Linecoigne1998
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Cheers mate, got a long way to go before I finish the challenge and win all these trophies that Villa have won in the past but I'm really enjoying the save so far
Reviving sleeping giants (chapter 2): Aston Villa
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Linecoigne1998
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View attachment 47217
With just £60 million spent this summer, we didn't contribute much to the £1 billion spent by the Premier League but I don't really care to be honest. If we can get to the Champions League spots with less than £100 million spent when you have teams like Manchester City who spend over £200 million almost per transfer window at this point, I'm happy!
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A perfect start to our season, with a hat-trick for Schick as well! What a great start honestly, and with games against Leicester and Stoke next, I'm hoping we'll get all 6 points from those next 2 games.
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A hugely disappointing injury for one of our best prospects in the side. As it's still early days, I wouldn't have had any issues with playing him ahead of Trippier for some of the smaller games but I guess he'll have to wait for his chance now.
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A bit of a disappointing result if I'm honest with you, especially considering our amazing start against Newcastle. I thought we'd come away with 3 points but we actually had to come from 2 goals down to get the point but there's nothing we can do now. We just need to do better against Stoke in our last game and hope that we'll have had a really decent start to the league.
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Carabao Cup 3rd round and it's looking alright. Bournemouth are a decent side but we've grown a lot and I'm confident we can get a decent result from this match. We have to anyway, the board expects us to go a lot further than the 3rd round!
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Well then, talk about the group of death! This is an absolutely ridiculous group but I guess we wanted Champions League football and that was to test ourselves against the best opposition so fair enough! We already beat PSG in the UEFA Super Cup but let's be honest, we won't be doing that in the group stage will we... They're the holders of the competition right now and we're also in the same group as the most successful European team ever so yeah that's great isn't it! Even Galatasaray are a good team and they'll be tough to beat so we've got a lot of work on our hands now.
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A fantastic win to finish off our month against Stoke! 2-0 is more than a deserved result and I'm VERY happy with our start in the Premier League! Hopefully we can keep this form up when the fixtures just keep racking in starting next month with the Champions League and Carabao Cup.
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A fantastic start of course, but it's only been 3 games. We have one of the better goal differences in the league though with 2 clean sheets in 3 games which is nice to see. Let's hope that form rolls onto next month now!
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I mean Jesus Christ, how about that for a schedule in just a month! Games against Everton, Galatasaray, Manchester United and Chelsea in our first full month of the season. This is not going to be easy at all.
With 8 goals in his first 5 official games with the club, let's just say Schick looks like a decent signing so far! I'm hoping he carries this form into the Champions League now which is the main reason we signed him! What a signing he has the potential to be.
With just £60 million spent this summer, we didn't contribute much to the £1 billion spent by the Premier League but I don't really care to be honest. If we can get to the Champions League spots with less than £100 million spent when you have teams like Manchester City who spend over £200 million almost per transfer window at this point, I'm happy!
View attachment 47215
A perfect start to our season, with a hat-trick for Schick as well! What a great start honestly, and with games against Leicester and Stoke next, I'm hoping we'll get all 6 points from those next 2 games.
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A hugely disappointing injury for one of our best prospects in the side. As it's still early days, I wouldn't have had any issues with playing him ahead of Trippier for some of the smaller games but I guess he'll have to wait for his chance now.
View attachment 47213
A bit of a disappointing result if I'm honest with you, especially considering our amazing start against Newcastle. I thought we'd come away with 3 points but we actually had to come from 2 goals down to get the point but there's nothing we can do now. We just need to do better against Stoke in our last game and hope that we'll have had a really decent start to the league.
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Carabao Cup 3rd round and it's looking alright. Bournemouth are a decent side but we've grown a lot and I'm confident we can get a decent result from this match. We have to anyway, the board expects us to go a lot further than the 3rd round!
View attachment 47211
Well then, talk about the group of death! This is an absolutely ridiculous group but I guess we wanted Champions League football and that was to test ourselves against the best opposition so fair enough! We already beat PSG in the UEFA Super Cup but let's be honest, we won't be doing that in the group stage will we... They're the holders of the competition right now and we're also in the same group as the most successful European team ever so yeah that's great isn't it! Even Galatasaray are a good team and they'll be tough to beat so we've got a lot of work on our hands now.
View attachment 47197
A fantastic win to finish off our month against Stoke! 2-0 is more than a deserved result and I'm VERY happy with our start in the Premier League! Hopefully we can keep this form up when the fixtures just keep racking in starting next month with the Champions League and Carabao Cup.
View attachment 47196
A fantastic start of course, but it's only been 3 games. We have one of the better goal differences in the league though with 2 clean sheets in 3 games which is nice to see. Let's hope that form rolls onto next month now!
View attachment 47195
I mean Jesus Christ, how about that for a schedule in just a month! Games against Everton, Galatasaray, Manchester United and Chelsea in our first full month of the season. This is not going to be easy at all.
Villan of the Month:
View attachment 47193#9 Patrik Schick
24 years old
Striker
Czech
View attachment 47192
View attachment 47193#9 Patrik Schick
24 years old
Striker
Czech
View attachment 47192
With 8 goals in his first 5 official games with the club, let's just say Schick looks like a decent signing so far! I'm hoping he carries this form into the Champions League now which is the main reason we signed him! What a signing he has the potential to be.
Linecoigne1998
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View attachment 47123The first bit of bad news coming back from the international break was Evans getting injured. He was playing for Northern Ireland and got a concussion, keeping out for the next 3 weeks. It's a shame but he's not a starter so we should be fine without him.
View attachment 47121
Manchester United at Old Trafford are always a tough team to beat and it showed here again today. It's a good win for them and despite not getting a point, a decent result for us I believe. It really shows that we've improved as a team if we're able to cause Manchester United so many problems.
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We got off to the perfect start in this group of death with an easy 2-0 win against Galatasaray. They definitely looked like they were going to get back in it at some point but with a red card towards the end of the game, we came out on top and already have 3 points ahead of our next Champions League game against Real Madrid.
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It's been a decent start to the Premier League for us so far and this showcases that. Davis came on as a sub and scored 3 goals, which was incredible to see, and we get a 4-2 win at home against Everton. We still have a couple of big games left this month but I'm really happy with how things have gone so far and with how we've balanced European football and league football.
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We go through to the next round after a dominant performance against Bournemouth which will see us play Tottenham in the next round. The board wants us to get to the quarter-final, which is the round after the 4th round so we'll need to beat Spurs in our next game. Understandable considering we're the holders of the competition!
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A great result away from home against one of the top teams in the league. Chelsea are a very strong side so I was worried about the game but I'll take a clean sheet and a point! Maguire, as the club captain, really stepped up today and was a commanding defender in what was a great defensive performance.
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Considering we just played one of the best teams in Europe, I'm not too disappointed! Of course, losing the game in the space of 4 minutes from the 86th minute to the 90th minute but it's Real Madrid and that's what they do at the end of the day. Trippier is going to be out injured for the next month which isn't great news but thankfully we have Sessegnon on the bench who's been dying for his chance so there it is!
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A very decent start to the Premier League in my opinion. We're already 5 points behind the league leaders but we're not at all expected to compete for the title now. My goal is to just get Champions League football and try to improve on last season's 4th place finish. If we can do that, we'll have had a successful season. In terms of the Champions League, PSG are yet to play but we're in a great spot for our game against them next month! I really think that if we get a decent result or two against PSG, we might be in with a chance to make it out of the group!
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A very league heavy month in October, with big games against Tottenham and Wolves who are having decent seasons. The rest of the games should, to be honest, be easy 3 points in each. Southampton are 18th and Bournemouth are bottom of the league, so if we don't get good results now I should probably just resign! We play PSG at home in our only Champions League game of the month and I think this is where we have the potential to qualify from. A win against them would put us in a great position going forward so let's hope we get one! As for the Carabao Cup, we're playing away from home unfortunately but a win is needed from this round.
View attachment 47121
Manchester United at Old Trafford are always a tough team to beat and it showed here again today. It's a good win for them and despite not getting a point, a decent result for us I believe. It really shows that we've improved as a team if we're able to cause Manchester United so many problems.
View attachment 47120
We got off to the perfect start in this group of death with an easy 2-0 win against Galatasaray. They definitely looked like they were going to get back in it at some point but with a red card towards the end of the game, we came out on top and already have 3 points ahead of our next Champions League game against Real Madrid.
View attachment 47119
It's been a decent start to the Premier League for us so far and this showcases that. Davis came on as a sub and scored 3 goals, which was incredible to see, and we get a 4-2 win at home against Everton. We still have a couple of big games left this month but I'm really happy with how things have gone so far and with how we've balanced European football and league football.
View attachment 47118
View attachment 47117
We go through to the next round after a dominant performance against Bournemouth which will see us play Tottenham in the next round. The board wants us to get to the quarter-final, which is the round after the 4th round so we'll need to beat Spurs in our next game. Understandable considering we're the holders of the competition!
View attachment 47116
A great result away from home against one of the top teams in the league. Chelsea are a very strong side so I was worried about the game but I'll take a clean sheet and a point! Maguire, as the club captain, really stepped up today and was a commanding defender in what was a great defensive performance.
View attachment 47115
View attachment 47114
Considering we just played one of the best teams in Europe, I'm not too disappointed! Of course, losing the game in the space of 4 minutes from the 86th minute to the 90th minute but it's Real Madrid and that's what they do at the end of the day. Trippier is going to be out injured for the next month which isn't great news but thankfully we have Sessegnon on the bench who's been dying for his chance so there it is!
View attachment 47113
View attachment 47112
A very decent start to the Premier League in my opinion. We're already 5 points behind the league leaders but we're not at all expected to compete for the title now. My goal is to just get Champions League football and try to improve on last season's 4th place finish. If we can do that, we'll have had a successful season. In terms of the Champions League, PSG are yet to play but we're in a great spot for our game against them next month! I really think that if we get a decent result or two against PSG, we might be in with a chance to make it out of the group!
View attachment 47111
A very league heavy month in October, with big games against Tottenham and Wolves who are having decent seasons. The rest of the games should, to be honest, be easy 3 points in each. Southampton are 18th and Bournemouth are bottom of the league, so if we don't get good results now I should probably just resign! We play PSG at home in our only Champions League game of the month and I think this is where we have the potential to qualify from. A win against them would put us in a great position going forward so let's hope we get one! As for the Carabao Cup, we're playing away from home unfortunately but a win is needed from this round.
Villan of the Month:
View attachment 47110#13 Jordan Pickford
26 years old
Goalkeeper
English
View attachment 47109
There was only one player other than Pickford who was consistent and it was Barella. He had one performance below-par though in my opinion and that's why I've given Jordan his first Villan of the Month award since he joined last month. He kept 3 clean sheets from 6 games in goal and conceded 7 goals which isn't the most amazing of records but it's a lot better than at the start of the season last year, which is what matters!View attachment 47110#13 Jordan Pickford
26 years old
Goalkeeper
English
View attachment 47109
Linecoigne1998
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View attachment 47035
October 2020: going to the next round?
View attachment 47034
We started our month off perfectly by grabbing a 1-0 win over Tottenham, thanks to a lone goal from Davis! When Schick doesn't perform, he's the one who steps up and it's great to have two capable goalscorers in the side. Captain Maguire continues his amazing form so far this season with a man of the match performance as well.
