Pizy

Seen lots of Villa supporters including Chelsea reporter Matt Law complaining about how shit they are and how it’s far worse now than it was when Dean Smith was sacked. So in the form we’re in this theoretically should be a straightforward 3 points. But with Reece unlikely to play it won’t be easy. Azpi starting instead makes us much easier to defend against.

I was worried about his motivation after almost being forced out of Barca so quickly after moving there and also our ability to provide him service. But man, he has fit in quite seamlessly and looks just like he did when he was at Barca banging them in. Like he wants to prove any doubters wrong.

Feels like every time there an otherwise fantastic night these days it’s soured somewhat by an injury to a hugely important player. 😔 As for the rest of the game, perfectly executed and comfortable control of the game when they lost a man. Strangled the life out of the game basically and passed them to death. Could've and should’ve scored a couple more and Potter will be telling them that.

Oh noooooooooo. Fuck no. Our best fucking player. ‘Looks like an identical injury to Fofana. Knee twist in an innocuous challenge.

0-2 isn’t completely dead. Can’t just turtle up here. One fluke goal or a Giroud goal from a corner is all it takes to give them belief.

In form Auba is fucking lethal, man. He keeps this up and he’ll be an incredible signing.

This is perhaps the worst referee I’ve ever seen. Fuck me. But goddamn, Milan look better with quo than they did with 11! Wtf are we doing?

Biggest worry. Guess the thinking is that Potter wants his most experienced, most comfortable receivers of the ball in midfield. Which may be the right call if Milan are so poor that we just boss possession the whole time. But if they come out like I expect them to (trying to prove a point) I think it’s super risky. Hope we try to have a go right from kickoff and aren’t intimidated by the atmosphere into sitting deep and inviting loads of pressure.

So where does he play? Real Madrid hail Vini like he’s a soon to be Balon D’Or contender. Moving him to the right would reduce his effectiveness at cutting inside and shooting just like it would with Mbappe, no?

I guess Madrid’s plan will be to play Mbappe up top as Benzema’s long term replacement? Because Vini Jr seems to be their crown jewel these days and he plays in the same position Mbappe is most effective in.

They showed in the first 10-15 minutes of last weeks match that they’re capable of keeping the ball well and making us uncomfortable before we woke up and dominated the rest of the game. So if we have an equally poor start again but Milan are much more assertive then we could find ourselves in trouble. Curious to see Potter’s XI. Gallagher was a beast against Wolves and Mount finally woke up and had a typical Mount game. Having both of them starting today and being aggressive in and out of possession could be useful in a match like this. But would he leave out one of Sterling or Auba for a game this huge? Not sure.

Kante re-injured before even getting back on the pitch. 😔 Could’ve been extremely useful in a match where Milan will be desperate to make amends for the horror show last week. A fully refreshed Kante would’ve been a great weapon that Milan wouldn’t have expected.

The depth issue is what I’m hanging my hopes on with Arse. An extended injury to Jesus or Odegaard or Saliba and they’re in real trouble. Unlike City who have the insane squad depth to sustain their top level through an entire grueling season, Arse won’t be able to maintain this super high energy style the whole way. We just have to keep winning and reel them in. One or two poor results and they’ll start to crumble hopefully.

Liverpool may as well roll out the red carpet down their right side. Henderson is Jorginho-esque when the ball gets turned over and Trent doesn’t have a clue about defensive positioning. Arse just having their way out there whenever they wish.

His awareness is embarrassing. It’s got to the point where they should consider a position change for him. Make him a wide midfielder or winger. One of the best right foots ever but he’s totally clueless defensively.

Trent 🤣🤣🤣 Liverpool 🤣🤣🤣 But man, I hope Arsenal fall off soon. Annoying as fuck to see them flying like this.

It’s not even like Kepa is that much better with the ball at his feet, he just doesn’t take lots of stupid chances. When Mendy isn’t being pressed and hurried his distribution is fine.

What should have been a picture perfect loan for him has turned out to be a total waste. As for this game, it shows how mediocre we’ve started the season to see this Spuds side above us in the table. Brighton have comfortably been the better side. Spuds have so many bang average or even below average players all over the pitch. They just have the two killers up top to keep winning them points in spite of their continued poor performances.

Spuds are still totally dependent on Kane’s goals. He gets injured and they’re nowhere near top 4 in the end. He constantly pops up and scores out of nowhere to bail them out when they’re playing poorly.

Astounding how much better we look when we play quick, decisive passes and have confidence when doing it. Clear patterns in our play and finally starting to see players instinctively knowing where one another is. Something I’ve been desperate to see for ages. Nice triangles forming around the box, nice one touch football. Potter can clearly elevate us if we continue to work in training. The ideas are there so it’s now up to the players to keep confidence high and execute.

Traore is terrifying 1v1 in space. We have to double up on him, ffs.

Now would be a good time to solidify the midfield. If RLC is going to be Potter’s new “it” guy for a while I’d take him off and have him fresh for Milan. Bring on Kova for a bit more bite and ball retention. Have to be extremely weary of Adama. He’s the only one who is consistently causing scares for us when he gets the ball in space. Cucu is a bit too small to deal with him 1v1.

If we don’t score first and demoralize them then they’ll sucker punch us and park the bus. They look WAY too dangerous on the very few occasions they have been in our final third.

This is perhaps our most dominant display of the season so far. But nothing to show for it.

This game should be over and out of reach in the first 30 minutes. City would be up 4-0 with these same chances we’ve created.