wilko154

Why jeopardize getting knocked out of the League Cup early with a poor performance from a fringe side. Momentum is key at the moment, a win tonight will put is in good stead for Saturday. We have the chance to rest players and give some players their first starts of the season, but it should be done on a 50/50 basis for continuity. **** the cup is a disrespectful attitude to the travelling support. I for one will not be happy if I turn up to the game tonight and the players had that attitude.

The players that played against Everton that I would want to play tonight are: Guilbert - He's only played one game, could do with some more game time. Engels - A bit of continuity at the back and can get used to playing alongside Guilbert. Grealish - Hasn't been his usual best, this game gives him the chance to get his confidence back up. Jota - He's only played one game, could do with some more game time. El Ghazi - Rested last game, can easily play 90 minutes. Wesley - Got his first goal, could do with a few more for confidence. We can play the likes of Konsa, Targett, Nakamba etc around the core of the team whilst resting Mings, McGinn, Trezeguet, Taylor.

If professional footballers aren't able to play a midweek game before Saturday then there is something seriously wrong with their fitness, especially 3 weeks into a new season. Mings is the only players who should definitely be rested after picking up a knock before Friday's game. We should be going out to win and make sure we are in the hat for the next round.

No, we should go for it. Too many times in the past we have put a second string out and bottled it in the early rounds. Bring in a few players but keep the first 11 strong. Steer Guilbert Engels Konsa Targett Nakamba Grealish Hourihane Jota Wesley El Ghazi Last season we played 42 games with midweek games. We should easily be able to handle a second game this week three weeks into the season. Leave out Mings as he looked injured during the warm up. Rest McGinn and Trezegeut. Look to bring Grealish and Wesley off when the game is tied up.

If's and But's And we're off! What a result and performance to go with it. 40 is the magic number of points we need to beat relegation. Last season this would have achieved 15th place in the league. To achieve this we would require 4 points per month. If we are to better this and achieve 6 points per month we would beat Wolves last season with a haul of 60 points, 7th. For now let's aim to beat relegation. August Tottenham - Loss Bournemouth - Loss Everton - Win Crystal Palace - Predicted Win Predicted Points - 6 Current Points - 3 We now have the chance to make August a solid month and set ourselves on course to pull away from a relegation battle.

Yes

I have a feeling Nakamba is going to be one of those players that, when he plays, will have an immediate effect and take no time at all to get up to the pace. Quite excited to see him. I imagine he will make his debut on Tuesday at Crewe.

Finally done it, won the Champions League against PSG in 2024/25. Also won the PL for a 3rd consecutive season. I now just need the FA Cup to have won every major competition.

Dean Smith had a dream To build a football team He got us promoted, despite all the odds With Mings at the back Grealish in attack We're Aston Villa We're on our way back De de de de de de

There isn't a single fixture in the league where a 3rd kit is required.

In fairness I was surprised just how many fans were wearing the new shirts at Villa Park last week. There were a lot of away shirts knocking about as well which I noticed as I hadn't seen one closeup. I think the playoff win and return to the PL has led people to splashing the cash this year. If you look at last Summer, despite the exceptional kit design by Luke/Fanatics, the club were in a dark place with facing bankruptcy / bruceball and there was little to look forward to going into the new season. This most likely impacted the kit sales.

Williams was superb against us pre-season, picked Grealish's pocket on multiple occasions.

Not for me, we are struggling enough with a change of personnel, changing the formation and entire gameplan as well will only make things worse. Unfortunately we need to persist until it works itself out, we aren't far away.

United look pretty impressive in fairness. Lukaku leaving has finally allowed Martial a chance to play in his natural position. His movement alone in comparison to Lukaku causes opponents more problems.

No width there at all, we would get absolutely bummed in the wide areas and be too compact in the midfield.

Let's be realistic here, Grealish had an off day. He wasn't at his usual best, anyone disputing that clearly didn't watch the full 90 minutes. However in saying this he was still our biggest threat, he showed this in working the space for Luiz's goal. He totalled 6 Key Passes in the game, last season his average was 4 per game. So in that respect he is still creating chances despite the step up to the PL. However, his pass success rate against Bournemouth was 79.6% (although very good), last season his average was 85.2%. And this showed during the game as he misplaced more passes than usual. The last time he fell below 80% pass success rate was against Sheff Wed in April where he had a 73% pass success rate.

Would you start him on Friday and risk him having a similar first half as he did Saturday? Or do you think he's worth the gamble for his second half display? Just interested in everyone's opinions. I'm not sure what to make of him in the DM role, it was a very Jekyll & Hyde performance on Saturday.

I have the same issue as you, with O2 also. Last season they said they were sorting out the network for EE & O2 but it still hasn't happened. I know that Vodafone works perfectly, not sure about other networks.

That's a 10 minute highlight reel in which Elmo crossed the ball a couple of times. Over the 90 minutes he was the weak link in the back 4. Guilbert is just as adept at crossing the ball and overlapping the winger. Defensively Elmo can be a liability at times, Guilbert deserves a chance.

Things I noticed, I am in the Holte Upper so may not be the same throughout the ground: Positives: The outside of the stadium looks much better, cleaner and brighter with the displays covering the worst parts. The shop and ticket office also look fantastic. A lot of new paint about outside, gold lions, gates painted etc. The beer options are much better - the Pale Ale is fantastic. The food choices are much better - chips and chilli is the one! Contactless card machines on the concourse's should make things quicker if the service can sort themselves out. Negatives: The new PA System is just as bad as the old one. Food and drink service is still slow. TV's need cleaning or fixing, I saw a few that weren't working (they've had two months to fix them). Inside could do with a lick of paint. Toilets need tidying up / revamping. Litter outside needs some attention as others have noted.

Heaton Guilbert Engels Mings Taylor Luiz Hourihane Trezeguet McGinn Grealish Wesley I would go with this. Grealish has made a lot of mistakes through the middle. It might be worth giving him a bit of time and space on the wing for a game. Through the middle Everton could punish us, Hourihane can come in alongside Luiz to help him out with one of them moving forwards to aid McGinn when we are on the attack. Elmo looks the most suspect FB out of the two, I would bring Guilbert in to sure us up defensively.