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Reluctant Striker

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Everything posted by Reluctant Striker

  1. Dunk has played well in previous games. But his defending & passing were so awful in the 1st half Vs Belgium it felt very odd to me that Branthwaite did not get on. The wide players, will surely be Saka or Foden off the right, likely Rashford, Grealish or Foden off the left. I do think Bowen & the unused Palmer are unlucky barring any injuries. But Gordon could just sneak in, with his high tracking back energy. Could depend on how many multi position defenders are included. Midfield 3 could well be Bellingham, Rice & Mainoo, with Maddison, Henderson, Phillips & Gallagher being 4 after 3 possible spots. I do think Toney with his penalty taking could get in ahead of Watkins, after a few months of everyone deciding it would definitely be Watkins. Only way both fit into 23 is probably if all 3 of Palmer, Gordon & Bowen miss out & only 7 defenders are chosen. Or maybe only 2 from Maddison, Henderson, Phillips & Gallagher. With TAA & Stones as emergency DM options. It's at the back it all gets a bit more a case of who is good enough, more than who is unlucky. I think we can expect Walker, TAA, Stones, Maguire, Dunk, Konsa, Trippier, if fit Shaw
  2. England look awful in defence. Konsa the only one playing reasonably well. I don't think that's me being biased. Dunk has aimlessly launched long balls to nobody numerous times. Pickford gifted the 1st goal. Dunk the 2nd. Chilwell looks like a player who has forgotten how to win & Gomez like someone used to having very limited minutes in fodder matches.
  3. Toney has an advantage over Watkins, with his penalty taking. And Mainoo does look very good. I think I'd be happy with Rice, Mainoo & Bellingham. To flip with it if Gary Neville wants a live on TV Foden meltdown if & when we lose. Bowen always looks decent, but will surely have Saka & Foden ahead of him.
  4. I think it's fair to say the UK has reached a stage of being a non militaristic civil war. And weirdly international football just pours petrol all over that particular bonfire.
  5. It was only a friendly, but how a player can be 2 yards offside, score the goal, but adjudged as not offside, as not interfering with play, blows my mind. The popular reaction will likely be questioning Southgate. But for me, it shows how important Kane & Bellingham are. After the subs, Foden just did not look the same level as Bellingham down the middle. And Rashford looked very one dimensional compared to Gordon. Suddenly England's big threat was Bowen on the right. If we really have to play someone next to Rice, ahead of a back 4, then Mainoo just made a big claim. Its certainly a matter of time before he's a first choice starter. Bowen unlucky to have Saka ahead of him & likely Foden being accommodated in somewhere.
  6. I really want to see Adidas or Puma making England kits. A few years ago, England had to move on from 'only Umbro' as Germany are now choosing to move on from 'only Adidas'. England choosing to go to Adidas, or Puma, would be an even more interesting change.
  7. Selfishly happy to see Brazil's midfield 3 lacking their Villa player. Though he will probably be on at half time. England's 2 worst players have been Chilwell & Gallagher. Part of why I do think England have more need for Bellingham as an 8, not a 10. While Gordon has been such an off the ball upgrade on nearly every other wing option England have. He's in the starting 11 now, not just the squad.
  8. The back of neck flag thing is odd, but it's very 2024 artsy. It is what it is. And I totally agree with Gareth Southgate. The 3 Lions badge is what is front & centre of an England top. Thankfully nobody is modernising that to be a dull soulless round thing. It is criminal £125 is the selling price. Already crazy how near £100 it was if you wanted one delivered.
  9. For me the clear favourite is France. They just simply have the best player in the world, Mbappe & very, very good players in all positions. I think certain media & social people are getting a little carried away with Kane, Bellingham & Foden, in particular, meaning England must win. Its much more that England can win. They are probably 2nd favourites. Over the last 30 years or so, dominant sides have been Germany, Brazil & Spain. This France side could beat all those eras. After France & England, I really think Germany at home will find a way to rise. Perhaps as England did in 2018, heading in with very low expectations. If it's not Germany, and France somehow get knocked out by a Switzerland on penalties & England do an England, it feels to me that it could be anyone. We could be looking at a Denmark 92 or Greece 2004 winning it. But I think the smart money has to be on France cementing a truly great era, or England finally putting a trophy in a cabinet room.
  10. I think 4th is between Villa & Spurs. While I don't see Man United catching both, they will likely be in the top 6. And I think that leaves everyone as far down as at least Chelsea looking for 7th. And the Spurs game in hand is Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
  11. The best bit of Disasi's own goal was how long it took Jonathan Pearce on BBC 1 commentary to realise Leicester fans were urging him to shoooooot, not boooooing him.
  12. Sounds like plenty of drama at West Ham vs Villa. West Ham with 2 disallowed goals, including 1 very deep in injury time. An away point without McGinn has to be taken positively.
  13. Last time with Netflix was to get up to series 5 of The Crown & was a bit of a struggle to find much else of interest. Not feeling a great urge for series 6. Amazon usually tends to have a bit of something. Perhaps generally coincides with the December football coverage. Suits me. While the back catalogue of classic shows on the iPlayer & ITVX is much more impressive than it used to be. The others seem more specialist interest. Disney + with it's traditional Disney stuff, Star Wars & Marvel. Paramount + with Star Trek & western type stuff. Paramount the only 1 I haven't tried, so far. Any Star Wars fans who haven't seen it yet, I'm up to 5th of the 6 Obi Wan episodes. Worth the £1.99 offer price itself. All the other Star Wars series & latest Marvel movies scheduled next.
