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markavfc40

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Everything posted by markavfc40

  1. Just back and wet and pissed off. First half we played okay and 0-0 was fair. Robbed way too easy for the second goal though, then McGinn losing his head 10 minutes later and the game is done at that point. I am not concerned at all by the last couple of goals as we'd just ran out of steam and ideas at that point. Whilst I am pissed off with today I can though put it in perspective and see it as a bad day at the office within an excellent season and what could still be a remarkable one. We haven't lost two league games on the bounce for over 10 months and I'm confident we'll again bounce back.
  2. We haven't lost two league games on the bounce this season (in fact it has only happened once in over a year) so to say we are more than capable of losing to West Ham and Wolves is doing us more than a bit of a disservice. I'm very much of the opinion a win against Spurs and we're nailed on for Champs League qualification.
  3. I think Emery shared the workload really well tonight which means we can start all of Torres, Cash, Moreno, McGinn and Bailey, who played 45 mins or less tonight, and have plenty of fresh legs. Hopefully Ramsey is fit and can also start.
  4. If we beat Spurs we are almost certainly only 3 wins from last 10 games from securing champ leagues qualification. I think if anything beat Spurs we'd be more likely to go full strength against Ajax and weaker against West Ham. I don't think we over exerted ourselves tonight in fairness as didn't get out of 2nd gear. I think Dougie, and Watkins, who are machines fitness wise, can comfortably play the next 3 after tonight. Of what we'd consider our current best outfield 10 you may see Digne, Konsa (enforced), Torres, Bailey, Tielemans not start all three but you have Moreno, Carlos, Lenglet, Diaby and Ramsey (hopefully) to switch in for/mix and match with them and can still be not far off as strong. I think we managed the workloads well tonight with Torres and Cash only having 45 mins, McGinn and Bailey only 30 minutes and Moreno only 15 allowing us to freshen it up on Sunday.
  5. Looked lively when he came on. That was never in a million years a booking and now he misses the second leg.
  6. I'd be amazed if that is the case mate. If we beat Spurs I am 100% certain we go full strength in the second leg. Even if we don't I think we'll start at least as strong as tonight, more than likely stronger, and look to have the game put to bed by 60 minutes, then make changes.
  7. Decent result from what was overall a dire game. One shot on target from both sides. Ref was absolutely shocking and out of his depth. Overall though I think we'll be the happier and be confident of finishing the job at a rocking VP.
  8. Way more changes than expected but that is still a really strong side. Great chance for Tim and Rogers and Diaby will hopefully grab his chance of a start for some time. Good options on bench as well if needed. Get a result with this line up and can freshen things up on Sunday. I'm going for a Villa win by 2 goals.
  9. I feel a bit better now knowing that my increased bill may be subsidising those paying f all. Cheers
  10. Just had water bill for upcoming year through. Pretty much a 10%increase to £626 a year. Robbing bastards.
  11. Torres is in this video posted by the club today (about 11 seconds in). Duran is back in training.
  12. No mate he is definitely a blues fan. I spent a couple of hours in his company, along with Garry Thompson and Paul Franks (ex WM) and he never hid the fact. A lot of commentators don't like you to know where their allegiances lie and in fairness you can't blame them, especially those who work for other clubs. In fairness to Rego it has never come across in his commentary and he is very professional.
  13. It is Mark Regan (ex radio WM). I think he is very good but he is a Sha fan so I don't know if that dampens his enthusiasm at times.
  14. Going ahead against Man City and seeing the job through is not for every Champs League chasing team is it
  15. In fairness mate Van Der Ven is part of a team that have conceded two more goals than us in one less game. Sven Botman is part of a team that have conceded 8 more. Now obviously they aren't solely responsible for those sides defensive records and both Spurs and Newcastle have had defensive injuries. I'd argue though we have suffered as much as any side in that regard with arguably our best centre back being out all season, Pau Torres missing a quarter of the season, Konsa and Carlos being out for a number of games, Moreno missing the first 3rd of the season, Digne being out for a number of games and arguably our best defensive midfielder out from early Feb for the rest of the season. You take everything into account then it is in some ways remarkable we still have the 4th best defensive record (it is currently the 5th but I'd bet my house on Man Utd conceding today). I'd say a massive reason for that is that Watkins has stayed fit all season and off the back of it had 26 goal contributions. You swap Mings getting the ACL for Watkins and I'd imagine we'd quite possibly now be talking about us not competing with the best teams in terms of goals scored.
