Europa Conference League 2023/4 | Page 251 | Vital Football

Europa Conference League 2023/4

Two excellent goals from Ollie and SJM, and fantastic goalkeeping by Emi to keep us in the tie. The rest was very forgettable, Lille were happy to lose by the odd goal and judging by our keeper getting booked for time-wasting late on we were delighted with a 1-goal lead.
Unai has his work cut out in the next week to keep us going.
 
Lille looked as good as any team we’ve faced in the PL at Villa Park this season, second leg will be a really tough test. At 2-0 it would have been a nice cushion, 2-1 feels like no lead at all considering we’re effectively guaranteed to concede at least 1 given our woeful defensive record this season. There is something wrong with these players that they just implode at 2-0, needs to be addressed pretty urgently to be honest. I fear the injuries and demands of all the extra games is now taking its toll, I just hope we have enough to stumble over the line in both competitions in the next few weeks.
 
I sat on the train last night with what I assumed was a Lilly fan but turned out to be a neutral who was over to see the game with his mate. Not sure where he was from but he had a Scandinavian accent.
He's been to Lille 3 times to watch them play Chelsea and he said he'd never go again because of the French Police and their brutality.
So be warned anyone travelling away, keep well away from any rowdiness or you may end up in a hospital.
 
david-avfc said:
Lille looked as good as any team we’ve faced in the PL at Villa Park this season, second leg will be a really tough test. At 2-0 it would have been a nice cushion, 2-1 feels like no lead at all considering we’re effectively guaranteed to concede at least 1 given our woeful defensive record this season. There is something wrong with these players that they just implode at 2-0, needs to be addressed pretty urgently to be honest. I fear the injuries and demands of all the extra games is now taking its toll, I just hope we have enough to stumble over the line in both competitions in the next few weeks.
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Kinda of answered your own concern there.

And the answer is nothing can be done. We can't reverse any of the injuries or the physical toll on those players stepping up week after week. The cupboard is pretty bare looking at beyond Diaby on the bench.

Tbh. I think as fans our bit from now on is not to down play what has been an extraordinary turnaround this season with over the top comments about the team or performances.
 
Melon Donkey said:
Kinda of answered your own concern there.

And the answer is nothing can be done. We can't reverse any of the injuries or the physical toll on those players stepping up week after week. The cupboard is pretty bare looking at beyond Diaby on the bench.

Tbh. I think as fans our bit from now on is not to down play what has been an extraordinary turnaround this season with over the top comments about the team or performances.
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Said exactly this earlier.

No matter what happens between now and the end of the season , we shouldn't shy away from the fact that it's been a brilliant season and has already exceeded most of our expectations.
 
sirdennis said:
Said exactly this earlier.

No matter what happens between now and the end of the season , we shouldn't shy away from the fact that it's been a brilliant season and has already exceeded most of our expectations.
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Be a shame not to realise at least one of our targets after holding a top 4 position for so long and reaching the quarter finals. I’m up for a grandstand finish and overachieving - I think the majority on here are with me on that.

:party:
 
Thomas Holte said:
Having slept on it and looking at other English teams results, I'm grateful for the win last night in what was a difficult game against a very decent team.

For some reason, I'm feeling confident we will see out this tie in our favour, however our leaky defence needs tightening up by Unia with some adjustments like putting Konsa alongside Torres and hopefully Cash or someone else as the full-back.

Carlos simply isn't commanding enough in dealing with crosses into our box which, given his size, is surprising, but he just can't seem to head a ball properly.
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None of them are, Konsa and Torres are poor in the air too. Tyrone starts in this team purely based on that and Konsa still starts at RB. Unai is making a RB out of that lad whether people here like it or not.
 
remote said:
I think the loss of Kamara has exacerbated a problem rather than create one. We didnt keep many clean sheets before Kamara got injured.

IMO we are arent physically robust enough in defence.
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100% - without Tyrone and Kamara we are quite weak. It is interesting that Monchi has signed Kostas, Lino Sousa and Rogers. All of them are 6ft.+

Dougie, Tielemens and McGinn is not great. As someone pointed out awhile ago Tielemens would be playing for Madrid if he had the athleticism to match his technical ability.
 
Fulford said:
I wouldn't have thought in a million years that he is.

He's not exactly going to come out and say he isn't.
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The result isn't bad. I'd have taken it beforehand to be honest.

However it took a goalkeeping masterclass from the world number 1 to achieve that and to be honest some pretty average finishing....can we rely on both those things happening in a week's time ?

Who knows its traditional knock out cup football ! But our defence isn't robust right now - next week looks to be on a knife edge.
 
Villan57 said:
I sat on the train last night with what I assumed was a Lilly fan but turned out to be a neutral who was over to see the game with his mate. Not sure where he was from but he had a Scandinavian accent.
He's been to Lille 3 times to watch them play Chelsea and he said he'd never go again because of the French Police and their brutality.
So be warned anyone travelling away, keep well away from any rowdiness or you may end up in a hospital.
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We’re going but always keep a low profile. After surviving the Polish police I’m sure we can do the same with the French. Tbf the Villa fans have been very good on the European road so far this season. Only takes a few morons to change that though I guess and if the police respond aggressively, all hell can break loose pretty quickly! That’s always the worry.
 
Villan57 said:
Two excellent goals from Ollie and SJM, and fantastic goalkeeping by Emi to keep us in the tie. The rest was very forgettable, Lille were happy to lose by the odd goal and judging by our keeper getting booked for time-wasting late on we were delighted with a 1-goal lead.
Unai has his work cut out in the next week to keep us going.
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Agreed, what's the point in having the world's No1 in goal, if all were going to say is 'we were lucky they didn't get more' with any of our past GKs that may have been true, not anymore.
 
remote said:
The result isn't bad. I'd have taken it beforehand to be honest.

However it took a goalkeeping masterclass from the world number 1 to achieve that and to be honest some pretty average finishing....can we rely on both those things happening in a week's time ?

Who knows its traditional knock out cup football ! But our defence isn't robust right now - next week looks to be on a knife edge.
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Neither is theirs and they will be more open at home too. Our next two games are good games for Diaby on paper but I don't know where his head is.
 
CDX_EIRE said:
Neither is theirs and they will be more open at home too. Our next two games are good games for Diaby on paper but I don't know where his head is.
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I think we'll see a fair bit more of him now Ramadan is over. Can't have done him any good having to fast and lets hope he keeps showing the form he has now.
 
Time to turn our attention to Thursday.

Difficult game, but with more players becoming available to refresh the squad and another performance like yesterday, we can probably take the spoils. We’ve set the bar really high yesterday, must maintain those standards. Lille will create chances, as the did at VP, we have to quieten the home support and believe in our ability and game plan. I’m sure Unai has the answers after my doubts immediately after last Thursday’s game.
 
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