Colos Short and Curlies

On a Saudia flight out to the middle east

Have you seen how we come out after his half time talks 🤣 Just let Bruno take it

Nowhere near being the only reason for the goal, but why the fuck does Pope like to dove with his arms tucked in. Takes away the main advantage of being a keeper

Weren't we linked with Ramsey on January? Wissa was also high on the striker list to replace Wilson, we were linked pretty much as soon as the window opened

Who would be people being happy to see start game 1 from the current squad? Tino/Miley at RB, Thiaw, Botman, Hall Bruno Tonali Miley Barnes Woltemade That's it for me, wouldn't be disappointed with Big Joe or Burn but ideally as squad players. Gordon if he sorts himself out. Realistically at least one of Tino and Tonali are off and quite possibly Gordon. So that's at least 4 first teamers to come in, a back up GK, Left Back and Right Back, competition for Centre Back x 2, winger for both sides and probably a striker. Only the 12 players to bring in

He's 66 now and has done every big club going. That risk is much lower now. He's also a winner pretty much everywhere he has been and would help evolve the style of play if that's a direction the club wants to take. Even in his time at Everton he finished 10th with 2 quarter finals, not bad for where Everton have been before and after his time there. He would be the best realistic target if a change is made. The 2 Germans facing off at the world cup would be next in the hierarchy bit Tuchel is likely to be a bit sparky for PIF and Nagglesman is a bit of a wild card and more likely to attract the media noise on potential job hopping. Then it's someone like Jose (it's written in the stars that he wins the league with us 🤣) or younger manager with something to prove but a lot of risk

Ex Real Manager you say, Ancelotti it is. I reckon he's one of the managers likely to leave international management after the world cup and he'd definitely be interested in the job. Would help to keep Bruno as well

Reckon we win 1-0 or 2-1 here. With an agonising miss late on

He's a Pep lite in that he drills systems into players rather than building systems around them. In some ways he would be the perfect example on where after getting sacked a new manager comes in, goes back to basics and gets a good new boss bounce just by freeing them up. I also think when things aren't going well the drilled nature plays on players minds in game and causes basic slip ups. Bit of course when it works it's bloody brilliant

I'll never get the tone of this right so won't try, but our approach is very coached and he could do with giving players a little more freedom when he hasn't got time on the training ground.

One thing you can definitely say is that if we approach the majority of games to the end of the season with the way we have Weds and today (in attitude) then we'll do ok. May be a point and a defeat in them but we did look threatening for spells in both. And, if I'm not mistaken we had a fair few attempts from outside the box today, which is a change

Put it in the game thread but 8 times out of 10 he's made the right play for the second goal but diplodocus happened to take 1 of the 2 out of 10 plays that beat it. Third goal, yeah mistake but not as bad as the one Burn got away with in the second half

Yup, 80% of the time Thiaw has made the right move and the attack ends in a block, it was real high level play by Diplodocus

I think it's possible to have consistency in the league in both our positions whilst still accepting a drop off. Leeds away, Sunderland away, West Ham away (I can go on). Those performances can't be put down to the Champions league and they are the difference to entering the final stretch competing for top 6 and looking at mid table. Anyone expecting progress in league position in our first couple of cl seasons is mental, but we also shouldn't expect such a drop in consistency

Always comes down to tits in the end

Sorry message didn't quite follow the brain thought - needed to add that the comparison is fair if Villa struggle again next year as it would show that UE also doesn't learn quickly how to adapt to the 2 competitions

I reckon Bruno stays, Tonali may go if we get a £70m bid for him, but who can afford and would want him in the summer? Tino is a wildcard, yes there are the City links but the injuries and/or Pep possibly going might put a stop to that, along with the TAA rumours. I'd be more worried about Hall at the moment. We probably do need to sell one of Tonali, Gordon, Tino to find the rebuild and tbh a Tonali/Gordon double would give a lot of headroom with Miley/Barnes ready to step in for the start of next season

That was the first CL season for Villa, it's a valid comparison if they struggle next year to the same degree.

I wonder how much of this is due to who he had in the squad when he joined, and then who signed in the first couple of windows. They were bought buying into a giant of a club about to explode and that would be initially happen through running through brick walls. These players have aged, had miles (and miles) put on the clock. We've bought (on paper) a better level of player after that but possibly not with the same mindset. The message may also be getting stale after four years, I suggested a coach rotation 2 years ago to freshen it up, others are now. That doesn't even have to be JT or Jones, there are others in the coaching team delivering messages on a daily basis

This could here or in the Nick thread, but the one thing the commentators got right is that this was a hard game for strikers to come on and get up speed in. 2-1 down at half time, that was when one or both should have come on. I'm also still of the view that Wissa is a decent player but nowhere near being a reliable number 9

Come the summer you have Poch, Tuchel, Nagglesman, Ancelotti all likely to be available. Even if they are unrealistic or not your cup of tea for us that will lead to other managers becoming available from defeat clubs. So if you are thinking of making a move early summer is the time to make it so you don't get left behind. If you are not looking to make a move then you get the signings in early before the world cup gets going

Nah he's learnt from the home game, kept his foot low this time

Gun to head and forced to answer id say 5 minutes after signing his Liverpool contract

Yeah no issues with rotation and rest, but my point is that Burn shouldn't walk straight back in as the number one choice leaving Botman on the bench. So Burn tonight and maybe Weds but Botman back next weekend

Don't see why, Botman has played himself into form and the position is his. Maybe harsh on Burn as it was injury that put him out but you can't now drop the replacement when he is in form (assuming and hoping today is a rest). Rotation for the rest of the season