Reviving sleeping giants (chapter 2): Aston Villa

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September 2021: is this year our year?!

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After a fantastic start to the season, Hughes gets the first Player of the Month award of the year. Passlack and Shaqiri make up the rest of the top three with some great performances, but it's Will who ultimately wins it, probably based on the goals he scored.

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Isak has fitted in really nicely in the team, as I mentioned before, but this confirms it. He gets the Young Player of the Month award for August with 2 goals and 4 assists in his first 3 games for the club. Legend!

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We appear in the list of the top spenders in the whole of Europe for the first time since I took charge, clearly showing our intent for the season to come! The big moves made for Alli and Isak obviously contributed to that amount but that's what you have to pay to do well nowadays!

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Despite making it to the semi-final last season and PSG getting knocked out in the group stages, the latter are the favourites to win the competition this season whilst we were given odds of just 18-1. Bookies clearly expect us to get quite far in the competition but don't think we can go on and win it. Let's see if we can prove them wrong!

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Alli has been incredible since he's joined and today was no different. Our first game of September ends in a 2-1 win against Burnley with Grealish scoring the winner on the 78th minute, then coming off injured in the 85th! He'll be out for over a month and a half which is a huge shame as he was an important player to bring on in moments like this game against Burnley, but I guess we'll have to do without now.

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Our first Champions League game of the season ends in disappointment as we lose 3-2 to Inter away from home and missed a crucial penalty in that game as well. We could've gotten a point at least which would have been decent but we fly back to England with nothing instead. The good news is that Atletico lost to Liège 1-0 in their game meaning the Belgian side are second in the group right now and with a good result for us and a good result for Atletico against Inter, we would both move up the table and fit right in the top 2 spots!

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Our perfect form in the league continues with another clean sheet for Pickford and another win for us! Dele scored yet again, with Abouchabaka coming on to score the 2nd goal in the 91st minute. Crystal Palace have just been promoted back to the Premier League so I definitely wasn't expecting a tough battle out there and was not disappointed.

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Our second title defence for the Carabao Cup ends in disaster in the 3rd round as we get knocked out on penalties by Brighton, who finally get their revenge on us. I would say congratulations to them, but they absolutely didn't deserve to be in the game for 120 minutes and the fact that we didn't put our chances away is incredibly disappointing. Dele and Isak just couldn't combine today and that was our downfall unfortunately. One less competition to worry about now I guess.

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After that horrendous result against Brighton, we needed to bounce back and unfortunately it was Stoke who had to endure that. Isak and Alli finally woke up, with the former scoring his first hat-trick with the club to make him, tied in 1st place with Lacazette and Alli, the top goalscorer in the league with 5 goals now. A fantastic victory against Stoke who are never an easy side to beat.

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After a surprise win against the holders Atletico, Liège almost showed their quality yet again as they nearly beat us 1-0 away from home to sit alone at the top of the group. Isak was having none of it though and scored 2 goals in the last minute of the game to give us a 2-1 win and put us in 2nd, just behind Atletico who won 2-0 against Inter in their game! This is turning out to be a lot closer of a group that I thought it was going to be! We unfortunately lost Tierney in that comeback, which means Ben Davies will now have to step up and take his place. Let's hope he plays just as well!

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Despite some below par performances in the Champions League and Carabao Cup, our Premier League form doesn't seem to be suffering at all! With 6 wins from our first 6 games, we comfortably sit at the top of the league with the best goal difference in the whole league, having scored an incredible 18 goals (the best attack in the league) and conceding 5 goals from 6 games. Our defence is clearly something not to be desired but we can hopefully improve on that and perform like Chelsea are right now, without a single goal conceded in their first 6 games. Palace and Leeds could pull off an Ipswich if they keep this form up and hopefully for their sake it won't happen, otherwise the teams in the lower leagues might not want to get promoted! As for the Champions League, it's clearly ridiculously open. Our next fixture is against Atletico and it'll be an interesting one considering they got a bad result against a team we beat and a good result against a team we lost to.

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Pau Lopez will have to wait for his chance next month. He'll only play in our Champions League game against Atletico but other than that, it's Pickford who's going to have to lead from the back. Most of our league games are actually going to be pretty tough, but I'm singling out the Liverpool fixture as most likely the hardest one next month. Everton are doing well and could be an issue but I don't see them doing much damage against us.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 46307#7 Xherdan Shaqiri
29 years old
Left-winger/right midfielder
Swiss

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For the second month in a row and perhaps controversially, it's Shaqiri who wins the Villan of the Month again. With just a goal and an assist from his last 6 games with us, you could argue he doesn't deserve the award more than Isak for example, who scored 5 goals and made an assist. However, rating wise, Xherdan has been a lot more consistent and better than Isak. The latter had 2 good games and one decent one throughout the mont, with 3 absolute shockers in the rest of the games. Shaqiri also deserves this award for the work he's put in since he joined the club 2 years ago.
 
Impressive start to the season yet again, think this is your year mate. Standard Liege must have some decent players in their ranks to be competing like they are!
 
danjames101 said:
Impressive start to the season yet again, think this is your year mate. Standard Liege must have some decent players in their ranks to be competing like they are!
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Yeah I really don't know how they managed that win against Atletico and almost beat us! I'll see how they do against Inter and I guess it'll be a real test of their ability and it should be interesting!
 
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October 2021: clean sheet galore

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A fantastic win away from home! It might have only been 1-0, but we played well enough in my opinion and it was great to see Isak continue his amazing form for the club.

