If I was to say “I don’t know what to think about this one”, you’d probably think “crikey Badger, you’ve said that a few times this season”. And you’d be right, because I have.
The trouble is, my immediate thoughts are to say I think we’ll win this game.
But for pretty much all of the season, Villa have failed to do what the average fan has expected. It’s worked both ways, mind and just as we put up an excellent fighting display against Liverpool when I think many expected a sound beating, so we’ve failed to win games that we would have assumed to be a shoe-in, such as Ipswich at home. That one particularly sticks in my mind and it’s that sort of result that really rankles me.
Squad news is that Konsa and Bailey both face late fitness tests. I’d say that Bailey won’t get a chance now we have the newcomers, but Unai seems to love him, hence I’d guess that if the player is fit, he will start. Konsa, of course would be a welcome return, albeit I don’t think he’s been at his best this season. Pau, Kamara and Onana are all a couple of weeks away at best and Disasi is ineligible against his parent club.
As for Chelsea, Noni Madueke is out for a few weeks with a Hamsting issue and Nicolas Jackson, Marc Guiu, Benoit Badiashile, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana (the only one I’ve heard of) are all long term injuries. Not that it matters much, as they have stupid amounts of players to call on. Which is something else that rankles, because I’ve literally just read that we face a big fine by Uefa for a financial breach.
Anyway, as I said, I fancy us to win this one, but I just get a sneaky feeling that we won’t and a draw seems most likely. I don’t see it being a high scoring game either and it’s most likely to be a tight affair.
Hence a 1-1 seems most likely to me and in a game where it would good to pull some points back against another Europe contender, I would be disappointed with just one at home.
Then again, watch Villa do the unthinkable again and either win easily or get soundly beaten.
It’s what we do.
UTV!
My Opinion
Martinez , Great Keeper , Stop reading about all your hype and keep goal like you used to
There’s time to play and time to get their defence facing their own goal
Why we persist on playing to feet with a high press from Palace .
Rashford and Arsensio on the bench WHY
Ramsey is NOT A top 10 prem player
Average at best offers nothing
We have made Palace look like a top 6 team
Embarrassing tonight
Two different styles of football on display here…
Villa play short passes (Tiki-taka)
Palace play the ball into space.
You decide what is more effective?
Shiti-taka
Who do you blame , bad choices in my opinion, time and again plays out from the back and bad decisions in various positions. Teams know our game and he don’t change play we get caught every game now with playing too up front and ball over our heads .
He’s kill the game to me .
That’s 4.
Four.
4.
That ball should never go across goal.
35 games without a goal for young Eddie. Enter the Villa.
You will never qualify for CL when you are losing 4-1 to a team that’s only won two at home all season.
We should be caning teams like this, but we simply don’t and this is why I get totally bored shitless watching this boring, slow football, where what we do best is give the fucking ball away!
There’s plenty of mitigation in not having a consistent defence, but we can’t do the bloody basics right, far too often. like make a short pass.
Sick of it, tbh.
Unai
Square pegs in square holes
Play the talent because the dross picked tonite ain’t getting us top 6
Bailey , Digne , Ramsey , get rid
Utter rubbish, not helped by Emery’s player selection.
I suspect we have injuries/knocks we don’t know about.
Down to 10th. I’m predicting 13th this season based on our current form. Really pissed off with our team of underachievers. We need to focus entirely on cups now as Brentford away will be our next defeat. We are unlucky with the injuries but that isn’t the sole reason for our failings. Emery’s tactics have been found out too many times in the Premier League. Fortunately it is still working for us in Europe but it’s only a matter of time before we go out and we will be playing next season with no European games to play. That means selling our best players to comply with PSR.
Sounds like Wharton was the difference. Trust him to come back from injury today.
Mate they (Palace) are aggressive, something we struggle with and are prone to be bullied and direct.
They play the ball into the spaces around and behind you. Not side to side, backwards and in front of the opposition meaning most the time you’ve got to play through ten men.
The once we go long we scored
That’s how I think football should be played, tbh. Not too dissimilar to the dippers, is it?
I think so but then again I suppose I’m old school.
I’m Villa through and through but do I enjoy watching us?
Not really, bores me to tears.
Too slow, too predictable and too one dimensional.
But saying that if it brings success I’ll suffer it.
Unai hoisted the white flag aka Olsen. He would be an embarrassment in league 1.
I assume Emery has decided not to risk him against Cardiff so this was a compensation. Apart from being a coward and a flapper instead of a catcher, he has no anticipation. Mateta can only put the ball ahead of the tracking defender and inside Olsen’s right post, a 2 yard slot when he hits it. Has Olsen tracked over? No. Like watching Guzan. It affects team morale, they threw the towel in – if the boss isn’t bothered why sweat? Has Olsen ever had a winning half?
Apart from the buzz words ‘Focus Improve Style’ what does Emery really think when Rashford and Asensio turn a game round and get benched? Clearly he was not bothered about today’s result, and as soon as we had to chase the game we were wide open to the counter.
