Vive_La_Villa Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, allani said: Just read back through some of the Match threads for matches during and after that run and see how quickly views change. So many calls to "get the ball forward quicker" and to "stop playing it out so slowly from the back". It took a while for those to die back but I am sure they will return if we have a slow start. Indeed my biggest worry is that next season could be really competitive - the Sly 6, Newcastle, Brighton and ourselves will start it all expecting to finish in (or challenge) the Top 6. Then Fulham and Brentford will be hoping to build on last season (difficult) whilst teams like West Ham will be wanting to put a bad year behind them. So the worry is that if we don't start well then some fans will forget the progress we have made and demand that anything less than the top 4 or 5 is a step backwards. I just hope that everyone sees the bigger picture and that replicating the second 2/3s of this season will be tough (especially if we add in a couple of decent cup runs). I’d worry more about Chelsea than teams like Brentford and Fulham. I think will finish midtable next season but win the Conference cup. Edited June 2, 2023 by Vive_La_Villa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkiller1981 Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 1 hour ago, allani said: Just read back through some of the Match threads for matches during and after that run and see how quickly views change. So many calls to "get the ball forward quicker" and to "stop playing it out so slowly from the back". It took a while for those to die back but I am sure they will return if we have a slow start. Indeed my biggest worry is that next season could be really competitive - the Sly 6, Newcastle, Brighton and ourselves will start it all expecting to finish in (or challenge) the Top 6. Then Fulham and Brentford will be hoping to build on last season (difficult) whilst teams like West Ham will be wanting to put a bad year behind them. So the worry is that if we don't start well then some fans will forget the progress we have made and demand that anything less than the top 4 or 5 is a step backwards. I just hope that everyone sees the bigger picture and that replicating the second 2/3s of this season will be tough (especially if we add in a couple of decent cup runs). Obviously the top 4 plus Liverpool will probably be strong again although I wonder how Newcastle will cope with the champions league fixtures and actually same for arsenal who I expect to drop off from where they have been this year. Spurs I’m not worried about at all, poor squad and a mess behind the scenes and no desire to spend the money to put it right. Chelsea I expect to improve a lot under poch but still lumbered with a bloated, disjointed and unbalanced squad. Brighton I think have had as good a season as they could ever expect so I would be surprised if they keep that up. Brentford mid table at best for me especially with Toney banned and Fulham are a bit of a Sheffield Utd second season in my view lazy pundits predicting a mid table finish based on the season just gone but not seeing that they outperformed on there ability and I can see them struggling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted June 3, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted June 3, 2023 4 minutes ago, allani said: I back him to get close to that as well. However, the fact remains that we over-achieved in the second half of last season (there is no way that on paper we have the 4th / 5th strongest team or squad in the league) so it is possible that we could strengthen over the summer, improve the team, play better football AND "only" achieve the same PPG or even marginally less. Finishing 6th or 7th next season would still be an excellent achievement. I am slightly worried some fans will see us spend decent money this window, track along in around 6th-8th all season and then start moaning that we are failing and questioning our tactics. In my view Emery represents the best chance that we have of winning trophies and maybe at some point getting into the CL - he has a knack of building very good teams rather than just buying the best players. This is the way that we will compete with teams that have a 20 year head-start on us. The biggest two threats to this are that (a) the players stop believing in the plan {but this is where I think Emery will be really good at buying players who will play for the team rather than want to have the team built around them} and (b) the fans stop believing in the plan. Our success this season means that we've gone from hoping to be a solid mid-table team straight to wanting to challenge the top 6 - missing the step of establishing ourselves in the top half. I'm not saying that that shouldn't be the aim but I just hope everyone stays patient if we muddle along and finish 8th next season. Same or marginally less PPG for a full season gets us Europa League at worst. That would be a success for me and I think we'll deliver. There will undoubtedly be a bunch of fans that would think that is a failure and be wetting the bed about not getting CL, if we finish 7/8th the same crowd will no doubt be questioning the manager. I would say on the whole this board has shown a better appreciation of the game than that. They were late in giving Gerrard the boot, granted, but apart from that they'll be making sure the long term goals are on track even if we finish 7/8th. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo71 Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 4 hours ago, romavillan said: Same or marginally less PPG for a full season gets us Europa League at worst. That would be a success for me and I think we'll deliver. There will undoubtedly be a bunch of fans that would think that is a failure and be wetting the bed about not getting CL, if we finish 7/8th the same crowd will no doubt be questioning the manager. I would say on the whole this board has shown a better appreciation of the game than that. They were late in giving Gerrard the boot, granted, but apart from that they'll be making sure the long term goals are on track even if we finish 7/8th. Newcastle will be exhibit A, B and C of why this is failure for us. Strap in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viivvaa66 Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 24 minutes ago, Stevo71 said: Newcastle will be exhibit A, B and C of why this is failure for us. Strap in. Failure is the wrong word. To get into top 4 we need to get above at least one of the current top4; ManC, Arsenal, ManU and Newcastle, and also get above the other challengers; Liverpool, Brighton, Chelsea and Tottenham. If we get top 4 it is without a doubt a fantastic achievement, and is way above what can be expected. Yes, I would be somewhat disappointed if we don’t get top 4 next season, but I would never call it a failure. If we can get close to 2 PPG again next season, it would mean we are in the running for top 4 and I would label that a successful season. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWARLEY2 Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 I think the Prem is moving from best players win matches to best coaches win matches. Man City have spent a fortune but they have always improved the players they buy. Not many of them would be world Xi stars when they signed. Brighton are a more extreme version of that with players you have never heard of playing other teams off the park. Now that the quality has risen from top to bottom it gives teams a chance to win if they have a great coach. Like De Zerbi. Or Emery. If we can keep our form and then add quality that can be coached to a higher level then anything is possible. Forget the big names. We need the big potential. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted June 3, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted June 3, 2023 2 hours ago, Stevo71 said: Newcastle will be exhibit A, B and C of why this is failure for us. Strap in. If you think us getting close to 2ppg over a whole season and finishing outside top 4 is a failure for us then I don't know where you've been for the last 30 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 Isn't 5th place good enough for CL next season? I presume Man. City winning CL and West Ham winning Europa conference basically will be good enough to get one of the two extra places. We can certainly challenge for that next season as long as we get off to a decent start rather than having to play major catch up from November. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo71 Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 1 hour ago, romavillan said: If you think us getting close to 2ppg over a whole season and finishing outside top 4 is a failure for us then I don't know where you've been for the last 30 years. Just to be clear, I don't think that at all. I'd be ecstatic with Europa League. The point was made some would see it as failure and I'm saying they'd probably point to the strides made by Newcastle as justification. I certainly wouldn't. But I do have a hunch we'll be in that chasing pack for a top four finish. We'll see. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted June 3, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted June 3, 2023 52 minutes ago, Stevo71 said: Just to be clear, I don't think that at all. I'd be ecstatic with Europa League. The point was made some would see it as failure and I'm saying they'd probably point to the strides made by Newcastle as justification. I certainly wouldn't. But I do have a hunch we'll be in that chasing pack for a top four finish. We'll see. Right yeah totally, if Newcastle are flying next season and get out the group and we aren't top 4 I'd imagine they'd be some weirdos expecting us to be in the CL and if we don't manage it saying we/Emery/the board/top scapegoats are all shite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 (edited) 7 hours ago, Stevo71 said: Just to be clear, I don't think that at all. I'd be ecstatic with Europa League. The point was made some would see it as failure and I'm saying they'd probably point to the strides made by Newcastle as justification. I certainly wouldn't. But I do have a hunch we'll be in that chasing pack for a top four finish. We'll see. Let's see how Newcastle deal with a high intensity CL game on a Wednesday evening and then a half 12 Sat game first. Of course we will have same turnaround ourselves from Thursday evenings but I don't think the opposition will be quite as taxing as who Newcastle will face. Newcastle with who they signed are probably a transfer window ahead of us so interesting who we sign as we can catch them up for sure next season with a strong start. Edited June 3, 2023 by VillaChris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 So excited if we can get the right players in. We can have a right stab at top 4. Utd for example, absolutely no threat I don't think. Garbage side. All their points against the bottom sides, where they get all the decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dublinvilla2014 Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 Have to say never been as excited to be villa fan we have finally got a top top manager in and a ambitious board who seem ro only have one best interests at heart with a few shrewed signing in the summer I think there's no limit to what we can achieve under Unai Emery the impact he's had has been unreal full pre season behind who knows could be a magic season long wait for a trophy could be over I was 12 when we beat Leeds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 1st. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 1st 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted June 4, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted June 4, 2023 Man City are obviously streets ahead of anyone due to their financial cheating and the more than likely doping of their players (given their managers previous record.) I believe Arsenal will not sustain the form they showed for the first 30 games of the season and could see them dropping to 6th easily. Chelsea will be a shit show again and Spuds will struggle to finish top 11 without Kane. Our fate really depends on the transfer dealings and subsequent integration of those players to the Saudi, Liverplop and Manure squads. (our window also will be critical.) Below Man City I believe it will be between Villa, Plop, Manure & Saudi Arabia for 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 Next season Spurs and Chelsea will still sputter, so we should approach them with the belief that we can beat them and finish above them, at least next season. It really annoys me that Man Utd beat us last time because we can compete with them and can take points off them. We recently dismantled Newcastle, so why should we not aim for 4th place? I'll need to see what our team looks like in August before I make a prediction, but even without incoming players, we can go toe to toe with every side in the division. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam2003 Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 I’d certainly take midtable (even say 12th-14th) if it was accompanied by a cup win, whereas with no shots at cup glory I’d want us to be challenging top six. So depends how the overall picture plays out. I guess with the above I am saying qualify for Europe via one of those routes and it’ll have been a great season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 With Unai, if he's able to balance the UECL, I honestly think 4th/5th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Simon Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 1st. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts