Here’s me almost forgetting the kickoff time. But, as always, getting something up just before kick-off. Not that there’s much to say. Villa beat Everton 2-1 a couple weeks ago, and the Toffees were poor. Which seems to be their vibe at home. At Villa Park? We’ll see soon enough.
I can say it’s hard to beat a team twice in quick succession, and Everton do still have something to play for. Villa will have to go without Ollie Watkins because of a ludicrous yellow, and Keinan Davis will get the start. How that affects Villa’s tactics, I can’t say. Less high press? More sitting back? Fewer attempts to quickly spring the striker, and instead work to hold up and join in? Could be all of the above. Nothing else is changed behind Davis.
For Villa, the big news obviously is that Grealish has been training and returns to the bench. I’m guessing Deano will give him some minutes, but I can’t say that’s a sure thing. I doubt he wants him out there getting kicked for no real reason. And while I don’t believe that Jack is simply angling for Euro fitness, I would believe that Dean is sympathetic to protecting him so that he can make the squad. It’s a part of keeping him at Villa, as well as his long-term fitness. No one wants this re-occurring.
So here’s to a good night for Keinan: It would be great for all of us if he could lead us to three points to leapfrog Leeds back into the top half.
Over to you.
The Author
John Clark
John is co-owner of AVL, and has followed the Villa since the '70s. A journalist by trade, he is, by most accounts, a very nice person. You can follow me on Twitter @JClarkKohoutek. It's an astonishing experience. Or a complete waste of time.Comments 117
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Everton like to sit back hence away form, could be waving at each other from the own halves, Thanks JC
First game for Martin Atkinson since we beat West Bromwich 3-0, and before we won both his other matches against Liverpool and Arsenal. Will he be the difference tonight?
Well, apart from Mings missing a great chance with his header, and El Ghazi having a poor shot with a good opportunity, a fairly poor first half, with passes going astray again.
If Chukweumaka cannot improve on Barkley, then we have no hope for the future.
Stupid dive by Traore, and no lessons learned.
So far so good apart from the cash injury
PP what about Richarlsons dive? Maybe he could give them lessons how to do it properly 🙂
I love Deano but why the hell are we playing Barkley. It’s a disgrace. What a stinker of a half too. Poor Davies on his start gets the 3 behind him playing terrible. He is cursed
Paul
I’ll forgive Deano if on the hour mark grealish for el ghazi and chuck for Barkley! Anyone for Barkley! The mans not our player in 3 weeks yet we keep playing him. I see absolute no reason why he’s playing
Poor Keenan. He’s done what he has had chance to do well. But 0 service
Trying to do the right things…bit slow, though, and some poor touches. A lot of slipping, and players not always thinking the same thing.
Need more tempo. Move the bloody ball quicker. Toffees are just waiting to break and happy to sit in. Super John mcguinn looks super again
God, Barkley is awful. 🙁
Watching Barkley isn’t doing my blood pressure any good. And knowing Deano is playing him. Argggghhhh
Villalore
Someone said Barkley is playing masters footy !!
64 mins he lasted. Never want to see him again. I can’t get my head around us playing him.
Perfect game for chuck surly
Good luck Rambo.
Let’s see if Ramsey can’t pass more to Villa than Everton.
Well he is, as an Everton player/contributor. Lost the ball to them at least a half dozen times. Thank god Dean ended his and our misery
Matty targett is flawless. What a player.
Don’t think I’ve ever seen so many balls played straight to the opposition.
That scene just about sums it up.
Thank god that Martin Atkinson was reffing tonight, or we could have lost McGinn and Mings, through silly fouls. McGinn was lucky to get only one yellow, and Mings challenge could easily have been at least a yellow with some referees.
So good to see Jack back on the pitch, but the standards of our play and passing was abysmal again.
Dean needs a long hard think over the next few days.
Pleased for Emi to equal Brad’s clean sheets.
We really need to improve on our standard of play next season.
Well done to Elmo for stopping a cerain goal and doing a great job in place of Cash.