Well 4-1 and another thrashing at Selhurst Park. Don’t we ever learn anything about how teams play against us. Emery we are told is meticulous in his approach to games. Somehow we have progressed in the Champions League and FA Cup but it’s proven too much for a squad as small as ours.
Also I disagree with the comments about Ramsey who was by far the most effective forward player in the first half. Let’s be honest and admit that no player performed well tonight. They hassled and chased us into making errors and we didn’t cope with it. Emery likes to control games and I’m getting bored shitless if by that he means passing around the back 4 and the keeper.
Holte, it’s not the size of the squad; it’s the (lack of) quality.
I wouldn’t disagree with that comment, a bang average squad with a couple of quality loanees.
I hate to say this but are we now seeing why the Arse fans turned against Emery?
Tonight was disgraceful but tbh, apart from the CL, the season has been poor.
Cardiff will fancy their chances as will Brugge.
We could be playing for peanuts within two weeks – then what?
Emery was Sawiris’ pick – does Edens get the next throw of the dice.
Harsh.
Decimated by injuries.
Evening Holte
Yes Ramsey was better 1st half but accountable for the 2nd goal
Would Ramsey get into a top 10 prem team , my opinion No
After all said and done
Sometimes you have to play long and play in their half
However the wrong personal was picked for tonight
It’s not Emery giving the ball away cheaply.
That’s true but it’s all a little predictable?
Yes. But I’ve got some straws and I’m clutching them until the end of the season at least.
Add to that Onana and Maatsen – what Unai got as his ‘big’ buys last summer. No comment.
…Oh maybe just a little one: both shite.
£60 million? 🤦♂️
Onana was injury prone at Everton and Maatsen didn’t cut it last time he was in the Premier League. Was it about £80m spent on the two of them? Really poor on Monchi and Emery for wasting so much money!
Can Emery be blamed for that? If we can blame Monchi for tactics, then yes. Fair’s fair.
Maatson was a dodgy deal with Chelsea to help with the PSR.
Onana now that’s a mystery. How anyone that saw him performing for Dippers mkii and see a £60m player is beyond me?
Can we do a straight swap for Dougie in the summer. I think Onana can speak Italian as he has plenty of time for language lessons. Plus it’s a lot of money to pay someone for a tunnel cheerleader! 😏
And he ain’t particularly good at that either!
Is Emery a one trick pony Hitch? Look how Slot has managed to improve on Klopps team without any major surgery.
We can’t keep conceding goals as easily as we have and hope for success. We have been beaten comfortably again tonight and this season we have not won a game well.
It might be that Emery has taken us as far as we can hope to expect. Everything and everyone is doing their utmost to prevent us improving. Whether it’s PSR or VAR or media channels and pundits not giving us any publicity or credit.
European football is looking unlikely next season and maybe Emery will have had enough or maybe Sawris or Edens will have lost faith.
Defeats against Cardiff and Bruges will end any hopes of achieving anything this season.
Slot walked into a fully refurbished, top quality squad, Holte. With quality academy products to boot. Klopp did magnificently even in leaving. Pretty much the opposite to what Fergie did for Moyes.
Can’t be compared. Unai is still operating with predominantly Smith’s and Gerrard’s signings, all of whom he has improved massively, including the departed Luiz. I’m not happy with tonight but let’s be fair. The bargain basements like Barkley and the ‘marquee’ Onana and Maatsen are, frankly, garbage. That’s 100 million down the shitter. Who’s to blame for that?
If anyone thinks getting rid of Emery is what you do here you need to be sectioned. Thats you Hitch. Get a grip.
Poor performance overall yet we could have been in charge. Stellar change since he became manager but sack him.
That’s just bollox
I think I’m entitled to post an opinion DS that’s what this blog is about.
You’re perfectly welcome to disagree but not to get personal.
Didn’t think it was personal but if I caused offence please accept my apologies.
Fair enough and thanks DS; appreciated.
I’m rather sensitive around mental health issues which you were not to know.
Unai ought to get the freedom of Aston
Along with Deano Smith
What these 2 managers have done is beyond what we could have imagined
Very rarely Unai gets it wrong , he did tonite
Unleash the talent , stable back 4 and we will be in the mix for top 6
Keep the faith
I think we all need a good night sleep and reflect tomorrow because emotions go all over the place when games like this come along.
I hope the players and management all look in the mirror and ask themselves if they did enough.
We as fans expect a reaction on Friday because the standards have been set from last season and currently they aren’t delivering.
And as for the injuries, questions need to be asked whether it’s just bad luck or training methods or our medical staff are sending players back too soon.
Blimey – there are some very harsh comments out there.
Just wanted a reality check:
* Champions League – steer of season hopes to land up in top 24 – managed top 8. Over achievement and now have a good chance of quarter finals.
* FA Cup – so far so good- best showing in a decade.
* League – had a chance of going 4th today. Top 5 team will get into Champions League next year. There’s still 3 further European places up for grabs.
* League Cup – disappointing exit.
* Player injuries – 2 year trend of suffering them above what would be expected.
