RicRic Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 1 hour ago, ender4 said: Is this the most important game that Villa have played since we got promoted? Sliding doors moment? If we win, i think we'll qualify for the Champions League and all the extra revenue and exposure means we can then do it again. If we lose, i think Man Utd & Spurs will overhaul us for 4th and 5th with our season ending on a whimper. We miss out on £50 million and next season Man Utd, Spurs, Chelsea, Newcastle are stronger. No the west hame game where grealish scored was, this is nothing in comparison 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mottaloo Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 1 hour ago, Brumstopdogs said: Fear this will end up like the Newcastle and Chelsea home matches where we only had a go when it was too late. Start Ramsey and Pau then I’ll be more confident. UTV! This. Man ure invariably either batter us, fluke a winner in fergie time, or ratboy cons the ref and gets a penalty. I just hope we don't fold and be submissive. No time to be in awe of big boys if we want to establish ourselves in the top 4/6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bose Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Not confident for this one. We have a much better chance if Pau is fit but otherwise our form against the "bigger" teams has been poor in the past 6-7 weeks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerner's Driver Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 (edited) I could be wrong, desperately want to be, but the sense of inevitable dread I am feeling at the likely outcome of this match is strongly encouraging me not to bother watching. That instinct is a reflection of the drop off in performances we have seen over several months and not a comment on results, or what has been achieved so far. Does Emery have the nous to mastermind a turn around in our fortunes? Of course he does. Can the players that are left, after injuries have taken their toll and fatigue is accounted for, do what he wants and do it to the level needed to maintain our trajectory? We'll find out very soon. We all hope they can, but it doesn't feel like it at the moment. At our best, we were/are a finely tuned kit car, punching above our weight in relation to the established sports car brands. After losing a few key parts to wear and tear and replacing them with spares, suddenly, we don't look anything like the monster Unai first built. Question is, does he have everything he needs to make us purr again, or have we just taken too many hits? Based purely on what we have been seeing, I'm erring towards the latter. You've done it before Unai, can you do it again? Edited February 9 by Lerner's Driver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 I'd be tempted by (if Pau fit): Martinez Cash Carlos Pau Moreno Kamara Luiz Diaby Zaniolo Ramsey Watkins But I think it will be: Martinez Cash Carlos Pau Moreno Kamara Luiz Bailey Tielemans McGinn Watkins Pretty obvious but we need to play much better than we did against the Barcodes and the Chavs if we are not going to lose this one. We'll get at least a draw if we start fast, at a high tempo, and get an early goal. Cannot concede first because this team doesn't have the mentality to come from behind and win against a top half team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WakefieldVillan Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Could name various team line ups for this but at the end of day whoever starts needs to be 100% up for it and show a lot more desire than they did on Wednesday night or it will be another loss! I think I'd like to see Bailey, Watkins and Diaby in a front 3 and basically just go for it. You'll score but we will score more than you kinda attitude. Maybe this behind them with the back four being more conservative; Emi. Cash. Carlos. Pau. Moreno. McGinn. Kamara. Ramsey. Bailey. Watkins. Diaby. Hope Pau can start and is up to speed, Carlos only gets in in front of Lenglet cos he's a right footer! Hoping Diabys decent cameo finally brings about an upturn in his form I'd take 1-1 now all day long. I haven't said 0-0 because we definitely won't keep a clean sheet. UTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich_H Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 I’ll be mid flight during this game, last time that happened we were 0-1 down to Crystal Palace at take off and by the time I’d landed it was long finished and 3-1. I wouldn’t complain about a similar result this time but with a clean sheet if possible. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villan95 Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 We are 4th in the league, averaging 2 points a game and recently won our last league match 5-0.. Reading some of the threads lately you'd think we were in the relegation zone and not won for months 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerCollins29 Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 No way torres starts. Hasn't kicked a ball in anger for weeks. If he had gotten minutes on wed then maybe. Same goes for digne. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herman22 Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 6 minutes ago, GingerCollins29 said: No way torres starts. Hasn't kicked a ball in anger for weeks. If he had gotten minutes on wed then maybe. Same goes for digne. I think Unai knows the drop in quality from Pau to Lenglet is immense. I think if he’s trained for the week he will start. Digne on the other hand is bench at best. I think we might see JJ come in for some legs in midfield but that’s about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It's Your Round Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 21 minutes ago, GingerCollins29 said: No way torres starts. Hasn't kicked a ball in anger for weeks. If he had gotten minutes on wed then maybe. Same goes for digne. Torres doesn’t kick balls in anger. He caresses them in style. Agree with your overall point though I’d be very surprised to see him straight back in from the cold. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Great news that Pau and Digne are back. They're in contention to start which would give us a big boost against Man Utd. Could potentially see: Martinez Cash Carlos Pau Digne Kamara Luiz Bailey Tielemans McGinn Watkins I think that team can beat Man Utd if Carlos doesn't do anything daft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 39 minutes ago, GingerCollins29 said: No way torres starts. Hasn't kicked a ball in anger for weeks. If he had gotten minutes on wed then maybe. Same goes for digne. Weeks is hardly months. Bentancur didn't play for nearly a year for Spurs recently and came straight back into the starting lineup. It will very much depend on the player and 5-6 weeks is not that long out if the injury has fully healed which it should have done if the player is back in the squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 1 hour ago, WakefieldVillan said: Could name various team line ups for this but at the end of day whoever starts needs to be 100% up for it and show a lot more desire than they did on Wednesday night or it will be another loss! I think I'd like to see Bailey, Watkins and Diaby in a front 3 and basically just go for it. You'll score but we will score more than you kinda attitude. Maybe this behind them with the back four being more conservative; Emi. Cash. Carlos. Pau. Moreno. McGinn. Kamara. Ramsey. Bailey. Watkins. Diaby. Hope Pau can start and is up to speed, Carlos only gets in in front of Lenglet cos he's a right footer! Hoping Diabys decent cameo finally brings about an upturn in his form I'd take 1-1 now all day long. I haven't said 0-0 because we definitely won't keep a clean sheet. UTV Quite like that midfield/attack with Bailey and Diaby both playing and Ramsey playing box to box but you cannot drop Douglas Luiz, that's madness, even if he has had some below par games recently. Just like you can't really drop Kamara. If we're dropping anyone from that midfield it would have to be McGinn but I don't think that's happening because he's captain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troon_villan Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 1 hour ago, Rich_H said: I’ll be mid flight during this game, last time that happened we were 0-1 down to Crystal Palace at take off and by the time I’d landed it was long finished and 3-1. I wouldn’t complain about a similar result this time but with a clean sheet if possible. Yeah yeah we get it. You're Rich. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WakefieldVillan Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 38 minutes ago, Leeroy said: Quite like that midfield/attack with Bailey and Diaby both playing and Ramsey playing box to box but you cannot drop Douglas Luiz, that's madness, even if he has had some below par games recently. Just like you can't really drop Kamara. If we're dropping anyone from that midfield it would have to be McGinn but I don't think that's happening because he's captain. Oh I don't for one minute think Luiz will be dropped, and I really hope he puts in a stellar performance, I just think he was so passive on Wednesday (along with others) and perhaps still recovering from illness. We looked short on legs too Wednesday night, hence my inclusion of Ramsey. It wouldn't surprise me to see the same starting eleven (believe it or not) Pau the only possible change (fitness aside). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Villa breathed life into the corpse that was Hojlund and now he can't stop scoring. They'll be full of belief on Sunday. I'm not sure if we are up to the scrap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted February 9 Author Share Posted February 9 Huge game, arguably the most important of our entire season so far. Huge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted February 9 Moderator Share Posted February 9 Are all of Pau, Carlos and Lenglet left footed? I wonder if he'll consider dropping one of the full backs for the extra defensive presence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wishywashy Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Bit harsh there Erik 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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