Aston Villa (A) - Tue 10th May (8:00pm)

[Lee909]

Losing Dabinho is a fucking disaster. Chelsea will exploit the fuck out of his absence with them directing plsy through Mount/Ziyech. 

[DalyanPete]

1 hour ago, ZonkoVille77 said:

 

That's just my own personal anxiety kicking in. Difficult to enjoy sometimes when so much is at stake. I will be absolute gutted for the players if fatigue is now an issue.

It gets easier as you get older mate, defeat still hurts like a fucka but you live with it. When you've seen so many "last piece of the jigsaw" Ireland what we have right now.

[El Rojo]

2 hours ago, ZonkoVille77 said:

 

That's just my own personal anxiety kicking in. Difficult to enjoy sometimes when so much is at stake. I will be absolute gutted for the players if fatigue is now an issue.

Hopefully we'll win the European Cup. That would be a colossal season by any standard. I think we'll win the FA Cup too. 

 

I was convinced this team was absolutely done for when we couldn't buy a win at the start of 2021, that we wouldn't recover from a series of awful results. Breaking all records in a bad way. Losing to Everton at home even. I was an idiot to doubt them though. They salvaged last season and have been relentless again this time, despite playing against a stacked deck domestically and being royally screwed by Covid around Christmas. We'll be right back up there in the league again next season. 

[Section_31]

1 hour ago, Lee909 said:

Losing Dabinho is a fucking disaster. Chelsea will exploit the fuck out of his absence with them directing plsy through Mount/Ziyech. 

I always need one of those after taking a piss when I sink some Brahma. 

[Lee909]

14 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

I always need one of those after taking a piss when I sink some Brahma. 

 

 

Brought to you by another case of 

 

 

 

[aRdja]

9 hours ago, an tha said:

In my view Naby Keita is not good enough or reliable enough for what we need and where we want to be.

 

Him and Oxlade for me need to go and we need to bring in more suitable and more reliable replacements (well 1 replacement for the 2 of them will probably be enough)

 

On the other hand, you’ve got to also be realistic. Whining about having no midfield depth whilst having someone good enough to start for 90% of other clubs in the league on the bench don’t really go hand-in-hand.

[an tha]

36 minutes ago, aRdja said:

On the other hand, you’ve got to also be realistic. Whining about having no midfield depth whilst having someone good enough to start for 90% of other clubs in the league on the bench don’t really go hand-in-hand.

90% of the league are a mix of mediocre and shite...who gives a toss if he would start for them or not? It is totally irrelevant to him being good enough or reliable enough for what we need.

 

He has consistently been mediocre for us and also been regularly unavailable when needed.

 

If you think our midfield depth is fine, good for you - i disagree and strongly.

 

Hopefully we address it over coming summer and following windows.

[aRdja]

1 minute ago, an tha said:

90% of the league are a mix of mediocre and shite...who gives a toss if he would start for them or not?

 

He has conssitently been mediocre for us and also been regularly unavailable when needed.

 

If you think our midfield depth is fine, good for you - i disagree and strongly.

 

Hopefully we address it over coming summer and following windows.

We’re talking about a back-up midfielder who wouldn’t start if everyone is fit though, of course it’s relevant if he’s the best fourth choice around. 

[s(k)aturation]

19 minutes ago, an tha said:

90% of the league are a mix of mediocre and shite...who gives a toss if he would start for them or not? It is totally irrelevant to him being good enough or reliable enough for what we need.

 

He has consistently been mediocre for us and also been regularly unavailable when needed.

 

If you think our midfield depth is fine, good for you - i disagree and strongly.

 

Hopefully we address it over coming summer and following windows.

 

Trouble is, City can "out-replace" us 2 players to 1.

Just like on the pitch, we have absolutely zero margin for error in the transfer market too.

And that is a human impossibility.

"Keitas" are gonna happen in the transfer market.

At City, that doesn't matter (just bring in the next 50m cannon fodder, or 100m in Grealish's case).

 

Remarkable we're within 3 points, and on the verge of 3 trophies, given the disparity in degree of difficulty between us and them.

It's one of the greatest club football achievements in the history of the game.

 

 

 

[an tha]

17 minutes ago, aRdja said:

We’re talking about a back-up midfielder who wouldn’t start if everyone is fit though, of course it’s relevant if he’s the best fourth choice around. 

You seem to have framed a whole point about not enough midfield depth/quality into the 4th one and him being the best 4th one around.

 

Regardless of if you are right about him or not (you aren't IMO) there is a lot more to it than that.

 

Let's look at it.

 

Keita - well we know our stances on him.

 

Jones/Elliott - Not withstanding their occasional cameos, it seems that they are not considered ready - in Elliott's case he seems to have (understandably) temporarily regressed following his post-injury re-introduction...he is still extremely young and raw......Jones - Jury is out IMO...not sure he is going to be what many hope he is...we will see I suppose. Talent is there, i am unsure the brains or the attitude is....

 

Oxlade - A waste of space, a shell of a player - done by injuries...has to go.

Milner - 37 years old before end of next season

 

That is it as it stands unless we want to add in Morton.

 

With Hendo ageing and his perceived decline and Thiago’s carefully managed game time/the amount of games he misses and Fabinho being someone who misses a fair few games over a season there is surely a strong case for saying we need incoming midfield reinforcements - our 'back up players' have been and will be needed a lot....i.e. we need improved depth/options - irrespective of whether Keita is considered integral to the next 3/4 years.

[an tha]

3 minutes ago, s(k)aturation said:

 

Trouble is, City can "out-replace" us 2 players to 1.