Just sloppy from so many players. Kept putting ourselves in trouble time after time or keeping moves from happening.
Was nice to see Grealish back, PP. You could see from a couple of those driving runs what we’ve been missing.
Well if Everton are what we have to beat next season to get Europe I’m not worried. We even tried to help them by passing to them constantly and still they were shite. Surprised Ancelotti didn’t delve into his bag of tictacs. Jack is way way off match fitness. Hopefully Mings and Martinez are ok Cash isn’t obviously.
Luis to me looks very very tired, no awareness of whats around him, he’ll be fine next season with a good holiday in between, won’t we all.
PP,
As far as Smith’s thinking, don’t know that it will have changed much. Ross, well…McGinn, great battling, some poor turnovers. Very profligate in our shooting (so were Everton, but they at least managed to put a couple good efforts on target).
Still midfield and forwards we need to address.
MK,
Yeah 12-game span and no training or aggressive running, he’ll be miles off it. Don’t know that he can be truly fit for the Euros.
I just hope he comes through without feeling pain after.
Me too JC, I want him to go but I want him in one piece.
Obv what we are crying out for. Just quality in final 3rd.Players who can keep the ball and are happy to receive it and pass it.
Mark we’d have had a bloody good season if we finish above toffees next year
Shout out to Davies. Thought he did everything he could well. No service
I thought jack looked OK! Bloody start him against palace. For Christ sake stop playing Barkley
H&V if Davis is a no9 I’ll eat all the hats in hat land, he always looks better on the RW but is less a RW than Traore if that makes sense, the lads a trier but tonight he magnified why Watkins is so good, he’s mobile.
H&V,
The one thing I noticed about Jack was that he wasn’t tracking back at all. You only ever see that when he’s gassed. So, I’m guessing just an exercise in being out on the pitch again, saving something for recovery and Palace, no unnecessary running, see how it feels.
I don’t think he’ll start against Palace. If he does, certainly isn’t lasting more than 50-60 mins.
Villa v WBA semi final on BT Sports tomorrow night!!
I was just going over the stats for 2021, we have 5 wins and 5 losses, that according to many fans is not good enough but last season we only had 9 wins total and 8 draws. We are also 22 points above the bottom three.
Putting it into context the second half of the season is flat compared to the 1st with 9 wins and 2 draws but then if we did not start the season with multiple injuries and covid in the camp.
Lots of reasons Smiths team have struggled this year but they are still at a better pace than last season and have lead in many games that also may have ended in wins had we the depth of squad.
I’ve nothing to add to Lifer’s comments which are accurate as always. The Toffee’s finished stronger and we were hanging on a bit at the end. Barks couldn’t pass a ball from A to B. Thought Dougie was struggling in that sense too.
Great to see Jack back. When he received the ball, he was like a magnet with 3 players on him each time. But he’s way off starting fitness. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes next time out.
Think that’s Cash cooked for the season. He’ll be a loss. One of my pet gripes is not seeing him in one of the midfield berths. He has so much energy, a great engine.
As PP says, it’s another big one tonight. Best of luck to the kids. We’re right behind you. A final awaits, go and take it.
Why do we water the pitch right up to kick off of and again during half time? When it’s chucking it down? I was not surprised to see the players slipping so much. Groundsman, get a grip.
plug
yeah I thought that it was chucking it down and was watering it haha
im still absoulty fuming barkley started. I just cant fathom it. it makes 0 sense. not signing him. got our own players and a few youth ones in same position he is starting over. Oh and he is playing extremely bad!
Its danny drinkwater all over again.
I did actually think ramsey did well when he came on. first time ive really taken notice of him.
we need to sort out our set pieces especially corners next season. its a massive weakness of ours. We offer 0 threat from them.
jame ward prowse would be ideal!
MK,
You are right about us having a good season, confirmed by Dean Smith saying that we are about where we wanted to be. The problem we have is, having such a great start to the season, really set the bar high for the remainder. This was obviously not possible with thee usual injuries and the horror of covid.
