When was the last time we had a Saturday 3pm kickoff?
I don’t remember, but it seems like it’s been ages and it’s nice to have one today. There’s just something that seems right about it and late Sunday night kickoffs just don’t do it, do they?
I haven’t heard much about Liverpool lately, so I had to look at the league table to see where they actually stand. Imagine my surprise then, to find that they’re only five points above us, having played one game more.
That sort of puts things in perspective really, because even though I think we’ve been playing poorly for months and results have definitely been poor, what does that say about the rest of the clubs in the Premier league?
Not a lot, it would seem and I still struggle to see that we’re ninth in the table.
So, where I was fearing a major backlash after us thrashing Liverpool at home, now I’m not so worried.
It would seem the Reds are not the same team they were, yet they’re in the middle of a European tie against Real, so they’re not doing too badly.
They have a lot of players out, in Jordan Henderson, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk and Divock Origi.
That’s some list and it partly explains why they’ve not been as strong lately.
There’s nothing wrong with Liverpool’s attack though and they definitely have players who can hurt us.
Hopefully, our defence can stand firm and keep them out, but I suspect we might concede a couple today.
On the plus side, their defence is vulnerable and we have the capability of hurting them too.
The big news for us is of course Jack Grealish being out again and not looking like he’s likely to be back until May at the earliest.
It’s ok though, because Smith said it’s not a long term injury(!).
I seriously wonder if there had been copious amounts of alcohol involved before he came out with that statement.
If what will turn out to be three months isn’t a long term injury, I’d hate to see one that is.
Still, it’s just another example of the BS he has been speaking for months now, I suppose, so I’ll just leave it there.
I think a lot depends on how Smith sets the team up today and indeed, who he plays.
We all know it’ll be pretty much the same personnel as always, but he does have choices in how he plays them.
Our best bet is to actually go at Liverpool and put their defence under pressure from the off.
This would involve McGinn getting further forward.
If that doesn’t work, there’s always the option of putting Davis on. Not to score goals, but to bully the defence and create space for Watkins.
I see goals in this game and hopefully we’ll see a more lively performance from the lads, which will hopefully lead to us getting some too.
I’m going for 3-2.
I’d like to think we can actually edge this one, but I don’t quite have that confidence, so I think it’s going to go against us.
I actually think the performance is probably more important than the result today. We wouldn’t normally expect to get much from this game, after all.
What we don’t want is an abject poor performance and a heavy defeat.
But then, I don’t think we’re going to get one.
Up the Villa!
Comments
219 responses to “Liverpool – Villa; Revenge time?”
Looking for hope against Citeh next Wednesday and hopefully we are playing them at the right time. They play FA Cup semi final against Chelsea on Saturday followed by the league cup the following weekend against Spurs. Two tough games so they might rest players for our game considering they have pretty much won the league anyway.
Bill and Hitchens
The players I would go for to help us go to the next level are (only picking players currently in U.K., as I just don’t have the knowledge of foreign leagues):
Pedro Neto – Wolves- I’d break the bank to sign him. He offers skill and pace. With him on the right teams would be unable to effectively mark him and Grealish.
Sandre Berge – Sheff Utd – add steel to our midfield, currently too porous.
Tammy Abraham – Chelsea – either play down the middle with Watkins on the left (or visa versus) allows Grealish to play behind striker.
These 3 are all experienced in the Premiership and have stood out.
Rico Henry – Brentford – back up for Targett
Promote to 1st team:
Louie Barry – ability to cover any of front 3 positions and allows him to develop at highest level.
Kane Kesler – cover for Cash
Jaden Philogene – Bidace – replace Trezeguet.
Players to release / sell:
Hourihane- sell
El Ghazi – sell – JPD / Barry replace him
Taylor and El Mohamadoy
Nakamba – I like him but if Berge arrives no need for 3 defensive midfield players.
We will have to wait and see what develops.
Fair points Sid; hard to argue with but …….
