So we beat Brentford, beat Southampton and won in Europe again to make it three wins on the trot. Can we make it four?
Just as it frankly amazes me that we’re sixth in the league, given our recent form, it amazes me even more that Forest are actually a place higher. I’m sure that says something about the Premier league this season, but I’m not sure what. It’s probably that most teams have been pretty rubbish.
I really ought to be confident about this game, but I’m not quite there yet. I know results show that we look like we’ve turned the corner and got through a rough patch, yet I have a feeling that the Champion’s league is taking more and more out of the squad. We so badly need to automatically qualify and by-pass that next stage so the lads have a couple of months away from Europe, but then of course, we might be fighting on the FA cup front.
Squad news and Ollie Watkins will have a late assessment. I’m not sure it matters much, because I think Unai will start Jhon Duran, who surely deserves a start? It would however be nice to see Ollie on the bench if we require an option. Jacob Ramsey and Leon Bailey’s fitness hasn’t been updated, so the assumption is nothing has changed and they won’t feature.
Forest don’t have many problems, but Alex Moreno isn’t eligible, which is probably a bit of a loss for them, as he’s apparently been very good, while Ibrahim Sangare and Danilo are both long term injured.
Forest have a very similar record to us this season. They’re on the same points, but have a better goal difference. Not much, but they concede less and score more at the same time. Given that we’ve conceded 23 in 15 games, it’s really not hard to see where our problem lies. It’s in the defence and we need a right back so Konsa can return to by far his best position. But we’ve been saying that for ages and I have a feeling it won’t be addressed in the upcoming window either. Given our position in the CL and even the Prem, considering we’ve been so poor, it’s hard to criticise Emery though, I suppose.
I certainly didn’t expect us to be doing so well in Europe.
All this begs the question of if we don’t buy a right back, what position will be strengthened? Not long until we find out, but you’d expect we’ll get at least one player in.
This seems to me to be a game all about strikers. Duran is going to start, it’s just been confirmed, as is Mings, who will surely be wanted in trying to keep a lid on Chris Wood, who’s on a roll.
This game looks drawish to me and I’m going for a 1-1, which I’d be okay with.
UTV!
Absolute shite just like fucking Bournemouth
Absolutely Holte – xxxxing brain dead!
Then again Obama was brought in to help see out the game and we concede 2 and had a goal disallowed.
Man of the match was Kamara and it showed when he went off how bad we are without him
True.
No disgrace. Some really bad decisions. We tried.
Some might believe me in saying we have lightweight players in defence and also in midfield, Rodgers had a blinder (I don’t think so ) . time to ship out.
I thought Rogers played well, fwiw. He was probably our biggest threat, imo.
Because he goes for it though, it does mean he can run into brick walls, achieving nothing and giving the ball away.
Whereas some of our players simply give it away all the Time. Tielemens springs to mind again. I thought he was terrible, same as he has been for about the last 3 months, imo.
No Badger, please watch him he’s losing the ball and fails to use his strength. Sorry, not a favourite player of mine and I don’t know why people think he’s good. We can all forget Villa going places this season not when we have a weak defensive player that doesn’t stamp their authority on games. That was a disaster today sorry to say.
Sorry, Bill, I think you’ve called that 100% wrong.
Look around, you’ll see many think he was one of our best players.
š¤®š¤®š¤®
How to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Unaiās substitutions usually work well but today they cost us.
Maybe. But even I can boot the ball up the pitch so it’s nowhere near my own goal. Not difficult.
Actually Forest played well. Bugger. But God bless football!!!!
They’re at home. The onus is on them to play.
We should’ve had a penalty first half. We had the lead. VAR saved us once. But – as predicted and expected – we conceded more than one goal. Which means you ain’t taking 3 points home from Nottingham. Until this shit defence is sorted, nothing will change. Tough games coming thick and fast…
I thought Forest were poor until the last 20 minutes with our first substitutions. Tielemans does a lot unnoticed and Kamara going off left us there for the taking. Emery doesnāt screw up very often but today he did.
If it was down to me, Duran has just scored, would I take him off, maybe not. But I can tell you now, taking Kamara off was suicide!
Likes itās been mentioned already, sometimes just boot the f**king thing up the pitch for god sake!
