Hardly anything has been able to distract me away from the Villa in my lifetime. The last series of events able do it was the birth of my kids, decades ago.
Purchasing a gaff in Spain has distracted me too. It’s the whole process of buying the property and doing tons of research as in what to expect in being over there and everything else around it. It’s a nightmare, with utilities and all manner of bills and taxes to sort out. And is exactly the reason why the thought of moving at all has never appealed to me.
It’s caused me to take a total back seat from thinking about the Villa and is why I’ve hardly been on the site or written anything. Apologies for that and you seem to have been doing a pretty good job of that yourselves.
There’s also another reason I haven’t written and frankly it’s because I have practically nothing positive to say.
I’m very much known as a straight talker and rate myself as very much the pragmatist, hence I want to look at something quite depressing. Our current form.
To make it simple, here’s our form over the last 12, 10, 8, 6 and 4 games;
8th. 5th. 13th. 17th and finally 19th. Anybody else seeing a pattern here? At a time when we’re thinking we’ll turn it around and it’ll come good, we’re actually getting worse. And we’re already in relegation form.
Things look pretty grim to me and I expect this to continue, at least tomorrow anyway.
So Chelsea away and they’re on a roll.
Squad news then and Jacob Ramsey is definitely out and Amadou Onana will be assessed before the game, having missed out for the last two. Kamara will probably start after doing so on Wednesday and I’d expect Barkley might too, having done pretty well in the last few weeks.
As for Chelsea, they apparently rotated quite bit for their European game on Thursday and will revert to a full strength side for tomorrow.
Which doesn’t bode well for us.
We actually have a fairly good record against Chelsea over the last few seasons, but I don’t see us getting anything tomorrow. Unai doesn’t seem open to changing from his current very high line defending stance and I just can’t see how we’re not going to get caught out, with their attackers repeatedly getting in behind us. Quite simply we’ve been found out and we all know it.
So we’re in trouble and Chelsea are looking very likely for a Champion’s league spot. What can go wrong?
Everything, I suspect and my thoroughly depressing position is we’ll be soundly beaten.
I’m going for 1-3. But I seriously hope I’m wrong.
UTV!
Comments
174 responses to “Chelsea – Villa; Very little hope here.”
Chelsea bagged a 3rd goal when Olsen failed his homework. Everybody has seen Palmer drift from right to left along the 18 yard line and shoot. The physics means he can only put the shot inside the keeper’s right post, nowhere else. Martinez at least knows this but Olsen clearly does not and was covering the other half of his goal.
Villa’s defence are finding new ways to self-inflict damage in their own box, and the mdfield has no bite and no ball retention. Tielemans looks every time to thread a ball to Watkins, sometimes Rogers or Duran, but the defence know it is coming and Tielemans would need to be pin-point accurate to make a pass that defeats the cover. He managed 2 all game.
Liverpool look very impressive absolutely ripping Man City a new one.
Makes you wonder, has this total football had it’s day?
Hopefully. Liverpool playing as the game should be played: fast.
Totally agree matey.
This Pep style has reduced the game to a type of walking football.
Absolutely hate it.
Make no mistake about what I’m saying.
We are in serious trouble.
As said the next two games has to be six points or I just worry.
We didn’t win a single battle today and that says it all.
Our defence is shockingly poor and we just don’t look like scoring.
I’m sure the commentator mentioned something about equalling Gerrard stats.
That says it all.
And we just don’t look like we have a clue how to turn it around 🙁
Agreed.
We won’t go down but I think last season was an anomaly, right place, right time.
Chelsea and Utd off the boil, we slipped in through the back door.
Also form as a habit of continuing and our form at the back end of last season was woeful.
The wrighting was on the wall then imo.
The Champions League did for Newcastle and now for us.
Unless they ease off on the financial regulations then there are only five clubs in the EPL financially able to create a squad capable of competing in both the CL and the Prem.
We lost Luiz and Diaby because of needing to comply with PSR and it’s now clear we’re noticeably weaker without them.