Would Henry be that interested in joining as no 2 to Targett – and absolutely no chance if Brentford get promoted.
Sandre Berge – highly rated but he’s been out injured for an extensive period – always a risk as Sheff Utd would want top money for him.
The one U23 you’ve missed is Chukwuemeka (sic) who it seems is very highly rated by Villa fans – plays in midfield and is getting rave reviews.
Guys, correct me if I’m wrong, but are we not playing Everton at home this season? We haven’t played them yet, but they’re not on the final fixtures. Am I missing something??
Don’t think it’s been scheduled yet. Maybe the club is hoping to take advantage of rules being relaxed and fans being allowed in the stadium.
We got Sanson. Newcastle got Willock.
Ollie was our only striker. We got nobody. West Ham got Lingard.
Maybe our recruitment hasn’t improved as much as we think. These are the details that make the difference between top 10 or top 6, top 6 or top 4. We’ve been in all the games in our poor run since Covid. The odd goal hear and there would have made a massive difference to our points haul. Just a thought.
And you know what BFR, your right , our recruiting isn’t the best , but its also down to players demands, Birmingham not London or Manchester bright lights, money talks now and that’s our only pulling power left. If we can display our talent players and win games we might one day move on and get the world class players in Villa park. Time will tell .
Looks like the break away European Super League is happening.
Can’t wait to see the back of these clubs out of the Premier League.
UEFA sure aren’t happy! Lol!!!
I said it was coming BumBum.sorry day for Villa and all the smaller clubs .
It may be a breath of fresh air. The 11 or so Harlem Globetrotters teams can do what they want, but their players shouldn’t be able to represent their national teams.
Apparently PSG and Citeh haven’t signed up.
My very thoughts Bum Bum , leave the league lose the honour of being Englishman that plays for their country.
French and German clubs are having nothing to do with this, apparently.
Sounds about right with the Germans, as they have a much more equitable game, with lower prices etc.
The part I’m not sure about is if there’s going to be relegation or not.
If there is, where are they going to go? They’ll be banned everywhere else and rightly so.
So if there’s no relegation/promotion wheres the appeal?
It might be good for the first few years, but it will become boring.
They’ll probably still get the fans, but it’ll be like Celtic vs Rangers, meaningless, the obvious apart.
And even then, what sort of fans are going to be able to afford to go to the games if each one involves foreign travel? Not your regulars, that’s a cert.
Part of me hopes they do it, as it will make it much more like the days of old, where much smaller clubs really can progress to the top of the domestic game, without silly money stopping them.
And it all goes tits up, the league fails and we refuse to take them back.
It won’t happen, but that would be so,so sweet.
The players involved would need to be really careful too. Where would they get their last paydays in such a small pool?
I assume it will be modelled along the American franchise system which is all about making money. No promotion or relegation – nowhere to go in either direction. For instance only the USA can have a World Series that only involves two USA teams!
It will be like the Packer Cricket Circus – all about money but probably short lived as none of the regulatory bodies will support it and players in it will be banned internationally (club and country) – but Packer created a ‘shit storm’ in cricket that changed it forever. Albeit the drivers – around poor pay and issues over South African players and apartheid – were completely different.
The difference with Packer was it had player support even though they knew they would be banned. Will the ‘Super League’ be supported by sufficient numbers of top players purely for monetary gain? Other than the last pay day brigade, I have my doubts.
This is being driven by wealthy owners who see it as a cash cow – they deserve to fail.
How will they make the money? They have given fans the finger and a big “f*** you”. All it would take would be for the same fans to grow a brain, boycott the matches of this ‘bastard’ league and the rest of us not to pay for the subscriptions to whatever broadcaster will be peddling this shower of shit.
Believe it or not, we, the fans, still, and always will, hold the power. Even now, with stadiums empty – it’s unsustainable, even for the big clubs. How about we, the fans, give them the same finger they’re giving us, don’t buy tickets for the new Bullshit League and don’t pay to watch. Can we do it, or will we slavishly succumb like a junkie who needs his next fix, no matter what?
F*** them all. Turn the tables. It can be done. If nobody buys Greggs sausage rolls (for example), they’ll stop baking them. It’s exactly the same principle. Don’t buy! They’ll soon f*** off. If the fans are just consumers to them, well, the consumer can say I don’t want your shit product. Stop buying and they’ll stop selling. End of rant.
That won’t happen.
People said the same about Sky, but lap it up because they can’t help themselves and it’s cheaper than being ripped off at the ground.
Then we only have ourselves to blame, Badger. You can’t bleat that you don’t like it, then go and buy it! I love football but I don’t pay for Sky, BT or any other shit. In fact, I don’t have a TV in my home, believe it or not. So no BBC licence fee, either. At least I can say I put my money where my mouth is, or don’t put it,in this case.
Rather then buy this shit, better to take our sons, daughters, mates etc down to the park with a decent ball and a couple of goals and enjoy the game. Added bonus of losing a few pounds off our ever fattening arses!
Serious talk of splicing the game into 4 quarters for extra advertising revenue.
Would it matter?
The game has already been massacred with VAR taking ages to work out millimetres.
They might as well go the whole hog and bring in similar amounts of substitutes as that American crap too.
Just goes to show who’s really running the game, to my mind.
You might have noticed I’ve become very disillusioned with the game over the last however long.
This is just another nail in the coffin.
Again, Badger, stop buying and make it clear that the reason is VAR. The ‘produce’ in now ‘inferior’, ‘damaged’, ‘faulty’ – whatever you want to call it. If we’d been buying the same bread for years, then the bakers ‘improve’ it with an extra ingredient that actually makes it unpalatable, we’d stop buying and tell the baker it’s shit. They’d soon go back to the original bread. I don’t see how it’s different with football. If they see us as consumers, fine, but we then need to act like consumers and not accept a product that we’re not happy with. I don’t think there are any fans who would want VAR, so why is it still being used?
How is it that every protest, movement and cause can be organised and mobilised easily, but football fans can’t do anything about this? Hit the wankers where it hurts. It’s not that difficult!
It’s even worse in the States. I went to an American football game which stopped every few minutes – I asked my host why – to allow for advertising breaks was his response.
Prem football is a duopoly, so it’s not like a loaf of bread.
I haven’t paid for Sky for years.
I’ve never paid for BT.
I have paid for Villa TV, but can now access Ifollow for any of the Champoinship teams.
I can access all games, movies, you name it, all for £50 a year.
It’s probably what Bill was taking about all those months back.
My last proper game was the 3-3 draw against Sheff Utd. I left when it was 0-3, because I was froze stiff (literally just arrived back from Sri Lanka) and was bored witless, gagging for a smoke and a beer.
It really wouldn’t surprise me if I never go to a live game again. I don’t see where the enjoyment is when you can’t even bounce up and down, singing.
Kids don’t know what they’re missing.
Which is probably why they’re ok with paying a fortune.
Maybe, Badger. But as far as I can see, it’s a simple ‘supply and demand’ scenario. If there is demand – i.e. if fans buy tickets for these games and pay for broadcasting subscriptions, then the clubs will supply. If, like I said, fans vote with their feet, and don’t turn up because they know the breakaway is wrong, then the league won’t last 5 minutes. Even more so if fans don’t pay to watch on TV. If they do, then you can’t blame the clubs for supplying the product there is demand for – it doesn’t matter if it’s bread, peanuts, smartphones, football… If we stop buying, the ‘product’ will cease to exist. It really is that simple, in my opinion. As long as we buy, we’ve no right to complain.
There will be plenty of demand.
At home, because the fans won’t be able to attend and will want to watch their team play. Also around the world, because that’s how it is.
Whatever, I don’t think it’s about demand.
It’s about pure greed and the clubs wanting more at the expense of the rest of the game, imo.
It could all prove to be academic, in time.
Many of these clubs are massively in debt and this might well be a final option for getting more money. When they’ve blown this, then what?
I’ve just heard on WM that it’s a midweek league, where they want to keep playing in the domsetic league.
Are they serious?
If the powers that be come to some compromise and allow this, well……
And they’ll want the domestic league organised to suit them.
This nothing short of a power grab with all the other English Clubs expected to worship at their table.
I’m with you Badger, if the regulatory bodies cave in to these demands it will just be the start of a very slippery slope.
I hope our owners make a very robust statement agains these proposals.
It was Hitch, I like you can follow games anywhere in the world, what’s happening now in the game is what I’ve said years ago on here, a supper league that will damage the football not only Villa but all the English clubs. We have yet not solved the hate and fascist element in the football fans, now it’s going to get worse with European hate against us being England. it’s a bad move and them top clubs should be put to the sword over it, owners being greedy every time .Sky and bt must be clapping their hands over this.
I think this is just a threat so they get their way in the new champions league setup.
They’ve only done this now because the European championship is due to be revamped this week,it’s obvious what their up to.
The trouble is they’ll get their way and still carry on in their respective leagues.
In my view they should be demoted to league two at the end of the season.
Imagine the teams in league two playing these big teams it would be like Xmas every day for players and clubs and the chance to put these upstarts in their places.
I think that would actually be good for the game and lower league’s.
Anybody think this would be better than fines and expulsion???
You demote them, they’ll be back up in no time.
That’s not a punishment.
Sky initiated this mess with the formation of the premier league. Reluctantly I caved in and subscribed for their deals with BT sport included. I have tried streaming services but without success. Ironically however without Sky or BT during the pandemic, it’s fair to say that TV revenue has kept clubs from going bankrupt while fans can’t attend.
As for the super league I just can’t see it taking off. Surely there is too much opposition for it to succeed. Apart from the owners of these self proclaimed ‘Super 12’ there hasn’t been anyone come forward to applaud it. Would Sky or BT consider broadcasting the games after the backlash from everyone including their own pundits! No German or French clubs involved and they still call it super.
I’m hoping like Badger that they do go ahead with it and get kicked out of the domestic competitions and participating players banned internationally. Then when it all goes belly up and they come back begging to be allowed back in and we tell them to shove it. Won’t happen of course but it would be great.
I think Roy is probably right and the whole aim here is a compromise.
The Prem, FA, Eufa and Fifa shouldn’t stand for it at all and should quite simply give the ultimatum.
“Start this and you’re gone. No negotiations”
But that isn’t going to happen.
There’s just too much money involved and I’m not going to say it’s being milked by crooks (ahem, it is) but they won’t want to lose it.
There will be a compromise and if so, it’s a disgrace.
The real issue here is that these six clubs want to rule English football and make every other club subservient to them – however they dress it up.
Meanwhile, Man City are struggling to shift 2000 tickets for the Carabou cup final.
Very strange.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-carabao-cup-tickets-20418260?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=exchange
The interesting part for me is what the writer says;
“However, at a time when the club has shown itself to be out of step with supporters it does not reflect well that they have found it so tough to shift tickets. It also hardly supports their position as one of the biggest clubs in Europe at a time when they are taking on UEFA, the Premier League and FIFA to try and form a new super league.”
It would seem even the local rag don’t like this.
I think they are serious this time around, that’s why ManU and Juventus have resigned from the UEFA board.
I hope they go and are kicked out of ALL domestic competitions and none of their players are allowed to represent their nations.
Thankfully a number of players at ManU have already said they don’t want to be a part of this.
My Spurs mate is gutted at this. The idea of his team never playing mine again is galling.
We said this has been coming for a long time. Once the foreign owners get a majority it’s over.