The disappointment has been that in some matches the effort has been poor, the making of very elementary mistakes, and as H & V says, our ability to use dead ball situations has been atrocious.
Fortunately, we have had matches in this half which have been good to watch, with plenty of effort from the boys, like the first game against Everton. However, some games have just been like the Villa of old, as in the United game, where we start well and something goes wrong, and the heads go down. What a difference last night, seeing the Bindippers fight back and defeat United, much to my pleasure.
I accept that Liverpool had a lot more to fight for, and that is part of our demise this second half, not having enough to fight for, especially without Jack, who completely changed the look when he came on, and it was good to see Mings show some fighting spirit and breaking forward to try and win the game.
We really need to have more leadership on the pitch, if Jack is missing, and I still feel that Milner back for a season would be a good move.
Looking forward to tonight’s game, starts at 5.30pm on BT Sports 2.
Great news!! I have been successful in getting a ticket for the Chelsea game!!
PP- congrats on the ticket.
I don’t agree thats its effort, might look like it but your wrong about nothing to play for. Some are playing for the Euro’s, all for Europe with Villa up to the last game with untied. Some are playing just to stay here. I don’t think we can look to far from the Covid breaks effects and the season in general being non stop for fatigue setting in, for some more than others.
Set pieces, If you look at where we have scored goals from this season you will see that 10 of our 49 goals scored have been from set pieces, the team with the most I can’t recall but its something like 14, most teams have 6 or there about so although it might seem we are useless at set pieces in the grand scheme of things plenty of others are worse, we are toward the top end.
One other stat that really stands out is close to 50% of our goals come from the left hand side and about 35% from the middle, Right side is non existent from a goals point of view.
Even now some of our stats have us in the top 4, in some instances top.
MK……stats, stats and damned lies…….we’re below Leeds in the table and they’ve been my benchmark since Xmas.
Paul nice one getting a ticket! So from Monday crowds get in?
mark, that must be free kicks cause from corners we are a waste of time. I fear we are to concede from one of our corners than score!
stats and xg! The real world is results and league position!
H&V stats reflect what going on in the real world or they would not use them to scout players, in fact you could see a CF that has scored 20 goals and find that 8 of them were ones he will never repeat in a month of Sundays, as in low XG. Now if he was scoring low XG chances season after season he would be pretty incredible ie 30 -40 yard efforts.
If the real world is results and position then forget about building something and be prepared to have season after season of relegation battles and the odd blip were we smash it , otherwise you will have to see what’s beyond results and Position and bring our quality up slowly as the team matures into our system.
We are 6th for corners taken and 6th for big chances missed and top for hit the woodwork with 21. That should tell you we are on to something as we have the youngest team too, results and position don’t reflect those stats but tell you we are not far away and where to improve.
Plug- Sheffield were mine 🙂 My criteria has been how we have done against the regular top 8 generally and not position, and we have done well, in some cases crazily well. Leeds? they have done well no doubt but so did Sheffield 1st season, they have at least two seasons on us build wise, I don’t think there is a fair comparison out there because we have had to build from scratch literally.
Congratulations to my great favourite from our last crop of youngsters, Callum O’hare, who has won Player of the Year at Coventry City, after playing 40 games for them this year, and been instrumental in their progress this year. Pleased that they will be back at the Ricoh stadium, instead of having to play at the sty!
Super computer predicts that we will remain 11th, winning one more game, drawing one, and losing one, conceding two more goals, and scoring two more. Sounds about right. Lose to Spurs, beat Crystal Palace and draw with Chelsea with 10,000 fans present!
MK,
Statistics are useless on their own, and only serve as ammunition to the interpreter, as proved by many politicians. They are a very important tool in the right hands, when correctly interpreted, using the trends and analysis necessary.
My view is they are a very helpful tool in football, but should never be the be all and end all that they seem to have become.