View attachment 47033
Put out a bit of a rotated side for this game against Southampton to build match sharpness within the team and Palmer was one of these players who was playing ahead of Pereira and what a performance from him! Schick is back into scoring form as well which I'm really happy about and Barella looks like he's finally getting his season started as well.
View attachment 47032
We win against the Champions League holders! Schick and Shaqiri were the two best players on the pitch, especially Xherdan and what a game this was! This not only is an amazing victory on its own but it also puts us in an amazing position ahead of the last 3 group games in the Champions League with the first one of those 3 coming away from home in Paris against PSG!
View attachment 47031
A great win the league to continue our amazing form this season! Schick is back on the score sheet once again as he grabs 2 of our 3 goals and we win 3-1 away from home against Bournemouth. They played really well to be fair to them and I was a little worried that we wouldn't come out on top in this game.
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I wasn't expecting that! What a victory against Tottenham, especially away from home as we go through to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in our title defence! We'll be facing Burnley but what about that Tottenham game?! After winning 1-0 at home, I was expecting a tough game away from home but it was nothing like that! We absolutely smashed them, thanks to Hughes who had a cracking game.
View attachment 47028
We end the month on a 1-0 win against Wolves, more than deserved as well. Grealish gets the man of the match but it's Schick who scored, once again, to give us the 3 points. It's been a fantastic month and this was a great way to end it as more stress will be coming our way in November!
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View attachment 47026
Only 10 games in but we're in 2nd, which is definitely a lot better than I was expecting! Our goal difference is really good as well and we're just 3 points behind the leaders Manchester United! It's been a great season so far and it's the same in the Champions League as well, as we sit in 2nd in the group just behind Real Madrid. Our next game against PSG will be a lot more crucial than the previous one was as it will really decide whether we make it out of the group or not so let's see!
View attachment 47025
Starting off November right with our away game against PSG in beautiful Paris, before travelling back to London for our game against West Ham. The one positive thing I can see from this month is that we could set our fate in the Champions League in our next 2 games if we get good results against PSG and Galatasaray. West Ham, Burnley and Brighton in the league should all be easy victories considering our league form as of right now.
October 2020: going to the next round?
We started our month off perfectly by grabbing a 1-0 win over Tottenham, thanks to a lone goal from Davis! When Schick doesn't perform, he's the one who steps up and it's great to have two capable goalscorers in the side. Captain Maguire continues his amazing form so far this season with a man of the match performance as well.
View attachment 47033
Put out a bit of a rotated side for this game against Southampton to build match sharpness within the team and Palmer was one of these players who was playing ahead of Pereira and what a performance from him! Schick is back into scoring form as well which I'm really happy about and Barella looks like he's finally getting his season started as well.
View attachment 47032
We win against the Champions League holders! Schick and Shaqiri were the two best players on the pitch, especially Xherdan and what a game this was! This not only is an amazing victory on its own but it also puts us in an amazing position ahead of the last 3 group games in the Champions League with the first one of those 3 coming away from home in Paris against PSG!
View attachment 47031
A great win the league to continue our amazing form this season! Schick is back on the score sheet once again as he grabs 2 of our 3 goals and we win 3-1 away from home against Bournemouth. They played really well to be fair to them and I was a little worried that we wouldn't come out on top in this game.
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View attachment 47029
I wasn't expecting that! What a victory against Tottenham, especially away from home as we go through to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in our title defence! We'll be facing Burnley but what about that Tottenham game?! After winning 1-0 at home, I was expecting a tough game away from home but it was nothing like that! We absolutely smashed them, thanks to Hughes who had a cracking game.
View attachment 47028
We end the month on a 1-0 win against Wolves, more than deserved as well. Grealish gets the man of the match but it's Schick who scored, once again, to give us the 3 points. It's been a fantastic month and this was a great way to end it as more stress will be coming our way in November!
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View attachment 47026
Only 10 games in but we're in 2nd, which is definitely a lot better than I was expecting! Our goal difference is really good as well and we're just 3 points behind the leaders Manchester United! It's been a great season so far and it's the same in the Champions League as well, as we sit in 2nd in the group just behind Real Madrid. Our next game against PSG will be a lot more crucial than the previous one was as it will really decide whether we make it out of the group or not so let's see!
View attachment 47025
Starting off November right with our away game against PSG in beautiful Paris, before travelling back to London for our game against West Ham. The one positive thing I can see from this month is that we could set our fate in the Champions League in our next 2 games if we get good results against PSG and Galatasaray. West Ham, Burnley and Brighton in the league should all be easy victories considering our league form as of right now.
Villan of the Month:
View attachment 47024#7 Xherdan Shaqiri
29 years old
Right midfielder
Swiss
View attachment 47023
What a season Xherdan is having! His transfer value has jumped up to £46.5 million and he's on 4 goals and 13 assists in just 17 games so far this season. His recent form has been nothing short of sensational, so much so that he's denied Schick of the Villan of the Month award despite him scoring 7 goals in just 6 games! To give you an idea of Shaqiri's amazing form by the way, he finished last season with 18 goals and 15 assists in 52 games. He's almost got that many assists already!View attachment 47024#7 Xherdan Shaqiri
29 years old
Right midfielder
Swiss
View attachment 47023
Linecoigne1998
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View attachment 47008
November 2020: challenging for the Premier League title?
View attachment 47007
First Young Player of the Month award for the club this season as Maresic wins it, but with Sessegnon also on the podium. Steven has actually been REALLY good recently, to the point where Trippier is back from his injury but I'm still starting Sessegnon. He could turn out to really be the best signing we've made in a long time (excluding Maresic of course).
View attachment 47006
This was the game that was the most important one, arguably of the whole group stage campaign for us. A win would have effectively put us through to the next round, but losing means PSG still technically could make it out of the group ahead of us. Our next game against Galatasaray will be key, as well as PSG's game against Real Madrid of course.
View attachment 47005
This was a very, very close one but we got a well deserved win in the end to continue our outstanding form in the Premier League this season. Grealish hasn't been the most important player for the club as of right now, but he scored the 87th minute winner to give us 3 points so hopefully that'll be the turning point in his season!
View attachment 47004
This new system that we adopted in January of last season has really been a God send. Yet another clean sheet for us as we win 3-0 against Brighton and stick behind Manchester United in second in the Premier League! As for the man of the match today, Maguire, he's been amazing all season. He really didn't have the best start to his Villa career last season but he's become an incredible player now and the best possible partner for Maresic as our centre-back pairing.
View attachment 47003
Yes! Our 3rd win in 5 Champions League group stage games puts us in an incredible position to go through ahead of the competition's holders in PSG, as we sit 2nd in the group 3 points ahead of the French side since they lost 2-1 against Real Madrid. Davis was put in the side to rest Schick a little bit and scored a goal, which was nice to see, and Pereira also put in a good performance. Shaqiri stays in the running for another Villan of the Month award after yet another man of the match performance.
View attachment 47002
A really disappointing way to end November. Hourihane, a former Villa player, is actually the Burnley captain now and did pretty well until he got sent off in the 89th minute, which unfortunately didn't give us enough time to score an equaliser from Vokes' 88th minute goal to clinch it for them. I'm disappointed we lost the game but at the same time, we're still in 2nd in the league and are still on an amazing run so let's just pray this type of performance doesn't become more regular!
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View attachment 47000
We sit in 2nd in the league just 2 points ahead of Chelsea and I think we can attribute our good form to two things: 1. the team is really starting to gel together and 2. some of the big teams are just doing terribly! Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal are all teams that would normally be in the Champions League spots but they've been doing terribly, allowing teams like us to step in and take their place. Speaking of the Champions League, we're in 2nd in the group. PSG play Galatasaray in their last game, while we're playing Real Madrid away from home. We would need to lose by a couple of goals and have PSG win by a couple of goals as well to go out so it's looking good for us. On top of that, we only lost 2-1 at home in our first game against the Spanish side so we could get a decent result if we work hard!
View attachment 46999
We don't have the easiest of schedules next month. Some of our games like the one against Ipswich should be easy enough, but some other games like Arsenal, Liverpool, Watford and Newcastle will be a lot tougher. City will by far be our hardest game of the month excluding Real Madrid in the Champions League. On top of that, we also have our big game against Burnley in the Carabao Cup. After losing to them in the league, I hope the players will be motivated to get revenge in this Carabao Cup title defence!
November 2020: challenging for the Premier League title?
First Young Player of the Month award for the club this season as Maresic wins it, but with Sessegnon also on the podium. Steven has actually been REALLY good recently, to the point where Trippier is back from his injury but I'm still starting Sessegnon. He could turn out to really be the best signing we've made in a long time (excluding Maresic of course).
View attachment 47006
This was the game that was the most important one, arguably of the whole group stage campaign for us. A win would have effectively put us through to the next round, but losing means PSG still technically could make it out of the group ahead of us. Our next game against Galatasaray will be key, as well as PSG's game against Real Madrid of course.
View attachment 47005
This was a very, very close one but we got a well deserved win in the end to continue our outstanding form in the Premier League this season. Grealish hasn't been the most important player for the club as of right now, but he scored the 87th minute winner to give us 3 points so hopefully that'll be the turning point in his season!
View attachment 47004
This new system that we adopted in January of last season has really been a God send. Yet another clean sheet for us as we win 3-0 against Brighton and stick behind Manchester United in second in the Premier League! As for the man of the match today, Maguire, he's been amazing all season. He really didn't have the best start to his Villa career last season but he's become an incredible player now and the best possible partner for Maresic as our centre-back pairing.
View attachment 47003
Yes! Our 3rd win in 5 Champions League group stage games puts us in an incredible position to go through ahead of the competition's holders in PSG, as we sit 2nd in the group 3 points ahead of the French side since they lost 2-1 against Real Madrid. Davis was put in the side to rest Schick a little bit and scored a goal, which was nice to see, and Pereira also put in a good performance. Shaqiri stays in the running for another Villan of the Month award after yet another man of the match performance.
View attachment 47002
A really disappointing way to end November. Hourihane, a former Villa player, is actually the Burnley captain now and did pretty well until he got sent off in the 89th minute, which unfortunately didn't give us enough time to score an equaliser from Vokes' 88th minute goal to clinch it for them. I'm disappointed we lost the game but at the same time, we're still in 2nd in the league and are still on an amazing run so let's just pray this type of performance doesn't become more regular!
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We sit in 2nd in the league just 2 points ahead of Chelsea and I think we can attribute our good form to two things: 1. the team is really starting to gel together and 2. some of the big teams are just doing terribly! Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal are all teams that would normally be in the Champions League spots but they've been doing terribly, allowing teams like us to step in and take their place. Speaking of the Champions League, we're in 2nd in the group. PSG play Galatasaray in their last game, while we're playing Real Madrid away from home. We would need to lose by a couple of goals and have PSG win by a couple of goals as well to go out so it's looking good for us. On top of that, we only lost 2-1 at home in our first game against the Spanish side so we could get a decent result if we work hard!
View attachment 46999
We don't have the easiest of schedules next month. Some of our games like the one against Ipswich should be easy enough, but some other games like Arsenal, Liverpool, Watford and Newcastle will be a lot tougher. City will by far be our hardest game of the month excluding Real Madrid in the Champions League. On top of that, we also have our big game against Burnley in the Carabao Cup. After losing to them in the league, I hope the players will be motivated to get revenge in this Carabao Cup title defence!
