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When the dust settles, this is how I see our team come the end of the season. Martinez Cash Konsa Mings Targett Luiz / Sanson McGinn / Sanson Buendia / Sanson Bailey Watkins Ings That back four with Martinez has already proven itself capable of performing well at this level. Was it 15 clean sheets last season? I actually think the five at the back has led to subconscious complacency from the central three that one of the other two can get them out of jail if needed and has lessened the do or die defending we need from Konsa and Mings. I think we are also seeing our central three with too much possession and an over reliance to start our attacks. See Tuanzebe misplaced pass to Traore’s first half missed chance. Our wing backs are also being overlapped too easily with the narrow midfield and two up front. And the theory of one of the central three defenders stepping out to cover just hasn’t been working in my view. Again, Tuanzebe had several clangers stepping out on the right in the second half yesterday. With Bailey and Watkins playing slightly wider and deeper roles, I think they can provide the cover for Cash and Targett, whose starting positions will also now be deeper. Watkins has the pace and work rate to do this role and Bailey certainly has the pace (don’t know enough about his work rate yet). Some will say our midfield will get overrun in this formation but it’s similar numbers in midfield to what we have had all season, including yesterday. Again, with Bailey and Watkins slightly deeper and high work rate from Buendia with the two behind, I think our midfield would be ok defensively (or as good as it can be with the players we have). I also think this line up gives us better balance going forward, more possession and more front foot football. Ings and Watkins don’t seem to be linking up centrally (I can’t remember seeing one pass to the other yet this season) so eventually I think we need to move one wide or to the bench. But I think this option gets our best players on the pitch while keeping a decent shape.

I agree with all of that and the progress the club has made in the last few years is incredible. It’s a fun time to be a Villa fan and tonight’s game was great to watch. For the sake of a few extra games, however, I would just like to see us go all out to try win a trophy by selecting our strongest team. Beat Chelsea and you have a huge chance of going all the way. I know the full squad needs games, but at this stage I would rather risk a few league points by rotating than weakening our team in every cup game. Most cups we exit these days is largely down to a weakened team, yet we celebrate moral victories. It doesn’t make sense to me. Another cup win would be huge for the club but we seem to just pass it up year in year out.

When is this club going to be serious about winning a trophy again? We have played almost 1,000 league games since we last won a trophy and only one of those games has had any lasting relevance from my recollection; West Ham away on the last day. We haven’t won’t a league or qualified for a champions league. We qualified for Europe a few times and ended up blowing it in the qualifiers to Rapid Vienna two years in a row. Tonight we were four games from a trophy in what was probably going to be the hardest game on the way to the final, yet we prioritise our team selection for a trip to old Trafford, where we haven’t won in over 10 years and will be odds on to lose again. Tonight’s team did great but that’s not my point. Extremely frustrated and feel the need to vent. Sorry. Desperately want to see is win a trophy and we have blown a big opportunity tonight

Disappointing we don’t have Ings and Watkins here to do the same. Chelsea are European champions. We haven’t won a trophy in 25 years. Very frustrating if we lose this with a weakened team. I would sooner change the team at old Trafford this weekend. But I agree that the kids are immense.

Missed the first half. Does anyone know exactly what happened to Sanson? I’ve seen comments ranging from a smack on the head, broken ribs and a pulled muscle!

I got sorted later that day. I called the membership office and they said the account was inactive for whatever reason. They were having a lot of complaints. It was fixed and I got tickets that night.

Has anyone else struggled to get tickets? I’m a claret member and can’t get in. Fan ID, etc. is linked. Thanks.

Well he did publicly criticise the management last summer of being disingenuous with him around the time we were signing Cash and he was being sent out on loan. I doubt that did him any favours.

He was only on for a few minutes but I liked the look of Wesley today. He seemed to have a bit of a pep in his step and put himself about.

