This break thing has been a bit weird. No football, more injury setbacks. And now it’s down to London and Stamford Bridge to play a 4th-round FA Cup tie for the first time in ages. Probably not the worst thing, in the end, even if Unai has made it clear it’s not Villa’s top priority. Judging from his comments, seems a little bit of gamesmanship going on implying it’s more important for Chelsea, which is kind of a new twist from him.

Thing is, he’s in a funny spot. Doesn’t really have many choices other than his best available XI at the moment, so he and Villa have to take this game, if not the competition, seriously. And given it’s a game to be played, it’s a game to be won, which is what makes Emery tick. But I don’t think he’ll be up crying if Villa don’t progress. I don’t know that I’ll be crying, either, if we go out, but I’d rather not because winning is more fun, we’re sort of getting used to it, and knocking Chelsea back would be good for the team’s mentality.

The way things work in life, it would almost be almost fitting if Villa find themselves progressing and sort of backing into a shot at silverware they were most likely discounting. You know, the more you don’t need extra games, the more you find yourself with.

The match is probably also a good thing from the standpoint of Newcastle next week. Performances after layoffs can be very uneven, so getting a competitive game under their belts before resuming league action seems like a benefit, whatever the result. While I’ve been trying hard not to think about league positioning at this stage, it’s basically impossible, and the pack behind Villa is strong. A couple of wobbly results haven’t really hurt in the big picture, but they have been missed opportunities to stay further ahead. Villa need a good showing against the barcodes, and preferably three points.

Anyway, not sure what else to say: If you have to play a game, you might as well go out to win it, and I’m assuming that will be Villa’s mindset.

Elsewhere, also not a lot to say…Klippity will be exiting the PL stage and I found it refreshing to hear him simply say he’s tired. Leander has been moved on for the remainder of the season, and I can’t say that saddens me. Tim is clearly going to see more playing time, and I have to think he’s got more upside than Dendoncker. Would be nice if we could get another midfielder in, but Emery clearly isn’t about making up the numbers, and it seems money is a bit tight for lots of clubs, atm. Unhelpfully, doesn’t seem to be much of a market for Chambers or Bertie.

The striker talk is interesting, and I wouldn’t mind since the players and prices mentioned don’t represent much risk. With Diaby and Zaniolo not contributing as much as one might’ve hoped, another goal-scoring option can’t hurt, and it could just lessen the pressure to their benefit. Have to say, I’d very much like to know what Emery’s thinking about Nicolo. He’s had a good attitude, and I think there’s a player in there, but his contribution/adaptation obviously has been underwhelming.

So, as usual, nothing profound from me: Let’s just win and worry about the rest later.

Over to you.

 

 

Share On:
Facebook
Google +
This entry was published on / John Clark. Posted in Aston Villa Blog, Match Previews and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

The Author

Profile Photo
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 44

  11. John Clark

    Interesting half…definitely look a bit off it, but the chances we did have were decent, should’ve done better.

    Emi’s done very well. Need to play out of the pressure better, obviously.

  27. VillaMD

    Yeah, agreed with comments. We were better team overall.

    Martinez and Cash were great. Moreno getting back to best. Lenglet- prone to mistakes.

    Diaby – miles off the pace. Good moments from Ollie and SJM. There’s a player in Tielemans.

    Bailey must start over Diaby. Zaniolo needs 20 mins a game or release him.

  28. James Gill

    The morning after
    Poor first half good second
    We miss torres big time
    Overall we have small squad and emery doing a brilliant job
    Understand him giving diaby 90 minutes tried to play himself back with some confidence, just surprised Tim didn’t get 15/20 minutes
    Roll on Tuesday wonder will any walking wounded be fit all hve part to play even duran

  29. VillaMD

    I don’t post outside of football, but on Jan 11 a British dancer, Orla Baxendale, died from taking one bite of a mislabeled bar that contained peanut. She had an epipen, but it couldn’t save her. She was 25

    My youngest is highly allergic to peanut. Before her condition I used to think allergies were not real. I was stupid, so posting to increase awareness

  30. r0bb0

    VillaMD, likewise, before I get back to talking about football, I’ll add a couple of thoughts to your comment on allergies.

