Pre-match thread

[rjw63]

Easiest prediction of the season: Harry Kane-Penalty to fall over a defenders outstretched leg for another cheated penalty.

Whether he scores depends on who he faces.

[TRO]

On 27/12/2022 at 14:53, OutByEaster? said:

Why would a high line benefit Kane?

He's got the pace of a canal boat.

 

but he has got Nous, and those over the top balls to Son, will undo us.......unless we adopt a style we had at Brighton.

Harry plays in midfield now ( I suspect, judging by the World cup)....and Son has Pace, and we don't.

 

[TRO]

2 hours ago, smg said:

The level of negativity on here is unbelievable. It would be possible to make a case for a loss in any game why do our fans enjoy it so much ?

They don't.....but their football intelligence, can see why its likely.

We all have hope, but that runs thin, when we can see so many flaws in our game.

[TRO]

21 hours ago, messi11 said:

Honestly I think we're will beat them. Emery masterclass 

yeah, we'll win 0-4.

[TRO]

3 hours ago, smg said:

The level of negativity on here is unbelievable. It would be possible to make a case for a loss in any game why do our fans enjoy it so much ?

based on putting those chanses away on Monday, we''ll win 0-4................There.

[TRO]

Spurs will get their game, back on track, against us.

All the football, that Spurs possess, will come flooding back, in this game...all ther lost form will be found, funny isn't it.

Unless, we find it within ourselves, to stop them.....now, who's gonna do that?

Edited December 28, 2022 by TRO

[wedge]

9 minutes ago, TRO said:

Spurs will get their game, back on track, against us.

All the football, that Spurs possess, will come flooding back, in this game...all ther lost form will be found, funny isn't it.

Unless, we find it within ourselves, to stop them.....now, who's gonna do that?

I agree TRO. Unfortunately I am so inclined as are thousands upon thousands of others to spend £30 on a ticket, double that for a return train ticket and then lord only knows how much more on beer and food to stand in the cold and rain knowing full well we'll get comfortably dismantled on the pitch or even worse, heart-breakingly beaten after throwing away a lead or a dodgy Kane penalty is awarded to them etc...

 

 

Who'd be a football (or Villa) fan eh? 

 

[AvonVillain]

Is this really our next game? What happened to there being tons of football over this period??

[TRO]

15 minutes ago, wedge said:

I agree TRO. Unfortunately I am so inclined as are thousands upon thousands of others to spend £30 on a ticket, double that for a return train ticket and then lord only knows how much more on beer and food to stand in the cold and rain knowing full well we'll get comfortably dismantled on the pitch or even worse, heart-breakingly beaten after throwing away a lead or a dodgy Kane penalty is awarded to them etc...

 

 

Who'd be a football (or Villa) fan eh? 

 

Unless, we find a way to be consistently hard to play against........I don't see anything changing.

Now, its too early, to be a douting Thomas......but the links fill me with melancholy.

Our New manager, is shrouded in praise with his past work.....and everybody and his Grand mother, is expecting big things.

I say......show me, don't tell me......If they go and do a job on Spurs, fine......I will be the first, to say.

That game against Liverpool, was so open, it was like Illegal immigrants coming over on Boats.....I was thinking, where has this come from?....is this any better than before?....not in terms of defending it wasn't.

I am all for positivity, but a bit of truth, needs to be applied at times, too.......Tyrone was Honest, and Neil Dunsworth ( for the love of Paul McGrath was truthful too)...got a bit of stick mind, from those that didn't want to hear it.

Prediction......3-1

and yes, I hope I am wrong.

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by TRO

[OutByEaster?]

14 minutes ago, TRO said:

Unless, we find a way to be consistently hard to play against........I don't see anything changing.

I see Kamara and Luiz and the double pivot as being exactly this - we'll be in a game with anyone. I don't see anyone sweeping us away. We're difficult.

I think we got it right against Liverpool tactically - the way for us to win was in a shootout - a 4-3, not a 1-0 and that's the way we played, we took risks in order to make chances and we made enough to have got something out of the game - we just didn't take them - and that's something we need to work on but also a matter of the luck of the day. 

Spurs present us with a challenge in terms of their shape - they are a defend-and-hit team and we'll need to find a way to get through a five man back line and two very capable holding midfielders - they are almost the opposite of Liverpool - Spurs can win games 1-0 and that's how they set up, clean sheet first, goals second.

We've shown already that we're capable of playing in different ways against different teams, with the high line/high risk approach against Liverpool and the more patient display against Brighton - it'll be very interesting to see how we approach this one. 

I think this will be a decent game. I'll go 1-1.

 

 

[Demitri_C]

I have a horrible feeling emi eill be on bench fir this one 

Kane and son vs olsen god frightening 

[wedge]

20 minutes ago, TRO said:

Unless, we find a way to be consistently hard to play against........I don't see anything changing.

Now, its too early, to be a douting Thomas......but the links fill me with melancholy.

Our New manager, is shrouded in praise with his past work.....and everybody and his Grand mother, is expecting big things.

I say......show me, don't tell me......If they go and do a job on Spurs, fine......I will be the first, to say.

That game against Liverpool, was so open, it was like Illegal immigrants coming over on Boats.....I was thinking, where has this come from?....is this any better than before?....not in terms of defending it wasn't.

I am all for positivity, but a bit of truth, needs to be applied at times, too.......Tyrone was Honest, and Neil Dunsworth ( for the love of Paul McGrath was truthful too)...got a bit of stick mind, from those that didn't want to hear it.

Prediction......3-1

and yes, I hope I am wrong.

 

I don't think we can really judge Unai until next season mate and certainly not by us winning a game such as Spurs away. No-one can come in, wave a magic wand and make it all hunky dory in a few weeks with the same players etc. I've seen enough positive signs (even in the Liverpool loss) to satisfy me in the very short time he's been here and if we can get two or three points from the next two games with the six we've got in the bag from his first two league games I think that's a superb start for his Villa tenure.