Last nights stats about shots on target prove the point. Where were the fifteen shots on target that you could honestly say were worth mentioning, and could have resulted in goals!
I believe there has to be a proper balance, and the stats should only be used to illustrate where necessary, the difference between one player and another.
Congratulations to El Ghazi for his call up for the Dutch team.
And congratulations too to Dougie on his call up for Brazil for their 2 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay.
PP- I cannot see how you can expect shots on goal (on target) to be actual shots on goal or even good otherwise they would be 15-20 goals or saves in games, That’s where blocks etc come in to further explain the number of shots on goal. Instead of pointing out the lack of good shots you look and see some good defensive work, after all goals don’t really happen unless someone makes a mistake no matter how small.
I was surprised that Hitting the woodwork is not a shot on goal just as Mings best chance that went wide wasn’t. It was however a very high XG chance, basically should of hit the target and likely scored. Stats are not the be all for sure but then they have to be interpreted properly not taken literally as I’m sure you know.
They can be very telling over a season as to what you are getting right and wrong, just like the tea leaves you have to know how to read them.
what does not cease to amaze me is people recall of occurrences, you could have 100 people watch an event and get very few that match up as to what they saw. Add to that the amount of other info around the story very much gets changed in peoples heads, and it depends on their outlook and other memories to begin with as the brain looks for patterns and fills in the blanks.
Stats if used properly don’t lie as much as peoples memories an awful lot of the time.
Just listened to Martinez and Targett interviews and the defence really want to get that 16 clean sheet record, Martinez wants to go unbeaten for the last games so I guess they haven’t read the can’t be bothered script 🙂
Plug – hopefully Luis can get some sleep on the plane and some sun, Defo think the lad is suffering from lack of rays having spent his previous seasons in brazil or Spain. I wonder if the club uses light therapy or sunbeds?
MK….in the real world, the rebuild of AVFC by Compass and the organisational structure they’ve put in place is going precisely to plan.
Patience is virtue. Recovery from the state Lerner left us in was always going to take time and much money. We’re on the up alright.
Just needed a cabbage to correct a minor fault.
Plug- yes the stats support that hypothesis, they don’t support the Davis is a striker outlook that many have though 🙂
The stats debate is very interesting, especially since we’re only really hearing so much about them in the last couple-three years. And I’m also thinking about Stan Collymore going off on Twitter about all the “coach-speak” entering common discourse and analysis.
He’s not happy about “low block,” “high press,” “recycling,” “overloads,” and the rest. Thinks the old ways of talking about the game say it all. Me, I disagree, though I can see why some find it annoying. I think it brings more specificity than “get on them,” and “get stuck in.” People have always talked about tactics, but never really had a good way of describing what’s being done. It’s just “we need four in the middle,” or “two up top.” Which isn’t “wrong,” it just misses a lot of fine points about who’s supposed to do what.
Me, I like the stats because they quantify what we think we’re seeing. There are some cool ads featuring real-time analysis of NFL plays, and because you can now crunch huge amounts of data about similar plays, it produces good insight on how something you’ve seen over and over again may only have a 6% chance of succeeding because of all the variables in defensive alignments, down and distance, how close defenders are, etc., versus the defense being fooled and someone being wide open in the exact same situation.
Now, that’s not to say that we’d all necessarily agree on what makes a chance vs. a great chance, or the way XG is calculated in a given situation. But. If the same formula is applied evenly, then it does provide good comparison data across players and teams.
In the end, the table may not lie, but we also routinely say things like “we were lucky to get a draw,” or “we were by far the better team and deserved more.” And totting things up does provide some insight on how you might have played well enough to reasonably have expected to get 5-10 more points.
It’s certainly important for coaches because it tells them whether something’s generating what they want even if the results (whether it’s down to finishing, the woodwork, phenomenal saves, or bizarre clearances) don’t always show it. Helps you decide whether to persist or change things, both tactically and in terms of personnel.