Wouldn’t it be great if the top players with a brain put in transfer requests and refused to play in the Disneyland League? They’d filter down to the likes of Villa, Everton, Leeds etc. The PL would then be ‘new look’ with the top players still there, and these ‘super 6’ would be no more super than the 6 veg on display in Aldi every week, empty shells of what were once mighty, respected clubs.
I’ve mentioned fan power – how about player power? How can a player like Rashford – of the people – play for United in this competition? Would be totally hypocritical. There are plenty of other players who aren’t happy and have no idea what’s going on. They’re being treated like bitches. Time for them to speak. The Americans need to understand that without the fans and players, the clubs they’re pimping out are nothing.
The best sanction I’ve just heard is to refuse work permits to any foreign player the clubs wanted to sign.
Now that would be interesting!
How can Florentino Perez be president of the new BS league if he’s also Real chief? Conflict of interest? And how think are the owners of the other clubs to join a league in which one of their rivals’ chief will be the president.
Bizarre, ‘Mickey Mouse’ stuff. Would be laugh it loud if the morons weren’t deadly serious.Speaking of ‘deadly’, love Manu Petit’s comments – he says they are “gunning football down” and deliberately “killing” the game with VAR and the Horseshit League. Spot on.
Are the cracks beginning to show.
It seems Chelsea are withdrawing from the ESL.
Fan power?
You see, Hitch? Fans have more power than they know! In fact, the fans ARE the clubs, as they are the ONLY constant. Owners, CEOs, managers, players are all always in a state of flux; true fans are constant through generations and the fabric of these great bastions of English culture and history. They clubs are nothing without their fans. The sooner their demented owners realise this, the better!
And Man City, so Chelsea and Man have shown their colours now by pulling out of supper league.
And United’s Woodward resigns and will leave at the end of the season.
The castle is falling but will the clubs owned by the clubs Yanks (or Levy) pull out?
Update Woodward has resigned and is going straight away (rather than at the end of the season as originally planned).
Perhaps, the Glazers would like to share a taxi with him and pick up Abramovic and Kroenke on their way to Gatwick?
Good.
I’d genuinely put the lot of them up against a wall.
Now all the instigators need rooting out and the lesson be learned for the last time;
DO NOT TRY AND MESS WITH THE GAME!
Well, I’m surprised. The fans do care, after all.
Citeh are officially out, as are Chelsea (well, almost officially).
It shows who the instigators were.
And I’m sorry, but it’s bloody Americans, in Man Utd and Liverpool, who just don’t get the British game and attitude to it, at all.
Seriously, this should be remembered.
Because they are truly the enemy to our game.
I’d be interested to know what the other country’s fans have said about this, but I can’t find a thing.
It wouldn’t be much without the British teams anyway, I don’t suppose.
This has to be dead in the water now and I find I’m laughing my nuts off at the fact that Real and Barca are still financially massively in trouble.
It would seem all the British teams are bailing out.
I’d strongly suggest the game should use this position of massive strength to beat these clubs with.
10 points deduction as a “don’t you dare try this again.”
I can dream, can’t I?
Arsenal;
“We made a mistake”.
Too bloody right you did, you absolute and utter scumbags, the same as the rest of them.
You knew exactly what you were doing and thought noone would give a toss.
When even the Prime Minister gets involved, you knew you had a problem and absolutely no option but to bail.
Yet you make it sound like you’ve made a courageous decision.
You make me sick.
Seriously, I’m very close to spewing it with football.
To be honest, I’m on the verge of closing the site and have been for months.
It’s not me asking for “please keep it open” type posts either, so don’t bother.
I’m sick of seeing my opinion on here, is the truth of it.
Or is this the reality and the clubs have been bought off?
https://www.caughtoffside.com/2021/04/20/uefa-offered-premier-league-big-six-significant-amount-of-money-to-leave-european-super-league-in-dampening-news-claims-report/
Badger, I don’t think there was a pay off to leave. There was too much protesting for it to ever succeed.
I do think there should be some punishment to prevent this happening again which is always likely.