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Pre-match thread


One For The Road

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16 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

To answer the bit at the end of your post... because it's football and everyone bar the very very best will suffer from some inconsistency.

Man City are 10th and we beat Liverpool 7-2, it happens. I know we want to win every game but it isn't going to happen.

Also, I'm afraid it is a fact we will not be conceding three outside the box screamers every game. The likelihood of conceding those goals is very low. Could it happen again? Yes. Will it happen every game? No.

We weren't good and deserved to lose two weeks. It's positive we probably had the better chances in both those games though.

Maybe we need to attack more and blow teams away? ;)

Our squad having no quality in depth is our biggest issue right now. It'll take time.

I have no issue with losing.....if I hope to finish half way, its inevitable.

where our views differ, is the manner of the last 2 defeats......I felt our general performace in the last 2 games was in stark contrast to the previous 4 .....and I don't mean just chances in the box, I mean the whole pitch....The squad will be an issue over the whole season.....but these 6 games, I don't think so.

I think we have to resign ourselves to the view, we see/interpret the game differently.

Edited by TRO
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Three losses in a row will go a long way to negate our excellent start.

Pre-match I'm more than happy with a draw, just to stop the rut but we do seem a very "delicate" team mentally.

We play well and our confidence is through the roof, no one can stop us. We hit a bit of adversity and we seem to crumble mentally. Important for the leaders in our squad -  Mings, Grealish, Luiz etc  -to make sure we're ready from the get go.

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22 hours ago, One For The Road said:

I don't think its true that Arsenal away is easier than Leeds at home.

Away to an established top 6 side who just won at Old Trafford or at home to a newly promoted side who currently sit 12th in the table.

The Leeds hype is getting ridiculous. They have had one great result. ONE! And that was against us.

Arsenal will finish miles ahead of Leeds and this is a tougher game.

This whole Leeds thing has gotten ridiculous !!

They are a well coached team playing a particular system but while i don't think they are relegation candidates i don't think they are Premier league elite status just yet. Arsenal are a way better team than Leeds and will be a challenge.

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Aside from the Liverpool game, our first 4 results flattered us. We were poor against a 10 man Sheff U, okay against a weak Fulham team and narrowly beat a Leicester side without their 5 best players. All of those sides had their chances too, and didn't take them. Southampton weren't really better than any of those, they were just more clinical. 

That being said, I think Arsenal is a winnable game. We need a bit of luck defensively and to be more intense and clinical up front. A draw would be a good result. 

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Arsenal blow hot and cold like us.  If we get them on a cold night we could blow them away playing our best stuff.  Their defence is really poor and the midfield is average so it's all about soaking up the inevitable pressure from Aub, Lacazette and Willian and hitting them on the break.

2-1 Villa

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11 hours ago, TRO said:

I have no issue with losing.....if I hope to finish half way, its inevitable.

where our views differ, is the manner of the last 2 defeats......I felt our general performace in the last 2 games was in stark contrast to the previous 4 .....and I don't mean just chances in the box, I mean the whole pitch....The squad will be an issue over the whole season.....but these 6 games, I don't think so.

I'm not sure we disagree on performance? Maybe. I don't think we were great in the Sheff U, Fulham, Leicester, Leeds or Southampton games, yet we won three. Probably unlucky to not be 2-0 up playing poorly v Leeds as well.

Plenty improvement to come across the pitch this season, work to do. LOADS of improvement to come in terms of squad depth in the next few windows I'd imagine.

Didn't think performance was something you were fussed with generally? You're usually results over anything else, yes? 12 points from 18 is great! 

Performance-wise I make it 1-2-3 for Good-OK-Poor.

11 hours ago, TRO said:

I think we have to resign ourselves to the view, we see/interpret the game differently.

I agree :flag:

Big game for Barkley I'd say this one. If he's poor again, no problem from me to drop him for Hourihane for next few.

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This is a big game for us, before the coming international break. Following a tremendous winning start to the season, we do not want what was described as a slump, to become something more than that. A defeat tomorrow night, would make it three on the bounce to follow our previous four victories and that would put a serious dent in our start to this season. We need to stop the rot and to avoid defeat tomorrow night. We need our defence to become as difficult to score against as it had been before our last two home games and we need our midfield to react to the runs made by their opposite numbers. 

We beat Arsenal at Villa Park last season, during our season saving late run and have slaughtered the league champions already this season, so we have shown we can beat teams like this. We are currently 3 points behind the current league leaders, with 2 games in hand. A point should keep us in the top half of the table and three could see us back in the top four, or at least much nearer to it. This will be a difficult game to get something from though, with the home side on a decent run and with their confidence as a result on a high. 

We last won at Arsenal in 2013 and have lost on our subsequent three visits. We also won there in 2008 and in 2011, so it has been a rather happy hunting ground for us in recent years. Overall, we have won 62 and have drawn 39 of the 176 league meetings, that there have been between the two clubs. We need to play at our best for 90 minutes on Sunday. It would be nice to win this one, as we did a couple of weeks ago at Leicester. I would not say no to a point though. Just don't lose it Villa!:flag:   

Edited by John
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Too many have had off nights of late. Jack and Trez are the only ones who really came away with any credit last week. Big performances needed by all the back 5 aswell as Douglas and McGinn. The front 3 can then impose themselves if we can be solid and well set up at the back. Please just take something, will be a long 2 week break coming off a 3rd successive defeat.

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Need to ditch the 4-3-3 in this game and play 4-2-3-1 with McGinn and Luiz sitting deep to protect the back 4. Give Jack and Ross a bit of freedom on the counter.

 

Don't think Smith will do that though.

Edited by PieFacE
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