Nigel Posted January 4, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted January 4, 2021 Why dont we simply play the reserves and win? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 (edited) I’ve thought about this game and I hope we play our strongest team to win. Maybe a few changes here and there but not the whole team. Let’s face it, we have massively overachieved this season and realistically we will finish around 10th. But an FA cup run to go with it would be the icing on the cake. It’s shame there’s no chance of going to Wembley though. Sort of takes the gloss off a cup run. edit; massively overachieved in relation to where we finished last season. Edited January 4, 2021 by Vive_La_Villa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 Kevin Klopp is rattled again! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenm Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 24 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said: realistically we will finish around 10th Really? I think that's hugely underestimating us. We'll be fighting to finish in the top 6 I'm sure. I don't disagree with you about playing the strongest team but it could be the difference between getting Europe next season or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 2 minutes ago, darrenm said: Really? I think that's hugely underestimating us. We'll be fighting to finish in the top 6 I'm sure. I don't disagree with you about playing the strongest team but it could be the difference between getting Europe next season or not. I think fatigue and injuries will eventually kick in and we’ll start dropping a lot more points. we’ve been quite lucky up to now that we’ve pretty much been able to play close to our strongest 11 each game. Maybe I’m just playing it down to avoid disappointment after years of heartbreak. Hopefully this team continues to surprise me. A top 6 push would be amazing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troon_villan Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Players I'm pretty certain will start -: Heaton, Hause, Nakamba, Ramsey and Davis. The rest is anyones guess tbh. I would play Targett and Guilbert with Mings and give Konsa a rest. Traore and Jack out wide with Hourihane as the 3rd CM. Enough of a rotation but still keeping a reasonably strong side. I know people will want Jack wrapped in cotton wool for this one but sorry I just look forward to watching the lad so much. Rested/bench - Emi, Cash, Konsa, Luiz, McGinn, Ghazi and Watkins 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenjiOgiwara Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 11 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said: I think fatigue and injuries will eventually kick in and we’ll start dropping a lot more points. we’ve been quite lucky up to now that we’ve pretty much been able to play close to our strongest 11 each game. Maybe I’m just playing it down to avoid disappointment after years of heartbreak. Hopefully this team continues to surprise me. A top 6 push would be amazing. That's exactly why we should rest players this match. We have a fantastic first team, but we can slide very quickly if what you suggest occurs. I always advocate playing your best side in cups, but this year is going surprisingly well for us so I'd prefer it if we used our limited bench when we could. Not to mention some of our players looked tired recently. They need a rest. Picking up injuries to key players due to a possible win against RS in the third round just isn't worth it this season. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightoffyour Posted January 5, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted January 5, 2021 On 03/01/2021 at 15:05, useless said: Winning the FA Cup is the greatest thing we can realistically achieve this season, if we were to win it would be the greatest thing we've achieved in nearly forty years never mind this season, cannot understand anyone who thinks that it's not important, we're not in relegation trouble as it stands nor are we going to win the title, why on earth waste this good team we've got by not playing them in the one big competition that we have a realistic hope of winning. A player might get injured, but they might also get injured in a league game, at least in the FA Cup they'll be taking that risk for the chance to actually win a trophy, a major honour, and if we were to beat Liverpool we might have easier games in the following round/s which we can then afford to rest more players. If we're to become a genuinely succesful club then winning that first trophy would be the most important landmark to reach, even if we were not to win another trophy for another twenty years, it would still be far more important than anything we can achieve in the league this season and would also do more for Dean Smith's stature as a VIlla manager than anything we can achieve in the league this season for that matter. I think our relative success this season has gone to some people's heads, we're not a Man City or Liverpool that are fighting for the title and playing in Europe,so need to rest players in a competition like this, and have won plenty of trophies so it's less important to them, we're a team that hasn't won anything in over twenty years. Liked both posts because I agree with the above but you went a bit too far last time saying winning the FA Cup over 2nd in the league. On 03/01/2021 at 12:10, eholm said: I admire the sentiment but could not disagree more. The massive impact on our future success and stature would be immeasurable if we ever managed to finish 2nd vs an FA Cup win. (Sorry for swaying into OT territory). That kind of CL position would be massive for the club and would lead to a greater possibility of many more trophies in the near future. 