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?”
Another ad for the Gold Lion energy drink. Gold Lion gives you wins! Even the Baggies could be revived by this secret potion distilled in the Villa dressing room. Our manager bottles it at half time – we believe.
The team that takes the pitch should know – show up today or it is a one-way ticket to the Blues.
I’m not inspired by the line up with Barkley starting. What incentive to the young lads is it that someone who has been dire since returning from injury and reported that we will not be pursuing a transfer for him, gets picked ahead of them.
Pleased for Wesley that he makes the bench. Let’s not get carried away with this though because he wasn’t prolific before the injury. I will be surprised if he is with us after next season.
Defeat on the cards me thinks.
Disappointed with the selection. El Ghazi, Barkley and Elmo. Experience over adventure. Not expecting great things tonight.
Martinez, Mings, Konsa, Elmohamady, Targett, Barkley, Traoré, El Ghazi, Luiz, McGinn, Watkins.
Subs: Taylor, Hause, Davis, Engels, Ramsey, Wesley, Heaton, Nakamba, Philogene-Bidace.
I find it difficult to believe that Barkley is in the side.
I haven’t made my mind up about Smith at all, but he doesn’t make himself easy to like when he makes decisions like that does he?
Fair play to him for sticking to his guns, I suppose.
If Ross doesn’t play great today, Smith is going to get it in spades from the fans and it’ll serve him right.
As you might gather, Wesley being back does absolutely nothing for me.
Fingers crossed, but I’m not particularly hopeful.
Bloody hell, I didn’t realise the KO was so early.
Stupid KO times! 🙁
This is pathetic, Smith to me has shown that times up . Half time now and Albion should be ahead by hitting the crossbar and Martinez saves. Looking at our next few fixtures I don’t see any points coming to us. I give in .
We don’t create many clear cut chances. Partly decision making but mostly that we don’t commit enough players forward early enough.
It’s just cautious football and it will generally get what it deserves. Baggies are there for the taking but we don’t seem to have what it takes.
Smith has caught the same disease as most of our managers for the last 10 or so years. Talk a positive attacking game and then lose their nerve. It’s a really hard watch.
We’re f’ing useless
No matter the final result today, Dean Smith has to go.
Poor selection, poor to no tactical ability, same repetitious post match comments which generally appear to refer to a different game.
Dean Smith has done exceptionally well to achieve what he has but we can not move forward under his tenure
Why would the owners invest further in this type of football?
The whole of the team is now rife of not winning in the game. Sorry but why play a player that’s going back and was told he is no longer wanted. Would you have the heart to play? I bloody wouldn’t. That’s why I think Smith has lost the plot. Not only him but the coaching staff as well. Bottom team also our rivals and no player giving his all. We are a joke of a team and should if we hadn’t got the points be going down. Smith out from me.
Please explain why no subs?
Smith has to go
Oh Goodie Ramsey on , what a joke.
Oh Goodie, Ramsey on ,what a joke.
Ramsey for Luiz – really?
Absolute cr*p.
I’m joining the call for Smith to go.
Goal Davis
2-2. still shit for me. .
I’m waiting for the “I can’t believe people are calling for Smith to be sacked “ crew.
I can’t believe people are calling for Smith to be sacked. 😉
Pleased for Davis. He came on with 10 minutes remaining to make a difference and got his first premier league goal. I dare say he will be back on the bench next game. I can’t call for Smith to be sacked despite our poor form since January. Who comes in to replace him? Mourinho? There are no top class managers who Villa could attract to take us to the next level. I’m pretty certain that if we were told two years ago we had established mid table in the premier league with six games to go, we would all have been happy with that. This summer because of our league position we will be able to attract better players than last summer. I agree that the quality of our play has gone downhill but I think Smith deserves the start of next season to prove he is the man to take us further up the league.
It would be more cost effective to burn Villa Park down than appoint Mourinho, and I was one of his biggest fans when he first arrived on these shores. He’d get us media exposure but that’s about it. A “busted flush” says Nihal Arthanayake on 5 Live, a Spurs fan. I’d have to agree.
Very pleased for Davis but we’re patching over the cracks.
He’s lost his way for me, im not one to see a disaster then act, I would think that anyone that puts a player on and told him he’s not wanted and think he’ll play his heart out must be deluded. I thank him for getting us up but he’s lost his way. Smith isn’t the chosen one in my eyes.
Bill, I wonder if Barkey’s contract states he has to play a certain amount? That would explain Smith still putting him in, as he wouldn’t have a choice. I’m equally annoyed at the £11 million we paid for the privilege of having him on-loan. That’s dreadful business but shows the club were expecting an awful lot more from him.
£11m – as a loan fee and they are (if you believe the media) wanting another £40m for a permanent transfer! JG’s value just went up another £30m.
Abramovich must be feeling the pinch 🙂
Good to see Wesley back on the pitch. Whatever your views about him as a player, no one wants to see someone lose their livelihood. I wish him good fortune and if it’s in a Villa shirt that’s fine by me.
I like Davis and hope his goal will give him the confidence to push on.
Smith has a chance to change things around (whether or not he plays the kids). I would love to see Davis and Watkins playing together from the start of a game. Why not play Watkins wide left, it’s his natural position, and Davis as a big centre forward?
Two up front. We’ve barely tried that all season.
That should be our plan B, or even plan A.
Flip flops. That’s what’s on the players minds now. Nowt to play for… Pride aside.
Flip flops? Well that’s what they look like when they’re playing and no crowd to get on to them either.
Lack of atmosphere is definitely beginning to tell.
