Aston Villa -V- Man United - 28th Feb

Doyler92

I know it may be a bit early for this but does anybody think Villa have a chance of winning this.

I think Martin O'Neill will be pushing the Villa lads to their max but still think United will take home the title?

What do ye think?

CHD

Think Villa have a chance? What?

Of course they do ffs.

mayordenis

I think Villa will edge this I hope so and it's not just my Liverpool streak, would like to see Villa pick up the silverware.

Quandary

Its a cup final - anything can happen! Im a Utd fan and i wouldnt like to be betting on this one. Villa have conceded the least goals in the prem league this season(i think) & they have plenty players to cause us trouble!

GLaDOS

I'll be up for Villa anyway, and of course, they have a great chance. Wonder how strong a squad united will play.

shoutman

As a villa fan i'm not feeling overly confident about this one. I fancy United to put out as strong a team as they can.

deisedevil

shoutman wrote: »

As a villa fan i'm not feeling overly confident about this one. I fancy United to put out as strong a team as they can.

I'm not feeling too confident as a Man Utd fan. Worried that we won't be putting out as strong a team as we can, Fergie said either yesterday or today that he would be freshening the team up and lately when we play with less regulars we aint been setting the world on fire.

Mikeyt086

Villa are a bloody great team with a great manager, they definately have it in them.

Im hoping we see Rooney and Owen up front, Gibson will play i think and Nani is back from suspension so i expect him to start, ill go with:

---

Foster
-Rafael-Vidic-Evans-Evra
Nani-Gibson-Fletcher-Obertan

---

Rooney-Owen

The_Kew_Tour

Going to the game myself cant wait but hope its better then last years final although least I got see penalty shoot out

3hn2givr7mx1sc

CHD wrote: »

Think Villa have a chance? What?

Of course they do ffs.

No need to be so condescending.

CR 7

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

Villa are a bloody great team with a great manager, they definately have it in them.

Im hoping we see Rooney and Owen up front, Gibson will play i think and Nani is back from suspension so i expect him to start, ill go with:

---

Foster
-Rafael-Vidic-Evans-Evra
Nani-Gibson-Fletcher-Obertan

---

Rooney-Owen

Nani's still suspended. Could see Park there instead, to deal with Young.

noodler

baz2009 wrote: »

No need to be so condescending.

Chelsea fan, can't help it!

Really want Dunney to get himself a trophy.

Looking forward to it anyway, should be a good game.

Mr Alan

lol villa are a great team with a great manager? jesus.

shoutman

Villa will line up as usual i'd imagine, only interesting thing will be who will line up between the sticks. Does MON stick with Guzan who has started every league cup game for the last few seasons, or does he go for umero numero and stick Friedel in.

---

Guzan

---

Cuellar--Dunne--Davies--Warnock
Young--Milner--Petrov--Downing

---

Heskey--Agbonlahor----

noodler

Mr Alan wrote: »

lol villa are a great team with a great manager? jesus.

Whats the problem?

PHB

Going to be a darn tough game, no doubt about it. Vidic should make a big difference.

matrim

shoutman wrote: »

Villa will line up as usual i'd imagine, only interesting thing will be who will line up between the sticks. Does MON stick with Guzan who has started every league cup game for the last few seasons, or does he go for umero numero and stick Friedel in.

---

Guzan

---

Cuellar--Dunne--Davies--Warnock
Young--Milner--Petrov--Downing

---

Heskey--Agbonlahor----

It will probably be collins instead of Davies

villains77

villa all the way

Mikeyt086

Mr Alan wrote: »

lol villa are a great team with a great manager? jesus.

In my opinion they are.

United took 1 point from 2 matches with them this season. They won at Anfield, they beat Chelsea, they are in the Carling Cup final.

Whats lol worthy there?

JPA

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

In my opinion they are.

United took 1 point from 2 matches with them this season. They won at Anfield, they beat Chelsea, they are in the Carling Cup final.

Whats lol worthy there?

Mr Alan hates any other team getting praise I have noticed.

CHD

Mr Alan wrote: »

lol villa are a great team with a great manager? jesus.

Mr.Alan this is why people don't take you seriously

Helix

shoutman wrote: »

Does MON stick with Guzan who has started every league cup game for the last few seasons, or does he go for umero numero and stick Friedel in.

starting to think we'll see friedel starting, with guzan coming on in the last minute of extra time if needed

mon did that in a playoff final for leicester before, so its definitely something we might expect if its tight

shoutman

matrim wrote: »

It will probably be collins instead of Davies

lol of course it will, don't know what confused me.