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Right then, remind me to never let Dele play for England ever again... He was playing in a friendly and tore his hamstring in the process which means we're losing him for 2 months. It's really the worst time for him to be injured considering he was playing so well!

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In Dele's absence we needed players to step up and Barella and Isak did just that. A fantastic 2-0 win which we thoroughly deserved again as we continue our perfect run in the Premier League. Is there anyone who can really stop us right now?

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It was an interesting evening as we took on the Champions League holders and faced our former goalscorer Patrik Schick. Isak was the one who stole the show though and got us the one goal we needed to get the 3 points and really put ourselves in a very good position ahead of the return games in the group! Winning against Atletico is always an achievement but at their own ground? I can really see us topping the group if we continue this good form.

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We've done a lot better this season with injuries but unfortunately, the ones we do get are terrible ones. Shaqiri scored the winner against Liverpool in in the 48th minute and came off injured in the 51st. It was a very even game from then on but we held the result and got our 3 points. We'll be losing Xherdan for at least a month now which means Dele and Xherdan should be coming back around the same time but it's a real shame to be losing him for so long.

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After a long run of clean sheets, we finally concede. I'm not too bothered to be honest, because I couldn't care less if we concede but get wins consistently! Isak was once again the man who performed today and Amundsen was a top performer as well. We have a great side at the moment and some great momentum as well that I hope will carry over in the next few months.

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I think it's fair to say we've had a pretty good start to our campaign! Other than the Carabao Cup exit, we're doing incredibly well in the league and are doing okay in the Champions League as well. A good result in our next 2 games against Atletico and Inter would most likely put us through, but you never know in the Champions League and the Spanish side are the holders so it could be tight. As for the Premier League, we're 6 points clear after 10 games which I couldn't be happier about.

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Next month is definitely not an easy win. Two games against both Manchester sides, two huge games in the Champions League and, thankfully, an easier fixture against Fulham to end November. Yikes!

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 46066#9 Alexander Isak
22 years old
Striker
Swedish

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Alexander saved us a couple times this month, and that's why he gets the award for this month. Barella also had a great month but Isak was just too good. He didn't have one bad game and 4 goals and 3 assists in just 5 games, which is incredible. November is by far the toughest month I think I've had as a Villa manager though, so hopefully he steps up for those games too and I can tell you all about how great he is at the end of November as well!
 
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November 2021: Champions League holders? No problem!

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An incredible win yet again against the Champions League holders to put us in a perfect position for our game against Inter later this month. Barella and Amundsen were fantastic, but credit goes to Palmer as well for stepping up in Alli's absence and putting in some incredible performances!

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A crucial victory away in Manchester sets us up perfectly for another crucial game this month against Inter. Isak was the hero once again as his scoring form keeps extending, but losing Amundsen for the next month is a big blow. He should be back at some point during December which is great but it's a shame to lose him in the first place.

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We signed Nicolò when he was just 21 years old on loan. He joined permanently the next year for £10 million and look at him now! He's worth over £50 million and has played a total of 120 games for the club, which is just incredible. His wage increase is a big one for sure, but we got rid of his previous minimum release clause so that's a plus!

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I guess our perfect run had to come to an end. It's really refreshing to see us becoming a threat against these big teams though. Losing 1-0 with a goal in the 93rd minute is a huge disappointment, absolutely, but it is against Manchester United so I guess we could have seen it coming. Regardless, I'm still more than happy with our start to the season so let's hope we bounce back from this defeat quickly.

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Other football clubs around Europe might not be looking to me to become their new manager, but countries seem to be up for it! That's now France, Spain and Italy who have offered me a job as their national team manager in the last 2 seasons. Impressive!

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The holders are out! A disappointing 2-0 defeat will see us finish in 2nd in the group for sure but what a campaign! We're through to the next round for the second season in a row now after some great results against Atletico, which will see them drop down to the Europa League. If you remember though, the last time we did that with the Champions League holders, it was last season with PSG and they ended up winning the Europa League!

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What is it about Fulham that just always makes us draw against them? We seem to always struggle and today was no different. Getting a 0-0 draw away from home can usually be a good thing, but against Fulham? We should do better than that. Thanks to Pickford, we can claim a point but this was just a disappointing game.

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Our two bad results towards the end of the month sees our gap at the top go down from 6 points to 2 points, but we're still top of the league basically a third of the season through. It's been a very good campaign so far and I just hope that these two bad results don't start a run of bad form in December, because we have a LOT of games then. As for the Champions League, we're through to the next round even if we lose to Liège in our last group game since we won twice against the Spanish side so that's great news and I can't wait to see who we'll face in the next round.

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A lot of work for Pickford ahead! Lopez will play against Liège obviously, as I said at the beginning of the season, leaving Jordan to deal with 7 PREMIER LEAGUE games! We have some really tough ones against Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea but these are all at home so I can definitely see us getting good results from those games. It's all about getting positive results now and keeping the momentum going.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 46014#11 Nicolò Barella
24 years old
Defensive midfielder
Italian

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Just 3 goals scored in 5 games means we had a more than average month in November. Barella was the most consistent of the lads though and gets yet another Villan of the Month to his name. He's grown into an incredible player since he's arrived here and I hope he'll stay with us in the long-term as well!
 
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December 2021: the perfect fit
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It looks like our bad run of form might continue for a little while longer as we draw 1-1 with Chelsea, who are a great side to be fair but still. In the form we were in before the United game, we were basically looking for wins in every single match so it's disappointing to not get a win here. Barella being out injured for at least 3 weeks doesn't help our cause either.

