FLVillan
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Honestly would love to agree with you here, but I'll tell you from experience, the media won't change. 1981 was all about Bobby Robson's Ipswich blowing it and how we were lucky with injuries and 1982 was seen as a shock result against the star-studded Bayern..... Nowadays it's worse than then due to the Sky money and corrupt FFP rules...
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Some brilliant away support, as always, but this song literally had me rolling..... "He left cause you're , he left cause you're , Emi Martinez, he left cause you're "
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#metoo
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Playing him deeper reminds me of when Dean Smith used to play Hourihane in that role at home, then he would play Whelan away. More ability to pick a pass from deep when we're on the front foot at home but a liability defensively when we're under pressure. I think if we'd been away today it would have been McGinn or Tim alongside Luiz. Not only are we missing the mobility and presence of Kamara, but also his instinctive tracking back into our own box to support the centre backs.... When the crosses came in for both Brentford's second and third goals it was 2v2, 1v1 with no tracking midfielders in sight. Kamara would have been in there. Tielemans simply doesn't have that mindset or instinct. The other part of our midfield that suffered today was no pressure on the ball in the wide areas, and I believe that's why Rogers was the first to be substituted. Many don't see what Ramsey brings defensively, but so many times today in the second half horror-spell, Brentford players were picking passes at will to play in behind our defence.
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I think the more that we see other clubs moving to shiny new stadiums, the easier it has become for us Villans to accept it may be inevitable for us also. Lerner was all about preserving and improving Villa Park as he was a bit of history buff, but NSWE have remained relatively quiet on the issue. In recent times we've seen Arsenal, Spuds, Citeh and Everton make the move, with Southampton, Leicester, Sunderland, Brighton and even little Walsall making moves before that. I honestly think that if ManUre take the leap, then that will trickle down and see all of the big(ger) clubs following suit. Personally, Villa Park for me is sacred ground, but if a new stadium is the way forward then I'd reluctantly go along with something new if it means us staying on an even keel....
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I think context on how we play - Unai is about scoring goals and controlling possession and less obsessed with clean sheets. David James was excellent for us and probably had his best two seasons as a pro in his time at Villa. Doesn't often get mentioned because he only stayed two seasons before Ellis did the deal for Schmeichel on his yacht.
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The majority of problems clubs like ours face is down to the farce that is FFP/PSR or whatever they've labeled it now. It was the reason why Lerner pulled the plug, it's the reason Leicester weren't able to build on their league win in 2016 and sold their best players and why Everton are in deep now. What is the most galling is that the majority of the football-supporting public don't see it, or refuse to see it. The media and the so-called "big six" have complete control and the media hate the fact that we are gate-crashing. If we do finish fourth or even fifth it will be a monumental achievement. Then watch the media do everything they can to unsettle Emery by "linking" him to every single vacancy. It's all very well saying we should have strengthened here and bought there, but simply put, the rules won't let us. Nothing to do with how much money our owners have (Leicester's were minted too). Our current midfield of McGinn, Kamara, Luiz and Tielemans cost less than ManUre's fourth choice centre back. Take a step back, look at the numbers and realize that we are punching so far above our weight...
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Am I the only one that thought the Van Der Ven challenge on Watkins in the first half was a blatant penalty and clear yellow card? Yes, the side of his boot made very slight contact with the ball, but he absolutely smashed directly into Watkins, injuring him in the process. No VAR intervention and (of course) the commentators used the "he got the ball" excuse which has been dismissed time and again by the officials themselves. ie. just because you get the ball doesn't mean it's not a foul. If that had happened to Salah or Son, that would have been a very different outcome imho...
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I don't think he necessarily had a shocker, but he was culpable on a few occasions and looked lost at times. Mitigating factor for me would be that this may have been his first game (ever) at this level as part of a three, with the instruction to advance into midfield. Hence the error for their second goal. He's trained and played as right-sided centre back and as a right-back many times, but this was new to him.
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I don't agree that playing with the 3/5 at the back was/is some kind of ultra-defensive tactic. Spurs have, all season, pressed goal-kicks with a line of three players across the width of the box (thereby creating a 3v3 situation with the opposing 2cbs and gk). Having the extra man in there allowed us a better chance of beating that press. And it happened a few times early on in this match, to the point that they actually sat off us a few times later in the half, after we had played in behind them from two such moments. It also gave more freedom to both Pau and Konsa to push into midfield, which Pau was doing more and more as the half wore on. I believe that had Mings not had the season-ending injury we would have seen this way of playing far more often this season. We/Unai are punching way above our weight by still being where we are with 10 games to go. Bentancur, who comes off the bench for Spurs, cost more money than our entire midfield put together.
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I have this theory about this - that so often takes a period of not playing, not even being involved (excluding being dropped because that affects confidence) for new players to settle. It's why you so often see the second season being the breakout one for many. The off-season affords the player a chance to relax and settle off the field. Take Dougie for example - he was a different player after the mid-season suspension for covid. Had a period of time away from playing, away from the daily grind to reflect, get affairs in order and actually take stock.
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He was a good two yards offside on that one... never would have counted
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Our current commentator, despite being a million times better than the previous Jack Woodward, had a tendency to be a bit dull. Sharing the booth with Sir Brian and Tayls the last few weeks has livened him up a bit... It's great to hear tbh. It's our club channel, so why not give the big'un when we get a late winner...
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We could win ten consecutive league titles, half a dozen champions leagues on a shoestring budget and give all our prize money to Gary Lineker's charity of choice and still the bias will continue...
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The "block" by the dippers midfielder in the league cup final wan't be a foul either but that was chalked off because he impeded a defender from an offside position....
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