When Watkins missed that chance at 2-2, after Bailey had taken on half the Man U team and put him through, I sort of knew. I was bewildered by the goal he scored. Momentarily possessed by a footballer.Kamara clearly and understandably tired, our subs didn't get up to speed with the game and we just defaulted to play like fodder again.I'm glad Emery picked who he did. At least now he knows what he's got to work with, who he can rely on, etc.
Quote from: Nelly on November 11, 2022, 02:52:34 PMWhen Watkins missed that chance at 2-2, after Bailey had taken on half the Man U team and put him through, I sort of knew. I was bewildered by the goal he scored. Momentarily possessed by a footballer.Kamara clearly and understandably tired, our subs didn't get up to speed with the game and we just defaulted to play like fodder again.I'm glad Emery picked who he did. At least now he knows what he's got to work with, who he can rely on, etc. It was obvious that he would rest key players and take a look at others who may be on the fringes. He now knows McGinn is a busted flush at the top level. Augustinson is absolutely not up to this standard and I wouldn't expect to see him or Olsen in a Villa shirt again unless we were desperate. I've been reminded on here of Olsens recent poor display at Newcastle and agree that was one risk Emery really didn't need to take. Everyone already knows how poor Olsen is and I actually think an in form Emi Martinez would of saw us victorious. I'm looking forward to a strong display at Brighton with a few players out to prove a point.
Great to se Watkins dink the ball in a 1-on-1: where did he learn that?!
I must be in the minority (who saw us win the big one) but I cannot be arsed with the Carabou fuckin Cup! Tin pot. If we want to be big time then we got to act big time. This cup is beneath us - and if it’s so important to some then let’s go after the FA Cup (which still has a tinge of credibility to it).Emery will have learnt a lot about the depth of the squad and that is critical - some of the criticism is a joke.
He didn’t have to play that team to know it would be shit.I think it was expectations more than anything. Given his track record on winning cups I genuinely thought we had a great chance of winning the LC. Especially so many big teams going out the days before.Then to start with such a bad team after Sunday is crazy. The inevitable happened: played decent football in brief spells - played shite football in long spells - put ourselves under pressure and individuals made howlers and the game slipped away. Pretty much a classic Gerrard performance.
Quote from: TonyD on November 11, 2022, 03:58:57 PMHe didn’t have to play that team to know it would be shit.I think it was expectations more than anything. Given his track record on winning cups I genuinely thought we had a great chance of winning the LC. Especially so many big teams going out the days before.Then to start with such a bad team after Sunday is crazy. The inevitable happened: played decent football in brief spells - played shite football in long spells - put ourselves under pressure and individuals made howlers and the game slipped away. Pretty much a classic Gerrard performance. Have you found out Emery before everyone else?
There's a lot of posts that seem to overlook the fact that this much derided starting eleven took the lead in the game, and not only once, they did it twice. They didn't fall behind until the 78th minute, by which time they'd been 'bolstered' by Cash, Mings, Bailey and Buendia. I'm not defending the lineup, it's not one I would have picked, but I think insinuations that Emery should've known they're just a massive bunch of losers are wrong.