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Pre-Match Thread


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1 hour ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

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. 

Pretty big difference between a European cup QF and  a FA cup fourth round I'd say.

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44 minutes ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

Pretty big difference between a European cup QF and  a FA cup fourth round I'd say.

Winning an FA cup would be amazing and a lot more likely than finishing top 6. I would rather win the FA cup and finish 10th than get knocked out and finish 5th.

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1 hour ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Winning an FA cup would be amazing and a lot more likely than finishing top 6. I would rather win the FA cup and finish 10th than get knocked out and finish 5th.

I would rather finishing 5th because it would make us more attractive for players.

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6 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

I would rather finishing 5th because it would make us more attractive for players.

I personally don’t think a player moves to a club based on whether they finished 5th or 10th.  It’s about the ambitious for the next season and the right money being offered. 

But being an fa cup winner is prestigious. We haven’t achieved it for a very long time. But I do think it’s more about the joy of seeing your club play at Wembley. No better feeling. The whole day is such a great occasion. The atmosphere is amazing.   I don’t think you get that do you mate?

But anyway this season nobody is going to Wembley so in that respect an FA cup run will feel a bit flat. So I’m not that bothered either way what team we field.

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I'm quite looking forward to watching a pressure off Villa game. Win and it's great we go through, and will have beaten them three straight games at Villa Park. Lose and we can concentrate on the league, doing ourselves a favour with the busy schedule. I love watching us this season in the premier league dont get me wrong, just always on edge, desperate for us to win. Friday night I'm looking forward to.

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14 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Winning an FA cup would be amazing and a lot more likely than finishing top 6. I would rather win the FA cup and finish 10th than get knocked out and finish 5th.

Virtually all winners of the cups are top 6 sides or former top 6 (Arsenal). It's probably only been Portsmouth and Blues who have won cups outside the usual lot in about the last 20 years.

The teams that we have lost to in  major cup finals this century have been Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal and Citeh. The same lot every time who look bored when they win the cups.

I don't think is either/or , it is all or nothing. You are either in the elite, or out.

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This is going to be such an odd game - the balance of team selection will be absolutely everything to both sides.

We'll both want to win and we'll both want to rest players - but who rests most will decide it.

Liverpool will probably have a front three of Minamino, Origi and Shaqiri which looks capable on paper - they'll have Milner in and then all of those blokes with vaguely Welsh sounding surnames that hang around their fringes. 

If we want to win this game, we can - it's going to be about how much Dean Smith wants to risk the squad for the competition.

 

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1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said:

This is going to be such an odd game - the balance of team selection will be absolutely everything to both sides.

We'll both want to win and we'll both want to rest players - but who rests most will decide it.

Liverpool will probably have a front three of Minamino, Origi and Shaqiri which looks capable on paper - they'll have Milner in and then all of those blokes with vaguely Welsh sounding surnames that hang around their fringes. 

If we want to win this game, we can - it's going to be about how much Dean Smith wants to risk the squad for the competition.

 

Completely off topic but reminded me of a joke I read on reddit the other day.

'I asked my mate how many partners he had slept with.

He started counting, but fell asleep.'

Anyway, Liverpool was it.

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My boss is a season ticket holder at Anfield (luckily for me, he's actually a decent bloke - surprisingly). I have just mentioned to him "big game on Friday" and he didn't have a clue what I was talking about - he was thinking it was Man Utd in the league next up for them!!

Hopefully this is the same kind of mindset that Klopp and the Liverpool players take come Friday night. I think they would love to reverse that 7-2 score line and come out full strength all-guns blazing but they simply can't afford to with their current injury list and busy schedule.

 As @OutByEaster? said above, can see a front three of Shaqiri, Minamino and Origi which deserve respecting - as do whoever they select for this one - but defensively they definitely can be got at so it bodes well for a very decent attacking game (again).

Goes without saying that managers would love to know the opposing team prior to picking their starting eleven but I think this one even more so - if only we could send a spy 🕵️‍♀️.