Villan of the Month:
View attachment 46998#11 Nicolò Barella
23 years old
Defensive midfielder
Italian
View attachment 46997
Barella really came into form last month when he scored a couple of goals but this month he was just outstanding. We didn't have a lot of really good individual performances but he stayed consistent as a Segundo Volante in the side playing in that deep midfielder role and boy is he good there. We signed him for just £10 million last season mind you, after a season on loan with us and he's now worth £45 million! He's on course to become one of the best midfielders in the Premier League and maybe even in Europe. Hopefully that's where the rest of the team is headed too!View attachment 46998#11 Nicolò Barella
23 years old
Defensive midfielder
Italian
View attachment 46997
Linecoigne1998
Member
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This was the game I was most worried about this month and we got a very decent result. We actually controlled most of the game so it was a shame to concede so late on but a point is a point, and against Manchester City I'll take that any day!
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We already know our opponent for the FA Cup in January. We'll be playing against Charlton, who clearly aren't having a great time in the Championship this season. We're expected to get to the 6th round in the competition for another title defence, so it's fair to say we're very far off and will absolutely need to win this match!
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Cristiano Ronaldo puts 2 past our defence to give Real Madrid their 6th win of the group stages, but it's enough for us to go through! Turns out our win against PSG at Villa Park was more than vital as it's the result that puts us through to the next round! Incredible stuff from the lads to knock out the defending champions out of the competition and into the next round! Let's hope we don't get a really good team in the next round now to go as far as possible!
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Fantastic news coming out of the training ground today as Barella agreed to a contract extension! His agent pushed for a release clause but we've set it at £80 million and well, if anyone wants to come and buy Nicolò off of us that's what they'll have to pay and I'm okay with that!
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After a 1-1 draw with City, I'll take a 1-1 draw with Liverpool! This was another one of our trickier games this month so it's definitely better than nothing. Liverpool had the better game as well, so I'll definitely take this point.
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Well, that's definitely not the draw I wanted! As I watched the big teams get drawn one by one and us get closer to the end of the draw with a chance of playing Dynamo Kyiv I thought "yes, perfect let's play them!" but I guess the luck wasn't mine today. We'll be playing Juventus in the next round which is not only a massive fixture for our progress in the competition but just for the club in general! When do you remember Villa playing Juve last? It's a great matchup and even though I think we might struggle, it'll be a learning experience.
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Well this was certainly a tight game! After losing 1-0 to them in the league, we needed to get a good result and we kind of did I guess? We knocked them out of the cup so that's good enough for me! We'll face our opponents for the final for last season's Carabao Cup in Brighton in our next match which should be interesting but to be honest with you, I think I can see us get to another final this year!
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More good news with Shaqiri now extending his contract with the club! He's been absolutely incredible since he's arrived and I'm really happy he's decided to extent his adventure with Villa.
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I guess after all these good results, there had to be one bad one coming. We lose 2-0 to Arsenal in a game that they absolutely deserved to win despite us having more possession. It's a shame because it means we drop down from 2nd to 5th now, just before the end of the calendar year.
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We really held on to the possession in this game and it more than paid of! A 1-0 win with a late goal from Davis keeps us right behind the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea as we battle it out for 2nd place.
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A disappointing result against Watford who to be fair to them, have had a great season so far but we just needed to do better and really should've done better. They equalised literally a minute after our opener and that's just not good enough. We have one last game to finish off 2020 against Ipswich now, let's hope it goes better than this one!
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Now that's more like it! A sensational win in our last game of 2020. We completely dominated the match and anything other than a win would've been a robbery from Ipswich. We're still doing well in the league despite a dip in the form throughout the month but now we need to focus on the new year ahead and how we'll play in that.
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So halfway through the season and we're in 4th! It's been a great start to this Premier League campaign to say the least and we're so close to the top of the league that I'm honestly thinking, with some hard work, we could finish in the top 3! It would be an improvement on last year and that in itself would be great.
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Well, 2021 is looking quite busy already! One FA Cup match, a semi-final tie against Brighton in the Carabao Cup and some huge Premier League games against Manchester United and Chelsea! Our other league games are, once again, winnable ones but the last time I said that we lost to Burnley and drew against Watford so we just need to do better in these games if we want to finish in the Champions League places for next season.
December 2020: a dip in form
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This was the game I was most worried about this month and we got a very decent result. We actually controlled most of the game so it was a shame to concede so late on but a point is a point, and against Manchester City I'll take that any day!
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We already know our opponent for the FA Cup in January. We'll be playing against Charlton, who clearly aren't having a great time in the Championship this season. We're expected to get to the 6th round in the competition for another title defence, so it's fair to say we're very far off and will absolutely need to win this match!
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Cristiano Ronaldo puts 2 past our defence to give Real Madrid their 6th win of the group stages, but it's enough for us to go through! Turns out our win against PSG at Villa Park was more than vital as it's the result that puts us through to the next round! Incredible stuff from the lads to knock out the defending champions out of the competition and into the next round! Let's hope we don't get a really good team in the next round now to go as far as possible!
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Fantastic news coming out of the training ground today as Barella agreed to a contract extension! His agent pushed for a release clause but we've set it at £80 million and well, if anyone wants to come and buy Nicolò off of us that's what they'll have to pay and I'm okay with that!
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After a 1-1 draw with City, I'll take a 1-1 draw with Liverpool! This was another one of our trickier games this month so it's definitely better than nothing. Liverpool had the better game as well, so I'll definitely take this point.
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Well, that's definitely not the draw I wanted! As I watched the big teams get drawn one by one and us get closer to the end of the draw with a chance of playing Dynamo Kyiv I thought "yes, perfect let's play them!" but I guess the luck wasn't mine today. We'll be playing Juventus in the next round which is not only a massive fixture for our progress in the competition but just for the club in general! When do you remember Villa playing Juve last? It's a great matchup and even though I think we might struggle, it'll be a learning experience.
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Well this was certainly a tight game! After losing 1-0 to them in the league, we needed to get a good result and we kind of did I guess? We knocked them out of the cup so that's good enough for me! We'll face our opponents for the final for last season's Carabao Cup in Brighton in our next match which should be interesting but to be honest with you, I think I can see us get to another final this year!
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More good news with Shaqiri now extending his contract with the club! He's been absolutely incredible since he's arrived and I'm really happy he's decided to extent his adventure with Villa.
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I guess after all these good results, there had to be one bad one coming. We lose 2-0 to Arsenal in a game that they absolutely deserved to win despite us having more possession. It's a shame because it means we drop down from 2nd to 5th now, just before the end of the calendar year.
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We really held on to the possession in this game and it more than paid of! A 1-0 win with a late goal from Davis keeps us right behind the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea as we battle it out for 2nd place.
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A disappointing result against Watford who to be fair to them, have had a great season so far but we just needed to do better and really should've done better. They equalised literally a minute after our opener and that's just not good enough. We have one last game to finish off 2020 against Ipswich now, let's hope it goes better than this one!
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Now that's more like it! A sensational win in our last game of 2020. We completely dominated the match and anything other than a win would've been a robbery from Ipswich. We're still doing well in the league despite a dip in the form throughout the month but now we need to focus on the new year ahead and how we'll play in that.
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So halfway through the season and we're in 4th! It's been a great start to this Premier League campaign to say the least and we're so close to the top of the league that I'm honestly thinking, with some hard work, we could finish in the top 3! It would be an improvement on last year and that in itself would be great.
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Well, 2021 is looking quite busy already! One FA Cup match, a semi-final tie against Brighton in the Carabao Cup and some huge Premier League games against Manchester United and Chelsea! Our other league games are, once again, winnable ones but the last time I said that we lost to Burnley and drew against Watford so we just need to do better in these games if we want to finish in the Champions League places for next season.
Villan of the Month:
View attachment 46906#4 Harry Maguire
27 years old
Centre-back
English
View attachment 46905
It's about time that Harry wins a Villan of the Month award to be honest! He's been outstanding since he joined, especially this season, and I think if he keeps this form up he could really become a Villa legend. Our possession based system has allowed him to really just be on the ball, carry it forward and help in the attack and he's done just that.View attachment 46906#4 Harry Maguire
27 years old
Centre-back
English
View attachment 46905
Linecoigne1998
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January 2021: back to back titles?!
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A very close game scoreline wise but a very dominant performance from the lads as we get our first win of 2021 in our first game! Maresic scores his 3rd goal of the season in this match as well, continuing his incredible time here at the club. He'll soon have 150 games under his belt at the club, and that's just in the league as well! Incredible for a young player who came in when he was just 17 years old.
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Two goals in Maresic's last 2 games give us 3 points against a tough Stoke side who almost stole 2 points away from us. We absolutely battered them and I'm not sure how it took us until the 77th minute and 19 shots in total to score the one goal but hey, we got the win and that's what matters. We'll be losing Schick for almost the whole month now as well which isn't good news but it should give Davis an incentive to score some goals and work his way back into the starting eleven.
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The rules of this story allow me only 2 non-UK signings per window, but that excludes any non-UK player who might be leaving the club! A backup goalkeeper who we had at the club who wasn't from the UK left on a free earlier this season, which means that I was allowed another spot for a non-UK signing and this young 21-year old right midfielder looks like the perfect signing to make. We didn't actually make any other signings but he'll rival Shaqiri as the starting right-midfielder or might actually be pushing Grealish out of the team and onto the bench! That's how good this guy is according to my scouts.
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Of course it had to be a former Villa player coming back to haunt us! That draw earns us a replay at home which is just disappointing. We really should've won this game on the first try and adding another game to our schedule just doesn't help. I guess we have Everton to look forward to if we make it to the next round.
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Yet another disappointing performance in a game we probably should've won. The second leg allows us to play at home and potentially finish the job and get to the final but it's just annoying we couldn't really finish it on the first go. Amundsen seems to be fitting in the team nicely with his first man of the match performance and he really is looking like a great talent down on the right hand side of this team.
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It's three 1-1 draws in a row now but unlike the previous two, I'll definitely take this one! We actually completely dominated the game and probably even deserved a win if it wasn't for Sánchez's equaliser in the 70th minute. Regardless, a draw against Manchester United is always a really good result for a team like ours!
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We cut it close but a well deserved 2-0 win away against Charlton puts us through to the 4th round of the FA Cup where we'll play Everton. Davis is really stepping up in Schick's absence and goalscoring drought which is really great to see and I'm so glad to have a player like Davis on the bench who can come in and do a job.
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A tough loss to take against Chelsea to be honest, but we're still in 4th in the league and have a couple of games in hand over Chelsea. Our lack of focus between the 52nd and 54th minute ended up costing us unfortunately and I guess we'll have to learn from our mistakes for next time.
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Uh oh... I mean don't get me wrong, I'm so proud and happy to have managed this Villa side for 200 games now but the last time there was an occasion like this for my 100th game, we completely bottled the next match we had; the next game we're playing now, is against Brighton in the Carabao Cup semi-final! And I don't want to be bottling that...
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Yes!!! I was so worried we would bottle in but we never disappoint at home and today was no different! We make it to our second successive Carabao Cup final to potentially win our second of that trophy in a row! It would be a fantastic achievement but Arsenal stand in our way and they're the one opponents that we actually really struggled against this season, so it won't be an easy task.
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An incredibly disappointing result for us as Everton's RIGHT BACK is the one who scored the winner for them, despite our complete and utter dominance throughout the game. We've come really short of the board's expectations for this competition but the good thing is that we've overachieved in the Champions League and Carabao Cup and are overachieving in the league as well, so it more than makes up for it. If anything, I'm glad to have less games on our schedule so we can focus on a top 3 finish in the Premier League now!
