LAM09

We certainly should be ahead, Not sure Guiu would have done that, though. I had a feel prior to KO that Guiu could be the match winner late on. If we don't score in by 70 mins, I really hope Enzo uses him. A poacher would have finished at least one of them. Someone like Wood.

Goodison Park is a coin flip. We either breeze it or put in a limp performance. It might only be for a few hours, but it can be said enough about the importance of getting a win that would see us go top (crazy to think).

Their first away win against them in 18 years.

At this point, just get a list of former City youth players. We already have a few on the books and been linked with a number of others.

I didn't ask that nor mention it. City are going through a period that we have NEVER experienced over the past two decades.

I highly doubt it, especially with the verdict due in Feb/March about all those charges. Signing that extension looks more stupid by the day. Pep has had an open chequebook at City from the moment he walked in the door. If City is found guilty of most, if not all, charges, his entire time in England will be tarnished. When did we lose 8 in 11 games? I'll wait. Teams were still struggling with the financial effect COVID had. A lot has changed in three years, with the league as a whole probably being the strongest it has ever been in terms of talent.

To be honest, I believe most will agree. Aside from his first season at City, he's generally had everything his own way and doesn't know what to do when Plan A fails. There's no taking that away from him. He's broken records everywhere he's been, so this period will probably be forgotten soon, whether he remains at City or takes an INT job. On a side note, some of his squad choices still baffle me. Going into a season with Haaland as your sole CF is a notable one (80 minutes gone in today's game, and he hasn't had a touch in Villa's box).

As I mentioned during the Shamrock game, he could be a really useful player to bring on late in games against tired legs for the reason you mentioned.

City's dire form is showing signs of why Pep has never stayed at a club for a prolonged period. It's surely getting to a point where Pep's future is up for debate despite what he has won. Even during Mou's darkest days here, we never went through form as bad as this.

Appreciate the information. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens during the Winter window.

I don't know what the situation is with our key players being excluded. I'd imagine Palmer & co will be added for the KO stages if multiple changes are permitted.

Servette vs Chelsea | UEFA Conference League 2024/25 | UEFA.com Edit - I see it was answered already. I mentioned it prior to qualification and concur with what you said—anything but a European triumph (first side to win all three titles) would be a failure, no matter how you view it.

The only thing stopping us would be ourselves losing concentration or underestimating sides. We do have an L already to our European campaign thus far but have come a long way in recent months.

Guiu grabbed himself two goals out of nothing. His alertness & energy is something that could be really useful in more important games when teams are tiring.

I agree to some extent, but the fact that Emery has started to play Duran from the start indicates that things haven't been working so well, and like with many teams, if the CF isn't scoring, he'll most likely be the first to be dropped, if there is a good alternative. Outside of the CL, their performance has been inconsistent (November was particularly dismal). It will be fascinating to watch where Emery goes on that front in the coming months.

Lukaku hasn't had a 20+ goal league campaign in over four years & he played for a superior side. Comparing two players based just on goals isn't the best way to judge players when there are mutiple factors to consider.

Every signing is a gamble. There's calculated gambles (Osimhen was one in July) and stupid ones that are hopefully behind us. CF options that I personally see as upgrades on Jackson - Isak, Osimhen, Openda, & Marmoush (if his hotstreak continues). Those are four obtainable targets that could do a better job leading the line right now, not four years down the line like Duran or Delap. However, those two names are probably far more likely to prevent rocking the boat.

The complaints aimed at him are far fewer than previous season. When the team is winning, it's easy to see the bright side of things.

I concur. He missed a massive chance that he should have tucked away with his eyes closed, but credit where it's due; he didn't let that faze him and kept going to ultimately score the winner. It still leaves space for those moments of doubt, however small they may be.

Samu was an unknown quantity that we were linked with for stupid money (ended up joining Porto for peanuts). Duran, on the other hand, showed signs late last season that he could be an interesting get. However, he still isn't a cert starter for Villa, which raises its own questions. I believe we were even linked to him during his time in the MLS, so our interest has been there for some time.

Let's be honest with ourselves: Jackson has improved and looked promising thus far, but to suggest there's only one attacker better than him or he's the long-term answer right now is too much. Either way, he needs serious competition (Guiu isn't that); whether that's someone on par with him based on form or a supersub is where we might be divided.

Winning and being able to capitalise on others dropping points is the cherry on top. I'm grateful that naive moments (Tosin effectively gifting Mbeumo a goal to name the obvious one) in the final 10 minutes of the game didn't have an impact on the outcome in the end. I don't want to tempt fate, but we could be sitting in a place next Sunday that most of us would have never considered in the slightest.

The reason why there will always be questions surrounding him.

Crosses are clearly Brentford's weakness. Great header from Cucu. Brentford will have to push now.

It felt like only yesterday they got hammered away to Benfica (4-0 could have been 7-0). Managers that are able to ride some bad form and turn it around are a rarity.