Manchester City v Aston Villa Match Thread

[Karl Bridges]

Eyebrows were raised over the team on Saturday and we got a result. Let's wait and see what happens. I'm off to The Glee club so I need to avoid the score so I can watch it when I get back. I'll see you on the other side. UTV.

[b23]

Friedel; Herd, Dunne, Clark, Delph; Bannan, Petrov, Bradley, Agbonlahor; Delfouneso, Heskey.
Subs: Marshall, Pires, Reo-Coker, Walker, A Young, Downing, Albrighton.

Rrrriiiight....

Right you Lions. Izzy wizzy lets get busy ! 2 -2

[tarzansbrother]

PL is more important

No it isn't.

Yes it is with bells on

[LeeB]

MAN CITY: Hart, Richards, Boateng, Lescott, Zabaletta, Vieira, Barry, Silva, Y Toure, Kolarov, Balotelli.

We're fucked.

Calm down. No Tevez or Kompany. We're gonna bamboozle them with all our young attackers exchanging positions at will in a performance of pass and move that we've not seen since the Yorke-Savo-Hendrie-Joachim wondershows of spring '98 during Gregory's honeymoon.

Now that, my friend, is a post.

Up the Villa.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

Given that there's no chance of us qualifying for the Champions League, and very little chance of the Europa League in which we won't bother competing for anyway; then this IS the biggest match of our season.

And we're just going to give it Man City on a fucking plate.

I'm really fucking angry at this selection.

[Clampy]

"Martin O'Neill sticks with the same players all the time, they're all knackered and all know that they're guaranteed a start, booooo!"

"Gerard has rotated his squad to keep them fresh and encourage competition for places, booooo!"

Bearing in mind who our possible opponents are in the Quarter Finals, would you have picked that side Chris?

Probably not, but then I reckon he picks a different side to the one I would every week. He knows the players, he knows the ones that need a rest an the ones that need an opportunity. I will wait to see how they perform before slaughtering them and him.

Fair comment, although i think i'd have left Ash in with him being our penalty taker and played him out wide and maybe Reo.

[eamonn]

Chris is right. GHou has stressed time and time again the importance of the squad and keeping players both competitive and fresh. I'm surprised he's gone so wholesale with the amount of changes though it's the inexperienced fullbacks that worry me more than the midfield and attack. Petrov, Gabby and Heskey is a good experienced base for Bannan, Fonz and Bradley to work around.

[JJ-AV]

PL is more important

No it isn't.

Yes it is with bells on

Considering the circumstances I couldn't disagree more, but right now it doesn't matter. Up the Villa!

[Mellin]

"Martin O'Neill sticks with the same players all the time, they're all knackered and all know that they're guaranteed a start, booooo!"

"Gerard has rotated his squad to keep them fresh and encourage competition for places, booooo!"

^^ this

The middle ground would be nice. The two extreme ends of the scale aren't the only options.

[Clampy]

PL is more important and we have a massive game on Saturday at Bolton hence the rotation

Why on earth is it? We seem to be pretty safe and we are unlikely to qualify for Europe.

In fairness, we're only 6 points behind Liverpool who play Man Utd on saturday. Europe is still possible amazingly enough.

[Mellin]

And our season in the league is over. We won't go down, we won't qualify for Europe. It's just a contest as to where we finish in midtable. Personally, I don't give a fuck. The cup, that I mind about.

[eastie]

Rotating and keeping things fresh is fine but I feel there are too many changes for this game and maybe I'm old fashioned in believing the fa cup is still very important whereas others see the league as a priority- I really hope GED has called this one right .

[Phil from the upper holte]

Delph isn't a defender

[Mazrim]

As I said in the other thread.

4-3-3. Very gutsy indeed. Whether it works or not, I applaud the unpredicatability and faith in the squad.
The poker player in me loves it. It's a real gamble.
They might do better than a lot of folk think too.

[Monty]

If they all put in a performance, I'll be happy enough. The core of a great side in two to three years is out there in the shape of Bannan, Delph etc. It just might be too early for them to really match a team like City though.