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Our defeat against Chelsea ended up costing us big time as it means we won't be able to overtake them if we win both our games in hand. We'd be 2 points behind which is still a very decent gap to have between 3rd and us to be honest. The one thing that has kept me going when we got bad results this season was that I kept thinking "at least we're not having as bad a season as Ipswich!". I mean seriously, 0 wins in 25 games and 21 losses? What a rough year it's been for them...
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After getting knocked out of the FA Cup, next month looks a lot less busy than it would with those fixtures added in. It doesn't make it any easier though as we have a cup final against Arsenal and a huge Champions League game against Juventus! I hope the players will want revenge against Everton to get us 3 points and that we'll perform in the other league games as well to catch up to Chelsea and Manchester United!
View attachment 46829
Dario got us our first 2 wins of 2021 and has just been incredibly consistent, and consistently good, in the 8 games we played this month. With just one game where he had a rating of less than 7.0, he clearly deserves the Villan of the Month for January. I hope we can now count on him in the Carabao Cup final and Champions League tie against Juventus!
January 2021: back to back titles?!
A very close game scoreline wise but a very dominant performance from the lads as we get our first win of 2021 in our first game! Maresic scores his 3rd goal of the season in this match as well, continuing his incredible time here at the club. He'll soon have 150 games under his belt at the club, and that's just in the league as well! Incredible for a young player who came in when he was just 17 years old.
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Two goals in Maresic's last 2 games give us 3 points against a tough Stoke side who almost stole 2 points away from us. We absolutely battered them and I'm not sure how it took us until the 77th minute and 19 shots in total to score the one goal but hey, we got the win and that's what matters. We'll be losing Schick for almost the whole month now as well which isn't good news but it should give Davis an incentive to score some goals and work his way back into the starting eleven.
View attachment 46843
The rules of this story allow me only 2 non-UK signings per window, but that excludes any non-UK player who might be leaving the club! A backup goalkeeper who we had at the club who wasn't from the UK left on a free earlier this season, which means that I was allowed another spot for a non-UK signing and this young 21-year old right midfielder looks like the perfect signing to make. We didn't actually make any other signings but he'll rival Shaqiri as the starting right-midfielder or might actually be pushing Grealish out of the team and onto the bench! That's how good this guy is according to my scouts.
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Of course it had to be a former Villa player coming back to haunt us! That draw earns us a replay at home which is just disappointing. We really should've won this game on the first try and adding another game to our schedule just doesn't help. I guess we have Everton to look forward to if we make it to the next round.
View attachment 46840
Yet another disappointing performance in a game we probably should've won. The second leg allows us to play at home and potentially finish the job and get to the final but it's just annoying we couldn't really finish it on the first go. Amundsen seems to be fitting in the team nicely with his first man of the match performance and he really is looking like a great talent down on the right hand side of this team.
View attachment 46839
It's three 1-1 draws in a row now but unlike the previous two, I'll definitely take this one! We actually completely dominated the game and probably even deserved a win if it wasn't for Sánchez's equaliser in the 70th minute. Regardless, a draw against Manchester United is always a really good result for a team like ours!
View attachment 46838
We cut it close but a well deserved 2-0 win away against Charlton puts us through to the 4th round of the FA Cup where we'll play Everton. Davis is really stepping up in Schick's absence and goalscoring drought which is really great to see and I'm so glad to have a player like Davis on the bench who can come in and do a job.
View attachment 46837
A tough loss to take against Chelsea to be honest, but we're still in 4th in the league and have a couple of games in hand over Chelsea. Our lack of focus between the 52nd and 54th minute ended up costing us unfortunately and I guess we'll have to learn from our mistakes for next time.
View attachment 46836
Uh oh... I mean don't get me wrong, I'm so proud and happy to have managed this Villa side for 200 games now but the last time there was an occasion like this for my 100th game, we completely bottled the next match we had; the next game we're playing now, is against Brighton in the Carabao Cup semi-final! And I don't want to be bottling that...
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View attachment 46834
Yes!!! I was so worried we would bottle in but we never disappoint at home and today was no different! We make it to our second successive Carabao Cup final to potentially win our second of that trophy in a row! It would be a fantastic achievement but Arsenal stand in our way and they're the one opponents that we actually really struggled against this season, so it won't be an easy task.
View attachment 46833
An incredibly disappointing result for us as Everton's RIGHT BACK is the one who scored the winner for them, despite our complete and utter dominance throughout the game. We've come really short of the board's expectations for this competition but the good thing is that we've overachieved in the Champions League and Carabao Cup and are overachieving in the league as well, so it more than makes up for it. If anything, I'm glad to have less games on our schedule so we can focus on a top 3 finish in the Premier League now!
View attachment 46832
Our defeat against Chelsea ended up costing us big time as it means we won't be able to overtake them if we win both our games in hand. We'd be 2 points behind which is still a very decent gap to have between 3rd and us to be honest. The one thing that has kept me going when we got bad results this season was that I kept thinking "at least we're not having as bad a season as Ipswich!". I mean seriously, 0 wins in 25 games and 21 losses? What a rough year it's been for them...
View attachment 46831
After getting knocked out of the FA Cup, next month looks a lot less busy than it would with those fixtures added in. It doesn't make it any easier though as we have a cup final against Arsenal and a huge Champions League game against Juventus! I hope the players will want revenge against Everton to get us 3 points and that we'll perform in the other league games as well to catch up to Chelsea and Manchester United!
View attachment 46829
Dario got us our first 2 wins of 2021 and has just been incredibly consistent, and consistently good, in the 8 games we played this month. With just one game where he had a rating of less than 7.0, he clearly deserves the Villan of the Month for January. I hope we can now count on him in the Carabao Cup final and Champions League tie against Juventus!
danjames101
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Just caught up with it all mate. Another great season on the cards i predict, Barella and Shaqiri have been superb! You must be getting linked with every big job going?
Linecoigne1998
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View attachment 46769
February 2021: the Lions are back!
View attachment 46768
Well then, the Villan of the Month/Young Player of the Month coincidence is back! Maresic wins it for some amazing performances in January and deservedly so, I mean he almost scored as many goals as Tottenham's main striker!
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With our one free transfer this window, we clearly didn't contribute at all but quarter of a billion pounds is a pretty crazy amount to have been spent just in January! That's England for you I guess.
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A disappointing draw in our first match of the month, against a team we really should've done better against. Unfortunately we just couldn't take advantage of our opportunities and will have to settle for a point. It keeps us in 4th but I'm disappointed.
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One of our best players since he's joined and one of the best signings I've ever made in an FM save, Will Hughes. He's been absolutely outstanding since his arrival from Watford and I couldn't be happier that he's a Villa player, hence why he got a new contract for another 4 years!
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Morten Amundsen. I have a feeling I'll be saying that name a lot in the next few seasons! He's really fit into the team perfectly and his heroics today give us a 3-1 win over Tottenham to continue our amazing league form this season! If we can keep this up, honestly, I can see us winning the Carabao Cup again and maybe even advancing in the Champions League!
View attachment 46763
Well, I guess that's our revenge for the 1-0 defeat in the FA Cup! Just when I thought Grealish would be put out of the team by Amundsen, I start him and what a game he had today! I'm honestly so happy we have such great quality on the bench of this team, it really does make us a better side.
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View attachment 46761
What a response! We came back into the game just 3 minutes after 1-0 down and from then, it was Maresic who got us the 3 points. He is definitely in the league for another Villan of the Month to be honest, despite Schick's recent good performances. Another win though, more than deserved, to keep us in the race for a top 3 finish!
View attachment 46760
Unbelievable! In front of a packed Villa Park, we just got what could be our best win of the whole competition! I thought beating the holders PSG in the group stages was good, but we now have a 3-goal advantage in the Champions League 1st knockout round against Juventus! Amundsen was the man of the match, despite Schick scoring 2 goals and having a fantastic game. Juventus are used to having most of the possession of the ball in Serie A, I imagine they didn't like it when we kept the ball better than them! What a win!
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Morten you absolute hero! Got us past Tottenham, got us past Juve in the Champions League and now wins us the Carabao Cup for the second year in a row! What a performance from him! What a performance from Pereira and Schick as well! I was so worried about this game because they smashed us when we played them in the league but I don't know what I was worried about! It's a treble for the season (with 2 meaningless trophies I know) and we qualify for the Europa League on top of that! Of course, the goal is to make it to the Champions League again next season through the league but it's nice to already be qualified for a European competition if things go wrong!
View attachment 46755
As we're 7 points behind Chelsea, a win in our game in hand would only put us 4 points behind and stay in 4th but we're also 5 points clear of Arsenal and are looking really good for the Champions League next season! Our goal difference is also surprisingly good, as we have the best defence in the league along with Chelsea, with 22 goals conceded in 27 games. This is definitely helped by our average possession of 60% to be honest.
View attachment 46754
What a month we just had! Of course, looking at our schedule ahead, it's not looking too bad right now. If we make it past Juventus though, more fixtures will be added on there and very difficult fixtures as well! The league games for next month are all pretty winnable, so I'm confident we'll do well enough to get wins in most of them.
View attachment 46751
February 2021: the Lions are back!
Well then, the Villan of the Month/Young Player of the Month coincidence is back! Maresic wins it for some amazing performances in January and deservedly so, I mean he almost scored as many goals as Tottenham's main striker!
View attachment 46767
With our one free transfer this window, we clearly didn't contribute at all but quarter of a billion pounds is a pretty crazy amount to have been spent just in January! That's England for you I guess.
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A disappointing draw in our first match of the month, against a team we really should've done better against. Unfortunately we just couldn't take advantage of our opportunities and will have to settle for a point. It keeps us in 4th but I'm disappointed.
View attachment 46765
One of our best players since he's joined and one of the best signings I've ever made in an FM save, Will Hughes. He's been absolutely outstanding since his arrival from Watford and I couldn't be happier that he's a Villa player, hence why he got a new contract for another 4 years!
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Morten Amundsen. I have a feeling I'll be saying that name a lot in the next few seasons! He's really fit into the team perfectly and his heroics today give us a 3-1 win over Tottenham to continue our amazing league form this season! If we can keep this up, honestly, I can see us winning the Carabao Cup again and maybe even advancing in the Champions League!
View attachment 46763
Well, I guess that's our revenge for the 1-0 defeat in the FA Cup! Just when I thought Grealish would be put out of the team by Amundsen, I start him and what a game he had today! I'm honestly so happy we have such great quality on the bench of this team, it really does make us a better side.
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What a response! We came back into the game just 3 minutes after 1-0 down and from then, it was Maresic who got us the 3 points. He is definitely in the league for another Villan of the Month to be honest, despite Schick's recent good performances. Another win though, more than deserved, to keep us in the race for a top 3 finish!
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Unbelievable! In front of a packed Villa Park, we just got what could be our best win of the whole competition! I thought beating the holders PSG in the group stages was good, but we now have a 3-goal advantage in the Champions League 1st knockout round against Juventus! Amundsen was the man of the match, despite Schick scoring 2 goals and having a fantastic game. Juventus are used to having most of the possession of the ball in Serie A, I imagine they didn't like it when we kept the ball better than them! What a win!
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Morten you absolute hero! Got us past Tottenham, got us past Juve in the Champions League and now wins us the Carabao Cup for the second year in a row! What a performance from him! What a performance from Pereira and Schick as well! I was so worried about this game because they smashed us when we played them in the league but I don't know what I was worried about! It's a treble for the season (with 2 meaningless trophies I know) and we qualify for the Europa League on top of that! Of course, the goal is to make it to the Champions League again next season through the league but it's nice to already be qualified for a European competition if things go wrong!
