Probably the worst performance under Emery, but you have to ask yourself if we ever even looked that bad under Gerrard? One shot on target all game – the goal I had already left the stadium for. It was simply spineless and I actually had a great point made to me yesterday, as follows:
Our usual lineup would consist of starting players like Watkins, McGinn, Torres and instead we start Abraham, Lindelof, Barkley and Sancho etc.
Who signed all of the players that put in that spineless performance today? And who did we play them instead of? It’s very clear that we dropped Gerrard, Smith and Bruce signings and played a lot more Emery signings than usual.
I’m sorry, but the recruitment under Emery has simply not been good enough. I do not know how much control Unai has had over this matter but it has still not been near good enough.
I’ve said this a few times this season, how we are 5th in the league table I genuinely do not know. We have zero attacking presence at all.
I put in a comment last night about how we’d fluked where we are this season, I can explain. Our whole season has been built on a good run of form, which was saved many times by long shots.
The statisticians and pundits were right – it is simply unsustainable, and ever since the first side clocked they need to close us down on the edge of the box whilst holding shape on the wing to ensure our only option is to pass sideways, that’s when our season totally capitulated.
Notice how I didn’t even account for attackers making runs down the flanks? It simply isn’t applicable, they will either lose the ball on their own (like Rogers yesterday) or they will get bodied off the ball within three seconds (like Sancho……. yesterday)
A very negative post but a reality check. If we go and beat Forest, we have beaten a relegation fighting side at home in a competition that we should be winning. It is season saving, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say the negative fans are in the wrong if we go and win that game, it is perfectly plausible.
A post pointing out a lot of the flaws within our side, and what bugs me the most is that this is what we’ve largely put up with for years, and nothing has been done about it. If we do not sort our attacking force out then I can’t see us winning another game this season. We must now look to Thursday, the biggest Villa game of my lifetime.
UTV
We could’ve lost on purpose last night, I genuinely don’t think we were physically capable of being that bad.
But I see your point. What is the motive, though?
It may encourage Forest to go strong tonight knowing they could be dragged into a relegation battle. That is my only thought.
Spineless is the key word in your title, Alfie. Konsa, McGinn, Watkins = the team’s spine. Literally and metaphorically. Remove it and expect a spineless performance.
Well Forest have left Anderson, Gibbs-White and Word on the bench today, so looks like they are focusing on Thursdays game…
Wood not Word and Forest have scored in the first couple of minutes. Ouch
Forest 2-0 up. Without their spine. BUT. They’re playing a metaphorically spineless Chelsea who are rudderless. I.e. the Chelsea version of Tottenham and Forest BEFORE De Zerbi and Pereira arrived.
We can’t win on Wednesday; Pereira has them firing on all cylinders, they have superb players that would get into teams in the top 4, and they have tremendous momentum, domestically and in Europe, which gives them bags of the all-important ingredient for success: confidence; they’re in great form and scoring freely. If they score first, the atmosphere at VP will implode. This time, I really don’t think I can watch. Too painful.
Emery didn’t sign those players, Alfie: Monchi and PSR did. Clearly, the manager doesn’t rate Abraham, and who can blame him? Shitcho? No comment. I am surprised and disappointed that he gets more minutes than Elliot, though.
There are many reasons we have ‘zero attaching presence’: Guessand, Shitcho, Elliott, Malen, Bailey, Abraham…MONCHI. Not to mention Duran and Diaby. Do we see a pattern? P…S….R. That’s why Unai had the demeanor he did yesterday. The man must be f****** drained.
As for beating Forest meaning we beat a relegation fighting side – no, Alfie. There is absolutely no difference between them and us. They came off the rails because the owner fell out with the manager and went through two more before finding a good fit. I repeat that beating them on Thursday is close to mission impossible, based on the current state of affairs. I suggest we all digest that reality before Thursday, to ease the heartbreak. Then pray we beat Burnley – who are overdue a win and will play with freedom, by the way…
How many good performances have we seen this season? A handful at most! It might be just me, but I have had enough of the BORING football we are being served up. I can see it now! Martinez pass to Torres, pass to Konsa, over to Cash by the corner flag. He boots it up the touch line to Sancho who loses it. Alternatively on the other side of the pitch, ball goes to Digne or Torres who plays it up to Rogers who loses it. Repeat and rinse!
More and more teams have figured out how to play against us now. Either press us so we play long and they win possession, or sit back and crowd the midfield with physically stronger players who retrieve the ball off Buendia or Rogers!