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Being out of the Carabao Cup doesn't keep us out of domestic cups for the season. The FA Cup is now coming up and the board expects us to reach the semi-final so fair to say, a bad result against Stoke is absolutely not viable.

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A great result away from home against Liège sees us officially secure our place in the 1st knockout round of the Champions League; for the second year in a row, we were put in a group with a tough team and the Champions League holders and both times we made it out alive! Atlético will be going to the Europa League, a competition which they'll be hoping they win now.

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With a lot of league games coming up for the rest of the month, it was crucial to end this bad run of form and get some wins again and we did just that. Dele might've missed a penalty but it didn't turn out to be a huge issue as we win 2-0 away from home and continue our incredible run in 1st place in the Premier League.

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Since we finished second in our group, we were going to play a team who finished top of their group. With Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea all winning their groups, it meant that we couldn't face them and it left us with a 1/4 chance of facing Juventus. Our other 3 potential opponents? Celtic, Porto and Bayern. How is it that we face Juventus again, starting at home again! They'll want revenge for last season for sure and I'm just hoping that we can produce once again this year.

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Another great win with Amundsen getting another man of the match award. It's also another clean sheet for Pickford who's turning out to be one of the best goalkeepers in the league along the likes of De Gea and Courtois! A very dominant performance once again.

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Wolves and Fulham seem to be the only two teams we struggle against. Another draw against a weaker opposition but to be fair to them, they played really well. We might've dominated the possession but they still did really well with their chances and came away with a point so again, fair play.

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It'd been Amundsen's time up until now but Isak really wanted the spotlight today! He not only equalised a minute after Eriksen's opener for Spurs just 2 minutes in, but also scored a hat-trick after that to get us 4 goals in total and give us a win against a strong Spurs side. We once again obliterated Tottenham in terms of possession and even in terms of chances and absolutely deserved this win. Now, from one North London side to another with our game against Arsenal.

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Is this year really our year? After 3 years back in the Premier League, could we really see a Premier League title for the first time since 1981? A fantastic 4-1 win against Arsenal is just what a champion would be getting at this point but a wonderful performance from Shaqiri made us we got that result. Dele is out injured yet again which is a shame, but it should just be until the end of the month which is fine by me.

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Our last game of 2021 is once again a great one as we win 5-1 against Watford to finish the year strong. With 29 shots in the game, we definitely didn't deserve anything less than this win and Amundsen was, once again, just outstanding.

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Manchester United might have a game in hand and might actually overtake us if they do win by more than 3 goals but I'm still extremely proud of the lads. If we could finish in the second come the end of the season I would absolutely take it! Our goal difference is more than good enough to rival with United's as well so who knows how the season will end!

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After a long, tough month in December, we get a bit of a break in January. Those are all games we have to win of course, but much easier ones that we had in December. Pau Lopez will be called upon pretty often if we make it past Stoke in the FA Cup and Juve in the Champions League as well, so good for Pickford that he's got the Premier League to deal with!

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 45905#14 Morten Amundsen
21 years old
Right midfielder
Danish

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With no performance under a 7.0 rating, Amundsen was our best player of the month for sure. Isak scored 8 goals and made 3 assists but Amundsen was just better overall. With 6 assists and 2 goals in 8 games, he's clearly contributing from the right hand side of the pitch and that is fantastic to see. He's been playing so well in fact that Chelsea, Barcelona and PSG are all scouting him week in week out now. Let's hope he decides to stay with us...
 
Looks like yourselves and Man Utd will be battling it out for the title! Hughes has been some signing for u over the last couple of seasons. Amundsen doesn't look bad either!
 
danjames101 said:
Looks like yourselves and Man Utd will be battling it out for the title! Hughes has been some signing for u over the last couple of seasons. Amundsen doesn't look bad either!
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Some of the signings made have definitely been incredible, I'm really pleased as well considering the challenge is to make mostly British signings! hoping for a first Premier League title this season if we keep this form up
 
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January 2022: on course for a first Premier League title since 1981

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Hughes has been outstanding so far this season, arguably the best player in the league, so it's nice to see him get some recognition from the fans and the FA. Isak was very impressive too with 7 goals scored in the league.

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Amundsen came second in the Player of the Month for December but he wins the Young Player of the Month, which is great to see. It's just good to see a Villa player doing so well although I don't know if I want him to get this much attention or he might be tempted to go elsewhere if big teams come in for him!

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We started off 2022 well, with a 1-0 win over Leeds. Not for the first time this season, we score just the one goal and it's Isak who got us the 3 points on his own. In terms of the Premier League, he's by far the top goalscorer right now and I hope he keeps up this form. Joe Gomez has been starting recently as a right-back and has done an incredible job. which I'm really happy to see since we signed him for just over £5 million and he's looking like a steal already!

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As we entered the 6-month period with expiring contracts of course, some of our players had their contracts expiring at the end of the season. Davies was one of them but he's been a crucial back-up left back and we had to get him to sign a new contract. He didn't ask for a wage increase or anything as well, which is nice to see.

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It's been a while since I was able to say that Keinan saved us from a bad result or anything like that, since Isak is the one doing that now. He's been our backup striker for so long and him signing a new contract keeps him here for another 3 years but I think he might be one of the casualties during the summer if we do decide to sell some players.

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Kieran is slowly accepting that Steven Sessegnon and Joe Gomez are better players than him now. He wanted a new contract but took a pay cut and has accepted to become more of a rotation player, which is really nice on his part I think. He's been a key signing and definitely one who has taken this club to the next level and I'll never forget that.

