Elton

He played well yesterday and if Smith prefers a left and right foot combo in a 4 then he’s ahead of Konsa. Although I would prefer Hause and Mings, as both faster/stronger and better in the air. As others have said it’s not much use having a fast top speed if it takes 30 yards to get upto pace. I suspect those top speed stats are players chasing 30/40 yards without the ball, so it won’t be a full sample size of all PL players top speeds either. Apparently Engels hasn’t played with Mings in a 4 since the Liverpool 1-2 home game. It seems he’ll get his chance now to re-establish that partnership. Although next game against Leicester and Vardy, albeit Engels and Mings weren’t on the pitch at the same time in that home game.

No, it’s because he is usually selected against the poorer teams, so our chances of a result are already higher no matter who is selected in his position. He does have moments of quality but our main issue as a team/unit is defensively and Hourihane is a liability in this respect.

I don’t hate that, I’d like to find away to play Davis with Samatta when fit. Also I’d like to keep Hause in, maybe as left back. No surprise that no Hause and suddenly we’re conceding at corners again. Could’ve been 2 from corners yesterday against a small line up.

Just back. I think that is probably the maximum we could hope to expect when you compare the squads. Obviously they are way better but we competed and stayed in the game. No luck with either goal. I was the stratosphere but could see it was a goal kick for their goal, haven’t seen it back yet. How the officials didn’t see it I’ve no idea. Quite a few positive performances. Great finish by Samatta. Midfield worked hard, lots of blocks by the defence. I’ve seen us lose a few times at Wembley but this is by far the best loss if that makes sense and I hope the players can feel the positives going into the last 11 games. Funny moment at half time when they picked 2 ‘mega fans’ to have a halftime shoot out and the ‘Man City fan’ representative announced he was actually a Crystal Palace fan that had got a ticket in their end!

I can’t believe the extent of the pessimism on here when we’re about to win our first major trophy for 24 years.. I still think Watford were in a false position. I’m confident we’ll finish above Norwich, Bournemouth and Brighton and Newcastle if we beat them. West Ham still have some tricky fixtures and we have a good chance to finish above them too. This isn’t 100% done no matter what the merchants of doom believe.

Could be a good idea because even if Smith doesn’t want to park the bus, as soon as the games kicks off, we will most likely be forced back so it will look like we’re parking the bus anyway. So may as well have the right personnel on from the start to do that.

Looks like that could be a season ending knee injury to Deulofeu.. Based on my non-medical expertise of watching Wesley and Heaton’s injuries.

Our best chance is that they can’t get up for it mentally a few days after such a big game at Real Madrid. Other than that maybe a rumour before kick off that some of our players are being tested for Corona virus, that said we probably won’t get close enough to them for them to fear infection.. Anyway, 1-0 Villa, we’re overdue a clean sheet..

He was excellent in our 10 game winning run alongside Mings last year when in a back 4 when covering for Tuanzebe’s injury. Mings and Hause as 2 CB’s won’t get beaten in the air, for strength or pace very often even at the higher level. An extra body in midfield for an easy out ball will help solve the passing issue and offer better protection for the defence that is too easy to get at. Hause gives us more defensively than Konsa or last ditch Engels and will only get better in the long term.

I’ve no idea if he will be anywhere near the squad and I guess he won’t be. But if he is, then I’ll be delighted, as it will mean that Smith believes he is good enough on merit and that will confirm we have a genuine prospect. There is no way Smith is picking anyone in a major cup final to make up the numbers or send a message.

45 minutes for the U23’s tonight. Competitive debut. 2 assists in 3-0 win according to his Instagram. I didn’t even know they were playing.. Have to wonder why only 45 minutes. Surely he can’t be being saved for something?? Edit: It was away against Portsmouth in PL Cup.

Fab inanski

Smith said that he was to start training again today. Surely this time he won’t break down again.

The usual amount in a cup. I guess recently beating a full strength Leicester side over 2 legs means we clearly aren’t capable of winning again for the rest of the season. The level of negativity is baffling. I’m surprised some fans can get out of bed in the morning.