But today. Emery for his tactics and substitutions wrong. But he is human, he has consistently got Villa to over achieve. I really do think Newcastle and us are in parallel- one in Europe and has injuries. The other out and doing quite well and has reduced injuries.
Not a great night Sid, feelings running high, things posted in the heat of the moment but tomorrow we’ll have all calmed down, taken stock and sanity will return to planet Villa. 😁
Mate of mine messaged at the end of the first half saying how much he absolutely loved watching Villa as a neutral, and apart from the score at the end of the first half, thought we were fantastic to watch. We totally imploded in the 2nd half.
I do think Emery got it wrong last night. 3 massively physical players that would bully our regular back 4, so we go with a back 3????
We need some traditional hard men in CD. That flicked open hand by Matata nearly knocked Konsa out.
Are we turning into Arsenal as a bunch of lightweights?
Emery out? Big Sam in? Nah.
Big Sam as a defensive coach 🤔
He couldn’t do much worse.
Let’s not forget that was the 3rd game in 6 days. 6 days. Including massive efforts against Pool and Chelsea. The shield that is Kamara out, and a decimated defence. VAR blatantly against us. Martinez off in second half with a less than capable substitute. The usually reliable skipper making endless errors in our defensive third. Add to that Palace are our bogey team and you’ve pretty much got everything that could go wrong. Not sure how much of that list is the manager’s fault. I bet Unai dyes his hair.
Even Friday for Cardiff. Why Friday? I’m convinced the powers that be deliberately stack everything they can against us.
BFR – I think I read it was either Friday or Monday because of TV requirements! Obviously Monday would have been impossible with Bruges on Tuesday.
We’re gonna run out of steam like last season. Probably sooner, and we’re already behind. Too many games; too many injuries. Unsustainable, I’m afraid. And unrealistic to expect and demand anything that looks remotely like “success.”
That teams are built from the back has been a football notion since Fergie said so. They can also be dismantled from the back. A perfect illustration last night in the Tale of 2 Keepers. Nobody in the Villa squad has any faith in Olsen. As a defender you need to know your keeper will claim the ball, will come off his line, will be brave enough to risk a clattering, and will catch the ball if he can get both hands on it.
All of those attributes are lacking in Olsen so our defenders play differently, and the oppos -sensing blood – ramp up the pressure. The final nail in Olsen’s coffin is lack of anticipation. That means knowing when an attacker cannot place his shot anywhere inside the goal – instead he can only hit less than half of it, so the keeper can risk covering only the vulnerable part. It is an instinct – I have seen Sunday League keepers who have it, but Guzan and Olsen are the only two examples I can think of who are internationals without it.
Agree on the defence, OLL. The very worrying thing is that it hadn’t been solid for a year now. It peaked in December 23 with those wonderful 1-0 wins against City and Arsenal. The media were lauding our offside trap after that.
I really can’t pinpoint where it started going badly wrong, but the leaking of goals began in the final third of LAST season and cost us the Europa Conference trophy. It’s carried on all this season and it seems nobody has a solution. The injuries don’t help at all, but the problem started before this season’s injuries. Can’t blame Olsen for all of that.
Totally agree that you start from the back. I think we need a completely new, upgraded back 4 in the summer. Massively upgraded. And if that doesn’t work, then unfortunately, questions will be asked of the manager.
In the meantime, is there any harm in recruiting a defensive coach? Is JT available? He worked wonders with essentially the same players under Smith. Something needs to change.
If I had the time I’d analyse where the mistakes are coming from, just out of curiosity, but that’s not my job. People are paid good money to do that. If you identify the weaknesses, you then find solutions. A simple solution for anything is “stop doing that; do this instead.” But we seem to be making the same mistakes and the opposition know we will make them. That’s unprofessional at best.
As for the pitiful 3 clean sheets in 28 games Emi has kept, they don’t count, as they were against teams who can’t score, compounded by the fact that we only scored 2 goals across those 3 games – hence negative GD. Clean sheets don’t count against impotent opposition.
I would happily win ugly 1-0 for the rest of the season, but there’s no chance.
At a loss.
BFR. There is no doubt that Unai’s high line defence is risky. Martinez’ goals against is not what the worlds#1 should achieve, but in nearly every game he has pulled off a great save to limit the damage. We expect our FB to act as auxiliary wingers and both Digne and Cash put in better crosses than Ramsey and Bailey achieve. The flip side is the full backs are well up-field of the ball when the offside trap is sprung by an opposing forward. Only Konsa and Mings were fast enough to catch the forward, Torres never was and I regret to say Mings may not be any longer. Opponents manage 2 per game of these breaks. Intercepted passes among our back 4 leading to goals come next, there are at least 2 per game. That isn’t a high percentage, Villa just pass the ball around the back 4 and keeper a lot. Finally sloppy full back play. Digne is the best FB. Matty is OK but there are a lot of good LW in the EPL to test him and Maatsen – you’re havin’ a laugh! Conclusion is the defence is leaky almost by design. Wasteful Watkins does not generate enough to compensate.
Get some big, ugly Slovakians or Scandinavians with massive heads signed in the summer…
Home wins for Pool and Spuds this evening, please. 🙏