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Hughes shows his class yet again in a 4-0 win against Newcastle. It took us 51 minutes to get into the game properly but we scored 4 in the second half and get all 3 points. We've been incredible all season and performances like that just showcase the growth of this club from a 4th-placed side to a top 2 side in the league now.

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I was a little worried about this game going into it since Stoke have done quite well against us in the past but they were no match for us today. Amundsen will be out for the rest of the month which is a huge shame, especially considering we've made it to the next round of the FA Cup. Isak was one of the scorers yet again as he continues to become one of the best players to have ever played at this club. At this rate at least... And funnily enough, we'll be facing Brighton in the next round. They knocked us out of the Carabao Cup but the FA Cup matters a lot more, so it'll be interesting to see how they play against us then.

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We got used to easy wins with no goals conceded but how about that! This was a very satisfying win since we worked so hard to get it and to be honest, how they scored 4 goals is beyond me but we got the win and that's what matters.

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Another game, another goal for Isak and another win! This time it's Tierney who gets the man of the match but after such a dominant performance, any of our players could've gotten it to be honest. Isak scored but clearly didn't do much other than that since he didn't get man of the match. Getting a win is what matters though and we continue our great run of form.

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Back to easier wins now with a 2-0 win against Stoke. Xherdan's former side clearly aren't very appreciative of his good performances since he left and got him injured during the game, as he'll be out for 3 weeks now. He's now 30 so he can't really handle these long-term injuries anymore and I just hope that he'll come back better than ever.

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Joe Gomez has been amazing since his arrival last summer and he absolutely deserves a new contract. His wage almost doubled which isn't great for our overall wage bill to be honest, but that's the price of success isn't it!

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Another 1-0 win, once again thanks to Isak as we get past Brighton to face Manchester City in the next round. The holders of the competition, great. Our unbeaten run since November (our defeat against Manchester United) is now a new club record which is great to see. I'm looking to make Villa the side they once were back in the late 1800s and throughout the 1900s and breaking records is a good first step.

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We sit 6 points clear of United at the top of the table despite them having a game in hand. We'll still be 3 points ahead even if they win which is great. Liverpool and Tottenham are having an absolute shocker of a season and Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea are also definitely not at their best. This really could be our year!

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Southampton and Liverpool should be games we win based on their form. Everton will be, or at least should be, a little tougher but we can definitely win that game too. The first game of our tie against Juventus in the Champions League is also next month, and it would be huge if we could get a nice big win at home before travelling to Turin in March. As for the FA Cup, we have to knock out the holders to go through to the next round which will be a tough task.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 45853#9 Alexander Isak
22 years old
Striker
Swedish

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Alexander might've cost us £78 million, but he was worth every penny for sure! His 6 goals and 2 assists in 7 games have taken his season tally to 26 goals and 13 assists in 34 games for the club so far, a pretty incredible contribution if you ask me! In fact, he's the top goalscorer in the Premier League by 8 goals with 20 in the league so far, and also has the most assists with 12 ahead of Amundsen who has 11! Just insane form from the Swedish man who will hopefully not pull a Schick and ask to leave at the end of the season...
 
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February 2022: back-to-back Juventus knockouts?

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Shaqiri, despite his injury later last month, wins the Player of the Month for January. Hughes is in there once again as well, confirming his incredible season so far. This team could really go on and win the league at this rate!

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Now that's a **** of a month! We won all 5 games, quite convincingly as well and absolutely dominated January. It's my first manager of the month award of the season as well after a lot of games where we did really well, quite clearly, so it's nice to finally get some recognition.

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Another smashing performance from the lads and Isak specifically, who scored yet another hat-trick and is all alone at the top of the goalscorers table in the Premier League. This is really turning out to be one **** of a season and it's not even over yet!

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Another 1-0 but this time it wasn't Isak who got us the 3 points, it's Amundsen. A great performance as we get another 3 points to continue our run at the top of the table.

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They had just 5 shots all game but somehow scored 2 away goals, which was a big disappointment. Thankfully, we got the win and will be going to Turin next month with a 1-goal advantage, despite the two away goals we conceded. Amundsen was outstanding once again and is well on his way to another Villan of the Month award at the end of February.

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That's the holders out of the way! It's up to us to go on and win the whole thing now in my opinion, so let's hope we manage that. We'll face West Ham in the 6th round which should be a winnable game and I think we could very well go far in the competition. It's simple though, we have to.

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What a win! Maresic almost lost his place in the side when he made a mistake that could have seen us draw 2-2 against Liverpool but Palmer came on for Dele and scored in the 93rd minute to give us all 3 points against Liverpool, to put even more pressure on them after a terrible season so far.

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We're still first in the league with 10 games left and if United win their game in hand, we would still be 3 points clear. It's definitely all to play for and I can see the title race being just between the two of us with 2 or 3 games left but let's focus on the next few games first.

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Leicester have done very well so far this season and City just lost to us in the FA Cup so will want revenge. We'll also need to get past Juve away from home after winning 3-2 at home in the first leg. It's going to be a tough month ahead for sure, but I can see us getting some good results for sure!

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 45832#14 Morten Amundsen
22 years old
Right midfielder
Danish

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We had some huge games last month and Amundsen was outstanding in all of them. Juventus, Liverpool and City all just couldn't handle him and I'm so proud he's a Villa player. We got him on a free last season almost a year ago now and what a signing he's turned out to be. Let's hope this continues now and he can carry us further in the Champions League and to a Premier League title this season!
 