I’m not sure how you come to this conclusion. Only 4 games ago we beat the 3rd best team in the league over 2 legs. We are just very inconsistent but we do have good performances in us, especially at home. We have won 2 out of our last 3 home games and the loss against Spurs was unlucky. We are fully capable of going on another run of results at home. Away not so much but Newcastle are so poor that I expect a win there. Hopefully it won’t come down to West Ham away..

Smith said they are great in training. I think it’s simply lack of quality and experience at this level that is the biggest issue for too many in our squad. Connor falls into this category too.

As annoyed as I am about yesterday’s performance, we have seen the limitations of the squad laid bare in some away games bar a couple of exceptions, yet at home we have been generally good, again with a couple of exceptions. I’m not sure if Smith can’t ‘Park the Bus’ or if this squad doesn’t have the personnel to do so. Our lack of genuine pace away from home is a massive weakness. I’m not sure we can blame our Head Coach for this. I do agree we need to change the approach away from home but it’s difficult to see how with the current available squad. We can bring in Jota, Hourihane, Lansbury, Trezeguet (from the start), Baston. That sounds like it could make things a lot worse. Unfortunately average teams having 20 plus shots at our goal is par for the course this season and an indicator of our midfield and upfront issues more than defence, as we can’t play in the opposition’s half away from home and the ball keeps coming back. Fortunately Smith’s approach bears fruit at home and with 6 home and 5 aways left I still believe we have enough to get over the line. Stay up we’ll improve the squad I would rather stick with Smith than risk another manager not working out. Our issue is the squad balance and strength more than the Head Coach. That’s not to say Smith shouldn’t be criticised but at this stage of the season with a new team, 7 league wins and a cup final isn’t sacking territory.

He did state his aim was to be in the team before the end of the season. Maybe he can be our Graham Fenton surprise selection. Nothing to lose really.

Being as we have lost 3 in a row, same as 94, perhaps we should throw in a total unknown, a la Graham Fenton. Return of back 4. Hause stays as more pace than Engels. Nyland Targett Hause Mings Elmo G Fenton Jack Nakamba Luiz Maradona Samatta I guess I have no idea how to resolve our midfield balance.

Ultimately we don’t know how much Smith listens to Terry. To be fair to Terry he seems quite humble in his coaching role publicly. Smith is his boss in his first coaching job, I’m not convinced Terry would be or should be in his ear saying he’s getting everything wrong. Terry may have a completely different tactical philosophy to Smith, who himself was a centre half. If Terry is somehow responsible or not up to it, which there is no evidence of as far as I can see, then as Head Coach Smith would still be responsible for not recruiting an additional coach or replacements.

It’s hard to argue with the sentiment but the team today was exactly the same bar Nyland as the team that beat Leicester 4/5 games ago (although I’ll whisper that Davis came on and played very well). We don’t have the squad depth to make wholesale changes without probably making us a lot worse. I agree though, 3 at the back died today.

I did say ‘McGinn and Davis’ will help. I’m not saying Davis is going to come back and save us but if he gets and stays fit (massive IF), he can actually hold the ball up and maybe it doesn’t keep coming back allowing the opposition to have 25 shots on our goal. Someone who can hold the ball up and I don’t see anyway else in the squad with that ability, will help our defence as much as our attack. Our midfield isn’t good enough to keep the ball without a wall up front to play off.

It happens quite a lot that a team that aren’t great that get to a cup final, often perform poorly after they reach the final. I’m sure it happened to us before in the 90’s too. We’ve lost all 3 since the semi. Smith obviously carries the can but hopefully they’ll be a complete reset after the final in terms of the focus. Whilst it shouldn’t affect the players, we’ve seen far too often that reaching a cup final does. This is new territory for Smith. I don’t believe a change of manager will or should happen before the end of the season. Let’s hope Man City are massively complacent next week, they should be anyway. Smith could sill end up a legend in a few days..

A bit weird that you don’t think a fit Davis will help..

Newcastle away and all our home games are where we can get points. As flat as I am after that ‘performance’ we do usually turn up at Villa Park and we still have 6 home games left. McGinn and Davis to return will help a lot.