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11 minutes ago, meregreen said:

At no stage in that game did we have control of midfield. We may have competed a little better when Youri was on, but Chelsea’s midfield pretty much ran the show for the majority of the match. Injuries and lack of squad depth are costing us.

I agree, we didn't have control of the midfield however, we stopped Chelsea taking control of it with Youri in there. When Diaby came on we gave them full control imo

2 minutes ago, tinker said:

You see it differently to me, no need to get knickers in a twist, Dougie lol.

Dougie lol?! What you on about, should I have called him Doug like you because it sounds more manly ... That's your focus instead of the claim we're blessed with several players very similar.... You then point out Rodgers as an example which I found baffling tbh. 

I wasn't getting my nickers in a twist at all, I was just pointing out the fact that we really don't have anyone similar. Especially Rodgers. 

1 hour ago, tinker said:

Selling him to a rival sends a bad message out to our other players , especially Ollie. Emery will however do what needs to be done and we are blessed with having a few players similar to Doug, Rogers being a new option . Whatever happens we need a stronger DM and if we get one then one of our current midfielders has to be benched.

What you on about, we haven't got anyone similar to Dougie. And Rodgers certainly isn't. Both completely different style of player. Tielemans is the closest but still a very different player.

We've also already established DL is really not a DM, he's just operating there because our number one DM is injured and the club decided to let our back up DM go out on loan. 

2 minutes ago, NorthEastVillan said:

I feel for Moussa tbh. I dont understand shelling out £50m plus on a very good winger, only to try and change him into a number 10.

It's like buying a striker for £100m and asking him to play CM. 

Hard enough moving countries and adapting to the pace of the Prem without having to learn a new position.

I agree with this. 

We are though in a needs must situation so many players aren't playing in the preferred or natural positions

Lets not sugar coat it.. He was awful last night yet seems to always avoid criticism from many because of his personality and the fact he's a tryer. Kept running into trouble and several times just punting the ball to nowhere giving the ball  back to Chelsea. 

3 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said:

You should see Tim's thread...

I don't believe Tim's to blame especially as he replaced Luiz rather than being brought on to support him and McGinn. Imo we lost the midfield and that was the major difference in the performance second half. We lost the numbers game.

3 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said:

Eh, who exactly do you bring on? Yoiri went off. Kamara out injured, Ramsey out injured. Zaniolo out.

We gave up the midfield bringing Diaby on when Youri went off. I'd have brought on Tim instead of Diaby. 

1 minute ago, Nabby said:

Only other option was Tim and given we won with Diarby as a 3 behind Watkins last game I can see why he did it .

The issue is the 2 in cm Luiz and McGinn never got on ball to feed that front three.The three spend most of game running after the ball and defending.

There was a reason Diaby got dropped in favour of Luiz which was for the additional CM. Giving that up to play Diaby centrally was a mistake imo, a mistake that allowed Chelsea to overrun us in midfield second half. They were unlucky to be 2-0 at half time but as soon as Youri went off we should've stuck with the gameplan and kept the additional body in the centre.  

50 minutes ago, Lerner's Driver said:

He's actually a very good player.

He is.. Ripped the shit out of Digne all night, with ease. 

8 minutes ago, villanmac said:

We aren't able to though. We massively struggle against pace and physicality which those two teams have in abundance. In those games we've rarely looked like winning man for man battles.

This is it for me.. Just back from the game and what is abundantly clear is quick physical teams can take us apart too easily. Newcastle, Spuds, Chelsea. We were very lucky to get anything out of that game tonight. Absolutely atrocious performance just getting bullied all over the park. 

I loved the first game.... The second is going to go up a few levels.

8 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

I respectfully disagree. McGinn brings us so much. He’s different to Tielemans, Kamara and Luiz. He has bite, desire, energy and leadership. 

Whether he plays on the left, right or in the middle, we’re a much better team with McGinn in it. 

Martinez, Konsa, Watkins and McGinn are vital to us in every match. 

He does bring all those attributes you mention.....however, and the same goes for the other players you've mentioned, if this team is to go onto another level under Emery..... which he'll demand by the way, then we will need either the players to bring more to the table or bring in players that do. That's just a cold hard fact. 

1 minute ago, brommy said:

It's definitely a game of opinions.

Yes, Sunday wasn't a perfect game from McGinn but I thought he played very well overall. I watched a few Bournemouth fan channel reactions to the game on YouTube. A couple highlighted McGinn as playing 'fantastic'. Again, all just opinions.

That's all it is. 

I think as fans we also need to be realistic in the long term... Not just possibly about McGinn but potentially other players that are fan favourites in the squad. The team/squad if we eventually want to get closer to the top of the table and be in the CL on a regular basis that's going to require a few upgrades across the board over the next 2-3 years.

Just now, Delphinho123 said:

He’s the first name on the team sheet. 

Only because he's the current captain. 

9 hours ago, brommy said:

Apart from Sunday, presumably?

No I didn't think he was great on Sunday and certainly not on the level of Teilemans or Rodgers in midfield.  Lost the ball in dangerous areas a couple of times, gets smothered trying to dribble or turn out in tight areas and his passing hasn't been great either. 

He's had great games this season, and a fans favourite but I don't think he's been playing well at all recently. It's just my opinion

52 minutes ago, ender4 said:

It's just because of that interview where the CEO of Coca-Cola said he was a Villa fan.  Nothing in the rumours and speculation. 

Are we sure it wasn't the CEO of Villa is a Coke fan? The Colombian kind. That may explain a few of the decisions since he arrived. 

Great character and has had some great games this season but, I think he's been in pretty poor form since he came back from the ban. 

His first couple of games I thought he might take a very long time to adapt to the pace and possibly struggle with the step up. I was wrong by a long way, I think he's a gem and it might seem a little harsh but I struggle to see Ramsey getting back into the side if Rodgers keeps improving at the rate he is. IMO he's got a seriously high ceiling having the size and strength that Jacob lacks and his passing range also appears more decisive. It's early days but he's looking like some player

Just now, flashingqwerty said:

Zaniolos stop moaning and get on with it you numpty

Give is a rest ffs, he's played well. The hate the kid gets borders on the ridiculous

1 minute ago, briny_ear said:

Zaniolo and Rogers doing good. Carlos good in defence. Martinez = king of the world.

Agreed.. I'm seeing it the same tbh. All 4 have played really well.

Not a bad half tbf. Rodgers, Zaniolo and Carlos have looked very good. Emi immense. A few of the others need to liven up but all things considered pretty good.

I think with City going back top Arsenal could start to panic now, and it puts far more pressure on them to get a result against us tomorrow. IMO that could leave them forcing the game rather than playing their natural game, leaving themselves open to the counter. Arteta will now be wondering whether to stick or twist now with Bayern on Weds giving them no time to really recover. We've got a decent record at the Emirates too, not brilliant but not bad either, it's definitely a place we can win or grind a result at. We need to go all out tomorrow and look to get something from the game.