Sulberto21 Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 Last season we finished 14 points behind Chelsea. Burnley twice total 5 points dropped. Brighton at home smashed em but didn't get the result - 3 points. West Ham away dominated from start to finish but gave two sloppy goals and missed chance after chance - 3 points. Chelsea away - came from behind but had the last half hour where we again missed too many chances. 2 points possibly (?) Sheffield United away 3 points - too many missed chances . Gained : 3 points Southampton away we got hammered but we got the smash and grab win. The manure away game we dominated the second half until Pogba tripped himself up. Mings and Ollie had good chances. The noises of we wanted Europe make a lot of sense now especially after that clause in someone's contract. We were alot closer than we realise. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaFaninLondon Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 1 hour ago, MWARLEY2 said: Remain calm . We will sign players. We have already made 5 fantastic signings . And i am sure some equally good ones will follow. Whether they come this week or in 3 weeks remains to be seen. Everyone is in the same boat with regards to squads unfit or just returning from holiday. And i would hope that the players we are targetting are very good international players meaning they will be barely up to speed. I'm not denying the signings we've made so far are good ones, but the players we have unavailable to us currently is a cause for concern. This is especially true in the middle of the park where outside of McGinn and Nakamba we are very light. And we need an upgrade on Nakamba as it is if we want to challenge for Europe. Not sure why Conor hasn't been moved on yet and I'd be looking to loan out Jacob Ramsey. Then that frees up a place for a no 6 to come straight into our first 11 alongside McGinn (and Nakamba if we play with 4-3-3) with Luiz and Sanson to come back into the squad in the coming weeks. I just feel the balance of the team isn't quite right and a few people have mentioned this. We have bought in good players but they're mainly all attack minded with the exception of Young and Tuanzebe who are only cover players. If you watch Villa it's obvious we need a quality DM and we still don't have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingram85 Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 8-10th. Even if we finish 10th I’ll be happy as it’s progression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaFaninLondon Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 31 minutes ago, Sulberto21 said: Last season we finished 14 points behind Chelsea. Burnley twice total 5 points dropped. Brighton at home smashed em but didn't get the result - 3 points. West Ham away dominated from start to finish but gave two sloppy goals and missed chance after chance - 3 points. Chelsea away - came from behind but had the last half hour where we again missed too many chances. 2 points possibly (?) Sheffield United away 3 points - too many missed chances . Gained : 3 points Southampton away we got hammered but we got the smash and grab win. The manure away game we dominated the second half until Pogba tripped himself up. Mings and Ollie had good chances. The noises of we wanted Europe make a lot of sense now especially after that clause in someone's contract. We were alot closer than we realise. Would say the Chelsea away game a draw was a fair result. If anyone deserved to win was probably Chelsea. Brighton home is probably fair, we were the better team, but away they dominated us completely and we were very reliant on Emi for that one. So 1 point gained there. Chelsea home we were very lucky to win, they were the much better team, I'd say that was 3 points gained by us. If Grealish hadn't got "injured" for 3 months we probably would have been top 7. So now he's gone we have to hope the team can get us there rather than one player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strog Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 Top half/Europe and a cup run must be the aim. Progression is key, if we don’t the one or two of our better players will get restless and the right level of recruitment will be tougher next year. I’m hopeful so onwards and upwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubbs Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 10 minutes ago, Strog said: Top half/Europe and a cup run must be the aim. Progression is key, if we don’t the one or two of our better players will get restless and the right level of recruitment will be tougher next year. I’m hopeful so onwards and upwards. As long as its real progression. One or two places higher isn't real progress, especially when you consider the money we've spent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubbs Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 My concern is we'll start slowly and be playing catch up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlack Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 2 minutes ago, dubbs said: As long as its real progression. One or two places higher isn't real progress, especially when you consider the money we've spent. Well net we've spent less than we've made. That said, I think we have a better squad and would be disappointed if we don't finish 9th or above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strog Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 3 minutes ago, dubbs said: As long as its real progression. One or two places higher isn't real progress, especially when you consider the money we've spent. I share your sentiments. Deano will come under some pressure if we don’t progress. Our owners are not messing around. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjaacckk91 Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 I really do think it's going to be a tricky season, at least to start with, pick your strongest frontline whether it's 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, none of them will have played together before, I'd be amazed if it didn't take us some time to get going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Willard Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 We started the season winning 4 out of 4 that put us in a great position til Jan. With all the injuries/unable to get transfers through quick enough/our poor preseason, our team just won't be strong enough at the start of the season. I think we'll struggle for a month or two. Hopefully we'll then hit our stride. Think we'll finish 9th because of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tayls Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 (edited) Tad concerned by our prep for this season. Some cancelled games due to Covid which we can’t do much about, but other prem teams have been playing each other, where as we have had a couple of games against championship sides and a recently promoted serie A side… we haven’t even seen half of the new signings yet? Really weird prep… I hope it doesn’t impact our start as we really benefited from early wins last season. Edited August 8, 2021 by Tayls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cizzler Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 13 minutes ago, Tayls said: Tad concerned by our prep for this season. Some cancelled games due to Covid which we can’t do much about, but other prem teams have been playing each other, where as we have had a couple of games against championship sides and a recently promoted serie A side… we haven’t even seen half of the new signings yet? Really weird prep… I hope it doesn’t impact our start as we really benefited from early wins last season. Yep, not been an ideal pre-season at all. On top of what you have said, JT left after a few days and Smith was isolating for at least a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 Think we'll start slowly tbh Not been an ideal pre season. Buendia picked up an injury. Grealish off. Bailey still not arrived. Games called off. Let's be honest it's been a bit of a mess. People are in the right to have concerns. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKP90 Posted August 8, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted August 8, 2021 You know what, given the really terrible pre-season we’ve had (thanks a bunch Jack). I’m not going to worry too much about targets and objectives this year. Just gonna see what happens. I expect a crap start then maybe october time things starting to come together. I expect a strong second half of the season, and maybe a mid table finish, to put us in a great position for a push next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 With Greedlish going, the focus needs to be on developing our new style of play - not reliant on one or two players, but several who will do the creative work. I'd say that the requirement for a decent season is to finish top half. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nepal_villan Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 I feel we have the players for a top half finish. It's really up to Smith and his staff to get the tactics right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 4 hours ago, nepal_villan said: I feel we have the players for a top half finish. It's really up to Smith and his staff to get the tactics right. We are heading for a relegation battle if Smith is serious with this 4-4-2 approach. Deeply concerned after watching that first half. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruitvilla Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 My expectations for the coming season: To play attractive attacking football Score at least sixty five goals in the premier league To have a solid defence - at least comparable to last season. At least fifteen clean sheets And concede less than 45 goals Rotate the squad more than last year and do so ahead of injuries Give exposure to youth players to the first team Make a serious attempt at the FA and League Cups Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruitvilla Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 1 hour ago, villalad21 said: Deeply concerned after watching that first half. Not deeply concerned after watching the second half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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