8th place vs 17th and FA Cup win, then yes I'd probably go for the latter. But then you have no progress so does Jack leave, how badly does that affect us? I think we should play a mixed strength team that should be more than strong enough to beat what I presume will be Liverpool's kids again - they're not going to want revenge so badly that they'll risk their title challenge. Yes we've had a bit of a rest (actually only the normal 7 days), but we're playing twice a week for the rest of the month. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidlewis Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 The players will have had a good few days off between United and this game, it’s more the fun after that is the issue. I agree with the mixed strength approach. Rest Cash - Elmo McGinn - Marvelous Luiz - Conor Watkins - Davis Konsa - Hause Martinez - Heaton. Mings, Grealish, Targett, Traore and AEG to play. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Big game for Davis this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 3 minutes ago, Tomaszk said: Big game for Davis this. Agreed - if he doesn’t perform then we may have to dip into the transfer market and look at shipping him out on loan for game time to find form and consistency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 (edited) Think people are getting a little confused with posters suggesting a few changes and thinking people want us to lose. Liverpool have just played West Brom, Newcastle and Southampton and scored one goal. Two of those teams will be finishing bottom 6 this season. Not sure where this idea has come from we must be at full strength to beat them given our squad players have done surprisingly well of late like El Ghazi and Hause, Also add in the Liverpool 11 that has played in last 3 games will be nowhere near as strong as what they'll put on Friday imo so they'll be weaker than normal aswell. Only thing to counter that would be Liverpool incredibly strung by 7-2 seeing as Klopp keeps randomly mentioning us in interviews so that might mean he puts out a strong team for revenge but I still doubt it. Edited January 5, 2021 by VillaChris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 I’d bring in Heaton, Guilbert, Engels, Hourihane and Davis etc for sure. Could Henri Lansbury even make a rarely spotted appearance, with him not being in the PL squad it’s potentially his last chance to pull on the shirt. Can see Klopp playing the U-23’s team again so despite the drop off in quality we should still have enough to win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turvontour Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 2 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said: I’d bring in Heaton, Guilbert, Engels, Hourihane and Davis etc for sure. Could Henri Lansbury even make a rarely spotted appearance, with him not being in the PL squad it’s potentially his last chance to pull on the shirt. Can see Klopp playing the U-23’s team again so despite the drop off in quality we should still have enough to win. Did they play u23 players in fa cup last season? I know they did v us in the league cup, but that was because of their club cup fixture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 54 minutes ago, turvontour said: Did they play u23 players in fa cup last season? I know they did v us in the league cup, but that was because of their club cup fixture. Yep, they beat Everton 1-0 with their U23’s 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted January 5, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted January 5, 2021 4 hours ago, KenjiOgiwara said: That's exactly why we should rest players this match. We have a fantastic first team, but we can slide very quickly if what you suggest occurs. I always advocate playing your best side in cups, but this year is going surprisingly well for us so I'd prefer it if we used our limited bench when we could. Not to mention some of our players looked tired recently. They need a rest. Picking up injuries to key players due to a possible win against RS in the third round just isn't worth it this season. I can see the logic in that but you know, on the other hand there's an argument for going all out in the cup this year to get as fr as we can. We've shown we can beat anyone in a one off game, I genuinely think that is the case, against the best they might need to have a bit of a bad day and we play out of our skins but that's football. Plus, you'd think pretty soon we'll be safe from relegation worries, even if we go on losing streak through an injury or two. So seeing as we won't be winning the league or qualifying for the champions league, or even gettin ginto Europe is the bad run hits. What's left? Our only chance for a glorious season would be lifting the cup. It would mean a european place and would be actual **** silverwear 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, kidlewis said: The players will have had a good few days off between United and this game, it’s more the fun after that is the issue. I agree with the mixed strength approach. Rest Cash - Elmo McGinn - Marvelous Luiz - Conor Watkins - Davis Konsa - Hause Martinez - Heaton. Mings, Grealish, Targett, Traore and AEG to play. Agree apart from Conor. I think he’s finished at this level. Rather see Ramsey. Edited January 5, 2021 by Vive_La_Villa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenjiOgiwara Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 6 minutes ago, romavillan said: I can see the logic in that but you know, on