Emery has been strongly linked with Real Madrid, and if he wants to go, I wish him well. I appreciate what he’s done for us but I think he’s reached his full potential with us? He’s done it on the back of mostly Dean Smith signings, plus McGinn who was a Steve Bruce signing. Even Kamara was a Gerrard signing. Since Emery has arrived, and bearing in mind he gets the final say on who comes in, the signings have been hugely disappointing.
Iraola will be snapped up by someone like Chelsea soon, and with a much smaller budget, he has a team playing on the front foot and 15 games unbeaten.
Emery has enough credit in the bank to see if he can achieve Champions League for next season, and kick on if he wants to stay.
My preferred opinion would be to see Iraola or even Glasner who play a style I wish we did.
Please understand that this is my opinion, and I respect those who are happy for him to stay with the tippy tappy 90% playing along the back style of football we have now. And yes, I do understand the saying ‘be careful what you wish for’ but I want silverware! Glasner looks like adding a conference league to the FA Cup and Community Shield in the space of a couple of years. Does anyone on here really think that they wouldn’t swap what we have for theirs.
Thursday night is a MASSIVE game. And if we lose, getting 5th on the back of a really poor Premier League will feel a real disappointment.
I WANT SILVERWARE!! Not a bunch of bottle jobs!
So why are we criticising Emery for prioritising the silverware??? As I said in an earlier post.
Form can’t be switched on like a tap. Momentum is key and Forest have it. We don’t. I hope Emery has a master plan ahead but I seriously doubt it.
I agree with the concerns over Thursday and is blindingly obvious that Forest are now favourites to lift the Europa League.
If they do it will be a kick in the nuts watching other EPL teans picking up trophies while we repeatedly fall at the penultimate hurdle.
Why do we want CL football – revenue, money, income to offset the limiting financial regs as we don’t have a hope in hell of winning it.
So, I don’t care whether we qualify or not as long as we get Europa League next season which we,would still gave a chance of winning.
I’m not in favour of chasing a new manager but if Unai decides it’s time to move on, Iraola would be my first choice – but only if it’s Unai who decides to call it a day at VP.
The profitability benefits from Europa or conference league are massively outweighed by UEFA PSR 70% rule. Premier League PSR rules are less restrictive on spending so unless we make Champions League, we will be forced to scrimp and save on budget deals and loans again. We need a huge overhaul of our ageing squad, and Rogers is probably the best one to sell to release funds. Unfortunately, his value is dropping like a stone, unless he has a great World Cup. Newcastle, Chelsea and Spurs without UEFA restrictions will have a bigger budget to spend. Europa and conference league won’t attract many decent players to VP.
His value is not ‘dropping like a stone’ – there will be a queue of clubs trying to buy him and Villa will be able to name their price otherwise we won’t sell.
It’s not just me who’s saying that. Pundits alike are saying that Tuchel shouldn’t play him ahead of the likes of Bellingham based on current form. Emery has put too much faith in him to make the difference. He loses possession consistently and rarely passes to teammates. He prefers to run at players before getting crowded out. Grealish in his pomp would take 2 or 3 players out of the game before passing unselfishly. Maybe an Emery master plan is to drop him to the bench. I doubt it though. If anything, we will be predictable.
I agree on Rogers.
On Emery having a master plan for Thursday, Big Ron in ’94 played 5 in midfield, bringing in Graham Fenton and playing Dalian wide right. It worked. An amazing United side weren’t prepared for the change of tactics, designed to stifle their ridiculous attacking prowess and creativity.
Anyway, we can only hope Unai does something that Forest, and every one watching, do not expect. We can only hope…but I definitely won’t be watching. I’ll Google the result on Friday morning with eyes behind hands, afraid to look.
Morgan Gibbs-White injured.
Not a concern for them, no doubt he’ll play, he’ll do everything he can to be on the pitch unlike our lot.
Bullshit. It’s a smokescreen, Alfie.
Onana with his legs of straw, Gabby Agbonlahors description, probably won’t be ready. McGinn on the other hand, is one of a few Villa players who would play even if he was in a bit of pain.
Thursday is going to hurt if we do not win. More than Olympiacos, 100%. We are well and truly trophy dodging bottlejobs if we don’t win, and I won’t shy away from calling it what it is.
I will call them out too Alfie. 100% effort is the bare minimum. 50/50 tackles MUST be won. We are going to war! If we lose the battle, we lose the game. It’s that simple.
I’m as disappointed as any Villa fan at the last three results but suggesting the whole season is one big fluke and when did we actually play well is, without doubt, an emotional over reaction and an insult to Emery’s impact on the club and his coaching ability. I seem to remember criticism of Arsenal fans treatment of him – maybe some should be looking in a mirror?