Just like on the pitch, we have absolutely zero margin for error in the transfer market too.

And that is a human impossibility.

"Keitas" are gonna happen in the transfer market.

At City, it wouldn't matter though (just bring in the next 50m cannon fodder).

Remarkable we're within 3 points, and on the verge of 3 trophies, given the disparity in degree of difficulty between us and them.

It's one of the greatest club football achievements in the history of the game.

 

 

 

Oh absofuckinglutely

[aRdja]

13 minutes ago, an tha said:

You seem to have framed a whole point about not enough midfield depth/quality into the 4th one and him being the best 4th one around.

 

Regardless of if you are right about him or not (you aren't IMO) there is a lot more to it than that.

 

Let's look at it.

 

Keita - well we know our stances on him.

 

Jones/Elliott - Not withstanding their occasional cameos, it seems that they are not considered ready - in Elliott's case he seems to have (understandably) temporarily regressed following his post-injury re-introduction...he is still extremely young and raw......Jones - Jury is out IMO...not sure he is going to be what many hope he is...we will see I suppose. Talent is there, i am unsure the brains or the attitude is....

 

Oxlade - A waste of space, a shell of a player - done by injuries...has to go.

Milner - 37 years old before end of next season

 

That is it as it stands unless we want to add in Morton.

 

With Hendo ageing and his perceived decline and Thiago’s carefully managed game time/the amount of games he misses and Fabinho being someone who misses a fair few games over a season there is surely a strong case for saying we need incoming midfield reinforcements - our 'back up players' have been and will be needed a lot....i.e. we need improved depth/options - irrespective of whether Keita is considered integral to the next 3/4 years.

We have no midfield depth issues this season, that’s the reason we’re challenging in all competitions. If Milner and Ox leave, then yeah we would need to replace them. Depth-wise we’re probably as good as any team at the moment with the exception of Manchester City. I don’t think you could argue otherwise.

[Torvald Utne]

1 hour ago, aRdja said:

We have no midfield depth issues this season, that’s the reason we’re challenging in all competitions. If Milner and Ox leave, then yeah we would need to replace them. Depth-wise we’re probably as good as any team at the moment with the exception of Manchester City. I don’t think you could argue otherwise.

Well I guess it's just a shame they're the ones we are competing with

[Anubis]

Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago, Touchemani, Elliot, Jones.

 

Sell Keita and Ox.

[Lario]

Think it's time to unleash Matip at #6, with the Twin towers behind him.

[VladimirIlyich]

18 hours ago, Lario said:

Think it's time to unleash Matip at #6, with the Twin towers behind him.

He's almost as tall as VVD and Alisson!

[an tha]

Matip is taller than all of them.

[VladimirIlyich]

2 minutes ago, an tha said:

Matip is taller than all of them.

He is a Twin Tower.

[El Rojo]

On 12/05/2022 at 00:00, s(k)aturation said:

 

Trouble is, City can "out-replace" us 2 players to 1.

Just like on the pitch, we have absolutely zero margin for error in the transfer market too.

And that is a human impossibility.

"Keitas" are gonna happen in the transfer market.

At City, that doesn't matter (just bring in the next 50m cannon fodder, or 100m in Grealish's case).

 

Remarkable we're within 3 points, and on the verge of 3 trophies, given the disparity in degree of difficulty between us and them.

It's one of the greatest club football achievements in the history of the game.

 

 

 

We've managed to keep bad transfers to an absolute minimum, too. Remarkable stuff really. Even relatively recent signings like Jota and Tsimikas weren't our first choices, which shows the validity of whatever weird, esoteric analytics drive our approach. 

 

Ironically, Keita was the one who we all thought was destined for instant greatness. He's been a valuable squad member this season all the same. 

[s(k)aturation]

2 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

We've managed to keep bad transfers to an absolute minimum, too. Remarkable stuff really. Even relatively recent signings like Jota and Tsimikas weren't our first choices, which shows the validity of whatever weird, esoteric analytics drive our approach. 

 

Ironically, Keita was the one who we all thought was destined for instant greatness. He's been a valuable squad member this season all the same. 

 

Funny, isn't it.  

The clamour for him to be signed on here - me included - was cacophonous.

 

If only we could be as quick to kick our own supportive arses about being "wrong" as we are to kick his.

 

 

[aRdja]

2 minutes ago, s(k)aturation said:

 

Funny, isn't it.  

The clamour for him to be signed on here - me included - was cacophonous.

 

If only we could be as quick to kick our own supportive arses about being "wrong" as we are to kick his.

 

 

None of us are professional scouts, we’ll get it wrong most of the time, it’s not a big deal, and most people don’t really care or keep track. 

[s(k)aturation]

8 minutes ago, aRdja said:

None of us are professional scouts, we’ll get it wrong most of the time, it’s not a big deal, and most people don’t really care or keep track. 

 

Yeah.  It was just a comment, too.

 

I'm not a professional blogger either.

 

 

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

[aRdja]

4 minutes ago, s(k)aturation said:

 

Yeah.  It was just a comment, too.

 

I'm not a professional blogger either.

 

 

Sure, all I was saying don’t be too hard yourself and there’s no need to kick anyone’s arse when/if you get it wrong re transfers. It doesn’t matter.

[s(k)aturation]

34 minutes ago, aRdja said:

Sure, all I was saying don’t be too hard yourself and there’s no need to kick anyone’s arse when/if you get it wrong re transfers. It doesn’t matter.

 

Yes, it doesn't matter.