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March 2022: until next time

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A bit of a step backwards in our title race. Leicester have had a good season so far but again, this is a game we should be winning easily and to draw 0-0, even away from home, is disappointing. I hope we'll have more success in our next few games because the Premier League really is my main focus right now since we're so close to a title.

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Our 3-2 win at home just wasn't enough and a 1-0 defeat in Turin sees us out of the Champions League, after reaching the semi-finals last year. It's hugely disappointing, especially because I felt that this team could go a long way, but we have to just accept it and move on. We knocked out Juventus last year, they knock us out this year. We're even.

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I was worried we would be too sad and disappointed about our defeat to Juventus that we would go and get a bad result against City but Isak made sure that didn't happen! A fantastic 2-1 win keeps us in the title race and it really is going to go down to the wire if we keep getting results and United do as well.

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Pau López has played 9 games so far this season, conceded 10 goals and kept 3 clean sheets. He's not had the easiest of first seasons at the club, especially as our backup keeper, and it's tough to lose him for at least a month. He was going to play against West Ham in the FA Cup quarter-final but I guess that won't be happening anymore and we'll have to wait for him to come back to play, potentially, in the semi-final or maybe even the final!

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Now that's one way to get to a cup semi-final! We smash West Ham thanks to another 2 goals from Isak and go through to the semi-final where we can face one of the following teams: Chelsea (who are already qualified), Wolves or Sheffield Wednesday and Tottenham or Watford. There's only really one team that worries me in that lineup and it's Chelsea and even though they're the most likely we'll face in the final if we don't play them in the semis, I think we have a chance of winning the whole thing!

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With 8 games left in the league, we're still just 3 points clear. We're 13 points clear of Chelsea in 3rd so we're almost guaranteed to finish in 1st or second and the title race might go down to, literally, the last game of the season if there is a stalemate between us and United when we face them next month.

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Some huge games next month. We'll be facing 2 of our potential opponents in the FA Cup semi-final, in the Premier League as well so that should be interesting. Manchester United away on the 20th of April could be the title decider but if we draw, it could go down to the very last game of the season. No pressure!

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 45757#14 Morten Amundsen
22 years old
Right midfielder
Danish

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Morten has just been incredible since the New Year. He's being scouted by Chelsea, Monaco and PSG week in week out and as much as I hope he won't leave at the end of the season, he definitely could. I've started looking into some potential replacements and we could get some fantastic players in but right now, I'm focusing on him and how he's playing for the club and he's doing really well!
 
Unlucky in the champions league mate....surely draw juventus again next year to settle a decider lol. Looks like the title race is going right down to the wire!
 
TheNotSoSpecialOne said:
Unlucky in the champions league mate....surely draw juventus again next year to settle a decider lol. Looks like the title race is going right down to the wire!
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cheers mate, don't know if I want to be facing them again to be honest hahah don't wanna risk not making it past the 1st knockout round again! as for the Premier League, it's definitely looking like a challenge. MU haven't won the league since 2019 as well and I just got news that there might be a takeover there and Simeone (who's now the manager there) might get sacked and replaced! so he might want to impress the new board before the end of the season with a title win
 
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April 2022: a huge step in the right direction

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Incredibly bad news as our star man Isak gets injured for the next 3 weeks. It's still early in the month so he could be back for the United game if we're lucky but nothing is for certain and Keinan Davis is going to have to come in and do a **** of a job to fill Isak's empty position!

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The Fulham curse continues as we get a 0-0 draw once again against the former Championship side. This really puts a big question mark on our title race as we'll need United to slip up if we are going to go and win this Premier League title now. The good news though is that we did qualify for next season's Champions League now and the board have given me just over £45 million to spend next summer to try and improve the squad. Considering the calibre of players we bring in now, I'm not too sure what £45 million will buy me but we'll see!

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The incredible work put in by the staff, the players and myself see me get a new contract from the board, who clearly trust me to take this club even further now. A modest £40,000 a week salary is, despite not being anywhere near enough the top managers in the league, more than good enough for me and I'm more than happy to earn that for the next 4 years here.

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We needed to bounce back after a disappointing result against Fulham and boy did we bounce back! A 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge sees us get past another Premier League giant and hopefully continue our road to a Premier League title! Chelsea are the holders as well so it's always nice.

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This really is going to go all the way until the final game isn't it? United and us both have games against relatively weak opposition before we take on each other at Old Trafford and we're ahead by 3 points. Unless something goes terribly wrong or we get a bad result against United, I really can see us closing this out but I'm sure Simeone's side won't give up that easily!

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A dreadful result ahead of our trip to Manchester. Not only that, but United have won their game as well which means we're now just a point ahead of them. A draw or a win would be ideal against Simeone's side, but realistically we might lose the game and it's an absolute shame because it could cost us the title.

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Well how about that!!! It's our centre-backs who are showing up this month with man of the match performances from both Maguire and Maresic so far as we ****** a 1-0 win against United and put ourselves 4 points clear at the top of the table with 3 games to go! Have we just won the Premier League title by beating United?!

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And how about that for some more good news now! We were drawn against Sheffield Wednesday for the semi-final which means Chelsea are playing Tottenham as we speak and since I don't know the result yet, I don't know who we'll play in the final but hopefully it's not Chelsea. We beat them in the league and they'll want revenge so let's pray.

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This one really came down to the wire with a 1-0 win thanks to a Dele Alli goal in the 90th minute. I honestly couldn't believe it! Chicharito missed a penalty as well and Maguire got man of the match, so let's just say it was a crazy, intense game which could be another crucial result for us as we close in more and more on that first Premier League title sicne 1981!

