Kiwivillan Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 (edited) 52 minutes ago, Adman said: We seem to be running short of steam, I hope we are holding back rather than being dead on our feet. I guess we'll find out on Wednesday How? Bournemouth are a good side at home that beat Newcastle comfortably recently with 10 shots on target. City have to come to VP on the back of 3 league draws in a row without Rodri. They've lost both league games this season last time he was suspended Edited December 3, 2023 by Kiwivillan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adman Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 1 minute ago, Kiwivillan said: How? Bournemouth are a good side at home that beat Newcastle comfortably recently with 10 shots on target. City have to come to VP on the back of 3 league draws in a row without Rodri. They've lost both league games this season last time he was suspended I don't think we are controlling games as we have previously. Maybe we are mentally or physically fatigued, perhaps we are holding back knowing what a tough run of games we've got. Perhaps we are not able to control games and making errors like we have been due to other considerations... Its not a bad time to play City agreed, and I'm not bellyaching, I'm in full support of the team and manager. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyVillans Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 Rodri is just as important or possibly more important than haaland for city. Big opportunity for us to give the match a real go. Imagine the scenes beating city to go above them in the table in december. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinebro Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 (edited) 7 hours ago, Kiwivillan said: How? Bournemouth are a good side at home that beat Newcastle comfortably recently with 10 shots on target. City have to come to VP on the back of 3 league draws in a row without Rodri. They've lost both league games this season last time he was suspended They aren't a good side though. I said before the game the only way we'd lose is if our players don't turn up. And that's exactly what happened. Never seen McGinn this bad. And Digne, Zaniolo was beyond awful. Can't carry that many players. Well we didn't lose in the end but a draw is almost as bad as a loss when you're chasing top 4 Edited December 4, 2023 by Pinebro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 11 minutes ago, Pinebro said: They aren't a good side though. I said before the game the only way we'd lose is if our players don't turn up. And that's exactly what happened. Never seen McGinn this bad. And Digne, Zaniolo was beyond awful. Can't carry that many players. Well we didn't lose in the end but a draw is almost as bad as a loss when you're chasing top 4 How did they have 10 shots on target and win 2-0 against Newcastle recently if not a good side? We're 4th only 4pts off the top because the league lot closer across the board than people make out. We just played in Europe and Emery made some selection decisions probably based on the next 2 games 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villan_of_oz Posted December 4, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted December 4, 2023 18 minutes ago, Pinebro said: They aren't a good side though. I said before the game the only way we'd lose is if our players don't turn up. And that's exactly what happened. Never seen McGinn this bad. And Digne, Zaniolo was beyond awful. Can't carry that many players. Well we didn't lose in the end but a draw is almost as bad as a loss when you're chasing top 4 A draw is as bad a loss We're currently 4th, also 5 points clear of 7th We played 3 days ago. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 31 minutes ago, Pinebro said: They aren't a good side though. I said before the game the only way we'd lose is if our players don't turn up. And that's exactly what happened. Never seen McGinn this bad. And Digne, Zaniolo was beyond awful. Can't carry that many players. Well we didn't lose in the end but a draw is almost as bad as a loss when you're chasing top 4 You know top 4 teams don't win every game right? Our reigning 3 time champions just drew 3 games in a row. I'd bet my house on them winning it again. We're currently still averaging over 2ppg which is still way more than the average needed for 4th place. If 4th is our goal (no serious person would have said this before the season started), then we are well on track. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 Hard to know what our away form would be like if we just stopped conceding first so early in the first half. Some of it is just bad luck going a goal down so quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevonIsAPlaceOnEarth Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 Realistically, I think we need to keep tabs on how far clear of 6th we are. After this weekend, it now looks likely we will need a result of some sort against City or Arsenal to maintain that over Christmas. Regardless of that, what a great season we’ve had so far. Don’t forget that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinebro Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, Keyblade said: You know top 4 teams don't win every game right? Our reigning 3 time champions just drew 3 games in a row. I'd bet my house on them winning it again. We're currently still averaging over 2ppg which is still way more than the average needed for 4th place. If 4th is our goal (no serious person would have said this before the season started), then we are well on track. Issue is we have Arsenal and City coming up. Bournemouth game was important to win to give us some leeway. Edited December 4, 2023 by Pinebro 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 The next two games for me (from a psychological standpoint) are the biggest games of the season. Don Unai is a CL manager. It's time for the players to stand up and show they’re at the level Don Unai needs them to be at. They’re easily replaceable and Don Unai will get in players who can achieve it. But we have to stay undefeated in the next two games whilst giving both teams a bloody nose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 If we can 2 or 3 points from next two games it'll be big. Away to Brentford after is tough too 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 31 minutes ago, CVByrne said: If we can 2 or 3 points from next two games it'll be big. Away to Brentford after is tough too This is the thing if we're making heavy weather of the bottom feeders away like forest and Bournemouth then playing the higher mid table teams I'm a bit concerned about. Our defensive stats have got worse but our attacking stats are way higher. We need to stop conceding so early though, being on the back foot so quickly in is a massive disadvantage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 36 minutes ago, Pinebro said: Issue is we have Arsenal and City coming up. Bournemouth game was important to win to give us soom leeway. City have 3pts from last 3 and missing their best player against us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 50 minutes ago, DevonIsAPlaceOnEarth said: Realistically, I think we need to keep tabs on how far clear of 6th we are. I'm watching that too - I think it'll be our focus for the rest of the season - as much as I'd like us to win the title our away form will prevent that. Champions League is just about doable though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 Not beating Bournemouth is frustrating for sure. A valiant point v City and we'll still have less points than if we'd just beaten Bournemouth. Squad still isn't there unfortunately. Emery is trying to rest players here and there and replacements are showing they aren't fit for first team football. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinebro Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 6 minutes ago, Tomaszk said: Not beating Bournemouth is frustrating for sure. A valiant point v City and we'll still have less points than if we'd just beaten Bournemouth. Squad still isn't there unfortunately. Emery is trying to rest players here and there and replacements are showing they aren't fit for first team football. Our bench was very decent yesterday I think the squad is there. I felt Emery picked the wrong team yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Mark Albrighton Posted December 4, 2023 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted December 4, 2023 Newcastle finished 4th last season. Among others, they dropped points to Wolves, Crystal Palace (twice), Bournemouth (twice), Leeds (twice), West Ham and Leicester. You can still make the top four, notch up 70+ points, while not winning every “should win” game. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 18 minutes ago, Tomaszk said: Not beating Bournemouth is frustrating for sure. A valiant point v City and we'll still have less points than if we'd just beaten Bournemouth. Squad still isn't there unfortunately. Emery is trying to rest players here and there and replacements are showing they aren't fit for first team football. We have 4pts from Spurs and Bournemouth away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 8 minutes ago, Pinebro said: Our bench was very decent yesterday I think the squad is there. I felt Emery picked the wrong team yesterday. Who would you have picked? The players who have started most games? The bench wouldn't look as good then would it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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