I keep pointing out that Emery has repeatedly said we’re competing with at least seven other clubs that are ahead of us. He is trying to downplay supporter expectations in the EPL.
So, as a consequence, I think he’s concentrating on the CL (and he’s set the squad / team up for Europe) because it has the potential to earn the club significant revenue the deeper we go into the competition.
Others may disagree.
All true and correct.
Makes perfect sense Hitch and maybe we need to adjust our expectations accordingly?
Brentford will destroy our defence. And we’ll be lucky if we beat Saints. The playing staff is suddenly sub standard. Maybe they always were. Either way, there may be trouble ahead…
Pep has better players than those at Villa but his playing out from defence like Emery has been figured out by most teams. Watching Liverpool like Chelsea with higher tempo and more aggression is getting more success.
We need to offload a number of players as soon as possible. Bailey and Philogene would be my first choices, followed by Olsen.
One other thing is why Maatsen didn’t get on. We spent a lot of money on him and Emery plays Digne who wasn’t the worst defender today but when we whine about two games in a week, why not rest him? Is Maatsen another big money failure?
Ah well it was great while it lasted.
We should have known it wouldn’t – after all its Villa – isn’t it!
☹️
Why has the keeper not been red carded in the Liverpool game?
A Liverpool fan mate I watched the match with last night tells me that Slot has used 15 players all season. The results speak for themselves. Consistency.
You have to have your best 11 based on ability. You pick them every match, twice a week, yes. If and when they get injured, mentally or physically, another player comes in, ideally a round peg in a round hole. The onus is then on them to keep their place. See Liverpool goalie as prime, simple example. No way Alison gets back in. Repeat until season ends.
It’s not rocket science. Love Unai but he’s played his cards wrong. They’re not the best cards (another post on PSR needed), but the tinkering hasn’t kept the players fresh; it’s confused and demotivated them.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5959788/2024/12/02/aston-villa-are-in-decline-and-the-data-shows-the-defence-has-been-rocking-for-some-time/
Absolutely brilliant article. Must read. Lays it all out starkly. Everyone is underperformed. Including Martinez. Is it complacency, fatigue, if plain laziness? So much has to chance. Unai and his staff would do very well to read this and demand much much more. I’m not a big fan of stats, but they speak for themselves.
If nothing changes, 4-0 Brentford on Wednesday.
“Aston Villa’s back-to-back home matches this week come against the two teams who have the joint-worst away records this season.
Brentford [six matches] and Southampton [seven matches] have each only taken one point from their away games, conceding 25 goals combined.”
John Townley on X
We have to go out all guns blazing and put these away. Anything less than 6 points and things will look really desperate. This week is as big as, dare I say bigger than the City and Arsenal week EXACTLY this time last year. No pressure…
McNulty makes three good points about Villa’s current run of form (5 games in the EPL – the worst run since Gerrard – that was the comment made on TV).
1. The physical and mental pressures associated with playing in the CL and ‘the most competitive league in the World’ – similar to Newcastle last season
2. They have been so consistent for so long now a dip in form could be expected and
3. Villa are no longer a surprise package – teams are ready for them.
Mirrors what we’ve all been saying on here – perhaps he takes his quotes from AVN&V 🙂
He concludes by saying that in Emery we have a quality coach that is more than capable of sorting it out.
*in the EPL without a win
Hopefully Unai is able to come up with a plan B and liberal sprinkling of self belief by Wednesday?
December predictions;
AV 1-1 Brentford
AV 2-0 S’ton
Leipzig 0-0 AV
Notts Forest 0-0 AV
AV 0-2 Man City
Newcastle 3-1 AV
AV 2-1 Brighton
So, 8 PL points, 1 CL point, out of 21 in total available, 18 PL.
Three clean sheets Alfie – isn’t that a little optimistic? 🙂
Forest will batter us at their place.
Villa host West Ham in 3rd round of FA Cup.
Oh well, I suppose there’s always next year 🙂
Saw Brentford’s weekend goals last night. Their pace in attack is frightening. Incisive, quick movements and passes with razor-sharp, instinctive finishing. With the Villa’s current comatose state, they’ll be licking their lips and it could well be a mauling…
I’d park the buses and play for a 0-0. No, really…
The Alex McLeish school of footy?