the other hand there's an argument for going all out in the cup this year to get as fr as we can. We've shown we can beat anyone in a one off game, I genuinely think that is the case, against the best they might need to have a bit of a bad day and we play out of our skins but that's football. Plus, you'd think pretty soon we'll be safe from relegation worries, even if we go on losing streak through an injury or two. So seeing as we won't be winning the league or qualifying for the champions league, or even gettin ginto Europe is the bad run hits. What's left? Our only chance for a glorious season would be lifting the cup. It would mean a european place and would be actual **** silverwear I've always been in the play full strength mindset, cause football is ultimately about winning trophies. But there's a shake up in the league now. Both us and Everton can end up getting top 6 this season with a bit of luck. This season. The third round. Very thin and low quality squad. Liverpool on the other end. Nah, rotation for me. The trip wire we have to avoid, to finish this season far beyonds anyone's dreams, is to avoid unnecessary injuries and fatigue. We have a paper thin squad in terms of PL quality players. We were very fortunate in the sense that when Barkley went injured AEG went on a scoring streak and Grealish was unique enough to cover the central area as well. But there are other players we would struggle massively without. Like Targett, Luiz, Watkins, Grealish, Martinez (and Mings/Konsa IMO). So why place ourselves in a stupid position by adding to that risk. Secondly, it's not completely unlikely Liverpool will beat us in this third round. So why add to that misery? You might say that this will always be the case in any cup match any season, that you will have arguments for saving the best most important players for the league. But this season is just different in my eyes. No fans in the stands have changed things up. There's so much belief in our squad, and we got one of the worlds most incredible attacking players. I suspect we will have Grealish next season as well, but you never know. It's just a strange and important season for us. Say we could by magic finish 4th... I'd take 4th at this point over a FA cup trophy, simply because what it means to this club long term. And a FA cup trophy hasn't happened in about 60 years or whatever, so I can understand why ancient fans who has seen us lift everything else, wishes to experience that last trophy before they croak. BUT we're also just 1 point behind the top of the league, assuming we win our remaining matches. Maybe we can just focus on winning the league instead? Anyway I'm rambling. Feel free to convince me, cause I'm normally in the 'you play football to win trophies' camp. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenjiOgiwara Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 19 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said: Agree apart from Conor. I think he’s finished at this level. Rather see Ramsey. I'm not sure he's ever been on this level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 12 minutes ago, KenjiOgiwara said: I've always been in the play full strength mindset, cause football is ultimately about winning trophies. But there's a shake up in the league now. Both us and Everton can end up getting top 6 this season with a bit of luck. This season. The third round. Very thin and low quality squad. Liverpool on the other end. Nah, rotation for me. The trip wire we have to avoid, to finish this season far beyonds anyone's dreams, is to avoid unnecessary injuries and fatigue. We have a paper thin squad in terms of PL quality players. We were very fortunate in the sense that when Barkley went injured AEG went on a scoring streak and Grealish was unique enough to cover the central area as well. But there are other players we would struggle massively without. Like Targett, Luiz, Watkins, Grealish, Martinez (and Mings/Konsa IMO). So why place ourselves in a stupid position by adding to that risk. Secondly, it's not completely unlikely Liverpool will beat us in this third round. So why add to that misery? You might say that this will always be the case in any cup match any season, that you will have arguments for saving the best most important players for the league. But this season is just different in my eyes. No fans in the stands have changed things up. There's so much belief in our squad, and we got one of the worlds most incredible attacking players. I suspect we will have Grealish next season as well, but you never know. It's just a strange and important season for us. Say we could by magic finish 4th... I'd take 4th at this point over a FA cup trophy, simply because what it means to this club long term. And a FA cup trophy hasn't happened in about 60 years or whatever, so I can understand why ancient fans who has seen us lift everything else, wishes to experience that last trophy before they croak. BUT we're also just 1 point behind the top of the league, assuming we win our remaining matches. Maybe we can just focus on winning the league instead? Anyway I'm rambling. Feel free to convince me, cause I'm normally in the 'you play football to win trophies' camp. Whilst not quite the same situation it’s a little bit like when MON fielded a very weak team in Russia when we were 1 game away from a quarter final in the Europa cup. Whilst you can’t blame him as we were genuine top 4 contenders we ended up with nothing. Id be happy with a mixed team. Give some of the first teamers a rest but not all off them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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