doaflip

Twitter rumours or not, feels like theres too much smoke without fire here. If it is a recurrence of the mystery injury he had before that kept him out for ages then I'd be very surprised if he wasn't out for ages again this time. Glad we got to 36 points early!

For a team that relies on playing the ball to Jack Grealish and hoping something good happens, I worry what happens if we don't have a Jack Grealish available for a while.

Hopefully he isn't out for too long. Bar the energy I don't think defensively Elmo will do much worse than Cash. Going forward, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not sure Cash has really been bombing on and hitting the byline? I don't think we lose too too much from Elmo stepping in for a few games as Elmo's deep crossing has always been quite tidy. I'm hoping him coming in won't be too big of a disaster.

Not looking forward to the next game for a change. Terrible performance. No consistency in our performances and we rely on individual players playing very well. Makes me question the coaching as our patterns of play are dreadful.

Hope you're right. We often look like if we just got it to click we would carve teams open. Hoping it clicks second half.

What gives you hope?

The whole Ross Barkley situation is just odd. I'm hoping, somehow, he's bringing something to the rest of the team that I don't see. It's like playing with 10 men sometimes.

Thought this was an outstanding read - really interesting. Lots of stuff I hadn't noticed and I found the section on our 1st, 2nd, 3rd passes etc particularly fascinating. We feel so well drilled this year, a really well coached side. So exciting.

Villa are well rested on the back of a good win against Arsenal. Brighton with players out, a congested schedule and they are struggling to score more than 1 a game, whilst our back 4 felt solid and dependable at the weekend. All points to a good chance for the Villa to chase down that top 4! 2 0 Brighton.

Great result. Still looked a little off at times but the defence was resolute and everyone put in 110%. Can't ask for much more really.

Agree 100%. I actually think it's been the biggest reason we have seen improvement. Yes there's been a notable improvement in the quality of the players, whether through acquisitions or coaching. But it has to be said that lots of times this season I've seen a breakdown in a passage of play or a player has chosen to recycle the ball rather than force the issue and I've thought "the crowd would have groaned at that".

Can't believe I had the nerve to look forward to that.

They have switched their system up since the last time we played. Them playing 4 at the back will give them a bit more defensive support against our wingers then they had in the 3-0 earlier in the season. They were playing some decent stuff last night, against a pretty dire Wolves side it has to be said. They're a more concerning outfit this time around but if we win our individual battles I think we will do well. Could be another big game for our fullbacks as Arsenal have been finding joy in the ball behind the opposition full back into a winger. Need to make sure we pick our spots against them and don't overcommit, as the quick transitions could hurt us.

Getting the same vibes from this game that I got from the Burnley game. West Ham have limited their opponents to relatively few good chances in their games in January (Liverpool aside). This, coupled with their strength from corners, may make it really tough for us. We will need to be at our most creative whilst finding a way to stand up to them on set pieces. Hoping for a win for us, but have a horrible feeling about this one.

Hi! Long term lurker, looking forward to getting stuck into the discussion. Can't wait to get back down to Villa Park once we are allowed back in! UTV