Aston Villa v Tottenham Match Thread - Sun 21 March @ 19:30 - Sky | Vital Football

Aston Villa v Tottenham Match Thread - Sun 21 March @ 19:30 - Sky

JuanPabloAngel

JuanPabloAngel

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Spurs on song could thrash us. But then us on song could thrash anybody.

Looking forwards to this. Have a feeling this could be a good game, and completely unpredictable. Both sides have a poor performance to recover from. Both sides could do exactly that. Or not.
 
Logically this looks like a defeat for us as a team out of form and predictable in the system Spurs will face. Jack obviously would make a massive difference but even then in his last few games before injury we didn't play well. Our completed pass rate is amongst the poorest in the league and that certainly doesn't help. This is why I would like to see us change from playing any two from Bert, Anwar and Trez to just one of them. He could then try Davis and Watkins up front or a more cautious approach by playing an additional midfielder in place of the second winger.
 
Wicked Messenger said:
Logically this looks like a defeat for us as a team out of form and predictable in the system Spurs will face. Jack obviously would make a massive difference but even then in his last few games before injury we didn't play well. Our completed pass rate is amongst the poorest in the league and that certainly doesn't help. This is why I would like to see us change from playing any two from Bert, Anwar and Trez to just one of them. He could then try Davis and Watkins up front or a more cautious approach by playing an additional midfielder in place of the second winger.
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My sentiments exactly, although when Jack was off form it was now clear that he was playing with that leg injury he has, he's played before when injured but eventually, he has to have that break.
I think Son will be out for them but they still have Harry Kane and their forward players are frightening.
 
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Wicked Messenger said:
Logically this looks like a defeat for us as a team out of form and predictable in the system Spurs will face. Jack obviously would make a massive difference but even then in his last few games before injury we didn't play well. Our completed pass rate is amongst the poorest in the league and that certainly doesn't help. This is why I would like to see us change from playing any two from Bert, Anwar and Trez to just one of them. He could then try Davis and Watkins up front or a more cautious approach by playing an additional midfielder in place of the second winger.
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Without Jack I just want the season to end ! Fantastic chance for Spurs to bounce back from the derby defeat. I hope to see Keinan and Ollie together in a 2 striker up front formation.
 
Spurs aren't great at the moment but have some quality players even without Son.

Our pressing is going to more important than ever to prevent the Mourinho ball over-the-top catching out our high line.

Unless Jack is back and firing, I think this is a 0-0 draw or a 1-0 to either team.
 
Incredible to see the team that played in this fixture last season which included Reina, Hause, Engels (memorable!), Drinkwater, Guilbert and Samatta. That team had more possession than Spurs and if I remember right deserved a draw at least. So, if we’ve made big improvements since then in various positions we should surely expect to be able to give them a decent game?
 
sirdennis said:
If only football worked like that.
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Well, we've got 12 months more experience, added better players to the squad, so although we can't expect a better result because, as you say, football isn't like that, it should be a decent gauge of how far we have come on the pitch.
 
Wicked Messenger said:
Well, we've got 12 months more experience, added better players to the squad, so although we can't expect a better result because, as you say, football isn't like that, it should be a decent gauge of how far we have come on the pitch.
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Not sure one game should define our progress.

Personally I think the whole season should.
 
Wicked Messenger said:
Incredible to see the team that played in this fixture last season which included Reina, Hause, Engels (memorable!), Drinkwater, Guilbert and Samatta. That team had more possession than Spurs and if I remember right deserved a draw at least. So, if we’ve made big improvements since then in various positions we should surely expect to be able to give them a decent game?
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That team had Grealish though! JK.

TBH I don't buy into the narrative we cant play without him but I think that the players think that. IMO the win without Grealish and then our collapse into playing poorly without him is confirmation. They can clearly win without him but they don't believe it. So when we're up against it we capitulate much like last season. Layer in 2 or 3 players playing with massive fatigue and we look a little lifeless and devoid of ideas.

Its a young team, an inexperienced team and there is a lot of mental resiliency they are yet to possess.

Even Smith probably wonders sometimes if the team can win without Grealish but he knows that they can. I think this will be a problem until he can get a couple of more dangerous players who can carry the team without Grealish. We're relying on Barkley, Ramsey, Bert, Trez and Anwar to drive our attack. None of them are good enough alone and none of them have enough of an understanding with the rest of the team to make things happen.
 
Wicked Messenger said:
Incredible to see the team that played in this fixture last season which included Reina, Hause, Engels (memorable!), Drinkwater, Guilbert and Samatta. That team had more possession than Spurs and if I remember right deserved a draw at least. So, if we’ve made big improvements since then in various positions we should surely expect to be able to give them a decent game?
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We have made big improvements in defence and not attack. This team without Jack has played the worst footballing side in Newcastle and bottom of the league Sheff Utd and we did not deserve to win any of those two and we didn't. Those two matches should be more than enough to clear any doubts about whether we can win without Jack !
 
Wicked Messenger said:
Incredible to see the team that played in this fixture last season which included Reina, Hause, Engels (memorable!), Drinkwater, Guilbert and Samatta. That team had more possession than Spurs and if I remember right deserved a draw at least. So, if we’ve made big improvements since then in various positions we should surely expect to be able to give them a decent game?
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we've improved in some areas (keeper + defence) and somehow managed to get worse in others which you wouldn't think possible, praying for a win and to get out of this relegation type form
 
Divine_islet said:
We have made big improvements in defence and not attack. This team without Jack has played the worst footballing side in Newcastle and bottom of the league Sheff Utd and we did not deserve to win any of those two and we didn't. Those two matches should be more than enough to clear any doubts about whether we can win without Jack !
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Newcastle and Sheffield United are indeed the dregs of the footballing sides, but they compensate by being very nasty to play against. DS's description of the Newcastle match as "ugly" was spot on. Most sides hate playing them, even though they usually beat them.

I think our lads will be up for the Spurs match. Totally different game. Whatever the result, it won't be ugly.
 
Wicked Messenger said:
Incredible to see the team that played in this fixture last season which included Reina, Hause, Engels (memorable!), Drinkwater, Guilbert and Samatta. That team had more possession than Spurs and if I remember right deserved a draw at least. So, if we’ve made big improvements since then in various positions we should surely expect to be able to give them a decent game?
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The Engles monumental fuck up in stoppage time last season pretty much summed the season up. An absolute kick in the bollocks that was , felt sick after it
 
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