View attachment 46755
As we're 7 points behind Chelsea, a win in our game in hand would only put us 4 points behind and stay in 4th but we're also 5 points clear of Arsenal and are looking really good for the Champions League next season! Our goal difference is also surprisingly good, as we have the best defence in the league along with Chelsea, with 22 goals conceded in 27 games. This is definitely helped by our average possession of 60% to be honest.
View attachment 46754
What a month we just had! Of course, looking at our schedule ahead, it's not looking too bad right now. If we make it past Juventus though, more fixtures will be added on there and very difficult fixtures as well! The league games for next month are all pretty winnable, so I'm confident we'll do well enough to get wins in most of them.
Villan of the Month:
View attachment 46753#14 Morten Admundsen
21 years old
Right midfielder
Danish
View attachment 46752
I mean how could it not be, right? He got us past Juventus and put in an absolute shift for most of the games! He had one or two off-games during the month but he more than made up for that in the most important games of February. With 3 goals and 4 assists in 6 games, he more than deserves this award for his first full month at the club! Oh and for anyone interested, here are his stats (he's also 189cm and 84kgs, so an absolute beast basically):View attachment 46753#14 Morten Admundsen
21 years old
Right midfielder
Danish
View attachment 46752
View attachment 46751
Linecoigne1998
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It's been pretty decent so far, still got the potential to be a crazy season for sure! And surprisingly no! Tottenham and Liverpool have sacked their managers two or three times each and I've never been linked with the job! In terms of club level only Leicester were apparently interested in me... France and Spain did come along during the summer though so that was pretty big! Oh and about Shaqiri and Barella, considering I bought them for £21 million and £10 million respectively, they've been incredible signings for sure!
Linecoigne1998
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View attachment 46635
March 2021: another dip in form
View attachment 46634
As Amundsen gets the Villan of the Month for February, he also gets the Young Player of the Month in the Premier League! Yet another coincidence it seems!
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A very disappointing result for us considering our dominance and the red card that they got in the 72nd minute. We really should have gotten the win there and this could put us in a really bad situation for 3rd place.
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Another horrible result for us. Bournemouth have always been a team I struggled against and today was no different. Congratulations to them, they definitely deserve the result but we should just be doing better otherwise we can say goodbye to top 3!
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Despite some bad results earlier this month, Maresic has more than deserved a new contract for his incredible season so far. It's a huge wage increase to be honest but again, after 4 years at the club now and some consistently amazing performances, he definitely deserves it. His release clause of £80 million does worry me a bit because with the performances he's put in, I'm pretty sure some big teams might think it's a fair price to pay for him!
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Another terrible result. Really not the best way to prepare for our second game against Juventus to be honest, but at least I know we had chances. I mean, Butland made 14 saves! How insane is that?! It really is a shame to only pick up a point from this game but I think if anything it might motivate the players to do better in this Champions League first knockout round second leg game.
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We're through! I can't believe it!!! After so much hard work in the first leg to win 3-0, we went into it with a 3-goal advantage and Maresic has just put us straight through to the Champions League quarter-final with his 80th minute goal! When I saw the Champions League group we were given, I was not only never expecting to get out of the group but let alone go through to the 1st knockout round and then win?! Incredible... We're somehow in the Champions League quarter-finals where we'll be facing Inter, the current Serie A champions. It's going to be a tough one for sure...
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Going through to the next round in the Champions League, and now winning 4-1 against Brighton away! What a perfect way to end March. Barella was outstanding today and we got a very well deserved victory to continue our race for the top 3 in the Premier League. Next month is going to be a big one!
View attachment 46626
Ipswich have still not won a game after 30 games... This must be some kind of record right?! Just 5 points after 30 games is just insane to me. Anyways back to us, we're still in 4th but now 6 points clear of Watford who are in 5th. City are 6 points ahead and both the teams mentioned have a game in hand. It's going to be very tricky towards the end of the season for sure but so far so good I'd say! We finished 4th last season and if we manage 4th again this season, I'll be very happy.
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Well, I said next month was a big one and now you know why! The games against Burnley and Fulham should be okay but games away against City and at home against Liverpool in between two Champions League quarter-final games against Inter is just ridiculous. We're still a very young team so I'm going to pray that we manage to get something out of next month to do the best we can for the season but it'll be tough and I might have to rotate the team a little bit.
March 2021: another dip in form
As Amundsen gets the Villan of the Month for February, he also gets the Young Player of the Month in the Premier League! Yet another coincidence it seems!
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A very disappointing result for us considering our dominance and the red card that they got in the 72nd minute. We really should have gotten the win there and this could put us in a really bad situation for 3rd place.
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Another horrible result for us. Bournemouth have always been a team I struggled against and today was no different. Congratulations to them, they definitely deserve the result but we should just be doing better otherwise we can say goodbye to top 3!
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Despite some bad results earlier this month, Maresic has more than deserved a new contract for his incredible season so far. It's a huge wage increase to be honest but again, after 4 years at the club now and some consistently amazing performances, he definitely deserves it. His release clause of £80 million does worry me a bit because with the performances he's put in, I'm pretty sure some big teams might think it's a fair price to pay for him!
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Another terrible result. Really not the best way to prepare for our second game against Juventus to be honest, but at least I know we had chances. I mean, Butland made 14 saves! How insane is that?! It really is a shame to only pick up a point from this game but I think if anything it might motivate the players to do better in this Champions League first knockout round second leg game.
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We're through! I can't believe it!!! After so much hard work in the first leg to win 3-0, we went into it with a 3-goal advantage and Maresic has just put us straight through to the Champions League quarter-final with his 80th minute goal! When I saw the Champions League group we were given, I was not only never expecting to get out of the group but let alone go through to the 1st knockout round and then win?! Incredible... We're somehow in the Champions League quarter-finals where we'll be facing Inter, the current Serie A champions. It's going to be a tough one for sure...
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Going through to the next round in the Champions League, and now winning 4-1 against Brighton away! What a perfect way to end March. Barella was outstanding today and we got a very well deserved victory to continue our race for the top 3 in the Premier League. Next month is going to be a big one!
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Ipswich have still not won a game after 30 games... This must be some kind of record right?! Just 5 points after 30 games is just insane to me. Anyways back to us, we're still in 4th but now 6 points clear of Watford who are in 5th. City are 6 points ahead and both the teams mentioned have a game in hand. It's going to be very tricky towards the end of the season for sure but so far so good I'd say! We finished 4th last season and if we manage 4th again this season, I'll be very happy.
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Well, I said next month was a big one and now you know why! The games against Burnley and Fulham should be okay but games away against City and at home against Liverpool in between two Champions League quarter-final games against Inter is just ridiculous. We're still a very young team so I'm going to pray that we manage to get something out of next month to do the best we can for the season but it'll be tough and I might have to rotate the team a little bit.
Villan of the Month:
View attachment 46624#11 Nicolò Barella
24 years old
Defensive midfielder
Italian
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It's funny how Barella always seems to kind of pick a month where he'll be incredible and then the rest he kind of just lays off, plays his game but without any incredible performances. Luckily for us, March was one of the months where he decided to pick it up a bit and he gets the Villan of the Month for it! He had two pretty average performances against Juventus and Bournemouth but other than that has been very decent and deserves the award.View attachment 46624#11 Nicolò Barella
24 years old
Defensive midfielder
Italian
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Linecoigne1998
Member
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April 2021: the dream is still alive!
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Absolutely terrible news to start off April... Abouchabaka was with the German national team for some friendlies and got injured and he's out for 3 months! He is yet to score for the club and has played 27 games in total with 13 as a starter and his progress has been great within the team so it's a real shame that he's going to be out for the rest of the season.
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Some more bad news as Amundsen, a key player since his arrival in January, is out for 2 weeks. We really can't afford to lose so many players due to injury and this is very bad news. Thankfully Grealish will want to step up to the plate for sure and he can show me why he deserves to be in the team ahead of Morten!
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After way too many bad news, we finally get some good ones! Tierney has accepted a contract extension to stay at Villa for another 4 years after a fantastic first season at the club. He's only 23 years old and still has a lot of potential so I can't wait to see how he grows at the club and honestly, for £18 million, he might be the bargain of the last decade for the club (might be over-exaggerating)!
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Our good run of form from the end of March carries over now as we smash Burnley 4-0 to put some pressure on City! I said Grealish would want to show me why he deserves to start and he did exactly that by scoring a first-half hat-trick! Pretty incredible stuff if you ask me. This really is a great result, especially ahead of our Manchester City game next week!
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Wow! Now the race for the top 3 is on! We beat Manchester City on a rainy afternoon to get even closer to them in the league! I gave the players a good talking to at half-time since we went 1-0 down so late on in the first half and boy did they fight back in the second half! An incredible result at the Etihad with goals from Schick, Barella and Palmer! Bring on Inter!
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Definitely not the best result for us at home as they scored 2 away goals, but I'll take that any day against the Italian champions! We did really well to respond to their opener but just couldn't hold on to the lead which means it's all to play for at the San Siro for our next game against them! They have the advantage with the 2 away goals but I mean who knows, could we knock out another Italian team and make it to the Champions League SEMI-FINAL?
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Our win against City seems worthless now! We could've gotten a great results against Liverpool if we had taken our chances like they did but unfortunately we didn't and there we are at home walking away with 0 points. We now have the game against Inter in the Champions League to deal with before we can get back to the Premier League but I really do want to focus on the league when we can.
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WHAT IS GOING ON!!! I thought surely after drawing 2-2 at home against Inter, that was our Champions League campaign over but no! We win 4-2 thanks to a heroic Schick performance and are through to the Champions League SEMI-FINAL!!! Absolutely incredible stuff from this team who just never stop to amaze me. We'll be playing against Atletico Madrid in the semis, which is going to be an incredibly hard game for sure but at this point, after knocking out Juventus and Inter and getting out of a group with PSG and Real Madrid, who knows what can happen?!
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It was a rotated side who took on Fulham in the Premier League after our hard work against Inter and we could only draw 2-2. Fair enough, some of the weaker players in the side were playing. The big negative point of this game is Chambers getting injured for 3 to 4 months, meaning his season is not only over but this injury might even carry onto next season as well which is a shame. A disappointing day overall to end April but with May now upon us and so many exciting games to play, I just want to move on!
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With 3 games left in the league and sitting just 3 points behind City who have a game in hand, we can absolutely hope for a 3rd place finish. The title race will be between Chelsea and Manchester United even though United have a clear advantage, but my main worry right now is Manchester City. Watford are also a threat for sure but I just really want to finish in 3rd, it would be such a great achievement! Ipswich still can't buy a win to save their lives and also have the worst defence in the league with an incredible 86 goals conceded and just 17 goals scored. Both them and Brighton have already been relegated with the relegation battle now between Burnley, Bournemouth, Southampton and Everton.
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Our schedule for May couldn't be any worse to be honest. The home game against Arsenal could be a great result for us but also a terrible one. The game against Ipswich is a guaranteed win (I mean come on, they haven't won in 35 games how are they going to win against us now!) and the game against Watford could be the decider for 4th and 5th place. On top of that, we have a Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid! Talk about a final showdown...
April 2021: the dream is still alive!
Absolutely terrible news to start off April... Abouchabaka was with the German national team for some friendlies and got injured and he's out for 3 months! He is yet to score for the club and has played 27 games in total with 13 as a starter and his progress has been great within the team so it's a real shame that he's going to be out for the rest of the season.
