realised.

Had time to mull over the result yesterday. I have to say, I was very impressed by the performance and Villa seemed much quicker and incisive than they have done in the past, particularly last season they were far too slow. Ironically one of the only moments they reverted back to their slower ways was when Grealish was dispossessed on the edge of the box for their second goal. Hard to judge the players based on one game against tough opposition, but they seem to be up to the level of the PL. Heaton, Engels, Mings, Taylor, McGinn, Hourihane and Trezeguet all were particularly good. Grealish went missing at times in the game and didn't exactly show his quality, I think perhaps the time and space he was afforded in the Championship is something he won't get against better teams and he needs to adapt his game to this. Didn't see too much of Wesley to make a judgement but I would guess he's going to take some time to settle in. All in all it was probably a fair result as Spurs were the better side, but perhaps just a little annoying that we could've held on for a draw with better game management. It definitely gives me confidence above all else - I think we've got enough talent to win a few games this year.

Adding my two pennies worth. Last season I had a small Luke shirt which was a comfortable fit, not too tight, not too baggy. I went with a medium Kappa shirt in a regular fit and it fits pretty well: it's no tighter than the small Luke shirt from last year, but the shoulders are considerably narrower which is worth bearing in mind. For reference I'm 5'11" and a slim build, so make of that what you will. Obviously best to try it on first, but if you're buying online I'd go at least a size up, maybe 2 if you want a particularly relaxed fit.

Followed this forum for a while, thought I'd better join as I'm moving to Madrid soon so hopefully this forum helps me keep in the loop. Had a season ticket for around 10 years so it'll be strange not going down to VP every other Saturday... regardless, up the villa!