I’m laughing to myself.
Why? Because whatever I think now is invariably wrong.
Last time out, I predicted we’d beat Brighton quite straightfowardly as we were away and our guests were poor.
I did have the sense to moderate things though and said that anything could happen.
Except nothing happened really, did it? as we didn’t really show up at all.
So looking at things logically, we face Leicester at home. That’s the first reason we’ll lose.
And then there’s the fact that Leicester are one of the most incisive sides in the league. If they get chances, they’ll score. And they’ll probably get plenty of chances.
So it will be a stern test for our defence, which I’ll find particularly interesting.
I’ve consistently stated my dislike for Mings, but I keep coming back to our defensive record which is actually very good. Those two things are not compatible and either the defence gets severely caught out or I have to accept that Mings must be better than I think he is. We’ll no doubt see.
Squad news and the big one for us is that Cash will probably be out for “3 to 4 weeks” after being injured.
Given the club’s previous predictions regarding injuries, I’ll take that to be six or seven weeks then.
Which brings us nicely on to Wesley, who’s close to fitness, but not close enough for the squad.
Nothing else has changed.
As for Leicester, they’re in pretty good shape too, with Ricardo Pereira and Timothy Castagne both being available, although it’s doubtful they’ll start.
It’s guessing game time then and I’m still laughing.
Cash being out is a big blow. Guilbert going out on loan doesn’t look so clever now, but it’s obvious Smith dislikes or just doesn’t rate him, so Elmo will come in. That’s not a problem in the slightest for me, as he does have a very decent cross in his toolkit and I know many of us would like more of our play to come down the right, to balance our game up.
Unfortunately, Elmo doesn’t offer the same energy, which for me means he’ll need more help, which in turn means Traore is less likely to play. I think I’d prefer to see Trezeguet come in for his workrate. The trouble is there, as much as I rate him and thought he’s one of our best goalscorers, he’s gone on to also prove me totally wrong and be totally useless in front of goal.
And then there’s Barkley. Will Smith drop him for Sanson? It’s easy to call for it, but the manager will surely be aware that this will be a tough game for a newcomer to come into?
I personally would tell Barkley I’m giving him the first half and if he doesn’t perform, he’ll be taken off.
I’ll bet many don’t agree with that, but it’s obvious there’s a “must play” clause or Smith just doesn’t want to drop him. Hence I’m just being realistic as to how Smith might be thinking.
It’s all pretty academic though, isn’t it?
If we play as poorly as we have done in the last few games, I think we’re onto a hiding.
Something like 4-1, as we play a team that shows up our performances for what they have really been.
But as we’ve seen over many a game this season, things won’t pan out as I think they will.
I expect us to improve. It’s difficult to see how we couldn’t, in my opinion.
But I still expect us to lose even so.
I’m going for a 2-1 defeat.
Hopefully my generally horrendous prediction run continues and I’m wrong again.
UTV!
A ‘cup final’ of a match tomorrow. I said it in my last post: top 4 is there for the taking. Whether the Villa boys take it is another matter, of course. Today’s results have really made tomorrow an even bigger game.
A few other points on our current staus – just my opinions, of course:
It was a mistake to let Guilbert go at this time in the season; this is where squad depth comes into play. If anything happens to Elmo, we’re up ‘Shit Street.’ And he has no competition for his place – never good.
It was a mistake to let Connor go, for the same reasons as Freddy, but also because of the following:
he offered just as much, if not more than Barkley in terms of long range shooting, goal threat and assists
he cares about the club more than Barkley, having seen the bad times and good, and played a major part in the promotion season
he would’ve been ideal to give McGinn a breather against the so called lesser teams, as McGinn still doesn’t look the same player who started last season, before the injury
he started the season very well, scoring at Fulham and looking ‘at home’ in the team before Barkley took over. I think he’s been hard-done-by and he’s a big miss.
Having said all that, the 11 Smith puts out need to sweat blood tomorrow to get the 3 points; there’s no way Leicester will allow a performance like last week to go unpunished, and Emi won’t be able to save us against the fire-power they have. If they don’t turn up, they’ll be pummeled, and that could damage confidence going forward. If they do, it’ll be some spectacle…
UTV
I have to agree that letting two decent squad players go out on loan without much depth to our squad was a mistake. I think Harvey Barnes will force Elmo and whoever is in front of him onto the back foot for much of the game. Also can Elmo play 90 minutes for the next 6 weeks or so? We have been fortunate with injuries so far and just one injury to Cash shows how fragile we are. Heaven help us if Watkins gets an injury.