You can bet basic things like pass percentage, turnovers, dispossessions are pointed out pretty bluntly in the meeting rooms. Ross, McGinn, Luiz…they all know exactly every time they screwed up, how, why, and how often, and are being shown how they could’ve made better choices, etc.
At the same time, you also have to account for how many attempted passes are difficult versus easy. That tells you about system (lots of pinging around without pressure, for example), decision-making, availability of outlets.
Think of poker or other card games. Sometimes hunches pay off, but the pros are always playing the odds, know them very well. Luck will go for and against, and being able to find and read tells is an advantage, but overall, they’re always thinking how many cards have been played, how many aces or threes, or hearts are left, and weighing that against the others’ betting behaviors.
Now when you watch, you’ll see win percentages calculated (just math) and displayed after each card is dealt. It’s very interesting to see players figure that out and go with it, get scared, or choose to buck the odds.
PP,
Congratulations on the ticket!
U18’s game
http://www.hesgoal.tv
1-0 chuck
1-1 mix up in defence led to own goal
Getting really feisty
Barry 2-1
decent game so far , statistically villa have scored 100% of the goals and are 2-1 up.
just remembered when I 1st saw Jack play in the Hong Kong 7’S
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=565101026936304
Touché 3-1 wba own goal villa in complete control
Congratulations Villa kids on demolishing the Olbyun 4-1 and blazing into the Youth Cup Final for the first time since 2002. It’s Villa v Bindippers on 29th May.
And well done PP on being able to acquire that ticket for the Chelsea game. You do realize of course, that it comes with obligations. We will be expecting a full, unbiased report of proceedings, including…..the state of the ale in the Aston Tavern and quality of curry served up.
Plug- can you do stats on Ale?
Plug,
We were winners in 2002, but have been runners up twice since in 20004 and 2010.
MK, if I’m still standing after eight pints, it’s bilge water.
winners in 1972, 1980 and 2002′
Runners up 1978, 2004, and 2010.
We are 8th in the table of winners and runners up, just behind Everton.
Great game to watch with some great skills shown by the youngsters with Louie Barry MOTM and Carney a hairsbreadth behind him.
Imagine those two alongside Jack and Ollie!!
Great displays by all the lads. a Youth team to be proud of.
PP, these guys will be the future wealth of the club. Not necessarily in sale value but the much larger income derived from their endeavours. Compass know what they’re doing.
He’s the new grealish isn’t he….take a bow Barry. He was superb. That goal you just can’t coach. No wonder they say he’s the best finisher at the club.
They are an exact mini me of the first team. Same formation, same style of footy but there currently better at us at doing it! Ie keeping the ball and creating. Wonderful watch. Chuck, and the number 8 fantastic too.
Fair play west broom too. Some great prospects and played well.
mark
Yeah man was only being a bit flippant about stats. I just prefer to use my eyes and judge what I see on the field. No stats going to tell me that we aren’t rubbish at corners. Seen enough of em. Potter and Brighton love the Xg and doing well in that…but there league position doesn’t change! Apparently there a striker off challenging champ league!
Plug
Apparently edens is obsessed with the youth set up. First thing he always asks. The investment into it proves it.
John
I saw that about collymore. I know some hate him, but I like him. Very passionate about the game and talks sense to me. He calls it hipster speak!
Mark
Stats and building. I can 100 % guarantee stats won’t save Deano if we are struggling after the owners have invested hundreds of millions. End of the day results on the pitch is the be all and end all. If the stats etc work then it should result in wins anyway!
Bruce has manager of the month and is drawing to city 2-2. Think I’m dreaming !!
Wow!
What a game which I missed most of, due to watching something else, but a seven goal thriller, with Scott Carson making his one and only appearance for Man City in goal, and saving a penalty.
Seeing City keep complete possession of the ball for over 3 and a half minutes, and maintain most of the possession for the last fifteen minutes without even running to the corner flag.
I can see our youngsters doing that some time in the future, after watching their possession skills today!!
Torres showed what a natural he is, and will be a huge star in the future in this team.
H&V,
Yeah, that’s it, hipster speak. He’s gonna love me.