I'd still go relatively strong - players naturally prefer playing than training. 

No real pressure though, so just go out and play some good football - and hopefully any fringe players take their opportunity - I'm looking at you KD!

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17 hours ago, villalad21 said:

I would rather finishing 5th because it would make us more attractive for players.

Players want to win trophies. Winning the FA Cup would be another milestone in our progression under our owners. It would be a huge statement. 

And who says we can't win the FA Cup and do well in the league simultaneously? Success breeds success. If we want to be seen as a big club again, we need to start winning trophies at some point. 

There's never been a better chance.

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1 hour ago, One For The Road said:

The day I don't want Villa to try everything possible to win the FA Cup, is the day I give up supporting  the Villa altogether. 

That day won't come. 

I have no words to describe how I'd feel to see Jack hold that trophy aloft in May.

Aston Villa has a proud history of winning trophies and the fact we are still the 5th most decorated club in the country, despite winning sod all in a generation, speaks volumes for what this great club has achieved in the past.

Time to get our trophy back. Sod the league for now. 

We can win this game without playing our absolute first choice team y'know. What would you be saying if Jack, McGinn and Targett had all been booked and suspended for this (perhaps as I'm still not sure on the suspension rules), don't even bother turning up for the game?

There still seems to be this lingering perception on here that we'll crash and burn and lose any game 5-0 if we even make 3 changes. Just last week we got a well earned draw at Chelsea with Traore, Hause and AEG all playing.

Last two were seen as joke figures on here two months ago.

Certainly wouldn't go as far as suggesting likes of Lansbury involved as he'd done here but it's all about the strategic decision to make, how do we put out a team capable of beating Liverpool while also making sure we give players a breather who need it so to give us a chance of getting some points off Spurs and Everton in the next week.

Anyone who saw Ollie in the second half v Man. United will have seen he was running on fumes at the end of that so he certainly needs taking out for a game and this feels like the right one to me. Can always bring him on the hour mark and he'll score his standard hat trick against this lot.

Think some more trust needs to be shown in our squad players sometimes. They haven't let us down so far this season have they? Hourihane is done here aswell and he played well in the opening two games of the season so he's played a part aswell. Need to get out of this mindset in thinking we only have 11 players at the club capable of digging out results against decent teams.

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9 minutes ago, One For The Road said:

On a side note. How f****** depressing is it that football has got to the point when Aston Villa v Liverpool in the FA Cup 3rd round even warrants a debate of resting players. 

I accept that it DOES warrant the debate but it just seems so sad that we've got this point.

It seemed to start with Man United pulling out of the competition to play in Brazil, and then got worse as the semi finals moved to Wembley, killing the kudos of reaching the final. 

Then there was the 5pm kick offs, the scheduling of the final before the league had finished and then of course came the big money for each PL place. 

The FA Cup used to mean everything.  Now even fans of midtable clubs want to play the reserves. Sad times.

Disagree with your thoughts above, very much agree with this though. Very good precis of all that has gone wrong with FA cup in last 20 years. Can't really add much to that apart from rise of champions league has pushed FA cup to sidelines. I don't think top 3 and then giving FA cup winners a CL spot would've been a bad idea at all 15 years back but that time has passed now.

Man. United were actually pushed into a corner by the FA who were pleading for them to go to that tournament as FA had the 2006 world cup bid ongoing at the time. Man. United should've still done what Liverpool did last season and just played a youth team in the 3rd round.

Wasn't that also played in December for some reason that season?

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14 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

What would you be saying if Jack, McGinn and Targett were suspended for this 

I'd be disappointed. But they aren't. And I consider this game more important than any one of our forthcoming fixtures.

I do understand what you are saying but I just think that with the condensed season, the clubs who have European commitments are even less likely to prioritise this competition this season. 

Also, given the fact this Villa side are capable of beating anyone on their day, I think this is a real chance.

The FA Cup is there for the taking.

I'll be mightily peed off if we don't give this a go and someone like Newcastle or Palace ends up winning it.

 

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