 

I can't see anything other than a loss on Sunday either, but this -  like Liverpool was -  is a 'free-hit' game for me and we should be targeting a decent amount of points from Wolves, Leeds, Southampton and Leicester to follow which will be a better run to judge on. Whilst I'd be delighted with a point at Spurs, one of my main gripes with Gerrard's Villa (and to be honest, even before his era) was that we frequently put in good performances (more often than not heroic failures or 'valiant defeats' as one poster in this thread quite accurately described it) in the 'free-hit' games against ManUre, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Citeh etc but then don't replicate that performance the game afterwards against a side lower down the league table.

[TRO]

19 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I see Kamara and Luiz and the double pivot as being exactly this - we'll be in a game with anyone. I don't see anyone sweeping us away. We're difficult.

I think we got it right against Liverpool tactically - the way for us to win was in a shootout - a 4-3, not a 1-0 and that's the way we played, we took risks in order to make chances and we made enough to have got something out of the game - we just didn't take them - and that's something we need to work on but also a matter of the luck of the day. 

Spurs present us with a challenge in terms of their shape - they are a defend-and-hit team and we'll need to find a way to get through a five man back line and two very capable holding midfielders - they are almost the opposite of Liverpool - Spurs can win games 1-0 and that's how they set up, clean sheet first, goals second.

We've shown already that we're capable of playing in different ways against different teams, with the high line/high risk approach against Liverpool and the more patient display against Brighton - it'll be very interesting to see how we approach this one. 

I think this will be a decent game. I'll go 1-1.

 

 

As you may guess, Brian.....I disagree emphatically, the high line was naive at best.IMO

We are not good enough to go in to a shoot out with Liverpool, as Nott'm Forest, realised too and adopted a more conservative approach and won.

Paradoxically, Kamara is arguably our best player, and how long and how much campaigning did that take....The irony is, we get that right, and the rest needs looking at.

Liverpool could have scored c 6 goals, had they have not missed easy chances, like we did..... we will not always be as fortunate, in other games.

I would have been delighted with a 1-0.

As exciting as it sounds.....you cannot build a trophy winning football team, on the basis of shootouts and gungho football.....even Man City have a mean side, like all the best teams....they with their swashbuckling football are hard to play against too/

I will be interested to see how we approach this one.....but despite our managers huge reputation, if I think he got it wrong, and I think the high line, with our modest paced players, was wrong.

I can't see past a defeat, sorry.

 

 

[TRO]

31 minutes ago, wedge said:

I don't think we can really judge Unai until next season mate and certainly not by us winning a game such as Spurs away. No-one can come in, wave a magic wand and make it all hunky dory in a few weeks with the same players etc. I've seen enough positive signs (even in the Liverpool loss) to satisfy me in the very short time he's been here and if we can get two or three points from the next two games with the six we've got in the bag from his first two league games I think that's a superb start for his Villa tenure.

 

I can't see anything other than a loss on Sunday either, but this -  like Liverpool was -  is a 'free-hit' game for me and we should be targeting a decent amount of points from Wolves, Leeds, Southampton and Leicester to follow which will be a better run to judge on. Whilst I'd be delighted with a point at Spurs, one of my main gripes with Gerrard's Villa (and to be honest, even before his era) was that we frequently put in good performances (more often than not heroic failures or 'valiant defeats' as one poster in this thread quite accurately described it) in the 'free-hit' games against ManUre, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Citeh etc but then don't replicate that performance the game afterwards against a side lower down the league table.

I agree.....I'm certainly not judging him so early, just merely commenting on what I see on the pitch.

But as I have said many times....These are the same players 3 managers have had.....so we can all judge that how we will.

personally, i am not putting time limits on how, I will judge him, results will do that for me...

but I will be watching all elements of the game attacking and defending, to see how we approach the Spurs game.....they will be smarting after recent performances, so we need to be ready.

I am fully on board with UE....just not convinced he has all the players he needs to fulfill his desires.

[onmeedson]

That shootout was like Jesse James firing real bullets and Sid James firing blanks.

[VillaChris]

4 hours ago, AvonVillain said:

Is this really our next game? What happened to there being tons of football over this period??

Normally after Boxing day they'd be another round 2-3 days later but they've just stuck it on the week after instead which is sensible after WC.

Starting with Spurs we have 4 games in 12 days.

[smg]

7 hours ago, TRO said:

They don't.....but their football intelligence, can see why its likely.

We all have hope, but that runs thin, when we can see so many flaws in our game.

Football intelligence? ffs.

[AshVilla]

Comfortable win for Spurs.

We never seem to be able to beat them. 

Remember us hammering them for a full 45 last season and they still managed to win comfortably 3 or 4 nil.

Massive bogey team and might be worth putting Hojberg in your fantasy side he always seems to score against us or be motm.

Edited December 29, 2022 by AshVilla

[robby b]

13 minutes ago, AshVilla said:

 Remember us hammering them for a full 45 last season and they still managed to win comfortably 3 or 4 nil.

Massive bogey team and might be worth putting Hojberg in your fantasy side he always seems to score against us or be motm.

4 nil. 

I wish it had been 3 nil! We'd have gone another whole season without a damn good thrashing if it had 'only' been 3 nil.

Ffs that ******* Spurs.  : <

[dublinvilla2014]

On 27/12/2022 at 12:52, Demitri_C said:

Kane and son vs that high line

Lambs to the slaughter

Would you rather us camped on edge of our own box trying to counter going be mistakes a long the way tilm he gets it right but signs are there . Probably thought the same playing Liverpool we actually gave them a game unlucky in the end not to get something