The departure of Aluko as Director of Football for AVFC Women “to pursue a position in US Womens Soccer” which she refers to as an unspecified “exciting role” suggests to me she was pushed rather than jumped. Ruthless by Compass – just what we need.
Wonder if they’ll recruit the replacements from US Womens Soccer? Their set up is the best in the world.
H&V well you are seeing that?? in fact the underlying stats say it could have been better which tell you we are on the right track.
Edens is a big stats man and said that football is way behind the American sports in analytics for pretty much everything from performance , fitness, nutrition, scouting. Why do you think they employed Smith in the 1st place? a nobody from Brentford, the biggest stat driven outfit in the UK possibly. Even where they play the ball in the area is done on percentages. He wasn’t employed because he is a fan was he? also his results with Brentford were hardly world beating yet here he is.
If Smith was not meeting their expectations (as he would of been analysed too) he’s be booted out, he is not immune from the data therefore it must be pretty good all considered.
You are surprised Newcastle and Spud are doing better yet they were a month ahead of us in their training ground lockdown? they have taken points from the top 6 lately and were going ok before covid struck.
“The Karolinska Institute researchers focused on the third follow-up, done in January 2021, for their study. They looked at 323 health workers who had mild COVID-19 at least eight months before, and compared them with 1,072 employees who had not contracted the disease up to that point.
Their findings indicated that 25 percent of those who had COVID-19 in the past experienced at least one symptom that lasted more than two months. A total of 21.4 percent said their symptoms still lingered after four months. Meanwhile, 14.9 percent of those who had mild COVID-19 said their symptoms persisted after eight months.”
To me its still the most obvious reason for our drop off in form, research is still on going and Villa will not be shouting about their players being effected for obvious reasons, it would drop their price.
H&V. I’m sure you’re right about Compass and their businesslike approach. If DS was not performing they would eschew sentimentality and like any other manager he’d be off.
It seems that so far they’ve been impressed by him taking us from 16th in the Championship to premier league survival to 11th in the premiership in just two and a half seasons, including a whole squad rebuild and most fans are too.
H&V, as you say, it was notable how the youth team set up and style of play was so similar to that of the senior squad. . . . . .seems such an obvious thing to do and yet it hasn’t always been like that.
I think you put on your rose tinted specs when you suggest they do it better than the seniors though. They were over eager at times, running into blind alleys with insufficient support. They weren’t quite as good with the long pass and the close control let them down a fair few times. You also have to remember that they were playing against under 18 year olds so comparisons are a bit unrealistic. To put it in context, put Keinan Davis in that team and he’d have ripped them apart
Having said that, they were still great to watch, with loads of latent talent and some of them really can’t be far away from the senior team. Particularly bearing in mind your observation of Eden’s interest in the youth set up.
Robbo- even if you forget all the data and stats Smith has done incredibly well for a manager with a lot less high level experience than most. Could another manager of done better? maybe, maybe not. Managers like Moyes turned their noses up when asked.
Even if you don’t look at the broader picture his ten game winning streak, 15 clean sheets, best start to a prem season ever Double over arsenal, 7-2 against Liverpool are all commendable for any manager.
And if we are just using our eyeballs then how are we where we are if we are as bad as made out? Doesn’t say a lot for the rest of the league, we have even gone ahead against the top teams recently while apparently being crap, beggars belief.
“Dean Smith has vowed Aston Villa will continue to progress as he demanded a strong finish to the season.
Smith expects the club to improve further after beating the drop on the final day of last term.
Villa have been comfortable in mid-table this campaign and go to Crystal Palace on Sunday with Smith believing his side are better equipped to challenge in the Premier League.
He said: “We’re building a squad that’s capable of challenging in the top half of this league. There’s been a progression from that period of lockdown to where we are now. We want to keep progressing.
“Our jobs as coaches is to improve each and every player but also team performance. I thought the first half of the season was very good.