If we had a right back Emery trusted we can have kinda back where he belongs
I like Cash but heās not good enough for where we want to be. Start Konsa and Mings instead of Carlos and Torres to see if we can get a clean sheet for once. I hope we can get 2 or 3 signings in January. A RB and a RW desperately needed.
I didn’t think much of Forest either. Very average and we were more than holding our own until our utterly shite defence was called upon.
You can praise Emery all you want, but until he sorts that load of crap out at the back, we will not achieve much at all.
I knew I should have watched the strictly final
Poor defence against aerial threat. Mings (ill) missed because crosses from our left don’t get past his head. Other than that the subs all looked worse that the players withdrawn, in Onana’s case he always looks like a fish out of water unless he starts. Cash unlucky with their winner, he was kicked from behind, and should have got a free kick.
All true, to be fair. So their winner shouldn’t have stood. And we had a blatant penalty ignored, despite the existence of the pitiful and pathetic VAR. Reasons to be aggrieved. Again.
I didnāt post anything at the time but did Martinez make the save of the season? If you watch it at full speed, itās unbelievable that he kept the ball out.
Badger Bill has a point, Chesty blows hot and cold, when he’s good he’s the dogs. When he’s off it, you’re playing with a man short?
Today?
As BFR might say, we played walking football, they played with intensity but then again we are playing on two fronts?
It is what it is but we really do lack quality going forward, play far too pedestrian and fail to break teams down.
January window is going to be interesting..
January window: oh look, a tumbleweed…
Yeah, Chesty was not good at Forest. Can’t argue that point. Just typical Villa like this time last year when we could have gone top. Arse and Pool dropping points and we throw it away.
Less annoyed, more deflated.
I’m glad two of you see my point, Bum bum, Ron SS if Rogers runs into brick walls where the fuck is ours? His problem is brain not quick enough in the game I’ll say again watch and you will see. Uni lost us that game in subbing wrong. If he’s focused on Europe games by giving time to benched players what happened at Forrest will be repeated. Play your best and sell the worst come January I say.
I genuinely think we’re suffering from a smaller squad due to FFP. It’s a stitch up.
I can’t blame Emery. Subs are either ineffectual, brilliant or shite. You can never tell. Look what happened midweek compared to yesterday. I think the players are mentally tired more than physically. Forest were just sharper than we were and that was a clear penalty on Morgan too.
Gonna be an interesting Citeh game next week…
It’s true. And it’s not a coincidence it falls apart in the last 10 minutes. Same with Bournemouth. Tiredness sets in. Mental and physical. A win a we would’ve been back in the top 4. š¤¦
City home and Newcastle away next. Can’t see more than 1 point from those if we’re lucky.
Itās no coincidence is it. Villa get shafted by FFFP (extra F intended) and out smaller and slightly less talented squad (Dougie for Onana, Diaby for Philogene) has inevitably cost us. Chelsea on the other hand, spend what the like , fudge to rules at every possible opportunity and have 2 quality starting 11s. How is that fair? Teams that wish to expand within a solid business plan should be aloud the opportunity to do so. The dream for any team in this country should be to one day go all the way! Thatās what makes our game so special. Sometimes a little wise investment or heavy investment is exactly what a club needs to get it off the ground. FFP simply doesnāt allow for it.
Is the famed ‘CL hangover’ real?
Well yesterday I watched a team, after having a close game away and winning 3-2 in the week, struggle against a mid-table team and let three goals in. They also scored three to earn a draw but, as the team were Real Madrid, no-one seemed very happy about it. TBH they were very lucky to get the draw as their opponents, Rayo Vallecano, ran rings around them at times.
We lost narrowly and should have had a penalty against an in form side. Anyway, it is what it is and we’re still in sixth (for now). The team now gets a whole week off so lets see what they can do against a struggling Citeh after a bit of a rest.
I agree with BFR and think we will be lucky to get just a point from Citeh and Newcastle. If that does happen then we will be back to mid table. While we are all enjoying the CL campaign, itās looking likely we wonāt be playing in Europe next season, unless we manage a Europa or conference spot and then we are back to playing on Thursday nights again.
Itās a fact that FFP/PSR rules are holding us back but at the same time I donāt think club owners should be able to spend what they want. If that were the case then Newcastle, Citeh and Chelsea would totally dominate as we are a million miles away from their spending power.