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We scored really late in the West Ham game and won and now we scored really early and won as well! We're losing Tierney for another 2 weeks after his return from injury which is a huge shame but at this point, all I care about is the Premier League. Barella saved us and got us 3 points yet again and with Manchester United yet to play their game in hand (since they're in the Champions League semi-final against Juventus), it really might just go down to the last game.

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If we lose the Premier League title now, I think I might just resign as Villa manager and abandon this story. We're 7 points clear, United have a game in hand which, if they win, would bring them down to just 4 points behind. If we win our next game against Watford, we would officially win the Premier League. That's how close it's going to be!!!

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A win or even just a draw against Watford would win us the Premier League title. Our last game of the year is away against Arsenal which wouldn't be the best way to celebrate a Premier League title but whatever. On top of that, we could win the FA Cup if we beat Chelsea in late May. What a season it would turn out to be if we won both the Premier League and the FA Cup eh?!

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 45671#24 Dario Maresic
22 years old
Centre-back
Austrian

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View attachment 45670
Some world class performances from Maresic and Maguire, plus outstanding performances from Pickford as well, are the only reason we're still in the race for the Premier League title. Dario never fails to impress me even in a bit more quiet season. He's now played 190 league games for the club which is just insane and has played so well in almost every single one of them. Let's now hope he turns up and becomes a Villa legend for some great performances against Watford, Arsenal and Chelsea!
 
Just caught up with the last few posts. Gutting about the UCL, but your league performances have been superb!! If Simeone does leave, and they offered it to you...would you be tempted?
 
danjames101 said:
Just caught up with the last few posts. Gutting about the UCL, but your league performances have been superb!! If Simeone does leave, and they offered it to you...would you be tempted?
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Definitely, it's been a while since I managed a team in FM with resources like United's but as the story is centred around Villa and getting back to their former 1800s glory, I'd have to pass unfortunately!
 
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May 2022: Tottenham I love you!

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Some decent results in April earn me my second manager of the month award in a row ahead of United's Simeone and Chelsea's Emery. I never thought I would be, in an award, ahead of two managers of their calibre!

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This was our chance to win the league damnit! We just needed a point! We conceded in the 91st minute and Watford run away with 3 points from this game. We have it all to do again now, since United won their game in hand. They have another one against Tottenham though, and losing that game would mean that we're crowned champions.

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Despite some earlier disappointment against Watford, I was very happy to be able to secure a signing for next season on a pre-contract and it's a good one. One of Milan's best talents, who's now 27 years old and a world-class centre-back, has agreed to join us next season. If we do win the Premier League this season, we'll be looking to win it again next season and do a lot better in the Champions League as well so let's hope he gets us to that level we want to reach!

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Since it's 2022, the World Cup in Australia is coming up. Argentina are the current holders and 10 of our players are going to be travelling to the land down-under for the tournament. An incredible 7 of our players have been selected for the England national team which is really satisfying to see as an English club, and Amundsen, Shaqiri and Isak will also all be travelling this summer. Best of luck to them!

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As I've been anxiously waiting, along with the lads, on the result between Tottenham and Manchester United, we in the meantime got Steven to sign a new contract. He's still only 21 years old and has been with us for a couple of years now and has developed really well. He's now better than Kieran Trippier and is definitely bringing some competition for Joe Gomez as our starting right-back.

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It's over!!! We've done it!!! We are Premier League champions for the first time since 1981! After an incredible season which saw us stay at the top of the league from the 28th of August 2021 until now, we win the league after Tottenham beat Manchester United 3-2 at the New White Hart Lane despite two second-half goals from Lukaku. It wasn't enough and we win the Premier League title thanks to Spurs! What an incredible seasons it's been! We still have of course a game against Arsenal in the league and then an FA Cup final to worry about, but I'm just so happy and proud right now.

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And there we go! A 94th minute winner from Isak gets him his 27th goal in his first season in the Premier League and an incredible victory away from home to celebrate our title win away in London! What an absolutely incredible season it's been and what a way to end the Premier League season.

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What a season, just wow. After finishing 7th in our first season back, then 4th back to back, what a way to win the league. We finish with the joint-best attack in the league with an impressive 76 goals scored, an average of 2 goals a game and also the joint-best defence in the league, having conceded 24 goals so 0.6 goals a game. Pickford finished as the best goalkeeper in the league with 20 clean sheets, Isak destroyed everyone in the race to the Golden Boot with an incredible 27 goals and also got more assists than Hazard! Amundsen has been the best player in the league by a mile as well and is definitely getting a bunch of awards for his performances.

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We've broken a few records this season, both Premier League and club records. An incredible tally of 96 points sees us break the previous record of most points in a season, whilst Amundsen broke the record of the highest average rating in a season set in 2017 by Eden Hazard. Wow... On top of that, our 2 defeats this season is a new club record as well.

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It's awards galore at Villa for once. We have 7 players in the Premier League Team of the Season, I've won the Manager of the Year award and Amundsen has won 3 awards on his own! I really, REALLY don't want to lose him because he's been so good but he's been pushing for a move and we might see him go this summer, which would just be horrible news for us...

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As if our season couldn't end on a better note, it just has! Isak and Palmer score 2 goals in extra-time to give us a 2-0 win over ten-man Chelsea and a 2nd FA Cup win in 3 years!!! Amundsen was, of course, the man of the match once again and we grab the FA Cup trophy once again!!! What an incredible season and what a way to end it.

