well, well, well..... great result. Should have been 3-nil on Barry's goal but what are you going to do. Chelsea can do no better than draw Hull and Liverpool is putzing around with pompey at the half..... And how about Gardner going in at RB?
I called it – 2-0 Villa.------ 7th consecutive away win in the league Chelsea and Hull 0-0 Liverpool sends out their 2nd team at Portsmouth. What an insult. You would think Portsmouth would really get their backs up and play hard but they really look bad. This could also be a 0-0 draw. I still think the game to watch is the north London derby. If Arsenal loose or draw I think they are out of the running and will be fighting with Everton for 4th or 5th. We will be contending with Chelsea for now and Liverpool will continue to be looking at Manchester United. Do you think any of the “top 4” takes us seriously? Does anybody consider us a threat or just a nuisance?
Portsmouth really is bad. For a while I though they were color blind, but no, they really are bad. That does mean that Liverpool will be keeping their eyes on Manchester United, not us.
Arsenal will be with out Adebayor for three weeks because of a hamstring injury. They will be fighting to stay up in the top 4. The focus needs to be on beating Chelsea. Even though they look like they are falling apart from within and have no heart, they are a good side. As they seem to have no width, and keep everything in the middle, if we play they way we have been, this is a win.
Any concerns about 'new manager boost' by Chelsea when they come to Villa Park? First game out for a new manager is always dangerous.
I definitely think any lazy/difficult to motivate players will be eager to impress the new manager. That may mean Drogba and Anelka will be tough to handle. Zat Knight did have a great game against Chelsea last time they played at Villa Park, so maybe he'll rise to the occasion again. I always worry about him against teams with good movement because he seems to get caught out of position at times. He is great against more direct teams.
Villa are out of the FA Cup as they're beaten 3-1 by Everton, Milner with the goal. Bit disappointing but Goodison Park is not an easy place to go to and it's less fixture congestion as Villa fight for a CL place & Uefa Cup.
I didn’t think that we would beat them this time. I agree with you 100%. The goal this season is to secure the Champions League spot. It is going to be real rough from this point on.
Agreed. The FA Cup would have been nice but I don't see it as O'Neill's goal for the season, and this result also means a lot less wear and tear on the starters in the long run. So now its time to rest up for CSKA, and then put Chelsea in the fire once and for all.
I agree, we just dont have the depth to be playing too many games at this moment. I hope this gives the guys a better chance to finish in the top 4.
Starting team v CSKA Guzan Luke Young, Davies, Knight, Shorey, Gardner, Petrov, Barry, Ashley Young, Carew, Agbonlahor. Subs: Friedel, Bannan, Salifou, Lowry, Albrighton, Harewood, Delfouneso.
Guzan in goal over Friedel? That's a surprise... I would have thought that O'Neil would be taking the Euro cup pretty seriously but maybe the league is the number 1 priority atm. Villa down 0-1 to a Wagner Love goal atm. This is not good because Moscow in February is not an easy place to go. Russian teams for some reason are super dangerous in the Euro cup
Was a very well worked goal but Villa had the better of the half imo. Villa Park looks nice with the flags waving.
Rep to Slater for the P-B-P on the match. Not the worst result for Villa, but not the best either. I think as someone stated earlier with the FA Cup exit, bowing out of the UEFA would not be the end of the world if the main goal of MO'N and Villa are to secure the EPL top 3. Playing in Moscow will not be easy, as Bayern Munich found out in St. Petersburg last year in March. The away goal could prove deadly as well. I am hoping we can sneak out of there with a 1-0 victory.
