Aston Villa v Chelsea Match Thread

[Proposition Joe]

Well, judging how he played on Sunday, neither Bailey nor Sancho will get much change out of James, Chelsea's best player. May as well use Bailey as cannon fodder to hopefully tire him a bit, then put Sancho on second half.

[Woody17]

“Come and get me in the summer C115, I will be out of work by then”.

[brontebilly]

Shocking line up.  Is he losing the plot?

He's in the drunken gambler stage as Eamon Dunphy ironically once put it. Throwing his chips across the table and hoping for a performance. The three that were dropped can have no complaints. But going back to the same X1 that were awful v Leeds does seem crazy. Just hope Buendia and Rogers are at least swapped. Something a bit different tactically.

[Bobby Boy]

He knows the players best and he trusts them - we just have to go on that and hope they don't let him down.

Sure, he sees these guys day in day out. Absolutely. However we can see lack of confidence and players who are out of form.

Buendia. Watkins. Bailey. They are all chronically out of confidence or out of form. Or both.

Just bizarre.

[Kimaster1976]

It's like he's trolling us at this point.

[Goldenballs]

Well that's instantly sapped the energy.

[Brazilian Villain]

Trust Emery - Im sure he has a plan.

IUWT!!!

[dorsetvillian]

Feel like getting back in the car and driving the 4 hours back to West Wales. After Wolves Unai had to make changes yet he has rewarded our 3 poorest players with a start. Its an insane line up. I've always backed Unai, but I feel defeated already. 

[N'ZMAV]

for the first time since Palace in the FA Cup Semi I feel deflated. I hope I'm wrong

[usav]

8 of the starting 11 were playing for us in 2021 (according to Townley)

[PeterWithesShin]

It's a very cunning plan. So as we don't have to keep fighting the financial restrictions of UEFA, we're trying to not qualify for Europe.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I think he doesn’t want Villa in the CL next season so we aren’t a threat to Real Madrid.

Well the head Coach role at Madrid doesn't require any tactics, just man-management. Maybe he's out to prove a point he's the ideal man for the job.

[tomd2103]

Just seen the team.  What's that much repeated Einstein quote again?

[Crown Hill]

I think Onana in the middle is more detrimental than the peripheral players. Hopefully we can play on the counter and he can make some sort of contribution at a  set piece.

[russon]

Unbelievable Jeff