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The UK is in full force in this team, with just 4 players in the starting 11 not from Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland. It's been one **** of a season and I'm glad to finally be able to get some rest from it all, and enjoy watching the World Cup now. I'll be keeping a close eye on England's performance: not only because I would love to see some Villa players shine, but also because if they don't play too well, I could potentially look to get the job if Southgate gets sacked! I wouldn't wish that on anyone of course but hey, I would love to take England to new heights while also taking Villa to new heights!

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And to finish it all off, Pickford has asked for a new contract. It's a big one but he was the best keeper in the league last season and he's still only 28. The likes of De Gea and Courtois are 31 and 30 respectively and while they'll still play for a couple of years for sure, Pickford has got even longer ahead of him. He's conceded 98 goals in 103 games which doesn't look great but with some amazing performances this season and definitely some more next season, I can see him getting a couple more hundred games under his belt at Villa.
 
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2022/2023 pre-season and new signings, World Cup

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It seems that whoever we lose to in the knockout stages of the Champions League always does well. Last year we lost to Atlético, who eventually won the whole thing. This season we lost to Juventus who went all the way to the final! They lost to Monaco unfortunately, but it's still pretty decent. As for the Champions League holders, if you don't see them in the Europa League later stages, it's because they got knocked out by Sporting in the First Knockout round! Pretty insane stuff if you ask me. Now, before we get into our pre-season and new signings, let's see how the lads got on in Australia!

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A really weird World Cup in the end (much like the one in real life right now). Belgium were knocked out early and some of the big teams facing each other (Spain-France, Germany-France before that and France-Portugal and Germany-Belgium before that as well) meant that the weaker teams in the competition got an opportunity to get further in the tournament! Switzerland went all the way to the quarter-final and Uruguay knocked out the holders Argentina only to lose to Spain in the final. Pretty insane stuff. As for the lads from Villa, Isak got knocked out by the eventual winners Spain in the second round whilst our English boys got knocked out by the holders Argentina in the quarter-final. A decent enough performance from Southgate to see him keep his job, but I hope he knows that I'm watching because the moment it becomes available, I'm jumping at the opportunity.

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Now then, for the pre-season. Much like last year, we don't have that many games scheduled but it's a still a decent enough amount to get the new players used to the team and everything. Our Community Shield game against United is obviously the biggest one and we'll have to play well in that to maybe build some momentum for the start of the new season. We're going into it as Premier League holders so, no pressure!

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Amundsen said he wanted to leave at the end of last season and I tried really hard to keep him here but he just wanted the money at Monaco and we couldn't offer it to him. He's going there for a massive £70 million which is the biggest fee that this club has ever earned and hopefully we can bring in a great talent to replace him for even less than that.

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Well there's his replacement! Gonçalo was on the transfer-list at PSG for the longest time and just as bigger teams were going to bid for him, we made an offer, PSG accepted it and Guedes was more than happy to sign for the club. It's a MASSIVE signing, and one that also means we now just have 2 non-UK spots that are free since we had 2, Amundsen leaving gave us another one and him arriving now gives us 2 again. Regardless, Guedes is a fantastic replacement for him. He's a natural left-winger, so it looks like Xherdan will have to play as a right midfielder again but it doesn't matter since he can play there as well!

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Kieran is another one of our more important players who asked for a new contract and we just had to give it to him. Despite a few injuries last season, he was by far the best left-back in the league all season in my opinion and to lose him over a new contract would just be plain stupid.

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Whilst the consortium didn't work out for Manchester United, Simeone did leave to manage Inter as the former Inter manager (Spalletti), has left to manage Atlético, since Allegri left there to manage Manchester City (who sacked Guardiola at the end of last season). Regardless, this is the first time a big club has actually come in for me and whilst I would dream of managing a side with the finances of Manchester United and players of that ability, I just can't leave Villa now, after all the success I've had here and the potential success I can have here in the long-term.

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With Terry Burton, my assistant manager since I arrived at the club in 2017, retiring, I needed a new assistant manager. Juan Carlos Carcedo has incredible European experience with Unai Emery, who he followed at Sevilla, PSG and more recently Chelsea. He has Premier League experience as well due to his time at Chelsea so it only felt right to go for him since Emery was sacked by Chelsea and is yet to find a new job. I'm quite excited to be working with him for the next few years now as he's considerably younger than Burton was and it should be a great experience.

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This decision was a really hard one to make. When Isak got injured last season though, we were left with Keinan as our backup striker who just wasn't good enough for the Champions League and Premier League anymore and that's why after countless Villan of the Month awards, 145 league games and 63 goals, we let him go to West Ham for almost £14 million. It's a great fee to get for him considering his ability now, and I wish him the best in the future.

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Sebastian is a youth prospect who arrived at the club when he was just 15 years old about 2 years ago. Since then' he's really impressed me with the youth side and I'm thinking of bringing him into the first team now to give him some playing time. My scouts and coaches reckon he could become a huge star so I think I'll take my chances with him in the cup competitions!

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Davis' replacement is, let's be honest, already a great talent. We had to pay Cardiff the £40 million release clause he had which is a lot of money to spend on a 20-year old but he looks incredible. I mean come on, how does he have 16 heading for example when he's just 170cm?! Since 2017, when he entered Cardiff's academy, he's played over 100 games for them and scored 40 goals. That's impressive. On top of that, he also has international experience with Wales so I'm really excited to see how he does with us now.

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A huge blow for us now as López, our backup goalkeeper, gets injured for the next 3-4 months. It really is a big blow since he's 27 and long-term injuries at that age are hard to recover from so I hope he'll be just as good when he comes back from it. In the meantime, we need a new backup goalkeeper now (and one for the long-term as well since Pickford and López are getting older).