    I had previously been fine with bee stings, but 18 months ago I had a reaction to a beesting and then lost consciousness while my wife was driving me to hospital. Just before I passed out, having called 999, they asked if we had the ‘what 3 words’ app on our phones. If you don’t have it. . . .get it.. . . it will make sure they send the ambulance to the right place and could save your life. I now carry 2 epipens and ‘hope’ that, if called upon, they will make the difference.

    The second anecdote does not have a happy ending. Just 4 months ago a friend of ours was stung by a wasp and suffered a reaction. I was called by his mate but by the time I got there, there were 2 ambulances and 3 police cars and it was clearly too late. It turned out that his last words were. . . “I’m allergic to wasps, call 999.” None of us knew this, and he didn’t carry an epipen. There were other really unfortunate circumstances which I won’t go into, but if you are severely allergic to anything, FFS make sure your friends know, and make sure to obtain and carry an epipen, and check from time to time that it is still in decent condition.

  31. VillaMD

    R0bb0,

    Sorry to hear. Especially about your friend – RIP.

    My youngest is also allergic to dairy. I saw her touch a dairy ice cream in the house 5 years ago. I’m thinking – where’s the epipen – I didn’t know. Took me a minute. She was choking and her face was breaking out in boils, her nose was dripping. I slammed the epipen in and called ambulance. She made it, but 2 days in hospital. We don’t allow peanuts in the house or go to a restaurant that has any peanut ingredient.

  34. James Gill

    VILLAMD
    Duran contract not up to 2028,it might explain his strops ,he is on 30000 a week,lowest by a long bit in our squad
    Donks traore chambersare paid about 12 million a year between them never mind coutinho 6.5 million wage

  35. Plug

    Villa’s 3rd offer for Rogers has been rejected by Boro. I’d walk away. They paid £1.5 million for him and after half a season in the Championship they want £15 million. Tell them to get on their bike. It’s downhill all the way.

  36. James Gill

    Same squad again tomorrow night with maybe ramsay fit for bench,squad depth is worrying with emery having little trust in our youth not even filling bench out
    On emery he doesn’t look overly healthy in press conference today very tired looking
    I suppose consent pressure taking its toll
    This morning other blogs ,fb groups were in breakdown rumours ffp were making us sell ramsay before deadline
    Our old friend was back every player is crap ,money wasted on so and so,me I have never been happier with our squad don’t think a dud among them

  37. James Gill

    Looks like Rogers done deal welcome to the villa another ex baggie I think,
    Other sites meltdown ramsay has to be going
    Rogers contact is 5 and half years so not costing very much yearly

  38. John Clark

    Fascinating window so far for a lot of reasons. I’m a bit surprised PSR/FFP has suddenly become such an issue at so many clubs, including Villa.

    I’d have thought Wes would’ve had this way under control since in the US very complex salary cap rules demand an entire staff to manage. It’s a huge part of every team’s roster planning every year. Lots of players go when they hit free agency because they’ll get more on the open market, and teams have to decide who and where to spend the money.

  39. John Clark

    When it comes to Ramsey, yes, I’d like him to stay, but if the club got £40m-£50m pure profit on him, I’m pretty sure we could replace him and fill another spot without any dropoff. I would just argue against selling him to someone like Spurs breathing down our necks.

    It might be impossible to keep up over time, but the usual clubs we talk about, like Brighton, seem to manage to find replacements quite readily, which covers a lot of their shortfall on revenue.

    That said, Brighton aren’t going to win the league. But it does show that smart scouting and analysis works, which is the essence of ‘moneyball’: The idea of it didn’t start off being about turning players for a profit, it started as identifying undervalued players who, statistically, offered very close to the same return as the high-priced stars. Selling on at a profit was a beneficial by-product.

  42. James Gill

    Jc
    Ffp has really hamstrung player sales movement all across Europe, the French Spanish Dutch and Belgian leagues depend on pl money
    Then look at West ham sign Philip’s probably cost a fair bit wages /loan fee, now moves will have to drop costly summer signing to fit Philip’s in,make for a unhappy camp

  43. John Clark

    JG,

    It has been tough, yes. Duran, I can’t really believe it. Not that he cost a fortune, but to have him pull a hamstring and miss two months given him being such a work in progress really takes the cake.

    Hoping Rogers comes in and has more impact.

    The other deals, like Phillips, well…I hope it does upset some things. Not keen on them catching us up. Seen a fair number of games at Upton Park in my youth, never did like them, apart from Billy Bonds, I suppose. Trevor, too.

Leave a Reply