“We’ve been a bit hit and miss in the second half of the season but individually you can see we’ve now got better players and more depth for playing in the Premier League.
“That’s something we’ve worked hard to create and they will be better next season from playing this season.”
Villa lost influential skipper Jack Grealish to a shin problem in February and the England international only returned as a second-half substitute in Thursday’s 0-0 draw with Everton.
In 12 games without the midfielder Villa won just three, a run which ended their European hopes, but with Grealish available Smith wants to see a strong finish.
He said: “We’ve got three games in 10 days and we want to get as many points as we can.
“Having 15 clean sheets shows how far we’ve come from walking off that pitch at Leicester in the pouring rain having got beaten 4-0 before going into lockdown (in March 2020).
“There has been real progress at the club. We’re disappointed and frustrated we’ve probably dropped off the pace a bit in the second half of the season but we’ve obviously lost our best player during that period and suffered a Covid outbreak.
“But you’re also competing against very good teams in this league. We’re a little bit disappointed we’ve faded a little bit but there’s been some great progress for us.”
Exactly MK,
Dean is saying exactly what many fans have felt, being satisfied, breeds complacency, and Dean has not been satisfied, nor have the players, so therefore the fans have a right not to be satisfied.
It does not mean that everyone is not happy with our progress since Dean started, or that they will be unhappy with where we are, come the end of the season.
Gerrard and Rangers have not achieved the amazing results this season without determination, and a constant desire to be better. Dean will be doing exactly the same next season, and demanding more, and so will the fans, and in the end, the one drives the other, all wanting to achieve a common goal, of Villa becoming the best team in the land.
Slagging the team off, slagging Dean off, achieves nothing, but the desire for wanting more, and constructive points made, only help to achieve greater heights.
PP. . . .totally agree. It’s right that we get frustrated when we don’t do as well as we should and there were times during our game against Everton when I was intensely frustrated by individual players and passages of play. If I thought that DS and the players were complacent about their performances, or if we felt that the owners didn’t have the club’s best interests at heart then it would be fair enough for us to voice those opinions.
We do need to remember though that fans generally deal in opinions rather than facts and my biggest bugbear is fans stating opinions as facts, particularly when they are unsubstantiated negative opinions of individual players or the manager that tend to weaken the bond between fans and players and may even breed a cynicism amongst players.
I imagine it takes a strong personality to see/hear strong personal criticism or even racism from your supposed supporters and still want to do your best for them. When margins between success and failure are so small then surely being supportive is the best approach unless and until there is clear evidence that a player is unsuitable or not giving 100%?
I don’t have a big gripe with the performance against Everton. They’re no mugs.
For the remaining 3 games I’m hoping that Barkley is dropped. What’s the point playing him? He’s not a player good enough for top 8 teams. Jack will replace El G, another player that should not be starting next season.
I’d also rest SJM and play Nakamba.
I felt sorry for Kenian against Everton. It must be so hard to have minimal playing time and be expected to hit the ground running. I’d like to see him play the next 3 games and put Ollie on the wing. That will give him some confidence. If DS doesn’t play him then he has to go out on loan next season. He’s too good to sit on the bench for a whole season.
Villamd- so it’s sorry for Davis but Nakamba just has to do mcginn s job ?
So pleased to see Marc Albrighton lifting the FA Cup and his medal. He has had a wonderful career at Leicester after Villa decided he was not good enough. Also great to see Leicester win, a team outside the big six, giving hope to so many other clubs.
A superb strike by Tielemans and two great saves from Casper!!
Paul
How superb was that. Wonderful. Was emotional. Fans back, super league club toppled. Like you say there a club that gives you the hope. It can be done. They don’t spend silly money either. 30 mill a player there limit. Recruitment is everything. They play the odd youngster too.
Damn saw Leeds result. Think top 10 gone now but fair dos Leeds. They’ve been superb
MK,
Maybe misunderstanding.