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For our new backup goalkeeper, I wanted to sign someone who could not only do a job straight-away, but also do a job in the future and Früchtl brings both of those things from his days at Bayern. I'm really excited to see him in a Villa shirt and see what he can do in cup games and that is the last of our signings this summer. We've brought in a lot of really good players so I honestly think the Premier League title is ours to lose now!

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Cook out for at least a month is heartbreaking. He could've played against Manchester United and also our first Premier League game against Chelsea but he'll be out. We have Hughes and Barella to replace him so we have huge quality of course, but Lewis has been really good since he joined and it's a shame to lose him.

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A shame to lose out on a Community Shield title. It would have been our second in 3 years but since we don't need it anymore for our challenge for this story, I'm not too bothered. A really good performance from Shaqiri is good to see considering he's struggled with injuries for the last few months and we now need to look ahead to the Premier League.

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Clearly a good pre-season from us. The game against Saint-Étienne could've been better, for sure, but we got the win and that's what matters. With 14 goals scored in 4 games and none conceded, we're looking good ahead of the new season despite our defeat against Manchester United.

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A first game at home will see us face Guardiola's Chelsea. Since Emery got sacked from the Blues and Guardiola also got sacked by City, he joined Chelsea over the summer and will most likely do really well with them. We'll be the first team in his way so let's hope we can do well as the defending champions! An away game against Newcastle will be tough for sure, but it's a winnable match. We'll finish off with newly-promoted Swansea, which is another game we should absolutely win. We also have the Champions League group to look forward to now and I just pray we don't get put up against the new defending champions Monaco! It would just be ridiculous...

Villan of the pre-season:View attachment 45507#8 Gonçalo Guedes
25 years old
Left-winger
Portuguese​

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A really decent pre-season from Guedes also saw him score his first official goal for the club against United. He was really good and is clearly looking like a really good replacement for Amundsen, now gone to Monaco. For "just" £55 million as well, I think we got a huge steal!
 
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September 2022: facing the Champions League holders AGAIN?!

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Our £125 million expenditure this summer was a less than 10% contribution to the overall spending in the Premier League, with the likes of Chelsea spending over £300 million this summer. Guardiola likes to spend money it seems... Although I'm one to talk! I just realised that this £125 million spent means that in my 5 years as Villa manager, I've spent £521 million! That's just over £100 million a season and considering I didn't have a budget at all in my first year, it basically means I've spent about £130 million a season, which is crazy. It kind of balances out though since we sold £288 million worth of players since I arrived at the club.

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The board have been quite lenient with their expectations since I arrived and this season was no different. Our transfer budget is completely gone which means that we'll have to keep this team until the end of the season now unless something dramatic happens and one of our big players decides to leave. Regardless, making the FA Cup final would have been an expectation of mine anyway, and a top 4 finish in the Premier League plus at least a 1st knockout round tie in the Champions League are all definitely achievable.

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I think I'll take that? Chelsea spent almost 3 times as much as we did this season and have a great side, on top of a great manager as well so a 1-1 draw, even at home, is a good result. We might have some great players but I just don't feel like we're quite at Chelsea's level yet so it's a good result in my eyes.

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A horrendous result given the circumstances. Not only did we give away a penalty in the 84th minute which could have made it 2-0 to Newcastle, but we just were not good enough out there today. Shaqiri having to come off at half-time was not good news either and unfortunately, the news became even worse when the physios took a look at him and told me he'd be out for the next 3 months. He's really been unlucky with injuries recently and it's devastating considering his form for us.

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Finally we don't get put up against the Champions League holders! Wait a minute... No! Instead, UEFA decided to put us up against the Europa League holders in Marseille!!! How unlucky do we have to be seriously... To be fair, this group is not looking anywhere near as threatening as our last 2 seasons' groups but still, it's another European title holder and that is actually ridiculous to me.

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Finally a good result... After what has been a terrible start to our title defence, we finally get a win (and a convincing one at that) with Isak on the scoresheet. Let's hope that we can pick up some form now, build on this win and climb back up the table!

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A few teams have a game in hand, both underneath us and ahead of us but we should stay in 8th, maybe go down to 9th or 10th at worst. It's not been a great start for us but the new players need to gel into the side so I expected it. I just hope that we can pick up some form now that the real season begins in September...

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A big game against United in the league, and some easier games against Wolves and West Brom are our only league games of the month. It won't be easy by any means but we can definitely get some good results in those matches. Our two European matches are against Salzburg and Milan, with the former being our first game. I think we can do well against both these teams and it should be a great group stage campaign for us. Finally, as much as the board are saying they don't care about the competition, we're playing Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup 3rd round. Since my dream is to win all the competitions that Villa have won in the past and we're won 2 Carabao Cups so far, we need another 3 to accomplish that dream so I hope we do better this year in the competition than we did last year.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 45431#1 Jordan Pickford
28 years old
Goalkeeper
English

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Jordan might've conceded 3 goals in 3 games, but he's the only one of our players who didn't have a performance below a 7.0 rating so that's why he gets the award for this month. To be fair, he's not really gotten the recognition he deserves (other than the Golden Glove last season of course!) and I'm glad that he is now with this award. He'll have some work to do next month but Früchtl will be the busier keeper so let's see how he does compared to Pickford this month!
 
Just caught up! Well done on winning the Premier League.....a fantastic achievement in such a short space of time!! Looking forward to seeing continued success from here!
 
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