And, of course, he’s only signed poor players whereas, Bruce (much maligned), Gerrard (similar) and Smith signed all the good players! Don’t remember a lot of support for either Bruce or Gerrard at the time – Smith, fair enough, he’s a Villa fan after all.
All managers have good and bad transfer history but to lump every player signed by Emery / Monchi into the bin but to omit reference to the profits made and will be made on, for instance, Rogers is selective at best. The moves for Asensio and Rashford were inspired and signing Lindelof on a free was a good move. We can be critical of Malen’s move but it was forced on us by UEFA’s SCR restrictions.
Duran was sold at a major profit and Diaby was a great signing that bought the best out of Bailey but had to be sold for reasons of PSR.
Yes, there has been some dodgy purchases but when you’re buying in the bargain basement because of PSR it’s always going to be high risk.
Not everything is perfect but it never is but overreacting results in Spuds type scenario.
We may well lose on Thursday – it’s what I’m expecting because Forest have the momentum and I’ll be devastated – but I still back our owners and Emery (if he wants to stay) for the best for our club in the medium to long term.
Well said.
We are currently on 58 points. We might beat Burnley but I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t. With Pool and Citeh to follow, this could be the first Emery season with less than 60 points. First season was 61, followed by 68 and then 66! This tells us that we might get CL on the failings of teams like Chelsea and Newcastle. This season in the Premier league has been our worst under Emery. The football quality has definitely been worse without many convincing performances. It’s bizarre that our best performances were at home to Arsenal and Citeh. What does this say about the mentality of the players. Am I the only person who doesn’t enjoy watching us play anymore? There was a time when we would build from the back and move the ball quickly. Now it’s pedestrian and unimaginative and toothless. We have a few players out injured but so does every club. If we are blaming PSR, how do clubs like Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth cope with tiny budgets compared to ours?
Going back to the Spurs game. I find it indefensible to say that we should throw the game to prepare for Forest. The minimum expectation is 100% effort. Fans can accept defeat if they see maximum effort. At £70-£80 a ticket, the fans earned the right to boo. I would want a refund based on players not trying to win.
Brentford, Brighton, Bournemouth. I would suggest NSWE headhunt one of those recruitment teams and bring them to Villa Park. It’s not Emery’s fault that Monchi was an expensive, failed fraud, like the players he signed. It’s quite simple. Choose one of those 3 teams and offer them salaries to do the same work for Aston Villa. Business is business.
I agree on the refund. And I don’t think Emery told them to play a whole match without attempting an effort on goal. Unless there’s a massive conspiracy to ensure Spurs don’t go down.
You reckon it’s a smoke screen BFR? I don’t see how you have that cut on your face on purpose. But you’re probably right.
I think we’ve done the same with McGinn.
I predict he and McGinn will play.
Just seen the Forest highlights from yesterday. If they start like that and play like that, it’ll be all over by half-time and Villa Park will empty. They played the complete opposite to us against Spurs – slick, fast, incisive attacking football. And their right back looks deadly with his crosses and dribbles around the area. Does anyone believe we can beat these? Do the Villa players? Does Unai? Something has to change massively. And we haven’t even started about the referee and his ‘state of mind’. I just won’t be able to watch. Too much stress, anger and upset. Not worth it.
Morgan GW may miss the game after his head injury. I hope he’s okay, but him missing from the game would suit us.
Some crazy reactions acrross the web over this game and our current form. Assess it all at the end of the season. A win on Thursday and victory over Burnley would cement an otherwise fantastic season, especially with the injuries and PSR we’ve faced.
Big IFs, Bum Bum.
A win against Burnley won’t secure CL. Bournemouth have to drop points but they’re playing so well, they could win all 3, even City after last night. The goal difference closed at the weekend with their 3-0 win. So if Bournemouth win their last 3, we will need a point from Liverpool or City, assuming we beat Burnley (which I definitely don’t). I said months ago, we’d need to be over the line before the last two games. Spurs, Fulham and Forest away should have seen us home and hosed. But we’ve f***** it up and are now under pressure. That’s the reality.
I read that Forest are saying their was no concussion issues around Gibbs-White injury. Well, they would, wouldn’t they – any suspicion of concussion and he definitely wouldn’t be playing Thursday.
It’s sad though that the majority (me included) only see a chance of us winning if Gibbs White isn’t playing!
We need Onana and McGinn both fit to have any chance. Also, maybe bring back Dean Smith and John Terry for a team talk. They knew how to navigate semi finals!