Mr Alan

are you lads for real? villa are GREAT team? mon is a GREAT manager? ****s sake lads, barca are a great team, ferguson is a great manager. Villa have done nothing to be even nearly considered great yet, ditto for o'neill.

V1llianous

Quandary wrote: »

Villa have conceded the least goals in the prem league this season(i think)

We've the least goals conceded in the entire English league.

V1llianous

shoutman wrote: »

Villa will line up as usual i'd imagine, only interesting thing will be who will line up between the sticks. Does MON stick with Guzan who has started every league cup game for the last few seasons, or does he go for umero numero and stick Friedel in.

---

Guzan

---

Cuellar--Dunne--Davies--Warnock
Young--Milner--Petrov--Downing

---

Heskey--Agbonlahor----

Can't see Guzan starting, Friedel's been rested for the FA Cup replay so must be odds on to start. Guzan's looked very nervous in his recent games (2 v Blackburn and replay vs Palace). He's not been communicating with the defence well and a clinical team like Utd would have profitted from one of his hesitances.

IvySlayer

Mr Alan wrote: »

are you lads for real? villa are GREAT team? mon is a GREAT manager? ****s sake lads, barca are a great team, ferguson is a great manager. Villa have done nothing to be even nearly considered great yet, ditto for o'neill.

So they good? Or very good?

No-one was comparing them to a top team man...

Mr Alan

they are good. no one was comparing them to anything, they were simply commenting on their ability, which they refered to as great. which is nonsense.

Mikeyt086

Mr Alan wrote: »

are you lads for real? villa are GREAT team? mon is a GREAT manager? ****s sake lads, barca are a great team, ferguson is a great manager. Villa have done nothing to be even nearly considered great yet, ditto for o'neill.

Barca are the best team. Ferguson is the best manager.

flahavaj

Am I the only one who finds this match a bit of an inconvenience for United? Like it was great to beat City and put them back in their box in the semi, but I couldn't give a sh*te if they lose on Sunday. Come the end of the season no one really remembers who won the Carling Cup anyway, not to mind a year or two later.

Mr Alan

ok Mikey, lets say for example, would you call City a great team? or Mancini/Hughes a great manager? wat about Rafa & Liverpool? somehow i doubt it. yet seemingly despite MON spending far more than Rafa he last few years, being one of the top spending clubs in Europe & having the best owner in the league & winning nothing, getting to one final and challenging for the top 4 makes him & his team great?

the only thing great about MON & Villa is their PR department tbh.

Helix

V1llianous wrote: »

Friedel's been rested for the FA Cup replay

you dont rest keepers to be fair

kryogen

clicked in on page one, saw some arguement start about whether MON is a great manager etc...left, came back an hour later, page 3 its still being argued about?

ffs

who cares

cant we just say they all have lovely bottoms and be done with it

IvySlayer

kryogen wrote: »

clicked in on page one, saw some arguement start about whether MON is a great manager etc...left, came back an hour later, page 3 its still being argued about?

ffs

who cares

cant we just say they all have lovely bottoms and be done with it

It's a good arse, just not great! :P

PHB

To be honest, now that we're here, I'd like to win. However, I'd like to see the younger players put out if fit. I won't be massively upset if we lose, if you gave me the choice of winning this or dropping points in our next league game, it wouldn't take a second to decide.

Evans, Rafael, Fabio, Anderson, Gibson, Macheda, Diouf should all start if fit.
I'd love to see De Laet and King on the bench aswell.

One good thing about this game is that it counts as one of Nani's suspension. If he and Valencia can maintain their forms on the wings, we've got a real good shot.

Savman

Mr Alan wrote: »

the only thing great about MON & Villa is their PR department tbh.

:rolleyes:

Sour grapes?

LeBash

I reckon Fergie is going to send out a weak team. I dont think he cares about the cup, and I reckon he will be cautious and spare himself any potential blushes.

Villa have nothing to lose here. They are the underdog going into it and nobody would bat an eyelid at losing to Man U in a final.

As for the MON and being a great manager, I think he has the potential to be, certainly this is his first real shot to prove it. He took a woeful Celtic team and made them unbeatable at home in the CL.

The job at Leicester was a nothing short of amazing and correct me if im wrong, they went down the season after O'Neill left. But I agree, the trophy cabinet needs to be filled to be a great.

Mikeyt086

Mr Alan wrote: »

ok Mikey, lets say for example, would you call City a great team? or Mancini/Hughes a great manager? wat about Rafa & Liverpool? somehow i doubt it. yet seemingly despite MON spending far more than Rafa he last few years, being one of the top spending clubs in Europe & having the best owner in the league & winning nothing, getting to one final and challenging for the top 4 makes him & his team great?

the only thing great about MON & Villa is their PR department tbh.