There is no point going toe to toe with Leicester because like Leeds, they are better at counter attacking than us. We played it perfectly at their place and sat deep and never allowed them any room. We can adopt same tactics at VP because they will expect to win so there is as much pressure on them to take the game to us. Will Smith drop Barkley or McGinn? I think players need to think they are out the team when not performing. Nakamba at least deserves playing time otherwise what’s the incentive for playing well if you are dropped after a good game and don’t get back in when those who replace you continue to underperform?
Did you notice that Slavia Prague had moved the coloured seats in their lower tier for their game against Leicester to read FOX HUNTING. Villa have missed a trick with the adoption of covers like all other teams.
Tomorrow we find out how good Konsa is. IMO he has looked good because he has had Cash alongside him. Tomorrow his partner Elmo isn’t as good, so he will have his work cut out with Barnes coming at them as Holte66 says above.
Barkley has been trying at least to do something about a problem – which is more than his Gaffer and Skipper have. That problem is the doubling up on Grealish on our left wing. I could just about excuse Villa continuing the formation against Arsenal. However it was obvious the next opponents Brighton would adopt the same tactic. They did – but Smith and Grealish did nothing to vary our shape. Barkley knew the only way to beat a defence that is all in the right position was to play back-heels and flicks that they had not time to counter. Unfortunately for him most attempts found an opponent.
We need to set their defence problems on our right wing, but I cannot see it happening.
This should be a very interesting game. The fans want Barkley out but I’m not sure Smith will cave in on that. He’ll probably play the same squad apart from Almo obviously and maybe Trez. I’d like to see some magic from Sanson, of course, but he’s not tried and tested yet, no prem experience and has to fit the coaches’ mold. I’m guessing that Ramsey stands as much chance. TBH, I’d like to see both of them see time tomorrow. Here’s to hoping!
UTV
Badger, DM me about the WordPress problem and I’ll give my contact a call Monday.
Big rumour doing the rounds on other Villa sites is that Grealish is out for up to 5 weeks, hope that’s wrong!
On to the game, teams playing on Sunday after an away Europa Cup match usually struggle, so even though I rate Leicester highly I’m going for 1-1, maybe even 2-1 if Jack plays.
I raised that yesterday Dave as, according to my grandson, was on Twitter – allegedly he’s suffering from shin splints which he’s had a problem with previously. Might explain his below par performance against Brighton.
Although nothing on the OS
GrEnglish is not playing , he’s out for a few weeks .
Grealish. Eff text.
I’m expecting us to lose today. Hope I’m wrong obviously. I think we may well see an improved performance but I don’t expect it to be enough.
I’ll still be disappointed if we lose of course, but we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that Rome wasn’t built in a day. We will strengthen in the summer, with just a couple of quality additions, and be better next season. TBH I think European football next season would be a step too far for the squad strength even with those additions. Top 10 this season would be nice, and push on next season to really challenge for Europe.
Callum Vurley for Daily Star writing utter garbage about Jack Grealish! Apparently according to him, Villa are ready to concede defeat to Manchester United as they will get him for around £70m this summer. Lazy journalism at it’s worst which is trying to create smoke without a fire. If it’s meant to wind us up then congratulations.
Also confirmed that Grealish not playing today. I hope it’s not serious.
£70m!!! Lol!!!! That is awesome!
Grealish is worth doublethe lazy Pogba today. If they wanna talk nearer £200m, then we’ll maybe consider retutheir call.
Gonna be an interesting afternoon without Jack. Let’s hope the squad have a point to prove that we’re not a one man team.
El Ghazi for Grealish and Elmo as only changes. Clearly Barkley has a clause in his contract. Kesler and Chukwuemeka I hope spelt correctly are on the bench which is interesting enough.
It could be a good thing Grealish being out in the sense that we are less predictable. We need to show more imagination in our attacking play. Time for others to shine! I hope Traore doesn’t leave Elmo stranded and tracks back.
Rumours about Grealish are true. Reckon you’re nailed on cert with your prediction Badger.
And it’s not really about (lack of) squad depth – any team is going to struggle to replace a player of Grealish’ quality.
El Ghazi replaces Jack and Traore stays.
Hmm, I think we could be in for a torrid time.
This is going to be horrible lads
Holte, I might have cracked it!
Let’s hope Smith has cracked it too. I still have to enter my email and name every time!
Bollocks!
Obviously not 🙁
Hoping we see chukwuemeka regardless of the score today. I’ve seen him in u23s and hes pretty graceful on the ball, likes to glide with it ala Jack. Here’s hoping anyway. UTV.
Nice move that!!! Good by Ollie!
Sh*t.
Too easy.
Can I say Mings turned away again?
0-1
Took longer than I thought it would to be honest! Same shit again just giving the ball away needlessly passing round defence to nobody. Barkley looks as bad as previous weeks. As I speak 0-2 all done.
Wow, defence is utter dogshit.
0-2