I hope in January that Monchi will prove his worth and get top drawer signings in the positions we need. We all agree on the RB and I hope he will offload Philogene whilst he still has some value and get a RW who has speed and the ability to go past players and cross a decent ball. A number 10 to challenge Rogers would be a bonus. If all that happens and we can get Ramsey fit and back to his best then who knows what the second half of the season will bring.
Watching the Palace game and although GuĆ©hi is on everyone’s wish list it’s Lacroix who’s impressed me
I would have bet on Brighton winning and going ahead of us. With Liverpool and Arsenal only drawing at home I feel it could be quite a strange season with any team capable of winning any game.
It is a strange season.
It appears the passing for passing sake has had it’s day?
I read somewhere the same is happening across Europe, the team with the highest percentage of possession ain’t winning.
Oh well every dog has it’s day
My thoughts after I saw him at VP.
Manc derby was a dreadful game, low quality from both teams. Diallo was the only decent player and he decided the game. Really can’t see why we can’t get something from the Citeh game.
Because it’s Villa and they’re struggling. Pep will be relieved…
Citeh on a dreadful run. Will we oblige them next week, or rub salt into their wounds?
The latter.
I mean the former. š¤£
Awful game.
Man City never looked likely to create everything ( their goal was from a deflected set piece) and Utd looked like a championship side,
As for next week’s match that result wil have absolutely destroyed their confidence, so great time to play them.
And imo it’s pace that kills them, there’s no legs in that aging City side.
Play walking football and we’ll struggle.
*anything*
Exactly. We need to go for the throat. Wounded animal and all that…
Need a Hammers win tonight but unlikely. It’s so so tight. United down in 13th only 3 points behind us. 2 or 3 poor results and we’ll be in the bottom half. 2 or 3 good ones and it’s top 4 going into the New Year, which would be brilliant. 3 out of next 4 games are at home. Need a big effort up to Leicester on the 4th. Should be aiming for 9 points minimum, but I just can’t see it.
BFR. I’ve had a word with my next-door Hammer supporter and threatened him, that his team got to win or no more house parties. Got him worried and told him I’m not cutting his grass either.
I see we are being ‘offered’ Rashford this morning. We could use a player of his ability to operate wide and still score, but the baggage that comes with him is too toxic to accept. Maybe it is just playing for the United circus, but he looks to me like somebody suffering from depression.
I bet we are, with him on a wage of Ā£325k per week and contracted until 2028 (allegedly).
Agree with OLL about the depression point. His demeanor on the pitch reminds me of a certain Stanley Victor – without the anger.
There seems to be a question over Rashfords ālife styleā. Iām not sure what that means but it doesnāt suggest depression is the issue.
Rashford needs a new start but heās a risk and hugely expensive so I donāt think Villa will be in for him.
With regards to the guard changing with style of football, Lazio got smashed 0-6 by Inter tonight, Lazio had 51.6% of possession compared to Inters 48.4%.
Also Lazio had more passes in every department except strangely less long ball passes.
The more that things change, the more they stay the same?
Enter, Fat Sam…
BFR a question matey…
Do think Pep’s tactics make football more or less entertaining ?
Good question. When they were good, they were very, very good. Pre Haaland, before De Bruyne’s injuries started, they were exceptional. Smashing Watford in the Cup Final a case in point. Lately, not so much. The CL win a clear snapshot of that perspective. Pep has fallen into the trap Fergie refused to fall into. He’s kept his players too long. Seeing Gundogan in midfield after he left suggests decline, in my view.
Here’s more evidence that Pep isn’t the football God he’s cracked up to be:
https://x.com/Lea_EFC/status/1869086859491680555
For Lazio?
Generally, Bum Bum. If the long ball is back, he’s your man – loves a diagonal ball does the big fella. A ‘long pass’, the late Graham Taylor called it. Personally, if it reaps rewards – namely goals – I have no issue with it whatsoever. My favourite – which I’ve posted on here in the past in YouTube form, is Les Sealey launching a ball towards the Holte End in December 1991 – big Cyrille Regis gets the flick-on, and Tony Daley – without breaking stride – full volleys the ball with his left foot into the top corner past a flailing Tony Coton. Etched in my memory and I could watch that all day long. And that’s one of many examples.
Favourite long-ball goals, anyone? We could have a goal of the century competition, Badger…