Show them the Forest fans celebrating wildly after the first leg as if they’d won it already. If they’ve got anything about them, it should piss them right off. And wind them up for the ‘war’, as Holte said…
Was so over the top. Try being in the midst of their fans after the game. 🤦♂️
The Germans always criticised us for over celebrating a semi-final – as they say you’ve won nothing!
However, we’ll be just the same if we manage to pull off a win!
It’s different when you’re through. They did it after the first leg.
I’m going out on a limb here and think we’ll batter them 4-1.
Also, I’ve been watching Emery again on the touchline at the Spuds game. To me, he knows he can’t do anything more with our second string and was pondering his next move as to how we set up, invest and play.
And is David Beckham on every advert in the run up to the WC?
I sincerely hope you’re correct, mate.
McGinn should be fit, Onana not so which weakens us possibly more than Forest if Gibbs-White misses out.
I would like to see Emery play McGinn alongside Tielemans as a double pivot – at least to start the game.
Defence picks itself, Tielemans and McGinn – Watkins up front with Rogers and Buendia also starting so the question is who plays with the three behind Watkins? I’d throw the dice and play Abrahams alongside Watkins – try and upset how Forest might expect us to set up.
Don’t think Emery will do it so I guess Sancho to start.
That all assumes McGinn plays the deeper role of course and Emery doesn’t start with Bogarde or even Lindelof alongside Tielemans.
I’m still not confident that we can win it; all the momentum is with Forest.
If Shitcho starts, it’s suicide. Luiz in the hole is not a bad idea and makes more sense. I don’t trust him in the pivot any more, and neither does Emery. He can do damage further forward in the center. So Buendia can go to the right if McGinn drops back next to Tielemans. Meaning Shitcho doesn’t start, which is critical. He won’t be able to take Forest’s physicality. No way.
Onana out probably means we are screwed. As good as Onana is when fit, he’s injured far too often and clearly has a low pain threshold when compared to Gibbs-White! With Kamara being injured frequently, I would sell Onana if we could get a big fee. Selling him and Rogers would rake in between £150 – £200m which would allow us to spend well to rejuvenate our squad.
I agree with Hitch and would play McGinn and Tielemans as the double pivot with Luiz as a 10. I would then play Watkins wide left, Abraham through the middle and Rogers out on the right side. Alternatively, play Maatsen in front of Digne on the left with Watkins down the middle.
I’ve already accepted defeat and will turn off if we go a goal down on the night.
Good calls Holte – I’d rather forgotten Luiz who could also play the double pivot role allowing McGinn to play further forward.
I’m not totally with you on Onana – Emery has said they’re aware of his susceptibility to ‘small injuries’ particularly when fatigued. My take is we need to bring in another good player in the double pivot role and manage Onana’s game time, He has become a very good player under Emery and I’d be loath to lose him.
Can Luiz adapt to the double pivot role – if so that could be a massive benefit.
I think he’ll have a point to prove tonight if he does get a chance to play…
Gibbs White didn’t train today.
That injury was a big one. 30 stitches. Tear that open again and it’s permanent very bad scarring. Let’s wait and see tonight!
Excited, lads?????
Nope.
🤣.
Same here. Just nervous now…
It’s today… ffs
With Forest having Woods and Awoniyi as target men, could Emery play a 3 – 5 – 2?
Konsa, Mings and Torres with Cash and Maatsen providing the energy down the flanks.
A central trio of Tielemans, McGinn and Rogers as a 10.
Abraham and Watkins up front.
This would give us extra height for set pieces.
However, if Sancho or Bailey appear on the team sheet……
I noticed when we played Bayern we had Diego Carlos. Honestly I thought he was so underrated and would help us today in adding strength to our defence.
Play the weak players and we get dominated. If McGinn isn’t starting today we may as well give up.
Carlos was built like a boxer. Very much like Forest’s Murillo. Which is why I said I think Mings should play.
Anyone know a witch doctor who can roll Pau and Mings into one?
Watching the game tonight in the beautiful bay of fethiye just choosing which classic villa shirt I can wear I’m so hoping we can put in a performance would so luv a win and I think we deserve it
Win this cup and I think we go to a different level
UTMV
I’ve never been less excited about a big game for Villa. I’d almost forgotten about it. Self-preservation to avoid the heartbreak.
It should our time; we’re ahead of them with everything: promotion, PL safety, squad building, European experience, and managerial stability. Everything. But it just doesn’t feel like the stars are aligning. Feels like things are going their way. I really hope I’m completely wrong.