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Some more bad news as Amundsen, a key player since his arrival in January, is out for 2 weeks. We really can't afford to lose so many players due to injury and this is very bad news. Thankfully Grealish will want to step up to the plate for sure and he can show me why he deserves to be in the team ahead of Morten!
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After way too many bad news, we finally get some good ones! Tierney has accepted a contract extension to stay at Villa for another 4 years after a fantastic first season at the club. He's only 23 years old and still has a lot of potential so I can't wait to see how he grows at the club and honestly, for £18 million, he might be the bargain of the last decade for the club (might be over-exaggerating)!
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Our good run of form from the end of March carries over now as we smash Burnley 4-0 to put some pressure on City! I said Grealish would want to show me why he deserves to start and he did exactly that by scoring a first-half hat-trick! Pretty incredible stuff if you ask me. This really is a great result, especially ahead of our Manchester City game next week!
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Wow! Now the race for the top 3 is on! We beat Manchester City on a rainy afternoon to get even closer to them in the league! I gave the players a good talking to at half-time since we went 1-0 down so late on in the first half and boy did they fight back in the second half! An incredible result at the Etihad with goals from Schick, Barella and Palmer! Bring on Inter!
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Definitely not the best result for us at home as they scored 2 away goals, but I'll take that any day against the Italian champions! We did really well to respond to their opener but just couldn't hold on to the lead which means it's all to play for at the San Siro for our next game against them! They have the advantage with the 2 away goals but I mean who knows, could we knock out another Italian team and make it to the Champions League SEMI-FINAL?
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Our win against City seems worthless now! We could've gotten a great results against Liverpool if we had taken our chances like they did but unfortunately we didn't and there we are at home walking away with 0 points. We now have the game against Inter in the Champions League to deal with before we can get back to the Premier League but I really do want to focus on the league when we can.
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WHAT IS GOING ON!!! I thought surely after drawing 2-2 at home against Inter, that was our Champions League campaign over but no! We win 4-2 thanks to a heroic Schick performance and are through to the Champions League SEMI-FINAL!!! Absolutely incredible stuff from this team who just never stop to amaze me. We'll be playing against Atletico Madrid in the semis, which is going to be an incredibly hard game for sure but at this point, after knocking out Juventus and Inter and getting out of a group with PSG and Real Madrid, who knows what can happen?!
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It was a rotated side who took on Fulham in the Premier League after our hard work against Inter and we could only draw 2-2. Fair enough, some of the weaker players in the side were playing. The big negative point of this game is Chambers getting injured for 3 to 4 months, meaning his season is not only over but this injury might even carry onto next season as well which is a shame. A disappointing day overall to end April but with May now upon us and so many exciting games to play, I just want to move on!
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With 3 games left in the league and sitting just 3 points behind City who have a game in hand, we can absolutely hope for a 3rd place finish. The title race will be between Chelsea and Manchester United even though United have a clear advantage, but my main worry right now is Manchester City. Watford are also a threat for sure but I just really want to finish in 3rd, it would be such a great achievement! Ipswich still can't buy a win to save their lives and also have the worst defence in the league with an incredible 86 goals conceded and just 17 goals scored. Both them and Brighton have already been relegated with the relegation battle now between Burnley, Bournemouth, Southampton and Everton.
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Our schedule for May couldn't be any worse to be honest. The home game against Arsenal could be a great result for us but also a terrible one. The game against Ipswich is a guaranteed win (I mean come on, they haven't won in 35 games how are they going to win against us now!) and the game against Watford could be the decider for 4th and 5th place. On top of that, we have a Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid! Talk about a final showdown...
Villan of the Month:
View attachment 46608#19 Will Hughes
26 years old
Defensive midfielder
English
View attachment 46607
It took him almost 2 full seasons to get one but Hughes gets his first Villan of the Month award! Other than an average game against Ipswich, Will has been outstanding for the whole month and has definitely stood out from any other player who could have won it for April, even Grealish. I'm so happy with the way he's been playing since his arrival at the club in 2019 and can't wait to see more of him in the next few years as well!View attachment 46608#19 Will Hughes
26 years old
Defensive midfielder
English
View attachment 46607
danjames101
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big month ahead! good luck
Linecoigne1998
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May 2021: so close, yet so far
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After 16 appearances this season and some decent performances, it's a shame to lose Evans for the rest of the season. He most likely wasn't going to play in those big games to be honest but still.
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Some good performances from Grealish earn him the Player of the Month award for April. It's actually the first for the club this year I believe, so that's great to see!
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A very disappointing defeat for us against an Arsenal side who just weren't that great. They scored really late on which was a huge shame for us and unfortunately, with 2 games to go, it means we won't be able to overtake Manchester City in 3rd. It's not all over though as we still have to fight to finish in 4th!
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Atletico are an incredibly good side so I wasn't expecting much and unfortunately, we'll have to go to Madrid looking to overturn a 2-away goal disadvantage, which I don't really see us doing. We've had an amazing run in the Champions League but this might be where it ends. Golovin was absolutely fantastic and despite more chances for our side, we just couldn't take them.
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I fielded a weaker team for this game against Ipswich seeing as they've been so terrible all year. Fair to say it paid off! We not only managed to use some of our weaker players to rotate the team but also got a decent win to boot. We've also secured a top 4 spot with this win which is fantastic and means we can play our last game of the season against Watford feeling very relaxed! Oh and how about that for a transfer budget for next season! I'm absolutely delighted the board feels confident enough to give me that kind of money and can't wait to make some incredible signings next season.
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The 2-0 defeat at home was just too hard to overturn. Atletico beat us 2-1 in the second leg to win 4-1 on aggregate and go on to the final, where they'll play Manchester City who beat AC Milan in the other semi-final! Once again it's Golovin who gave us a really hard time and effectively knocked us. What a player he is. Nevertheless, I'm SO proud of the lads and what we've achieved this season. Coming in 4th in the Premier League is one in itself but to get to the Champions League semi-final for the club's first season back among Europe's elite is incredible. It's been a fantastic season and I hope the next one will be even better.
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So that's it! Schick and Palmer score our last 2 goals of the season as we win 2-0 against Watford to officially secure a top 4 finish for the second season in a row! Tierney gets man of the match and again, this season has just been incredible so it's great to finish on such a high note. It was a dominant performance and I'm so happy to see all the lads celebrating this amazing season.
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So we say goodbye to Brighton, Bournemouth and Ipswich at the end of the season. Incredibly, the latter beat the record for fewest amount of points, fewest wins and most defeats in a season in the Premier League! Talk about a bad year... Thankfully, our first few years in the Premier League have gone a lot better with a 7th place finish in our first year and 2 4th place finishes since. Arsenal are denied Champions League football and this time actually any European football at all by Watford, who were outstanding this season. It's been a great year with much better defensive performances (as highlighted by us having the 3rd best defence in the league) and decent attacking performances as well!
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Pickford did really well all season managing to keep 15 clean sheets in 37 games and conceding 31 goals. Not bad at all when compared to the likes of De Gea and Courtois!
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The Players' Team of the Year is mostly dominated by Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City players but it's nice to see Maresic and Pickford both in there after incredible seasons with us! Maresic just never fails to impress and after 4 years at the club, he is now in the Premier League Team of the Year. Incredible stuff.
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A great season ends with 28 goals for Schick, 21 assists for Shaqiri and just overall a great season for everyone at the club really. Maresic wins the fans' player of the season by quite a big margin, with Xherdan coming in second and our club captain Maguire in 3rd! Amundsen arrived only in January but clearly made an impact as he gets the young player of the season award from the fans.
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Well, there we go! What a season it's been. With the stadium 95% full on average, we clearly had fans supporting us all year long and I'm so happy to see that. Our performances in the league have brought some new life and energy in Birmingham and that's just amazing. We had some memorable moments this year of course with wins against Tottenham and Manchester City but also a win in the Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup and a semi-final exit in the Champions League! Finishing 4th in the Premier League was also a great way to end the season and to be honest, we deserved it considering how consistent we were. Look at the league positions! For a third of the season, we were in 4th and never moved from there. Speaking of the Champions League, here's how it went and how the Europa League:
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Losing to the eventual Champions League winners makes everything better to be honest! And if anything, we did PSG a favour by knocking them out of the Champions League so they could go on and win the Europa League! Funny how these things fall into place like that. Anyways, that's the end of season 4 now, next update will be season 5 pre-season and new signings (and there's some pretty insane ones, so be on the lookout!).
May 2021: so close, yet so far
After 16 appearances this season and some decent performances, it's a shame to lose Evans for the rest of the season. He most likely wasn't going to play in those big games to be honest but still.
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Some good performances from Grealish earn him the Player of the Month award for April. It's actually the first for the club this year I believe, so that's great to see!
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A very disappointing defeat for us against an Arsenal side who just weren't that great. They scored really late on which was a huge shame for us and unfortunately, with 2 games to go, it means we won't be able to overtake Manchester City in 3rd. It's not all over though as we still have to fight to finish in 4th!
View attachment 46555
Atletico are an incredibly good side so I wasn't expecting much and unfortunately, we'll have to go to Madrid looking to overturn a 2-away goal disadvantage, which I don't really see us doing. We've had an amazing run in the Champions League but this might be where it ends. Golovin was absolutely fantastic and despite more chances for our side, we just couldn't take them.
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I fielded a weaker team for this game against Ipswich seeing as they've been so terrible all year. Fair to say it paid off! We not only managed to use some of our weaker players to rotate the team but also got a decent win to boot. We've also secured a top 4 spot with this win which is fantastic and means we can play our last game of the season against Watford feeling very relaxed! Oh and how about that for a transfer budget for next season! I'm absolutely delighted the board feels confident enough to give me that kind of money and can't wait to make some incredible signings next season.
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The 2-0 defeat at home was just too hard to overturn. Atletico beat us 2-1 in the second leg to win 4-1 on aggregate and go on to the final, where they'll play Manchester City who beat AC Milan in the other semi-final! Once again it's Golovin who gave us a really hard time and effectively knocked us. What a player he is. Nevertheless, I'm SO proud of the lads and what we've achieved this season. Coming in 4th in the Premier League is one in itself but to get to the Champions League semi-final for the club's first season back among Europe's elite is incredible. It's been a fantastic season and I hope the next one will be even better.
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So that's it! Schick and Palmer score our last 2 goals of the season as we win 2-0 against Watford to officially secure a top 4 finish for the second season in a row! Tierney gets man of the match and again, this season has just been incredible so it's great to finish on such a high note. It was a dominant performance and I'm so happy to see all the lads celebrating this amazing season.
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So we say goodbye to Brighton, Bournemouth and Ipswich at the end of the season. Incredibly, the latter beat the record for fewest amount of points, fewest wins and most defeats in a season in the Premier League! Talk about a bad year... Thankfully, our first few years in the Premier League have gone a lot better with a 7th place finish in our first year and 2 4th place finishes since. Arsenal are denied Champions League football and this time actually any European football at all by Watford, who were outstanding this season. It's been a great year with much better defensive performances (as highlighted by us having the 3rd best defence in the league) and decent attacking performances as well!
View attachment 46547
Pickford did really well all season managing to keep 15 clean sheets in 37 games and conceding 31 goals. Not bad at all when compared to the likes of De Gea and Courtois!