  14. Wolves vs Coventry a very decent cup match. 2 West Midlands sides I can't avoid following in some detail. Wolves do still have a few rather decent players, like the keeper, Sa, the injured Cunha, Sarabia, Ait-Nouri & Semedo. But 2 injury time goals from Coventry turn it from 2-1 to 2-3. They are only 8th in the Championship, but the 7 ahead include the 3 relegated sides plus Norwich & West Brom, who feel like 2 yo-yo sides of recent times.
  15. Pleased with result. A pity in a way, because Premier League Villa vs Ajax, in neutral ground in Athens, could have made the final of this tournament feel like a real show piece event. I guess Fiorentina, Lille, Fenerbahce and the Greek PAOK & Olympiacos (the final is in Athens) would be the biggest opponents left. The way the draws for this tournament have worked, I'm expecting Villa vs Fiorentina in the Quarter Finals.
  16. Sterling really did step up at the last Euro's. Perhaps having the likes of Rashford, Grealish, Foden & Sancho in the queue forced the best out him. Anthony Gordon at 23 is looking like the future as the right footer on the left. Pleased he's got in. Would like to know the full Ben White story. Sounds very much like his issue is Ezri Konsa's gain.
  17. Heard Unai's post match comments in BBC interview. Unlike so many more successful & less successful managers : No moaning about the audacity of having a mid week European match. No moaning about McGinn only being a yellow. Also chose to subtly ignore the inaccurate analysis Spurs had controlled the 1st half. Just a basic & humble admission it becomes difficult at 0-2 & down to 10 men. For better or worse, it's because of this management style Villa surely have, if nothing else, a more well grounded & calm squad of players than many have.
  18. There's definitely a tendency for falling to pieces at the big matches now. Would be unacceptable at a club expected to be where Villa have been & are. Trying to dwell on how Top 6 or even 5 will still be difficult to miss from here. And how unusual these results seem, compared to 16 months or so back.
  19. Man United are definitely an odd club right now. From what I see, they no longer play especially exciting football & most of their goals seem to be set pieces & counter attacks. Yet they always seem to default out to be in a European spot of 1 type or another.
  20. Yes, it's confusing to know what to make of it all. To me, it doesn't feel they've been splashing around crazy money. In 2023/24, Diaby the one £50m+. Pau was £30m+. Plenty of academy players sold. The owners are stating this 2022/23 news is just all part of the plan. But certainly growing concern we may be one of the 1st clubs to get Champions League football & be in a position that we have to sell 1 or 2 star players. To bring in lower value signings. And avoid any points deduction. Presumably it's getting into the problem of Villa not selling out as many directors boxes, pre match dining, etc. Which is having more options being made available at Villa Park. And of course sponsorship. Global merchandise sales. Oddly, even with a 10 point deduction right now, they'd still be 6th & 1 point ahead of Man United. Which again, for me, just questions where is the reward for doing well?
  21. Pickford TAA Konsa Stones Colwill Rice Foden Bellingham Saka Kane Gordon With TAA doing the inverted DM thing, in possesion. Konsa, Stones & Colwill have all been used to some variation on that. Could equally work with Walker in ahead of TAA & then becomes Stones stepping ahead of Walker Konsa & Colwill. Saka & Gordon seem to have high energy, for getting back, in addition to contributing going forward. Pretty much tell Foden & Bellingham to win matches however they can. I think it's perhaps how we get all of Saka, Foden & Bellingham in the same 11.
  22. Great goal from Rashford. And Foden, for me, continuing since the last World Cup, of having noticeably more individual end product to his exciting moments. Much more like a player that owns situations. Less of a shiny cog in a unique machine. The problem for Foden with England is Southgate's front 6 is likely still a middle 3 of Phillips, Rice & Bellingham. Saka on the right. Kane up front. And 1 other on the left. And I can see Clare Balding sneaking in there. She's having a great season for Newcastle on the left. High work rate. Taking the penalties. Where can Foden fit in? He really has increased massively, to me, since the World Cup, when I just did not get the fuss about him. Against many sides I suspect Foden, Rice & Bellingham would be a very sufficient midfield 3. But I just can't quite see Southgate opting for it vs a France, a home Germany or whoever.
  23. I think it's fair to refer to the Forest-Liverpool incident as balancing out the Spurs-Liverpool one from early in the season. But at this stage it's Villa who could be most screwed over by weird Liverpool refereeing. We could have been 7 points ahead of Spurs.
  24. Only been mildly following the table, but it suddenly seems wide open. Whichever of the current top 3 miss out on automatic will be unlucky. And likely have Southampton to contend with. I mainly just hope West Brom don't make it via the play offs.
  25. Unlucky for Luton. Tactically on Villa, it feels like they've been stung a few times now, when they put the early effort in, get 2 or 3 up, and sort of maybe look to sit back on the lead. Try to control the game with possession. If I was setting up a side against it, especially a lower side, I'd be looking to raise the tempo when Luton did so. As a good way to try & get results. Also Morgan Rogers was a notable downgrade on J Ramsey in terms of defensive work. And became 1 of those substitutes on to be substituted off. Thankfully they did find a big finish in them. Probably will need much better over the next 4 games.
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