Oh such fond memories 🤦♂️
I know but we need a clean sheet and some discipline. Back to basics.
https://tbrfootball.com/nswe-and-atairos-could-push-emergency-button-after-huge-aston-villa-finance-decision/
About Villa’s finances. Sounds like the party’s over. Before it started.
I think the PSR rules will be changed as it’s screwing over the big clubs and that’s where the power lies. Then we can push again. I don’t expect our owners are in the mood to give up quite yet
Well that’s a cheery read.
My concern for some time is that NSWE will get frustrated by the EPL’s overly tight fiscal rules which prevent them from pushing the club forward through positive investment. Add to that the cabal of clubs that have no ambition and vote against any motion that might allow the ‘wealthier’ clubs to pursue real ambition. These are the clubs that are happy to battle for anything above 18th position – what’s the point of that?
If NSWE decide to pull out then I fear for our club.
Really hope we go for it in the fa cup would love a cup run and we can win it if unai goes weak I think I’ll give up
He will go weak. Not through choice, though. Because that’s all there is.
I think Emery will be half hearted about FA Cup. Foreign managers don’t love the competition as much as us. Stevenage, Chelsea, Everton and Palace have knocked us out of the domestic competitions since Emery arrived. Almost certainly West Ham will want to progress more than us. If we go out then we can assume we are going full throttle in the Champions League.
More importantly are the next two home games which are massive if we have aspirations to qualify for Europe. Fans are already getting restless about our drop off in results in 2024. I think we need a minimum of 3 points to prevent calls for Emery to be sacked. That’s not me calling for it but guaranteed that there will be disgruntled supporters who will have had enough. I don’t like the playing out from the back. I never have but tolerated it because we were getting results. Truth is that teams have found the best way to play against us and any team that play the same way. Brentford and Southampton have the two worst away records in the league so who better than Villa to remedy that.
Maresca said they were setting traps and we were walking into them. Eddie Howe said the same thing when Bournemouth came to town in August 2019 for our PL return at VP; you’d have thought those days were long gone. Glasner also commented on how he told his team to exploit Villa’s painfully obvious weaknesses. The naivety and immaturity of the team currently is extremely worrying.
We’ve had a bad run. If we had been found out why did we have such a decent start to this season? It’s not like teams have had to react to a new style. Players out of form, chances missed and some sloppy defending from a defence that has been shuffled a bit this season through injuries and managing important games.
We will recover our form but to expect Emery to abandon his football philosophy after a half dozen games? I’ll trust Emery over armchair fans like me.
Have a bit of faith for christs sake
“Players out of form, chances missed and some sloppy defending” That’s surely a recipe for bad results.
You mention injuries like they are exclusive to Villa but all clubs have injuries. Palace had a number of their best players out. Juventus only had 14 outfield players available!
I will keep faith with Emery to turn it around but it’s a results business. The younger generation have grown up with managers being replaced regularly with patience not a feature of modern football. It doesn’t take too many poor results at VP for the atmosphere to turn toxic. Time is a luxury few can afford! I think NWSE aren’t the type to press the panic button but can they provide the funding next month which Emery desperately needs to bring in the players that suit his system? A RB is crucial plus a RW and a number 10. It looks like Philogene signing was a mistake to challenge the out of form Bailey. Emery clearly doesn’t rate Buendia and doesn’t trust Ned yet. Onana doesn’t look like he can play a couple of games without picking up an injury. Can Ramsey ever get back to his old self? A lot of questions which only time will tell us what happens.
And? Nothing I said isn’t valid. Should City sack Pep? I made no comment on other teams injuries. I can probably list other teams with poor form who have injuries. What does that prove? If things turn toxic at VP what’s your plan to magic in a saviour manager that produces a different result under the same constraints? It’s ok. You don’t have one.
Get down VP and support the team. Or do you watch on TV and criticise?
If the team gives up as fast as some of us on here we are fucked.