Hold on, i didnt publish a book on "Why Aston Villa are a great team". I made a comment which i now wish i put as "I really rate Aston Villa and i like what Martin O'Neill is doing" and you have taken it far to literally. Did Martin O'Neill ruin your birthday when you were young?

Your reading way too much into it.

And to answer your question, "As I say, at the end of the day" (David O'Leary, 2001) Aston Villa are a smaller club than Liverpool and as City are Mega-rich it is my personal opinion that how MON has them competing with these teams on the regular is... well... great. If you dont agree with me, well, then thats... just... your opinon... man. (The Dude, 1998).

Final point, main reason for my origional post is how bloody well Villa played against us twice this season.

Neil3030

In fairness, greatness is more a threshold than a capping of any potential improvement or relative superiority. I.e., you don't need to be head and shoulders above everyone else to be considered "great."

Villa are a great team, along with many other teams, some superior, some inferior. They are in the top flight of their domestic league, in a cup final and into the quarters of another. Does this make them only very good in your opinion? Fair enough, but that means all teams below them must be classed no higher than "good". I think there may be some mid-table premiership teams that would object to merely being referred to as "good". Moreover, at that point you then must determine which teams are O.K. and further, which teams are "****."

I'd consider Barcelona a great team and Fergie a great manager, but Barcelona can also claim to be an exceptional team and Fergie a luminary of modern management. This is where they surpass being great, but they are obviously both still great.

JPA

I have absolutely no doubts United will play their strongest possible team.

kryogen

JPA wrote: »

I have absolutely no doubts United will play their strongest possible team.

doubt it

team will probably look something like this

---

PIG/Foster

---

Raf

---

Brown

---

Evans

---

Fabio (if still injured Evra/De Laet)

---

Valencia---Gibson

---

Flecth

---

Obertan

---

---

Rooney

---

Owen

---

unless he gonna go 451

flahavaj

JPA wrote: »

I have absolutely no doubts United will play their strongest possible team.

Not that big a game tbh. Next league match is far far more important to United than this.

JPA

If I could guarantee it I would, no way will Ferguson risk losing a final by playing an understrength team.

It's not like United are playing Milan on Wednesday, they have until Saturday before their next match after sunday.

kryogen

JPA wrote: »

If I could guarantee it I would, no way will Ferguson risk losing a final by playing an understrength team.

It's not like United are playing Milan on Wednesday, they have until Saturday before their next match after sunday.

it will be a mixed team im 99% sure of that

i would rather it was just the kids that playd tbh

of course now we are in the final i would like to win it, but i wont be too bothered if we dont so id rather the fringe players and kids get a day out

then if we win it it will feel like an achievement

JPA

kryogen wrote: »

it will be a mixed team im 99% sure of that

i would rather it was just the kids that playd tbh

of course now we are in the final i would like to win it, but i wont be too bothered if we dont so id rather the fringe players and kids get a day out

then if we win it it will feel like an achievement

But a full strength team beating Villa isn't that big a deal eh?

Paul Tergat

Strangely apathetic about this to be honest. City was a big deal because of the rivalry and the extra Tevez and money factors this season.

Obviously I want us to win it, its still a domestic trophy but I would rather we focus on the league and Europe than go all out to win this.

kryogen

JPA wrote: »

But a full strength team beating Villa isn't that big a deal eh?

nothing to do with Villa, doesnt matter who the cup final is against, id want it to be an outing for the kids

the city game was the only one i cared about winning

Johner

kryogen wrote: »

nothing to do with Villa, doesnt matter who the cup final is against, id want it to be an outing for the kids

the city game was the only one i cared about winning

So you'd prefer to win a semi final than a final. Riiiight. Seems you care more about City losing.Do you really hate City that much?

kryogen

Johner wrote: »

So you'd prefer to win a semi final than a final. Riiiight. Seems you care more about City losing.Do you really hate City that much?

sigh, maybe i should always phrase things better for people who dont understand so well

the city game was important, it would not have made me happy to lose to our city rivals, therefore i wanted a strong team put out to beat them, plus io had city backed to win nothing this year

i have already said, now that we are there i would rather win obv, but i wont be pushed if we lose

its not an important game for me

i would rather the youth get a day out, how many more times does that have to be repeated?

flahavaj

Johner wrote: »

So you'd prefer to win a semi final than a final. Riiiight. Seems you care more about City losing.Do you really hate City that much?

City semi final was a one off in fairness, given the exceptional circumstances. It wasn't just a randomn semi final. It became much more than that. Totally with kryogen here.

d22ontour

Would rest Rooney and possibly Evra if Fabio is fit, rest of team i would like to be as strong as possible.It's a final and a trophy afterall.