He looks badly short of fitness to me. One incident in the second half stood out where he had space in front of him on the right wing and you could see Ramsey in the centre waiting for him to sprint into it. He struggled to break out of a jog and the ball ended up running out of the over the sideline and Ramsey looking confused that he didn’t make it. It leaves me hopeful that’s there’s much much more to come from him.

Cash is either drunk or hasn’t seen a football since May.

Yeah but he could wish him luck like Petrov and others did above him. By drooling over the no. 10 at city, he’s implying it’s a much bigger deal than being no. 10 at Villa, which he already was. Now that might be the case for most but it’s not for Villa fans and shouldn’t be for a player currently being paid to play for Aston Villa. Especially on the day that’s in it when feelings are raw. Sometimes I think he’s intentionally trying to troll Villa fans. Worst part is city would have been in the championship when hourihane was a youngster.

Yeah odds on him staying have come in from 5-2 to evens in the last half hour. Seems far from a certainty he’s leaving.

It would have been nice to see him smash a few in the top corner in that training video the other day, as per Buendia and Young. I know it was just a fun video by the club but I was waiting for a Wesley segment which never came. I wonder how he’s showing up in training.

Lescott playing the role of the lifelong City fan. What a glory hunter!

Completely destroyed in midfield. McGinn, Luiz and Ramsey just not good enough. One of them at most should keep their place next season. Maybe Luiz with better players beside him. McGinn needs to be on the bench. Sansson needs to step up and be better next season. Otherwise, we have another 6/10 in a position we are loaded with the same. Konsa casually allowing Zaha to turn on the edge of the box was a death wish.

Redknapp is hilarious. Souness spends two minutes explaining how a deflection took McGinn’s goal into the corner. Next sentence from redknapp; “it’s a great finish placing it in the corner”!

I guess I think some goals are more avoidable than others. And I think some of the last gasp goals we have conceded recently were particularly avoidable with a bit more aggression and desire to block the cross / shot. Other fans may be saying the same about their teams.

What is the real Aston Villa? We had 25 points after 13 games, on course for over 70 points, and being lauded as the next club to trouble the top teams. Now we look more like a team that narrowly avoids relegation.

Yes, our league position is baffling considering our clean sheet record, which is easily top 4 level. Losing games is one thing but the galling thing for me is that we are now throwing away points by individual errors and a lack of focus. Ramsey today not sprinting out to the immediate danger, Mings last week (although we got away with that one) and McGinn jogging to block the cross against Newcastle. Whatever about Smith as a tactician, I’d like to see him clamping down on these moments where our players seem to switch off.

If Ramsey had sprinted, no goal.

This is down there with any of the stuff we produced under McLeish, Lambert and Bruce. We have gone from looking like Champions League contenders to one of the worst teams in the league, and it’s not all down to missing Grealish. Going to be a very strange summer if we finish the season like this.

Sorry to be an irritant. I don’t think I’ve ruined too many threads and I actually don’t post that often, or use Twitter or Facebook. I just don’t get the thinking that Elmo was always our next choice but I won’t say anymore about it.

We can debate it all we want but it’s bizarre to suggest Elmo was always ahead of Guilbert in the pecking order when he played about half as many games as Guilbert last season. The games Guilbert didn’t play were mostly injury led or a few games at the start of the season when Dean stuck with Elmo and Taylor for loyalty or continuity. Guilbert picked up two or three injuries later in the season but was generally our preferred right back when fit. Dean even went with Konsa over Elmo after restart when Guilbert was nursing a knee injury. We then went for a better player in Cash, which is fair enough, and Guilbert went public with comments that he’d been misled. It’s from here that he’s been pretty much frozen out this season and I think it’s a big mistake to have let him go. It reminds me of something MON would have done. It’s easy to pick one player over another for the bench when it’s unlikely either of them are going to actually play but I think a sustained run of games with Elmo in the team could really hurt us.

Is this a serious comment? Guilbert was clearly our first choice last season. He started the majority of games at right back and the vast majority of games when he was fit.