Aston Villa v West Ham, Sunday 22nd March at 2pm Zulu (For those further afield)

Seeing as ASLEF forgot that we didn't lose to City I'll kick off the Villa thread on his behalf. 😂

Another in a line of big games, this time against a Villa team not quite firing on all cylinders. Do we stay with three at the back or go to a back four? Will Summerville be available?

I'll leave it to ASLEF to fill in the spaces while I go for a nervy 2-1 away win.

COYI
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Comments

  • I’m not sure I like that someone new has started this thread. If we lose it’s Herb and ASLEF’s fault, but if we win I guess the tradition becomes obsolete. A lot on the line.
  • edited March 20
    Don't blame me, I wrote most of this on Tuesday and have been waiting for someone to start the thread

    Villa are through to the Europa quarters but they've gone five games without a win in the league.

    Most pundits attribute Villa's current problem to injuries to Boubacar Kamara and Youri Tielemans. In their absence Douglas Luiz - back at Villa on loan from Juventus - usually plays alongside Amadou Onana although Ross Barkley got a rare start against Man Utd and scored. Luiz and Onana played the full 90 minutes against Lille

    Matty Cash was a 74th minute sub on Thursday after missing the last two games, if he isn't fully fit then DM Lamare Bogarde has been preferred at RB to summer signing Andres Garcia

    Another old boy back in Birmingham is Tammy Abraham who started against Lille before being replaced after an hour by Ollie Watkins. Watkins has 9 goals this season but hasn't scored in the league since the end of January

    Morgan Rogers is still the star player with 10 goals, 7 assists in all competitions while Emiliano Buendia has 7 goals, 6 assists.

    RW Leon Bailey is also back, his season long loan at Roma was terminated early after just 11 appearances but he scored his goal of the season a minute after coming on as a sub last night.

    Harvey Elliot probably wishes his "complete shambles" of a loan had been terminated early with just 9 appearances.

    Jadon Sancho has had more game time than Elliot but he also spends more time on the bench than the pitch with reports that he's had enough of the Premier League and wants to go back to Dortmund

    As for others wanting away there are rumours that Emery and Rogers could both be off if Villa don’t qualify for the Champions League

    This will be our 128th meeting with Villa, we've not won since August 2022, since then we've drawn 3 and lost 4

    A draw would be nice...
  • alderz said:

    I’m not sure I like that someone new has started this thread. If we lose it’s Herb and ASLEF’s fault, but if we win I guess the tradition becomes obsolete. A lot on the line.

    Consider me as the warm up and ASLEF as the main feature.
  • IronHerb said:

    Will Summerville be available?

    According to Nuno in his presser, no.

  • Harvey Elliot is a prisoner to the highly restrictive terms within his loan. It was agreed that the obligation to buy would be triggered at 10 appearances ( way too low) and as he has not set the world alight Villa are reluctant to give him chances as the fee is supposedly £35m.
  • I tend to get annoyed and shout at fakers, and this is often my peak shouty match of the season. Refs are learning (Bankes, Coote) but them and Gillett and Madley (him again) have all been tricked by Villain antics . Even Kavanagh had trouble with them. Taylor misses everything, so this resulted in a good game of football..
    A point would be an achievement, but I'm hoping we stuff them 😁
  • edited March 21
    Hermansen
    Wan-Bissaka - Todibo - Disasi - Diouf
    Souček - Potts - Fernandes
    Bowen - Taty
    Pablo

    I imagine it will be a back 3 due to our lack of CM options & Summerville being absent but I do think a 4-3-3 will give us the best chance of 3 points which is intimately what we need to stay up - winning games.

    It’s a huge game & 3 points guarantees us to be out the bottom 3 for the next week, with Wolves at home next.
  • No Mavropanos?
  • I wouldn’t play Magassa. Useless.
  • IronHerb said:

    Potts?

    Pans?
  • edited March 21
    I don’t want a back 3, invites us to lose

    We should have lost v City
  • Magassa every day over Potts.
  • I think we played a back 3 to deal with City, specifically to deal with Haaland

    I don't think Villa and Watkins offers quite the same problem so more likely we'll go with four at the back

    Emery said Tielemans could be back but he's not played for 8 weeks so highly unlikely he'll be in the starting line up
  • Lukerz said:

    I wouldn’t play Magassa. Useless.

    Out of form, maybe. Useless, definitely not.
  • Magassa IMO has been very hit or miss in his performances so far for us, tough call, but seems that red card against Potts did him no favours in Nuno's eyes....
  • alderz said:

    Lukerz said:

    I wouldn’t play Magassa. Useless.

    Out of form, maybe. Useless, definitely not.
    Personally I’ve never seen him in form
  • Or could play

    Hermansen
    Wan-Bissaka - Todibo - Disasi - Diouf
    Bowen - Souček - Fernandes - Traore
    Pablo
    Taty
  • Mavro is the last player I’d be leaving out after his performance against City
  • But do we want to win games & stay up or do we want to keep players happy?

    Mavro would be unlucky to not play, it’s either him or Todibo. If we play both & Disasi in this game we will lose.
  • I don’t understand your question. We want to win games. Mavro was our best player last week IMO.
  • My fear is Nuno may try and park the bus as he did with City, especially as we have no Summerville. I really think we should look for three points here if possible as we are running out of games and Villa are no City. They are not the side they were earlier in the season at present and had a hard match on Thursday, It's an opportunity to take in my view.
  • Lukerz said:

    But do we want to win games & stay up or do we want to keep players happy?

    Mavro would be unlucky to not play, it’s either him or Todibo. If we play both & Disasi in this game we will lose.

    How many games have we won with the back 3?
  • I don’t understand your question. We want to win games. Mavro was our best player last week IMO.

    Do you in drop Disasi or Todibo?
  • I’d drop Todibo before Mavro. The way he’s playing he’d be the last of the three I’d drop
  • But what about how Todibo was playing before his red? Does that count?
  • How about Mavro up front as a target man.


    Only joking, but he could be a handful.
  • edited 1:02PM
    Same team as City home

    I think it’s a mistake to go with a back five in this one but oh well
  • Hermansen, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Todibo, Disasi, Diouf, Souček, Fernandes, Bowen ©, Pablo, Taty
    Subs: Areola (GK), Walker-Peters, Scarles, Kilman, Kanté, Potts, Magassa, Adama, Wilson
  • edited 2:13PM
    I missed who is out, but Potts is going to start; I guess someone got hurt in the warm-up.

    Edit: Seems Todibo is out.
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