Reluctant Striker

Happy with this. Another who is used to European games in the season.

I imagine Brighton fans will be happy with that. Ajax & Marseille 2 winners of the big cup in years gone by. In fact Ajax in the early 70s, in old cup format, won 3 consecutive titles. Especially if it's not an expected annual thing, I think you want some big names & big atmospheres.

Kind of pleased I have heard of 2 of the other sides in Villa's group. Confused as to why Legia Warsaw had to go to Villa's group E, when they were first pot 3 ball. First time I've looked at all teams, and, yes, Premier League Villa, with Unai Emery in charge, do look an obvious choice for winner predictions. But, Frankfurt & Fiorentina are comparably off the top of German & Italian football. The Turkish sides can cause problems. And Besiktas have Oxlade Chamberlain.. Curious as to why no Spanish team, and found Brugges knocked out Osasuna. And Lilles & AZ are going to be a step up from Hibs, I would imagine.

Newcastle obviously get the toughest group, but they do get 3 proper Champions League sides. Milan lost out to Inter in the semi last season. Dortmund seem to constantly create new star players. PSG are PSG & still have a few big names. I really would not put it past any side finishing anywhere in that group. And I suppose that's the appeal of it all.

It is a sad state of affairs that Maguire, Phillips & J Henderson are still in. But the obvious replacements do not exactly spring readily to mind. Perhaps Konsa, Ward-Prowse & Loftus Cheek ? Not exactly the next promising generation though. Plenty of full backs still around. Plenty of wing-CAMs. Watkins being kept out. But, midfielders in particular do seem few & far between. I guess the positive is that the midfield 3 for the next few tournaments should be Rice, Bellingham & one other. There is talk of TAA being used in midfield. If Maddison continues dropping deep for Spurs, does he come into it? But the days when England mens side is asking players to play out of position. Or looking to the Championship really do seem to be nearing. The England side itself becoming the place some players breakthrough. What many of the more concerned have been worried of for a while.

Everton 2-1 up now. Beto & Danjuma. Beto does seem promising. 1 goal in 3 for Udinese. Off the mark quick. Big powerful Dyche-ball looking type. Ignoring that it's making hard work of Doncaster, they have to take positives.

Really a sign of all the insanity in Premier League football right now. Chelsea do not seem to need yet another player of this type. And I can't help but feel if it's a Spanish, Brazilian or French youngster that knocks in the Community Shield goal, he gets chances at Man City.

The Villa squad depth is almost immediately being tested. As many as possible should be rested from Hibs (5-0 on aggregate) When Villa should secure what I believe, purely from memory, will be their first ever European group stage presence. It's been that long. And it was treated as less than the League Cup last time it was on the fixture list. Some will be returning from injury soon. The cavalry, or at least Lenglet should be arriving. Some were not registered in time for Hibs (Zaniolo) They've sold off all the most high profile academy players. And so it seems to stack up that 5 or 6 first choice players will have to take part vs Hibs. It really would seem contradictory to use too many lesser known U21/U23 players. Liverpool (a) a match we should not head in expecting much more than just being better than Newcastle (a) And as long as it does seem better, I think we take it & continue on as we have been against lesser sides.

In football it is all ceremonial isn't it? The coin toss. The shaking hands. Officially someone who can talk to the referees. I do wonder if perhaps way back whenever that a captain would have been the 1 who arranged lots of things. Before managers, coaches, scouts, etc. Generally it is a player for most other players to look to, for example. Perhaps to talk to, rather than direct to a manager. The captain could also report back to managers & coaches. I guess there may well be some value seen in the above, as many clubs have a series of captains. e.g. Villa last year had McGinn as actual on field captain. Emi Martinez officially & perhaps suitably the 'vice' captain. And Ashley Young was club captain. And I'm sure I have heard of various similar arrangements.

Weird to be playing Hibs instead. And to be seeing Spurs & Chelsea in this round. Fulham (a) is about as tough as this round could be. For me, any Premier League opponent in a cup should arguably get the best possible line up. Less matches to win a cup. And a much more realistic possibility than getting the 90-100 points a title needs in recent years.