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The Players' Team of the Year is mostly dominated by Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City players but it's nice to see Maresic and Pickford both in there after incredible seasons with us! Maresic just never fails to impress and after 4 years at the club, he is now in the Premier League Team of the Year. Incredible stuff.
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A great season ends with 28 goals for Schick, 21 assists for Shaqiri and just overall a great season for everyone at the club really. Maresic wins the fans' player of the season by quite a big margin, with Xherdan coming in second and our club captain Maguire in 3rd! Amundsen arrived only in January but clearly made an impact as he gets the young player of the season award from the fans.
View attachment 46541
Well, there we go! What a season it's been. With the stadium 95% full on average, we clearly had fans supporting us all year long and I'm so happy to see that. Our performances in the league have brought some new life and energy in Birmingham and that's just amazing. We had some memorable moments this year of course with wins against Tottenham and Manchester City but also a win in the Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup and a semi-final exit in the Champions League! Finishing 4th in the Premier League was also a great way to end the season and to be honest, we deserved it considering how consistent we were. Look at the league positions! For a third of the season, we were in 4th and never moved from there. Speaking of the Champions League, here's how it went and how the Europa League:
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Losing to the eventual Champions League winners makes everything better to be honest! And if anything, we did PSG a favour by knocking them out of the Champions League so they could go on and win the Europa League! Funny how these things fall into place like that. Anyways, that's the end of season 4 now, next update will be season 5 pre-season and new signings (and there's some pretty insane ones, so be on the lookout!).
Linecoigne1998
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View attachment 46527
2021/2022 pre-season and signings
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Well, well, well... It's been a busy pre-season I can tell you that much, and it started off with interest from Chelsea for Will Hughes! After the season he's just had, there was no way I was going to let Chelsea try to destabilise him so offered him a new contract, which he gladly accepted as he said he loved playing for the club and there he is now at the club for another 5 years!
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With £80 million to spend, I was ready to move on some players who could be absolute bargains. The first one of those? Joe Gomez. He was on the transfer list at Liverpool and despite being only 24, is still very far off his full potential. With Maresic and Maguire doing so well in the starting 11 already, Gomez might not start immediately but I'll definitely look to play him often to develop him.
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Pereira is unfortunately the first player who is leaving the club this season. He's been amazing since arriving on a free from Manchester United but just isn't of the world-class quality that we need to take this team forward. Palmer still has potential and is English, hence why he's the one staying here. Pereira will be missed, but with £15 million added to the bank we can definitely afford a world-class player to come in and replace him!
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Pope has played a couple games since Pickford's arrival at the club about 2 years ago, but clearly nowhere near as much as he wanted. He's been complaining about his playing time for a long time but Pickford was doing so well that I just couldn't drop him. We get a very decent £8.5 million for a player who was just destroying the squad atmosphere so I'm more than happy to let him go.
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With Pope now gone, we needed someone to come in and replace him as our backup/cup keeper. I've not done a good job of selecting my backup keeper for cup games but with Pau López now coming in to do that job, I'll make sure to play him. He's an incredible keeper who's done quite well so far at Espanyol and I'm delighted to see him come in. He's had some time in England before on loan at Tottenham, despite not playing a single game, which should help him settle in a little bit. With Pereira leaving the club, it meant we had one more non-UK signing spot that opened up so despite López arriving still have room for 2 more non-UK signings which is exciting.
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Newly-promoted West Brom seemed more than happy to sign Chambers, despite him being still out for another month or so. With Gomez coming in as one of our backup centre-backs and Evans always getting picked ahead of him, it sucks to see him go after a season especially at a loss, but I just couldn't justify the amount he was getting paid.
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There's the big one! His wages are absolutely ridiculous and we needed a lot of bonuses to convince him to come in, but here's Pereira's replacement. I told you I wanted someone world-class so I got just that! For under £50 million, this really could be an incredible signing for the club and one that definitely takes us to the next level. He was being scouted by Manchester City so to be honest I was a little worried that they would ****** him from us but I guess he was convinced by our project a little more! Oh and that's of course smashed our club transfer record from Schick last season.
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A big new contract for Abouchabaka, who's now back from his injury. To be honest, he's a very talented player who has room to improve still so I'm excited to use him a little more this season, perhaps over Grealish or an ageing Shaqiri? We'll wait and see how the season goes of course.
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We're becoming a proper top 4 club now with the wages we're starting to give out! I actually compared our annual wage spend with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal for example and we're over £100 million off but it's a big increase from our Championship days that's for sure. A new contract for Pickford nonetheless is incredible news as he's probably the 3rd best keeper in the league right now and we just can't afford to lose him!
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This was the most heartbreaking move of the pre-season for me. Schick didn't have the most incredible of seasons for us in his first year but I could really see him growing into this team and becoming a Villa legend but he decided he wanted better. The likes of Leipzig, PSG, Atletico, Monaco and more big teams wanted him so him and I agreed on a £50 million fee ahead of time and Atletico met our demands so he's gone. It's incredibly frustrating as well since £50 million for a striker of his calibre is nothing. Other strikers with similar ability like Diego Costa, Werner or even Rashford are all just really expensive and there's nothing that tells me that they'll become better than Schick was.
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In our sadness saying goodbye to Schick, who said he was really grateful that we allowed him to leave, we got our fixture list for pre-season and it's not the most heavy or glamorous but it'll do. With us being in the Champions League now, we play at least 50 games a year so 4 for pre-season is more than enough for me.
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This will definitely seem like a really odd move to some of you but my scouts have guaranteed me that Isak is the next Zlatan. Speaking of, that £78 million price tag has broken the record for the most expensive Swedish player ever so let's hope he becomes the best Swedish player ever! That price, as insane as it looks, was his release clause at Dortmund and despite the 3-star current rating from my scouts, they've told me to sign Isak whatever the price. He's a striker for the future, as well as for now who'll be perfect as our main target man in the team and hopefully can do even better than Schick did in his first season.
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Perhaps another sad departure for us but he's a player who deserves more playing time. Frenkie didn't play so much anymore since Barella and Hughes' partnership really rose to a new level last season. He's a player who's also not developed as well as I thought he would so we let him go to Dynamo Kyiv for £28 million. It's almost a £20 million profit from the fee we paid for him when he arrived in 2018 which is great, and it actually allows us to sign one more player, who can be a backup midfielder but will also certainly become one of the best players at the club.
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And that was our last signing! I've had my eye on Cook for a while and tried to sign him multiple times but every time, Bournemouth asked for over £60 million which I just didn't want to pay. Lewis was in advanced talks with Arsenal when I noticed he was transfer-listed so immediately jumped in and gave him an offer he couldn't refuse and there he is at the club now! He'll be a perfect midfielder who can replace either Barella or Hughes if they're injured, suspended or just need to be rested.
View attachment 46505
So as you can see, clearly a very busy summer for us in terms of arrivals but also in terms of departures. With our starting budget of £80 million, we ended up having £187 million to spend and used up £158 million of that. With the high wages we now have to pay and having to accommodate a big portion of that for Dele Alli, we're now left with a little over £10 million for the winter transfer window. We most likely won't bring anyone in considering our spending in the summer but you never know.
View attachment 46504
As for our pre-season results, we clearly didn't have the best time. In a period with a lot of change around the club with players leaving and coming in all the time, we never really had time to find a team that gelled together properly so didn't get the most amazing results but it's fine with me, the point of pre-season is to build up some fitness for the season ahead!
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We've easily beaten Tottenham in our last few games against them but this one is away from home so it could be harder. Same with Newcastle, they've always been tough games and away from home might make it even harder. As for Leeds, they just got promoted so all the pressure will be on us to do well... Oh and we of course have the Champions League draw for the group stages! That should be an interesting one.
2021/2022 pre-season and signings
Well, well, well... It's been a busy pre-season I can tell you that much, and it started off with interest from Chelsea for Will Hughes! After the season he's just had, there was no way I was going to let Chelsea try to destabilise him so offered him a new contract, which he gladly accepted as he said he loved playing for the club and there he is now at the club for another 5 years!
View attachment 46525
With £80 million to spend, I was ready to move on some players who could be absolute bargains. The first one of those? Joe Gomez. He was on the transfer list at Liverpool and despite being only 24, is still very far off his full potential. With Maresic and Maguire doing so well in the starting 11 already, Gomez might not start immediately but I'll definitely look to play him often to develop him.
View attachment 46524
Pereira is unfortunately the first player who is leaving the club this season. He's been amazing since arriving on a free from Manchester United but just isn't of the world-class quality that we need to take this team forward. Palmer still has potential and is English, hence why he's the one staying here. Pereira will be missed, but with £15 million added to the bank we can definitely afford a world-class player to come in and replace him!
View attachment 46523
Pope has played a couple games since Pickford's arrival at the club about 2 years ago, but clearly nowhere near as much as he wanted. He's been complaining about his playing time for a long time but Pickford was doing so well that I just couldn't drop him. We get a very decent £8.5 million for a player who was just destroying the squad atmosphere so I'm more than happy to let him go.
View attachment 46521
With Pope now gone, we needed someone to come in and replace him as our backup/cup keeper. I've not done a good job of selecting my backup keeper for cup games but with Pau López now coming in to do that job, I'll make sure to play him. He's an incredible keeper who's done quite well so far at Espanyol and I'm delighted to see him come in. He's had some time in England before on loan at Tottenham, despite not playing a single game, which should help him settle in a little bit. With Pereira leaving the club, it meant we had one more non-UK signing spot that opened up so despite López arriving still have room for 2 more non-UK signings which is exciting.
View attachment 46519
Newly-promoted West Brom seemed more than happy to sign Chambers, despite him being still out for another month or so. With Gomez coming in as one of our backup centre-backs and Evans always getting picked ahead of him, it sucks to see him go after a season especially at a loss, but I just couldn't justify the amount he was getting paid.
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View attachment 46517
There's the big one! His wages are absolutely ridiculous and we needed a lot of bonuses to convince him to come in, but here's Pereira's replacement. I told you I wanted someone world-class so I got just that! For under £50 million, this really could be an incredible signing for the club and one that definitely takes us to the next level. He was being scouted by Manchester City so to be honest I was a little worried that they would ****** him from us but I guess he was convinced by our project a little more! Oh and that's of course smashed our club transfer record from Schick last season.
View attachment 46516
A big new contract for Abouchabaka, who's now back from his injury. To be honest, he's a very talented player who has room to improve still so I'm excited to use him a little more this season, perhaps over Grealish or an ageing Shaqiri? We'll wait and see how the season goes of course.
View attachment 46515
We're becoming a proper top 4 club now with the wages we're starting to give out! I actually compared our annual wage spend with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal for example and we're over £100 million off but it's a big increase from our Championship days that's for sure. A new contract for Pickford nonetheless is incredible news as he's probably the 3rd best keeper in the league right now and we just can't afford to lose him!
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View attachment 46513
This was the most heartbreaking move of the pre-season for me. Schick didn't have the most incredible of seasons for us in his first year but I could really see him growing into this team and becoming a Villa legend but he decided he wanted better. The likes of Leipzig, PSG, Atletico, Monaco and more big teams wanted him so him and I agreed on a £50 million fee ahead of time and Atletico met our demands so he's gone. It's incredibly frustrating as well since £50 million for a striker of his calibre is nothing. Other strikers with similar ability like Diego Costa, Werner or even Rashford are all just really expensive and there's nothing that tells me that they'll become better than Schick was.
