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!
It’s December so pantomime season at the Bridge, in the scrum for the bar here is the H/T report on the plot so far.
It started with Cinderella cracking into Jaden’s knee, departing with the ball and crossing for an ugly sister to fire in off the post. Jaden continued to be a liability and you would have to say that is the manager’s fault for leaving out a man and putting Aladdin. Then the audience got in a shout: Torres – that’s not a back-pass “Oh yes it is!”. Mother Goose in the green jersey thought Chelsea needed a hand with their second and passed straight to Jackson in front of an open goal
Up the other end Olibaba passed up 2 of the 40 chances, before Chelsea introduced some football and scored their second.
I’d like to let you in on the plot after the interval – but I am afraid Villa have lost it.
I’m off to the beach too here on cape verde villa spoiling
my day playing out from the back we are shite and as for bidace he’s awful
Just noticed Emi missing. Why?
Gone off injured at half time.
Great.
I think only Kamara will ever be back to his usual self. I hate say it but Mings ans Buendia sound as though they’re in no way contenders for the first team.
Cash. Diego. Bailey. McGinn. JJ. Duran. Watkins. Philogene. All need to buck up their ideas or move on.
Onana seems always injured.
Emi. Konsa. Maartens. Digne. Pau. Tielmans seem to be the only ones playing well at present.
Another thing is the referee has been a joke. A number of times he gave us free kicks when we were in possession in good positions. Then he would be pedantic about it being taken exactly where foul happened.
Another terrible performance and lucky to only lose 3-0. I can’t see us winning at the moment. Confidence looks shot and teams know how to play against us.
In a word Attwell – have Villa ever won a game when he’s ref?
My prediction was sadly correct and we have dropped to 12th.
Brentford and Southampton at Villa Park are our next two games. 6 points are a MUST. Action needs to be taken if we fail to win either. Pressure is on Emery and the team and I have to be honest and I think we could easily lose both games.
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.