Villa v City live

You have to scrape some games
But could have done better 1st half

comment by Hamilton Fox (U22508)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by True Blue (U9486)
posted 2 minutes ago
Sky gave Barnes MOTM.

They don't know that Tilly gets it just for finding the Team Bus.

Missed out Thomas as well who has been excellent.
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Hinchcliffe was bigging Thomas up loads on how well he had played and then 2 min later gave it to Barnes.

Barnes played great and majority of attacks were down to him so do agree
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Difficult pick between the two tbh.

Sky stating too many players in front of Barnes for the Euro's, too many who play occasionally for the 'Big' FA approved Clubs

Barnes was great in the first half. He looked knackered in the second half and I was surprised Rodgers didn’t bring Ünder on. But I guess he was focusing on his defensive subs rather than like-for-like, and maybe Maddison going off forced his hand.

Thomas to me looks like he has the potential to be a left back in the mould of Christian Fuchs. Fuchs was never blessed with pace, but his defensive judgement and his crossing have always been excellent for us. I hope Thomas is learning everything he can from him while he’s still around.

Not a bad player to be compared to Dunge 😉

Thomas looks to be everything Chilwell was not for me. He might not have his level of athleticism but he can still get up and down that pitch just fine, has brilliant interplay but actually looks capable of defending AND playing a final ball.

Let’s not put too much pressure on him. He’s young and still raw. He will make mistakes. But to have such a talented player as 5th choice full back is unreal.

Our defensive squad must be up there as one of the best in the prem?

I think as Thomas gets older, he can concentrate on building his frame which will benefit him with getting forward as he has an excellent cross.

I’m hoping we have a really strong start on Thursday so we can look to give a rest to players like Barnes. I wonder if Under has something in his loan contract about league appearances

It's quite astonishing that he's showing to be quite capable of stepping up to the plate, demonstrating outstanding defensive skill in making a goal saving block at a critical point in yesterday's match. Well done young man!

Who's this Chilwell character that people keep on talking about - is he someone who would improve our squad?

It was interesting to me today to hear Rodgers talking about Castagne and Ricardo teaming up on the right hand side. On the fact of it, it looked a clear tactic to have two energetic and defensively-competent players teaming up to keep an eye on Grealish. But he mentioned it was something he had wanted to see in action for a while and that this was the first time both players had been fit. Saying that was all well and good, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was something he had been considering for a while. But the implication of that is that he was comfortable to trust Thomas to hold up an end on the left hand side. Otherwise the obvious question comes back: Why not play Castange at left back and have Albrighton helping Ricardo with Grealish?

It was an interesting selection; in many ways an unnecessary one. Yet the result was that Thomas played well while Ricardo in particular looked like he was enjoying himself.

It is of course vital for Thomas that he continues viewing his own place in the squad as a trajectory - by all means take and enjoy the chances you are given, but accept they will be occasional and circumstantial. i.e. You've done well and you're showing plenty of promise; in particular the defence doesn't look leaky for you being in it, which is a major compliment for a young player. But there are still many places for you to improve, and many places for you to want to improve. But a big tick so far.

It also proved a good opportunity for him to catch Gareth Southgate's eye. I'm not saying for a moment that he stands a chance of going to the Euros, but the England manager was there, and at that an England manager who has an eye for bringing through young talent. Thomas gave Southgate the opportunity to make a positive note about him against Villa, and such a note would likely end up filtering through to the England U21s.

Nice observations Dunge. We’ve all salivated over a Castagne and Pereira partnership and it seems Rodgers has too.

Pereira still looks a long way off it to me though. Let’s hope it’s just time abs confidence to get him back to the player he was, and not a permanent 60% Ricardo for the rest of his career. That would be devastating!

Give him a chance Mersey, he's still getting back to full fitness

I’m not criticising Nuneaton - just saying until I see it, I’ll be worried he might never get back to full fitness.

I’m currently watching him still with the fear he could break down any moment. It will take half a season before I stop thinking that!