View attachment 46512
In our sadness saying goodbye to Schick, who said he was really grateful that we allowed him to leave, we got our fixture list for pre-season and it's not the most heavy or glamorous but it'll do. With us being in the Champions League now, we play at least 50 games a year so 4 for pre-season is more than enough for me.
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View attachment 46510
View attachment 46509
This will definitely seem like a really odd move to some of you but my scouts have guaranteed me that Isak is the next Zlatan. Speaking of, that £78 million price tag has broken the record for the most expensive Swedish player ever so let's hope he becomes the best Swedish player ever! That price, as insane as it looks, was his release clause at Dortmund and despite the 3-star current rating from my scouts, they've told me to sign Isak whatever the price. He's a striker for the future, as well as for now who'll be perfect as our main target man in the team and hopefully can do even better than Schick did in his first season.
View attachment 46508
Perhaps another sad departure for us but he's a player who deserves more playing time. Frenkie didn't play so much anymore since Barella and Hughes' partnership really rose to a new level last season. He's a player who's also not developed as well as I thought he would so we let him go to Dynamo Kyiv for £28 million. It's almost a £20 million profit from the fee we paid for him when he arrived in 2018 which is great, and it actually allows us to sign one more player, who can be a backup midfielder but will also certainly become one of the best players at the club.
View attachment 46507
View attachment 46506
And that was our last signing! I've had my eye on Cook for a while and tried to sign him multiple times but every time, Bournemouth asked for over £60 million which I just didn't want to pay. Lewis was in advanced talks with Arsenal when I noticed he was transfer-listed so immediately jumped in and gave him an offer he couldn't refuse and there he is at the club now! He'll be a perfect midfielder who can replace either Barella or Hughes if they're injured, suspended or just need to be rested.
View attachment 46505
So as you can see, clearly a very busy summer for us in terms of arrivals but also in terms of departures. With our starting budget of £80 million, we ended up having £187 million to spend and used up £158 million of that. With the high wages we now have to pay and having to accommodate a big portion of that for Dele Alli, we're now left with a little over £10 million for the winter transfer window. We most likely won't bring anyone in considering our spending in the summer but you never know.
View attachment 46504
As for our pre-season results, we clearly didn't have the best time. In a period with a lot of change around the club with players leaving and coming in all the time, we never really had time to find a team that gelled together properly so didn't get the most amazing results but it's fine with me, the point of pre-season is to build up some fitness for the season ahead!
Villan of the pre-season
View attachment 46501#14 Morten Amundsen
21 years old
Right midfielder
Danish
View attachment 46500
After a pretty average pre-season, Morten was the only one who was somewhat decent with a goal and an assist over 4 games. Davis and Palmer both scored in pre-season and did well but their overall performances weren't that amazing which is why Morten gets the Villan of the pre-season. Our start to the season is an interesting one, with some games that I can't really call in advance and some games that we did so well in last season but with so many new arrivals in the team, we could do really badly this time round.View attachment 46501#14 Morten Amundsen
21 years old
Right midfielder
Danish
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We've easily beaten Tottenham in our last few games against them but this one is away from home so it could be harder. Same with Newcastle, they've always been tough games and away from home might make it even harder. As for Leeds, they just got promoted so all the pressure will be on us to do well... Oh and we of course have the Champions League draw for the group stages! That should be an interesting one.
danjames101
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Wow big transfer window! Bet you're sad to see Schick and Frankie go, but Alli and Isak could be mainstays in your team for a long time. Def build the team round them!! Good luck
Linecoigne1998
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Frenkie I actually decided to let him go myself so it was definitely sad to see him go mainly because he didn't develop as well as I wanted him to but Schick left all on his own
something about winning the Champions League... players and their trophies amirite? XD seriously though, with that amount of money spent on literally 2 players I'm definitely hoping they play a big part in the side this season, hopefully no injuries!Linecoigne1998
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View attachment 46424
August 2021: fitting right in
View attachment 46420
A clear statement of intent on the board's part and my part to bring in a player like Isak for such a hefty fee. Right up there with the biggest teams in the league! We're £90 million short of being the highest spenders but overall, really think we've made some great deals this window who can greatly contribute to the side.
View attachment 46419
No pressure in terms of our expectations. I'm not actually being sarcastic! The semi-final of the FA Cup might be a stretch but as for the Champions League and Premier League, we can absolutely reach and probably even surpass the expectations set by the board for this season.
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A perfect start to our season! Not only did we manage a fantastic result against a great Tottenham side, but we also got our new signings to perform incredibly well! Isak and Alli were outstanding, same can be said about Hughes. Overall some fantastic individual performances and a great team performance to win at the New White Hart Lane on our first game of the season.
View attachment 46417
Sorry danjames101, looks like Leeds can't compete with my Villa side just yet (also kind of payback for that 2-0 defeat your side gave Villa in your story!) on a more serious note, an incredible performance from Shaqiri and more goals from Hughes and Alli put us right at the top of the table after just 2 games. It's still early days but a dominant performance like that is always a sign of a good season ahead.
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I think this is a little unfair on Brighton. We keep facing them and every time it's lower down in the competition! The first time we faced them in the Carabao Cup was in the final and we smashed them, then last year we played them in the semi-final and this time around we'll be playing them in the 3rd round! They'll probably want revenge but with some new world-class signings in our side, I can't see them getting a result against us, especially not at Villa Park.
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What is it with us and Champions League holders! I mean, come on! We had Real Madrid and PSG in our group last season, and now we get Atletico and Inter, who we both faced in the Champions League knockout rounds already! If anything, games like this and groups like these do establish us as a strong European side I guess. I know we can get some decent results against Inter and Liège, I'm just hoping that Saúl's departure from Atletico will hurt them to the point where we can do well against them.
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Another good away performance puts us right back at the top of the table after 3 games in the Premier League. Isak, Alli and Hughes all score yet again with Shaqiri putting in another great shift to earn a second man of the match award in a row. I have to say, this team feels better than any other team I managed before (the previous Villa starting 11s that is) and the additions of Alli and Isak have not only not disrupted the side at all, but it's made it SO much better. Newcastle are always a tough team to beat at their own ground but they just couldn't resist us today and that's a great sign.
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Our defence hasn't been the best so far with just one clean sheet and 3 goals conceded in as many games. Our attack however, has been outstanding with an average of 3 goals a game and therefore 9 goals scored in our first 3 games! That great goal difference is what is keeping us in 1st place right now ahead of Manchester United. This was the easy month though. August is always the easiest one. Starting in September, the hard work begins and I'm just praying we stay in those top 2 spots for as long as we can now!
View attachment 46407
Premier League, Carabao Cup and Champions League football all in one month. As I said, the hard work always begins in September! Our first game of the group away against Inter will certainly be a tough one but also one that could decide our fate in the group stages so I hope we get a good result then. The Liège game at home should be a breeze but we'll stay focused. With Pau Lopez as our cup keeper, he's going to have a lot of work to do next month! Brighton in the Carabao Cup I'm, as I mentioned before, not worried about. The 3 Premier League games we're playing as well shouldn't be too much of a problem although the high amount of fixtures could bring some injuries or tiredness in the team so I'll be sure to rotate the players enough.
August 2021: fitting right in
A clear statement of intent on the board's part and my part to bring in a player like Isak for such a hefty fee. Right up there with the biggest teams in the league! We're £90 million short of being the highest spenders but overall, really think we've made some great deals this window who can greatly contribute to the side.
View attachment 46419
No pressure in terms of our expectations. I'm not actually being sarcastic! The semi-final of the FA Cup might be a stretch but as for the Champions League and Premier League, we can absolutely reach and probably even surpass the expectations set by the board for this season.
View attachment 46418
A perfect start to our season! Not only did we manage a fantastic result against a great Tottenham side, but we also got our new signings to perform incredibly well! Isak and Alli were outstanding, same can be said about Hughes. Overall some fantastic individual performances and a great team performance to win at the New White Hart Lane on our first game of the season.
View attachment 46417
Sorry danjames101, looks like Leeds can't compete with my Villa side just yet (also kind of payback for that 2-0 defeat your side gave Villa in your story!)
on a more serious note, an incredible performance from Shaqiri and more goals from Hughes and Alli put us right at the top of the table after just 2 games. It's still early days but a dominant performance like that is always a sign of a good season ahead. View attachment 46416
I think this is a little unfair on Brighton. We keep facing them and every time it's lower down in the competition! The first time we faced them in the Carabao Cup was in the final and we smashed them, then last year we played them in the semi-final and this time around we'll be playing them in the 3rd round! They'll probably want revenge but with some new world-class signings in our side, I can't see them getting a result against us, especially not at Villa Park.
View attachment 46415
What is it with us and Champions League holders! I mean, come on! We had Real Madrid and PSG in our group last season, and now we get Atletico and Inter, who we both faced in the Champions League knockout rounds already! If anything, games like this and groups like these do establish us as a strong European side I guess. I know we can get some decent results against Inter and Liège, I'm just hoping that Saúl's departure from Atletico will hurt them to the point where we can do well against them.
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Another good away performance puts us right back at the top of the table after 3 games in the Premier League. Isak, Alli and Hughes all score yet again with Shaqiri putting in another great shift to earn a second man of the match award in a row. I have to say, this team feels better than any other team I managed before (the previous Villa starting 11s that is) and the additions of Alli and Isak have not only not disrupted the side at all, but it's made it SO much better. Newcastle are always a tough team to beat at their own ground but they just couldn't resist us today and that's a great sign.
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Our defence hasn't been the best so far with just one clean sheet and 3 goals conceded in as many games. Our attack however, has been outstanding with an average of 3 goals a game and therefore 9 goals scored in our first 3 games! That great goal difference is what is keeping us in 1st place right now ahead of Manchester United. This was the easy month though. August is always the easiest one. Starting in September, the hard work begins and I'm just praying we stay in those top 2 spots for as long as we can now!
View attachment 46407
Premier League, Carabao Cup and Champions League football all in one month. As I said, the hard work always begins in September! Our first game of the group away against Inter will certainly be a tough one but also one that could decide our fate in the group stages so I hope we get a good result then. The Liège game at home should be a breeze but we'll stay focused. With Pau Lopez as our cup keeper, he's going to have a lot of work to do next month! Brighton in the Carabao Cup I'm, as I mentioned before, not worried about. The 3 Premier League games we're playing as well shouldn't be too much of a problem although the high amount of fixtures could bring some injuries or tiredness in the team so I'll be sure to rotate the players enough.
Villan of the Month:
View attachment 46406#7 Xherdan Shaqiri
29 years old
Left-winger
Swiss
View attachment 46405
This was the first time I actually really struggled to pick a Villan of the Month. With Hughes, Alli and Isak all technically contributing more to our goals than Xherdan, I had to just go with the average rating and Shaqiri has the best in the whole league after 3 games, which just can't be overlooked. With an average of 8.13 from 3 games, he's definitely getting better with age, like a nice red wine. I still can't believe we signed him for just £21.5 million now 2 years ago from, ironically, Brighton! What a steal he's turned out to be considering his value, at 29 years old mind you, is now £51 million...View attachment 46406#7 Xherdan Shaqiri
29 years old
Left-winger
Swiss
View attachment 46405
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danjames101
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great start again. Isak n Alli have slotted in very nicely! Think this could be your year (sounding like a liverpool fan).
Oh and thank god the villa side i beat doesn't have the calibre of player you have in your ranks right now, otherwsie we'd have been mullered haha
Oh and thank god the villa side i beat doesn't have the calibre of player you have in your ranks right now, otherwsie we'd have been mullered haha