Vive_La_Villa

Just noticed the changes from the train. Looks good.

I reckon he’ll get a lot more of those decisions at home with the crowd on the refs back.

Big home crowds can influence refs. It’s always been that way. We have to make sure we can do the same at Villa Park.

I think because he’s so highly rated it’s easy to forget he’s just a kid. Both him and Wesley. They will take time to settle and keep improving. Theres an image of Mings with his arm around Luiz after the game which sort of showed how much these younger players still need protecting. Found it:

@terrytini He wasn’t that good. But there’s just something about him. I know you can see it.

You watch Club Brugge a lot then?

My weight loss journey has started to be able to buy a shirt. I refuse to buy a size which has more than 1 X in it.

I’ve always preferred a....

I see where you’re coming from and Marvelous may be that player. When all our midfielders are up to speed Smith could have a selection dilemma.

Same here. I can’t wait for him to get up to speed. I think he’s going to be some player.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ceo on sky sports news for a general chat before. It seems a bit random. Maybe I just never noticed.

I think the fact he got thrown on when he had literally only been in the country around 6 days shows how much he must be rated by Smith.

I don’t think he’s lazy. I just think he’s shit.

True.

Hopefully if anything this unwanted stat gives him extra motivation to win on Saturday. Not that he needs it I’m sure.

To be fair I think you can blame Grealish for their second goal. I’m sure even he would hold his hands up and say he messed up.

Just watched the second goal again. Jack has so much time to get rid it but that aside there was a ridiculous amount of luck for the way it bounced to Kane. Fair play for the finish though.

Kodjia just doesn’t seem to want it enough. With Wesley when the ball came up to him I saw him battling quality defenders to try and hold it up. With Kodjia I saw token gestures to attempt to win the ball. Maybe im being harsh and it’s just not his game so shouldn’t have been bought in at that situation. But unfortunately it’s not the first time I’ve seen this kind of performance from Kodjia.

I think he will be a big player for us. Has something about him. Yes he struggled a bit on Saturday but that was probably one of the hardest games and circumstances to come on to for you debut. Just compare his contribution next to Kodjia and Jota as an example of how difficult it was. At least he managed to touch the ball a few times.

Most encouraging thing for me was our centre half pairing and keeper. Fantastic and definitely Premier League quality.

Fake news

True but it was reassuring to see both Elmo and Taylor cope well. Especially the latter who was awful in the Championship. For all their weaknesses between them they have a lot of experience in this league.

You’re probably right to be fair. I guess it’s the only real approach against the top teams to avoid a real beating as West Ham found out.

After one game it looks like only Brighton and Burnley managed wins for our rivals. I was very suprised by the Brighton result. Hopefully Watford are also a team that struggles this season.

I think Smith got the team selection right on Saturday. Eyebrows were raised when Elmo and Taylor were picked but they both did a good job. I think El Ghazi and Trez struggled to support the full backs at times and they both dealt with the pressure well. In terms of the first two subs I understand why he made them but unfortunately they didn’t help. Trez looked shattered but Jota really struggled to get in to the game. Massive step up for him. Wesley battled with top class defenders all game and I think he was done. Unfortunately Kodjia had zero fight in him when you would expect so much better from an experienced international. Would Davis have done a better job? Maybe, but it probably wasn’t a game to throw him in to. We are definitely light up front. Luiz looked good. I think he will start when up to speed and be a big player. In terms of us parking the bus. It wasn’t a tactic. The team just naturally kept dropping under so much pressure. We need to keep the ball a lot better and hopefully will against teams that are more on our level. Smith will learn from these games.