I’m in a bad mood not Villa related so rant over.
Ah, the toxic Villa Park. How we’ve missed it. :(((
How about suing the FA for Ramsey’s injury? They could argue that he (eventually) recovered from that one. But he’s gone from an 80 million player to deadwood since the summer of 2003. Under Smith, Gerrard and Unai’s first season, he was looking something very special. The current, prolonged state of affairs is saddening. In hindsight, the club should have flogged him to Spurs in the summer. Another roll of the dice that hasn’t paid off.
DS, you might think we played well early in the season.
Some of us thought we definitely didn’t and I’m pretty sure I said a few times that we were taking points even though we were playing poorly.
Our poor performances are not just a recent thing, imo and it’s more than just poor form.
Fair enough. I thought we played really well against Bournemouth and conceding at the death seemed to take something out of the team. End of last season we were out on our feet.
A couple of wins and we will be in better shape.
Incidentally, I spent the weekend in Leipzig (nice city). RB were doing well at the start of the season (still 4th). They lost 5-1 at home to mid table Wolfsburg making it 5 defeats and one draw in the last 6 games. Maybe we will get something there next week.
I doubt it, DS…
Just read Martinez being accessed for tomorrow’s game although a fractured bone in his finger doesn’t sound too good for a goalkeeper. Have we ever won a game with Olsen starting?
Onana is out again and Ramsey 2-3 weeks away till his next injury.
Olsen looks like a good shot stopper but is a rabbit in the headlights with the ball at his feet. Not what Emery would like as a backup but it’s where we are .
Brentford is a tricky match despite their away record. We need a break.
If Olsen plays, it’s the perfect excuse to change the style. Defend deeper. Do not play out from the back. Win the ball in midfield and attack from there!
“aspirations to qualify for Europe.”
Eh? Seriously?
I’m thinking more like “aspirations for survival”.
People saying we won’t go down need to look at the reality, imo.
We are bloody awful and do not look like winning against any team that tries.
And yes, Emery doesn’t give a toss about the FA cup.
He only has eyes for one thing, imo and it’s a mistake.
West Ham had 31 attempts at goal last night. 31! and 10 on target. But lost 3-1. Make of that what you will!
Watched the game as my son in law and his dad are Leicester fans. They were lucky and the dad described it that they were battered.
That win under a new manager might give them the kickstart they need. We could do with something similar.
Impressive stats from the Hammers. You rarely see attempts in the 30+ category.
In my opinion, although we tailed off at the end of the last campaign, there reason for our struggles is the absence of Luiz and Diaby.
Luiz: 9 PL goals, 5 assists
Diaby: 6 goals, 8 assists
That’s just the basic stats. The control Luiz gave the midfield and the ability of Diaby to really stretch the opposition are also sorely missed. Meanwhile, Bidace and Onana. Enough said. PSR has screwed us so hard,… (insert own vulgar metaphor).
We will get hammered tonight if Unai plays the same way. Take the wingers out and pack the midfield: McGinn, Ross, Youri, and Kamara should all play, in my opinion. Rogers and Bailey offer nothing in the current climate. As for Bidace and Ramsey…
Game on Amazon Prime tonight, lads.
Just noticed Louie Barry has 14 goals 1 assist in 18 games for Stockport. He’s pretty rapid and a calm finisher. I would like to see him back at the club and given some game time. He’s 21 years old now so we need to promote him or let him go.
He is already coming back from Stockport with the intention that he will go back on loan to a Championship side. We should give hime a run out first but I expect that will be deemed against the rules
Duran will spit his dummy if Unai gave him a game. When was the last time he scored?
Mings in tonight. No comment.
Martinez starts and Mings in for Torres. I like Digne but when will the expensive Maatsen ever start a game? Should have kept Moreno and signed a RB.
Canadian Pete says that Rogers should be dropped but he starts again tonight. I agree that he needs a rest and time out of the spotlight because the hype has caught him out.
I’ve predicted a 1-3 defeat on the Super 6 but not confident we will score. I hope Emi’s fractured finger doesn’t make him fearful of shot stopping.