I’d like to see Davis get a run. I’d also like Nakamba to get a run. Nothing against SJM, just feel he’s burned out with all the games + Scotland pressure. He’ll start next season and our games are getting meaningless after Leeds result. Let’s experiment a bit
Statistics:
Burnley V Leeds ……both had sixteen shots on target….!!!
Is Danny Welbeck available on a free transfer , a no brainer in the summer????
yes, wasn’t yesterday’s result superb and once again it exposed the ‘big 6’ as the arbitrary nonsense that it is.
I’ll admit to feeling pretty emotional when the owner glanced to the heavens during the celebrations. You just knew he was thinking of his Dad and wishing he could have been there to share that moment.
Leicester’s owners seem to have truly embraced their local community and vice versa and it’s heart warming to see them being rewarded.
It’s not that the owners of the ‘Greedy six’ didn’t recognise the important emotional links between clubs and the communities that they grew from, they consciously planned to discard the ‘legacy fans’ in search of new shirt buying consumers around the world. For all his faults, I think that Lerner ‘wanted’ to build the ties between the club and the community but sadly lacked the footballing background, and ultimately the cash to see it through. Our current owners seem to have both the cash and the expertise, and I’m hoping that they also believe in the importance of the club’s place in Aston and Birmingham.
Villmd- I was just pointing out Davis has been involved in the 6 of the last 7 games, Nakamba without looking 1 I think and you think Davis hasn’t had pitch time 😉
PP- There’s a huge difference between wanting the club to do better and massive knee jerk reactions and calls for sacking etc when its clear as day the club have a long term plan in place. Not only that they are doing as well as could be expected, the consensus was midtable and no relegation battle this season would be good, we achieved far more really and if not for circumstances in 2021 it would of been better no doubt.
Burnley v Leeds? 16 shots on goal each? think you will find it was 16 shots each . Burnley had 4 on target 4 saved, Leeds had 6 on target 2 saved. the XG was 1.47 to 2.0 so very even on good chances. Attempts off target 8 to 5 , Blocked shots 4 to 5.
XG goals, Leeds had one big chance at about 60% probability another at 34% 24% 13% so they scored 3 lowish probability chances, Burnley had one at 40% one at 30% and one at 18% and missed the lot.
Verdict Leeds got lucky Burnley didn’t.
Now contrast that to Our game at Burnley that ended 3-2 to Burnley. Stats with Villas 2nd
Attempts on target 5 to 10
attempts off target 3 to 5
Blocked shots 2 to 3
Saves 8 to 2
XG goals 0.79 to 2.98
That says they never should of scored 3 and we should of score maybe 5 , 5 of our chances had the rating of 50% probability and Burnley had 1 at 35% the next highest for them was 10%
Basically we was robbed 🙂
Well done to Leicester, yep they play the odd Kid because they have earnt to right to be able to by building for the last 7 years in the prem, also had a long time in the champs refining their set up in the after they got back up from the 1st div. Its a fairy tale story but by no means instant and has involved a fair amount of hairy moments along the way.
I think every non Chelski fan wanted Leicester and Vardy/Albrington to win. Congrats
Cash out for the rest of the season??
Great to see more impressive 18year olds in the Soton v Fulham game
What has DS against youth? Ridiculous playing Elmo when we have great young RB.
Obviously zero chance of Carney getting on pitch
Elmo, Hause and Ramsey in. Cash, Mings and Barkley out.
And there’s why SJM is a #8
Apologies for not getting a fresh sheet up in time…
Decent start, though.
Man…end to end stuff. Nice response.
JC – yeah, great game. Carney for Ramsey at HT?
Villa looking really comfortable, and an excellent start. Very impressed with Hause and Elmo, both doing well. Young Jacob should be on the score sheet, but he is still learning, and he will improve with experience.
El Ghazi another fine goal, and McGinn showing what he can do wearing the Captain’s armband.
Good first half, and will allow Benteke his goal, as he is now back in form. Let’s hope Ayew does not come on and do the same.
Too right, PP.
I do have a fresh sheet up, just a match thread, but less scrolling, etc.