Aston Villa v Ajax UECL R16 2nd Leg. Villa Park 8:00pm KO. Pre Match Thread

[AV82EC]

A small point, but the four separate stands doesn't help compared to 'bowls'. Every stand feels very distinct. I've been away to Arsenal and Spurs, and a good atmosphere there seems to spread throughout the whole ground more organically.

Yep I’m not sure removing the away fans from the Lower north was the win we thought it was, it’s the worst part of the ground for creating atmosphere and the acoustics for the away Witton Lane section seem to dominate the ground. The Holte redesign on two tiers with its weird roof does not help us at all either.

[VillaTim]

Watkins & Bailey need a rest so does Konsa & Luiz.
Play the fringe players

And risk following up a really really shite result with another one?  Fuck that.  Strongest possible side please.

the bigger game and focus should be on West Ham .

Nah, Thursday is massive.  Lose that and it will feel like the wheels are off.

If you win the Conference do you get UEFA Cup / Europa League (whatever the feck they call it now)?

[VillaTim]

A small point, but the four separate stands doesn't help compared to 'bowls'. Every stand feels very distinct. I've been away to Arsenal and Spurs, and a good atmosphere there seems to spread throughout the whole ground more organically.

It's also harder to get the Mexican wave going at our ground.

[Breezeblock]

After yesterdays debacle I can only see a season-ending loss. 0-2 And i'm normally an optimist.
 

[PaulWinch again]

After yesterdays debacle I can only see a season-ending loss. 0-2 And i'm normally an optimist.
 

I think we’ll win, but if we don’t it’s far from season ending.

[ChicagoLion]

We need to concentrate on the League.

[Percy McCarthy]

Emery didn't go full strength in Ajax , can't see him doing it on Thursday when we have a huge game on Sunday

If, as seems quite likely, we finish fifth, co-efficient points are as important as PL points if we want to be in the CL. Our biggest game of the season could well be Arsenal v Bayern or something like that.

[Percy McCarthy]

We need to concentrate on the League.

Yeah, concentrate on the league, finish fifth and miss out on Champions League because we threw our game in Europe. Good idea.

[Lastfootstamper]

If you win the Conference do you get UEFA Cup / Europa League (whatever the feck they call it now)?

Yes.

[ChicagoLion]

We need to concentrate on the League.

Yeah, concentrate on the league, finish fifth and miss out on Champions League because we threw our game in Europe. Good idea.

Maybe if we had done this on Thursday we would not have had the shit show yesterday.
We can do one or the other, its probably easier to do the Conference League now but I would still rather go for 4th.

[Drummond]

We have to go for everything.

[VillaTim]

We have to go for everything.

sounds like a Robbie Williams album

[Ads]

Why do we have to compromise? Or have this consistent discussion of compromise? Another Brummie/British thing. When did the meek inherit the online space? So many questions.

[algy]

          Martinez
Cash  Konsa   Carlos  Torres   Moreno  Digne
           Luiz   McGinn  Tim
Bailey     Tielemans   McGinn
         Diaby Tielemans Watkins

I think that's how he'll set up, but with a slight tweak to the personnel. We need to be getting Tim up to speed, and the only way to do that is to play him in games like these. And Konsa is banned.

I would go for what Risso says, except I'd give Luiz a rest, playing McGinn instead of him.  Dougie's played something ridiculous like 40+ matches this season already, and this seems like one - where Tim needs to get some gametime in and McGinn is going to be out of the team for a week or two after anyway - where it'd be easiest to give him a bit of a break.
Just realised that we're not allowed to field 2 copies of John McGinn.  Bugger.  It's no wonder I've never made it as a football manager.  Still, if we can give Dougie a rest, I would.

Otherwise, though, go as full-strength as we can.  Last weekend was a terrible result, but every club has them and we mustn't let it define the rest of the season.

[Dogtanian]

I think we need to go out there on Thursday and try to kick the ball into the net. Their net.