Title race 2023/4

[rodders129]

I don’t think the Sheff U draw is this big disaster it’s being made out as. If we’d played really badly I’d be more worried. It was just one of those frustrating nights where we didn’t quite click, they were incredibly defensive and resolute and the little breaks didn’t go our way.

It also dampens down the hype/expectation/pressure which is mad considering we’re still only 1 point off top at Christmas!!!

The reality now though is Man U and Burnley are both must win in the context of ‘title race’. The pace is relentless if you have aspirations to win the league 

[Brumstopdogs]

Personally think somewhere between 4th and 6th is where we'll end up but can't deny we've had a cracking year overall so far:

 

[TRO]

We have played some tricky fixtures away from home already....With Only Arsenal and Man City required,  looking tough.

Liverpool, Newcastle, Chelsea, Spurs, Wolves, Bournemouth, Brentford, and Man U ( Boxing Day) have been fulfilled.

I think we have enough talent in the team to address those 2 fixtures......I think we need a few durable, robust souls to help us navigate, the second half of the season.

We don't want to be wearing out/ injuring  our talented players, asking them to grind out some games, when a more suitable alternative can be sought,( squad wise) to face the more scrappier teams away from home.

We don't need a race horse to pull a plough.

Edited December 24, 2023 by TRO

[briny_ear]

Interesting article in the Guardian today, assessing the prospects of the “five top contenders” for the PL title.

Here’s what they say about the Villa, which seems quite fair

Quote

Aston Villa: P18 Pts 39 GD+16

The case for Villa are free of expectation but, make no mistake, Unai Emery, demanding at the best of times, is aware of how well placed they are. Villa Park has become a fortress, with Villa winning 15 of their past 16 home games. Emery has played down comments from peers billing his side title contenders but his starting XI has proven capable of toppling the best. Emiliano Martínez is an elite goalkeeper, their midfield axis of Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn and Douglas Luiz is one of the finest in the division and they have pace to burn in talisman Ollie Watkins and forwards Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey. Unlike most of their rivals, Villa can focus almost solely on the league until March, when their Europa Conference League adventure restarts in the last 16. Aside from an FA Cup trip to Middlesbrough in January, they can go full steam ahead in pursuit of a first league title since 1981.

The case against Can Villa handle the noise? For most of this squad, a title race represents new territory. The obvious concern is whether Emery has enough strength in reserve. For example, when Leander Dendoncker entered against Arsenal, Villa’s grip loosened. Watkins has started every league game and although Jhon Durán has impressed in glimpses there is no like-for-like replacement. The same goes for Martínez. At the same time, Villa have shown this season that they can absorb the absence of key players such as Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendía. Perhaps Sheffield United’s dogged displaylast Friday, when Villa seemed to run out of ideas against a low block and almost ended up empty‑handed, will provide a blueprint for others in how to stifle Emery’s winning machine. BF

 

[HanoiVillan]

5 hours ago, briny_ear said:

Interesting article in the Guardian today, assessing the prospects of the “five top contenders” for the PL title.

Here’s what they say about the Villa, which seems quite fair

 

Yes, I read that and thought it was a good article. Though quite depressing, when you get to the final bit, that 'the case against' Man City is basically 'can they be arsed to win it again this season'! (Probably about right though)

[Sulberto21]

1 hour ago, HanoiVillan said:

Yes, I read that and thought it was a good article. Though quite depressing, when you get to the final bit, that 'the case against' Man City is basically 'can they be arsed to win it again this season'! (Probably about right though)

I’d say the case against Man City is the fact they’ve lost Gundogan and Mahrez who would often produce ridiculous moments of brilliance in games and drag them through. 

Still pretty depressing though as that’s their only weakness. 

[HanoiVillan]

9 minutes ago, Sulberto21 said:

I’d say the case against Man City is the fact they’ve lost Gundogan and Mahrez who would often produce ridiculous moments of brilliance in games and drag them through. 

Still pretty depressing though as that’s their only weakness. 

To be fair, they do mention those losses and I was somewhat exaggerating for effect, but the motivation thing is the other issue raised. 

[TRO]

Man U have talented players, their application has been the questionable bit.

They will dig in and find the energy to stop our gallop.....We must find the legs to compete with it.

[Pongo Waring]

The whole world was watching and we blew it. 

[HanoiVillan]

Definitely a game that makes it look quite embarrassing we even had this thread in the first place. 

[Tayls]

Close the thread. It’s rediculous. Quite why Unai accepted that stupid peaky blinders Christmas tree or decoration or whatever it was the other day is beyond me. 

[rodders129]

Agree with the comments, close this thread.

[Condimentalist]

We remain 3 points off the top of the league after half the season.

We're clearly underdogs in any race but it'll be hard to ever win anything with some of the 'support' in this thread. 

[foreveryoung]

11 minutes ago, Condimentalist said:

We remain 3 points off the top of the league after half the season.

We're clearly underdogs in any race but it'll be hard to ever win anything with some of the 'support' in this thread. 

And the players.

[Captain_Townsend]

14 minutes ago, Condimentalist said:

We remain 3 points off the top of the league after half the season.

We're clearly underdogs in any race but it'll be hard to ever win anything with some of the 'support' in this thread. 

Indeed. The negativity would kill your soul. Will never fully understand it.

[villa89]

7 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said:

Indeed. The negativity would kill your soul. Will never fully understand it.

It's not negativity, it's called realism.

Unexpected teams have good starts to a season all the time, it doesn't make them title contenders. Spurs were never title contenders this season and neither are we. The media might rabbit on about it to fill air time but anyone who watches us regularly can see that our performances are more miss than hit and that our best players have to play too many minutes. 

[Condimentalist]

1 minute ago, villa89 said:

It's not negativity, it's called realism.

Unexpected teams have good starts to a season all the time, it doesn't make them title contenders. Spurs were never title contenders this season and neither are we. The media might rabbit on about it to fill air time but anyone who watches us regularly can see that our performances are more miss than hit and that our best players have to play too many minutes. 

Our performances are more miss than hit 

**** me man, lay off the booze. We've literally never had it so good. 

[StefanAVFC]

We are absolutely still in a title race. We’ve lost 4 games all season, 3 points off top at the halfway stage. Yes today was a disaster but it doesn’t change a lot. We’ve beat 2 of the closest teams to us already. 

[StefanAVFC]

1 hour ago, HanoiVillan said:

Definitely a game that makes it look quite embarrassing we even had this thread in the first place. 

Hmm not sure why? Would city close their title race thread because they lost to Wolves and us away? 

[HanoiVillan]

We concede far too many goals to be serious title contenders. Very very few teams win the title while conceding more than a goal a game and we rarely keep a clean sheet.