Reading it could be a season loan or perm transfer. Probably as 4th choice CB. Chambers as 5th choice could be free to be more a RB or DM cover option. Not sure what happened to 6th choice Hause. The big CB who scored a headed winner at Old Trafford not too long ago. Think he was injured while on loan at Watford last season, but not heard any recent news on him. More defence options certainly needed. We have Cash & then cover - alternate system of Konsa or Chambers there. Still 2 LB's if they do not offload Digne & when Moreno is fit again. So a further CB does make sense.

On the managers, Klopp & Howe for me are 2 of the most impressive result obtaining managers out there. Klopp winning 1 league title & getting so close to a couple more is the best Liverpool have had since the 1980's. And what Howe has done taking Newcastle from jostling around the bottom half to 4th, near enough instantly, is amazing. I guess either could come over a bit smug. I do dislike some Klopp rants & general othering of any club trying to win anything that is not Liverpool.

VVD was definitely a red. He takes out the legs first. In that moment deciding to do that rather than be totally done. Whether Isak puts it away on his left, who knows. But that is the only part I can not say for certain Jamie Carragher. I suspect Newcastle would have taken 2-0 rather than 1-0 vs 10. But, this was a match to do better in. Liverpool with a nice, easy home match next week..

I still think maybe wait until deeper in the season to see exactly where Villa are. But calling this at HT, Burnley are a long way off sides like Brighton & Brentford. I can see there being 5 or 6 genuinely weak sides.

Cash gets a 2nd.

Cash on the money to open the scoring at Turf Moor. 1-0 to Villa on 8 minutes.

Looks like Leicester will take some stopping. They have done well to only lose the players they have. They do look & feel like a Premier League side playing in the Championship.

Martinez out with a supposedly mild injury. Olsen worries the Villa fans. Sadly he does always seem nervy, or just with a mistake or 2 in him. Bailey drops to the bench, for an extra defender, in wing back formation. Or Cash ahead of Konsa down the right. Compensating for Martinez absence? Or putting a bit of respect & caution on Burnley (a) ?

Brighton played far better than losing 3-1 at home would suggest. But, also, West Ham were always far better than league position last season. Nothing either of those sides do would surprise me. Man United did another off the title race Man United performance. Plenty to show why they will not quite be after the title. But also why they remain so incredibly difficult to get the better of, especially at Old Trafford, for any lower than them. Spurs are looking like a decent team.

I had not realised to begin with that there are 2 of them. Both the head coach & the Spanish FA boss. I read somewhere Luis Rubiales immediate celebration involved grabbing his own crotch region. Presumably the way he might have punched the air back in 2010 for Iniesta. The coach, Jorge Vilda, the 1 with the open hotel room door policy, is now the only member of the coaching team who has not resigned over Rubiales.

Just a little bit on Wolves, it does seem quite a dramatic fall from being a club chasing European football. But, they do still have a squad with a few goal scorers & creators in it. Which is why I do see them having enough to stay safe. With a manager who sees & accepts that as the job. It will just get more difficult each season though, with the downward direction they seem to be going.

Newcastle vs Liverpool will interesting. A win for either & there will be title contender talk. Good for Poch to get Luton (a) out of the way early. Everton vs Wolves already feels like a meeting of 2 sides that will be hoping that somehow 3 teams are worse. And the opponents look a possible contender. Brighton vs West Ham could be entertaining. May finally get a better idea of where Villa are exactly. Or another 4, 5 goal extravaganza.

I had watched Hibs & Hearts in the earlier qualifying round that was on. Was a much closer match. And, yes, the presenters do seem good. Or maybe a refreshing change from the Lineker-Shearer & guest. There's certainly a few Scottish clubs would make the top English divisions even more competitive. But I doubt it's part of the plans really.

Really surprised at this one. I did think they would have both Archer & Duran as Watkins backup/rotation options. Buy-back clause as with Aaron Ramsey. But, yes, both kind of surprising to me. Perhaps already looking to get some money-in, on the books while they are still able to spend without much restriction.

Yes, hard not to feel bad for Hibs really. Though they have been booing McGinn. I would think competing for headers would be something they would expect themselves to be more competitive at than that 1st half. Does already seem Villa are as good as through to whatever the next stage is. And quite possibly more of a Villa reserve side next week.