Popular Post Zatman Posted December 28, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted December 28, 2020 2 hours ago, kidlewis said: I managed to find details So you’d be right if it was a bormal season as we would have played 18/19 games by now but as it stands Targett, McGinn and Grealish need to avoid a yellow card for another 5 games. That’s unlikely take them vs United and miss the cup game 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osmark86 Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 16 minutes ago, Zatman said: take them vs United and miss the cup game yes please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 20 minutes ago, Zatman said: take them vs United and miss the cup game Certainly need him and McGinn around for the Spurs game. Jack will probably break world record for free kicks won v Spurs given likes of Hojiberg and Sissoko are fouling machines whenever an opponent ventures into their half. Spurs conceded a few goals from set pieces in recent weeks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 In the past you'd be dreading facing Chelsea/United/Spurs/Everton all back to back but now I'm absolutely relishing it. We can really make a statement with a good run here. And then when that run is done we have a very nice run of fixtures all the way until April! The hardest game in that lot is probably Southampton away. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post maqroll Posted December 29, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted December 29, 2020 Anyone else finding themselves just staring at the league table for prolonged periods lately? 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 3 minutes ago, Keyblade said: In the past you'd be dreading facing Chelsea/United/Spurs/Everton all back to back but now I'm absolutely relishing it. We can really make a statement with a good run here. And then when that run is done we have a very nice run of fixtures all the way until April! The hardest game in that lot is probably Southampton away. What a shame Old Trafford won't be full of fans for this Friday night tilt. Covid can't end soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osmark86 Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 1 minute ago, maqroll said: Anyone else finding themselves just staring at the league table for prolonged periods lately? it's open on the tab next to VillaTalk in my browser in case I need that fix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 Think we'll see what this squad is about once 40 points is passed. So many times in past we've seen teams overperforming and then just go into beach mode once they hit 40 points even if there's still 10 games left. Charlton used to be past masters at it and teams managed by Pulis usually have awful ends to seasons when they hit that range so I'm hopeful there's far more ambition around here. Big chance we could do with still around 15 games left. Top 6 could easily be low 60s this year so would make the run in very exciting as every game would suddenly feel like our run to the play offs two seasons back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 Would be interested to see how we're doing compared to Sheffield united after same number of games last season. From post lockdown they ended last season with 3 wins from last 10 games and lost their last three so example of team running out of steam which has continued spectacularly this season. Still ended 9th with 54 points. I think we're capable of doing better than that and getting close to 60 points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 6 minutes ago, VillaChris said: Would be interested to see how we're doing compared to Sheffield united after same number of games last season. From post lockdown they ended last season with 3 wins from last 10 games and lost their last three so example of team running out of steam which has continued spectacularly this season. Still ended 9th with 54 points. I think we're capable of doing better than that and getting close to 60 points. After 14 games they had 19 points with a GD of +4, compared to our 26 points and a GD of +14. Also worth noting they'd won only 4 games up to that point, which is the same number that we had by that stage last season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Mantis said: After 14 games they had 19 points with a GD of +4, compared to our 26 points and a GD of +14. Also worth noting they'd won only 4 games up to that point, which is the same number that we had by that stage last season. Blimey doing miles better then. They must've had some run up to middle of March from that point. Lockdown really did mess them up. Ah well. Honestly think 60 points should be our season target. It's another 10 wins and 4 draws so feels realistic. If we can get there with a few games still left even better. Edited December 29, 2020 by VillaChris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 Smith name checked JT in today's post match interview, and it got me thinking about what he brings to the club: Shakespeare + JT have both been at clubs winning a first Premier League title. They know what it feels like. I know our older fans will remember the pre-Sky days and the great Ron Saunders team, but for most of our fanbase, we're in a similar position to Chelsea in the 90s or Leicester in the 2010s. Ambitious clubs with decent investment and some great talent, but not much silverware in recent memory, and not taken seriously by Man Utd / Liverpool / Arsenal etc. We have two men on Smith's coaching team who both know how you can turn that into a hunger to win things and build a winning mentality at a club. Credit to Smith for having the humility and leadership skills to involve them in his setup. He obviously listens to what they have to say, and the players are obviously learning from them. I really think, as long as Watkins stays fit, and as long as we don't have a massive injury crisis, we can keep competing with every team in the league for the rest of the season. Perhaps even finish top 4 if we're really, really lucky with injuries and results around us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QldVilla Posted December 29, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted December 29, 2020 I know it’s been a strange season so far, so anything can happen, but the bigger clubs are drifting towards the top of the league. I will dream like everybody else, but my brain says Top 4 is a step too far. We were on tilt the last 20 min at Chelsea, but we can’t do that every week against the Top teams we will be facing in January. If we stay healthy I believe we will finish from 8-10, but we may only be 3-5 points from the Top 6 at the end is the season. We are 3-4 quality players away from a Top 6 club, but I will continue to dream... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 4 minutes ago, QldVilla said: We are 3-4 quality players away from a Top 6 club, but I will continue to dream... Out of curiosity what positions. I'll list who I think are all top players in our uninjured usual 11 Martinez Cash Konza Mings Luiz McGinn Grealish Barkley Watkins Targett Traore AEG Trez Ramsey have all done great filling last 2 spots or covering others and I think we're absolutely worth our position in the table and could be higher with games in hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdulaziz1 Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 7 minutes ago, QldVilla said: I know it’s been a strange season so far, so anything can happen, but the bigger clubs are drifting towards the top of the league. I will dream like everybody else, but my brain says Top 4 is a step too far. We were on tilt the last 20 min at Chelsea, but we can’t do that every week against the Top teams we will be facing in January. If we stay healthy I believe we will finish from 8-10, but we may only be 3-5 points from the Top 6 at the end is the season. We are 3-4 quality players away from a Top 6 club, but I will continue to dream... I don't think it's the right way to look at things that way. For me it's game at a time. As we used to do when we were in the relegation race. Just look at those who are above you and below you, who are they playing? what will benefit us? and hope all goes our way. We're only couple of points from top. Why don't we look at being top of the league even just for a week? We can't go and think about our longer run and start calculating, a lot of variables. We can now think of what in front of us, beating Man Utd. That should be the aim. For games tonight, we'll hope that our neighbor do us another favor and either beat or draw with them. With hopefully Spurs and Liverpool lose some points too. We look at every gameweek by itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNVillan Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 20 minutes ago, QldVilla said: I know it’s been a strange season so far, so anything can happen, but the bigger clubs are drifting towards the top of the league. I will dream like everybody else, but my brain says Top 4 is a step too far. We were on tilt the last 20 min at Chelsea, but we can’t do that every week against the Top teams we will be facing in January. If we stay healthy I believe we will finish from 8-10, but we may only be 3-5 points from the Top 6 at the end is the season. We are 3-4 quality players away from a Top 6 club, but I will continue to dream... I think Europe should absolutely be on our radar. Doesn’t mean we’ll finish in a European spot, but if we can keep up a similar pace to this then there’s no reason our last few matches of the season can’t be meaningful - in a good way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QldVilla Posted December 29, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted December 29, 2020 55 minutes ago, Kiwivillan said: Out of curiosity what positions. I'll list who I think are all top players in our uninjured usual 11 Martinez Cash Konza Mings Luiz McGinn Grealish Barkley Watkins Targett Traore AEG Trez Ramsey have all done great filling last 2 spots or covering others and I think we're absolutely worth our position in the table and could be higher with games in hand For me it’s depth of squad, but brining in better players or competition to rotate, or change formation. We need a DL to compete with Targett, another box to box midfielder to compete with McGinn, we sign Barkley that’s 3. I would then say there are arguments for different positions, a new young right back, a proper young DM a striker like Edouard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QldVilla Posted December 29, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted December 29, 2020 1 hour ago, abdulaziz1 said: I don't think it's the right way to look at things that way. For me it's game at a time. As we used to do when we were in the relegation race. Just look at those who are above you and below you, who are they playing? what will benefit us? and hope all goes our way. We're only couple of points from top. Why don't we look at being top of the league even just for a week? We can't go and think about our longer run and start calculating, a lot of variables. We can now think of what in front of us, beating Man Utd. That should be the aim. For games tonight, we'll hope that our neighbor do us another favor and either beat or draw with them. With hopefully Spurs and Liverpool lose some points too. We look at every gameweek by itself. That’s why I said my head and my heart. It’s clear to see what our challenges are going to be moving forward, they may or may not have positive or negative outcomes for our final position. We keep on improving week in week out, who knows the ceiling, but I’m also a realist and know there’s going to be challenges before the end of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QldVilla Posted December 29, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted December 29, 2020 1 hour ago, MNVillan said: I think Europe should absolutely be on our radar. Doesn’t mean we’ll finish in a European spot, but if we can keep up a similar pace to this then there’s no reason our last few matches of the season can’t be meaningful - in a good way. I don’t think Europe isn’t possible, it’s about whether we can maintain the physical and mental requirements at a high enough level for the whole season. That’s the million dollar question that will be answered over the next couple of months of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 37 minutes ago, QldVilla said: striker like Edouard Smith isn't going to play 2 strikers. Ollie is the main man. Wesley will get chance back from injury and Traore has excellent record at CF. We're not getting another big money CF 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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