  16. No we don't and the fact we have only conceded more than 2 goals away from home three times all season tells you that. That is true. If you have watched them then it is also true that they have given some very good sides, in fact sides better than us, just as tough a time at home this season (drew 1-1 with Liverpool, lost 2-3 to Arsenal (in last minute), lost 1-2 to Man City) and have also beaten Brighton 4-0 and Newcastle 1-0. Why can't we? Emery has managed us for 52 league games during which time we have scored 99 goals so pretty much two goals a game. That has yielded 104 points (2 ppg). We are not talking about a few games here and thinking this can't be maintained and the bubble is going to burst. This is us now and what we do. I wouldn't dispute in an ideal world I'd rather we scored at the rate we do and never conceded. Given the choice though would I rather win 2-0 or 4-2, 1-0 or 4-3, 2-0 or 5-3, 1-0 or 3-2? I'll take seeing more goals every day of the week whilst stating the obvious of preferring to win 3-0, 4-0, 5-0.
  17. I actually think given the amount of corners and free kicks (into the box) that we faced yesterday we defended them quite well. The two goals they did score one was a goalmouth scramble and the other was a superb ball from I think Doughty that 99% of defenses would have struggled with. My bigger concern yesterday was how we seemed to lack an attacking intent in the 2nd half as had we kept the same intensity we had in the first half I think we'd have grabbed another 2 or 3 and won comfortably. Also you have to sometimes credit the opposition. They upped their game, and also deployed the tactic of going down when breathed on and had a ref more than happy to help them along with that tactic. Bottom line though is that despite a poor second half we won and that is now 3 wins on the spin. A lesser team after the Man Utd result 3 weeks ago, where we didn't get the result our performance deserved, could have wilted but we have shown great character in coming back to win 3 on the spin. We have also shown great character within those individual games in overcoming some very poor decisions in the Fulham game and a late rally from them, kicking on again after Forest came back, and yesterday coming again after throwing away a two goal lead and being up against a dire referee. That character really bodes well for the run in.
  18. Reading a few doubts in this thread/reasons why today may be difficult and they are all pretty easily debunked. Luton are a different side at home to the one who we played at VP. They have won just 3 of 13 at home and lost 8. The atmosphere at Kenilworth Road will play a big part. It holds just over 10k and we'll have 1500 of those. Our lads will have played in far more hostile places. The pitch is narrow which will impact how we play. Well yes the pitch is narrow at 66m compared to VP which is 68m. However it is 1m wider than Craven Cottage where we won two weeks ago with a very good performance. Ross Barkley will be well up for this and will be a danger. Facts are Ross Barkley would struggle to make our bench and would get nowhere near a starting 11 top 6 side. He has done okay this season but in 20 games has 3 goals and 3 assists. I have watched Luton a fair bit this season and they have given some very good sides a decent game. I can't see anything other than a comfortable win here for us though. I think they'll have a real go at us which will play into our hands and they'll leave themselves open and we have more than enough to exploit that. I'm going for a win by at least 3 goals for us.
  19. In fairness this whole discussion about us needing to concede fewer goals is a load of BS. In any individual game you need to score more goals than you concede to win and the more times you can do that the higher up the table you'll be. This whole discussion bewilders me though as we have in comparison to the other 20 sides we are competing with the 5th best defensive record in the league (conceded 35) only bettered by the top 3 and the team that currently sits 15th (conceded 34) and I doubt any of us would want to have conceded one less goal but be 11 places worse off. It is interesting that you have posted this mate but I think you have made a big omission. The team that finished 3rd in the last 5 seasons conceded 43, 33, 42, 36, 39. So in two of the 5 seasons you quoted twice the team in 3rd conceded more goals than the team that finished 4th and on one occasion the team in 3rd/4th conceded the same amount of goals. In fact in 2 of the last 5 seasons the team that finished 2nd conceded more goals than the team that finished 4th. Bottom line is that to win any individual game you need to score more than you concede. You then get consistent at doing that you are going to find yourself up near the top of the league. We have been really consistent for 18 months under Emery at doing just that and we are reaping some great rewards and playing some cracking football.
  20. In fairness it is only important relative to the teams you are competing with and what happened in past seasons is totally irrelevant. The two teams we are competing with for 4th place, Spurs having played a game less have conceded 38, and Man Utd have conceded 36. Man Utd have also scored 20 less goals than us and Spurs 4 goals less than us. Our defensive record stacks up really well and outside of the top 3, who we simply aren't yet competing with, only Everton have conceded less than us (one less).
  21. Fantastic news. May not make the weekend but hopefully back for Ajax/Spurs.
  22. Great prices. Fair play to the club.
  23. I think Gary Neville summed it up nicely when he said Chelsea were billion pound bottle jobs. Fair play to Liverpool's youngsters.
  24. Before my time but he is just one of those players that surely every Villa fan should know of and I'd imagine most of us have seen that league cup final goal. The last few years must have been horrible for both him and his family and hopefully they have found peace now. RIP Chris. Villa legend and now HEITS.
  25. I reckon by the middle of next week. The racist, one brain cell at most, prick is perfect for them.
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