Totally agree. The edge has gone because they know they can’t qualify for Europe and even if they could, they know they’re not ready for it, so I think they’d have bottled it anyway. Maybe that’s what’s actually happened. Maybe they thought “shit, if we carry on like this, we’ll have European games to play next season…but we’re not ready.” Who knows? I’m no psychologist. But I know from experience that when the carrot isn’t there, you can beat the shit out of someone with a stick and it won’t have the same effect.
Just read that BT sport are doing a documentary on Villa for the 40th anniversary of our European cup final. It will cover the 80/81 league winners and 1982 European cup success and how we achieved this 10 years after playing in the old third division. It will be shown some time next year of course.
Maybe now we are three years into Dean Smiths tenure we are on course to try and match those glory years. Our owners will hopefully stay and see their project come to fruition. Although the high standards set pre Christmas have dropped off considerably, we have made progress and with the likes of Martinez, Cash, Targett, Konsa, Cash, McGinn, Grealish and Watkins, we have a decent bunch of first team players. We clearly need a player who can do what Barkley flattered to do before his injury and some serious attacking players to compliment Watkins and Grealish. I still think there are question marks on Luiz and Nakamba as defensive midfielders. Early on Luiz looked excellent but maybe he has run out of steam like quite a few of the squad. I fully expect our owners to open the cheque book again to bring in the best players available to us.
Let’s hope next season we have fans back at Villa Park and we take another step towards being a top 4 team.
Holte, don’t forget Luiz is ONLY 22 years old! And he’s pretty much played a full season without a breather, plus internationals. He’s at least 4 years off his peak. Plenty more to come. We need to stop writing off top talent before they reach their peak years; it’s plain daft. The club have been doing this for many years – the list is as long and distinguished. I don’t think Purslow et al have assembled this squad of youthful excellence just to scrap it after 2 years.
We have to build on it and I believe they will in the summer! I’ll start my broken record again: no more wingers! Buy 2 top strikers, play Ollie and Jack wide of the 2 and a world class goalscorer in between them!
Holte / BFR I’m on the same page – for all my moaning at times. Just hate being beaten!
Our early results coincided with Barkley playing some top class football and linking with Grealish allowing other players (notably El Ghazi) to play more freely. Also agree about Luiz – we should remember he’s only 22, Konsa is 23 (and isn’t Davis only 21?) when we complain about not playing the younger players. As I’ve mentioned before we actually have the youngest averaged squad in the EPL!
As an aside I thought Luiz and McGinn looked a lot better on Sunday playing higher up the pitch.
Add a top class central striker (although I suspect they will go with Wesley – and he’s only 22) and attacking mid field player (No 8 in old fashioned parlance), play Watkins on the left and we’d not be a bad side.
Now that’s common sense Hitch, why doesn’t Smith put that together? That why I think he’s not the right man to take us further. Smith is his own man from what I’m seeing ,you or anyone won’t change what he sees or we see. Further more Hitch his team selection and bench calls are mystifying to me . I don’t see us getting anymore points from now . Please prove me wrong someone.
I just realised I put Cash down twice. I did mean Mings if he cuts out his silly mistakes!
Under 23s playing Newcastle under23 in quarter final of the youth cup won 6-1 tonight. Well done the lads.
Youth Cup but many of our players playing regularly at U23 level which gives us a distinct advantage – still an excellent win. Baggies next.
Chukwuemeka scored a hat trick but Louie Barry misses out on the goal fest. I would really like to see Chukwuemeka given 20 minutes in the first team.
The TV programme celebrating the 40th anniversary (of our European Cup win) is called ‘Super Villans’ and will be aired on BT Sport – not BBC. No date specified.
Apparently, some big hitters in Europe, including City and United, are sniffing around ‘Chuky’. Dortmund turned Jude Bellingham from a nobody to a Champions League regular and nailed on to be part of the Euros in less than a year! His age? 17. Not a typo. He is17. My point: the likes of Barry and Chukwiemenka MUST be given the opportunity. And I don’t mean bullshit cameos like Davies. If the big boys are circling, surely that’s a wake-up call? I hope Smith and his team seize the day rather than live to rue it with the rest of us!
BFR – he just recently signed a new deal, I think to 2023 if I remember correctly. It was at that time, with his existing deal running out that there were reports of major clubs being interested. I was really concerned at the time, so pleased that the club managed to ‘persuade’ him to sign.
I agree that now they have to commit to him (and players like Barry and Kessler) having a serious opportunity to step up to the first team.
Why only Ramsey and not others – putting them on the bench for the odd game looks like a sop to their ambitions?
I’ve just watched extended highlights of Chukwuemenka’s performance against Newcastle the other night. He looks an absolute monster of a player. I’m no football coach and certainly not qualified, but if Jude Bellingham’s worth a go at 17, this guy looks more than ready to mix it at the highest level.
As an aside, I particularly like how, at such a young age, he has the confidence and courage to confess his faith and ‘thank God’ publicly. This, for me, shows great mental strength, a key to being a successful footballer. Frank Skinner, a fellow Brummie, was recently in the papers explaining how difficult it is to ‘come out’ as a Christian. Chuky’s performance on the pitch and maturity off it suggest that he could be huge.
Incidentally, didn’t a certain Mr Agbonlahor, of equally complicated surname, make his debut at Goodison Park, and score? A little nudge there for Dean Smith. This lad looks like he can offer much more than our current wingers. Give him a start, pleeeeeeese?
UTV
BFR – I couldn’t agree more.
Well said fella
BFR, just read that, again you just watch Chuky slip through our fingers like most players have from the youth teams, apparently he played a blinder and dominate the game. We must give these lads a chance to make it in the Villa club and not in other top teams. Your right about under 23s and 18 players Hitch. 5years in age a bit naughty to me against teams that play 17s and under. Still a good game and interesting to watch good prospect players .