Title race 2023/4

[Mantis]

Random stat I know, but the Aston Villa Wikipedia page yesterday got more hits than any other day in the past 8 years except for the day we got promoted in 2019.

 

[MotoMkali]

4 hours ago, TomC said:

He's a winner. I will never forget the way he (and Gundogan) put the team on their back when they came from behind to beat us on the last day of the season. One of my favorite non-Villa players of recent years.

 

Rodri has 17 goals for man city. 3 in cup finals, 1 in that game, (he also has 4 vs Villa overall) he's one of the clutchest players ever. 

[MotoMkali]

1 hour ago, Made In Aston said:

Given where we are in the league and being a strong contender for the Conference, do we heavily rotate for the FA Cup to give us a better chance in the league and Europe? 

Presumably, but that could still be a very strong team depending on who we sign in Jan. 

New GK

Cash - Carlos - Lenglet - Digne/Moreno

New DM - Tielemans

Bailey/Ramsey/Diaby - Zaniolo

Traore - Duran 

That's a team that would finish like 12th in the prem. Once we start getting to later rounds is when we'd need to start our better players. Quarter or Semis is when you might consider playing our first XI

[VillaChris]

3 hours ago, birdistheword said:

I’m normally pretty pessimistic and still think we will end up 6th… but if you look out out next 11 fixtures…

Brentford (a)

Sheffield United (h)

Manchester United (a)

Burnley (h)

Everton (a)

Newcastle United (h)

Sheffield United (a)

Manchester United (h)

Fulham (a)

Nottingham Forest (h)

Luton (a)

 

Dare I say that looks like a relatively nice set of fixtures? And if we repeat last seasons results we are still higher than 2 points per game. Achieve that and we'd probably get top 4 with less than a point a game from final 11 fixtures.

To win tile we'd need to win 9 of our last 11 I think...

If we win most of them which we're capable of we'll be on 60-61 points. Do that and we'd probably make top 4 with less than a point a game from that point.

To actually win the league we'd probably then need to win 9 of our last 11...

Edited December 11, 2023 by VillaChris

[Adam2003]

14 minutes ago, Mantis said:

Random stat I know, but the Aston Villa Wikipedia page yesterday got more hits than any other day in the past 8 years except for the day we got promoted in 2019.

 

Alright mate what else are you tracking about me?

[Lichfield Dean]

It's a sign?

[Stephen_Evans]

7 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said:

It's a sign?

It is indeed. See Genesis chapter 9 verses 8 to 17 for more details.

[Stevo985]

One thing that is very hard to instill a team because it's so intangible, is belief.

And you can tell that we have that running through our veins at the moment. Absolute belief that we can beat anyone.

If we can carry that on, you never know where we could end up

[Stevo985]

13 hours ago, Wurzel said:

Still no respect from pundits on TV and radio, plenty of patronising "plucky Villa" and can Villa " do a Leicester".

What's the issue with this?

A year ago we were facing relegation with the worst manager in our history. Why wouldn't pundits and fans think it would be "doing a leicester"?

[Adman]

Forget it lads, Garth Crooks has spoken:

"However, talk of winning the title is sheer fantasy. There's more chance of Prince William taking charge of Villa's remaining fixtures than them winning the Premier League"

 

[Zhan_Zhuang]

Bosnich was on SKY this morning saying Villa are very much in the Title Race.

And you know we are having just beaten two of the best PL teams in the space of three days; it's incredible really.

Brentford are tough at their place though so i'd take a point. 

[Villan_of_oz]

We would've lost that match against Arsenal every time for the last 15 years.

But we didn't.

Being a winning team isn't just having the best players, it's about believing you're the best players.

Lampard talks about this is what Jose did so well.

Unai has our players believing they can do things that they never thought they could do.

Can win the title?

Of course we can

To say otherwise says you lack belief.

Enjoy the journey!

Edited December 11, 2023 by Villan_of_oz

[Pongo Waring]

They're all expecting villa to go in a bad period. Have we had a bad period since Emery has been in charge?

[Zhan_Zhuang]

Also under Unai Emery Villa are grinding out results, previously we played well against Arsenal and lost.

Villa are also capable of dominating Man S***** and winning well.

[VillaJ100]

3 minutes ago, Pongo Waring said:

They're all expecting villa to go in a bad period. Have we had a bad period since Emery has been in charge?

The closest thing was a 3 game losing streak to Leicester at home, man city away, arsenal at home.

[Captain_Townsend]

15 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

What's the issue with this?

A year ago we were facing relegation with the worst manager in our history. Why wouldn't pundits and fans think it would be "doing a leicester"?

Well, for a start we have finished in the top two three times since 1981, two more times in the top 5 and about 6 top six finishes on top as well as four other major trophies. We aren't a minnow FFS

[Risso]

9 minutes ago, Pongo Waring said:

They're all expecting villa to go in a bad period. Have we had a bad period since Emery has been in charge?

Not really, apart from the three games mentioned above, when we actually played quite well against Arsenal and Leicester. He's averaging over two points a game in his Villa career now, and I think I saw a stat at the weekend that said a mere 1.6 points a game for the rest of the season would see us with enough points to finish top 4 most years.

[nick76]

22 minutes ago, Stephen_Evans said:

It is indeed. See Genesis chapter 9 verses 8 to 17 for more details.

I’ve looked through their albums but can’t see this reference? 

 

[fightoffyour]

22 minutes ago, Adman said:

Forget it lads, Garth Crooks has spoken:

"However, talk of winning the title is sheer fantasy. There's more chance of Prince William taking charge of Villa's remaining fixtures than them winning the Premier League"

If I needed any more convincing that we can win the title, Garth Crooks - the world's thickest, laziest, most uninformed football "pundit" - calling it sheer fantasy will probably do it.

[Mark Albrighton]

I find these Leicester comparisons a bit bizarre. 

Where did they finish the season before they won the league? I don’t think it was 7th. Were they already in Europe when they did their title charge? I don’t think so. Did they spend £30m+ on a central defender and £40m+ on a wide forward in the summer window beforehand? I don’t think they did. Had Leicester won the league ever, or had a history of ever seriously competing for it? No I don’t think they had.

Is the idea that Gerrard is Nigel Pearson and Emery is Ranieri? The timings of the respective manager changes don’t really mirror each other either. To an extent, Emery is a bit like Ranieri in that both were perhaps not massively appreciated by the English game until they went to Villa and Leicester respectively. But that’s about it.

What Leicester did was amazing, etc etc. Obviously their rivals kinda all had an off season which didn’t hurt. I don’t think Liverpool, Arsenal or City are really having an off season this year. So in THAT sense, if we somehow won the league I would say that the competition was stronger than when Leicester won it - but the starting positions for both Villa and Leicester are wildly different, Leicester starting from much further behind.

We may as well be compared to Blackburn in ‘95. There’s about as much similarity.