KentVillan

Last night was the big announcement to the world of what Emery is doing here, a lot of people waking up to the quality of this side. Do we have a hope in the title race? V unlikely, wouldn’t be quite Leicester, but would be more like when Spurs nearly did it. Think 4th is very doable, injuries permitting.

He was really good. Only moment I questioned was that yellow for Kamara, but was probably deserved tbh. Otherwise the game just flowed, was great to watch…

Impressive thing tonight was the work rate. We know he has the ability, but tonight he looked like he was willing to do all the hard work and put in a few naughty tackles too

One of the great captain’s performances, absolutely iconic. The work rate from kick off to final whistle was extraordinary, and he used the ball well, tackled like a madman… just a pleasure to watch, and inspired his teammates while sucking the life out of anything City tried to do

I had McGinn MOTM, but that was one of the best Villa performances I’ve ever seen, and the entire starting XI deserved an award

Yeah it wasn’t good, but rare for this type of tackle to cause an injury. Bentancur was unlucky.

Anyone who's ever played competitive football at any level has seen, dished out or been on the receiving end of that tackle several times a season. Deserving of a yellow because he was nowhere near the ball, but this outcry is mental

It’s Bielsa all over again. High intensity, heavy metal football looks great at the start of the season, but it’s a strategic choice by the manager which inevitably means burning players out. Need a very deep squad to sustain it throughout a season.

Spurs fans don't have a leg to stand on (like Bentancur ) with how they celebrate Romero's completely pointless violence every week. Cash isn't a dirty player, he occasionally puts in a heavy tackle, but no chance he was deliberately trying to injure him there.

They only lost 2 games at home last season. This season they've already lost 2 at home, but I still think they're a tough prospect at their place. This is where Emery's meticulous preparation for each game will start to come through hopefully. There are a lot of banana skin teams in this league, but they also have weaknesses that can be exploited.

I think we've had a *relatively* easy run of fixtures, with a bit of luck in our timing facing Spurs. The next 6 games will be more of a litmus test of where we are as a team: Bournemouth AWAY Man City HOME Arsenal HOME Brentford AWAY Shef Utd HOME Man Utd AWAY Bournemouth and Brentford are pretty useful at home, so it's only really the Shef Utd home game that looks like one we'd be clear favourites to win. I think Emery will keep working his magic, but it'll be tough to stay in the top 4, and will depend on injuries and a bit of luck.

The amount of acne, BO and micropenis in that thread. Almost want Matty Cash to make this a regular thing against Spurs, seek and destroy on their most injury prone player. Truly bonkers though, and as much as it’s very funny for us, must be genuinely unpleasant for the player and his family … madness that it was all over a pretty mundane foul that you see every week

That Cash tackle was a pure yellow, cynical and pointless, but an everyday nothing foul most of the time, and now with the news that Bentancur is ok it looks like Spurs fans got conned by their own player not being able to take a knock

Wasn’t really sure where to put this Twitter thread, but think it belongs here as Emi comes out of it v well indeed

Easiest way to work it out is usually average wages... Ligue 1 was about double Championship average wages a few seasons ago, and doubt that has changed significantly. You've also missed out the Bundesliga. BUT, I think what you tend to get with the top flights in countries like France is a wider spread of quality from top to bottom. The top teams fighting for Champions League qualification can attract elite talent... players who'd never consider the Championship. But further down the table the quality quickly becomes mid-table or even lower table Championship. The worst teams in Ligue 1, Belgian league etc would get eaten alive in the Championship. And the Championship is much more physical than probably any other league in Europe bar the Premier League, which creates a different challenge. As for Big Wes, his issue is that the style of football his brain plays is not really suited to his body. And the style of football his body is suited to, he's never really known how to play. Has always been the case, and the injury has just made it a lot worse. He'll keep getting picked up by clubs who see the Brazil cap and the Premier League experience, and the physical attributes. And then they'll discover like everyone else that he wants ball to feet, doesn't want to play on the last defender, isn't very good in the air, and has a chronic injury. There must be a level where the trade off still works for the buying club, but it's unclear exactly what that level is... maybe League One? Second tier in Portugal?

this is insane

What’s latest on him? Doesn’t look like he made the Colombia squad - is he still injured?

I think Indian conditions contributed to it too. English wickets just generally make for more exciting cricket IMO. And the weather seemed to exhaust a lot of the players, as well as creating very different conditions in each innings which meant a lot of games were won on the toss. Although I thought the first semi final was a decent match until the final overs.

Catching them at the perfect time, and I think they’ll play into Unai’s hands with the kind of football he likes to counter. Should be a fantastic game, and would still be happy with a point, as I think we’ll concede a goal or two

I think it's worse than that - the far right outside Israel are trying to exploit Jewish / Muslim differences in their own societies, and position themselves as "friends" of the Jewish community and opponents of Antisemitism for reasons that have little to do with Israel's own far-right politics, but everything to do with stoking up hatred in their own societies.

Yeah maybe my difference is I'm happy to eat a decent portion of carbs with most meals... although I cut back a bit on carbs if I haven't exercised much that day or the previous day. But I try to do it all without too much conscious effort or keeping track of my intake. Combine that with plenty of movement and a regular gym routine, and I'm in the best shape I've been in, without feeling like I'm working hard for it. Other tricks that help - bowl of soup before a main meal. Eating the healthiest bit of the meal (veg, salad, whatever) before you start on the meat and carbs. Drinking more water. And really prioritising your sleep. Take it seriously, invest in it.

Agree with all this, but don’t you agree there are plenty of equally despicable characters on the Israeli side who are corrupt, disingenuous, and outsourcing all the risk to others? Somehow the more reasonable voices on both sides need to become more prominent and influential again. Getting rid of Netanyahu (and not replacing him with a similar personality) would help a lot.

Doesn’t it come down to who will still bear a grudge and who can just laugh it off as ancient history? I’ve had good social gatherings with people I had fights with in my teens and twenties because it didn’t really bother us after so much time, but then I’ve seen family members hold on to a grudge into their 90s and gone to the grave with it.