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Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur

I used to do this as a kid, growing up with 2 Everton fans as best mates we used to always go through the 2 sides, player by player to try and figure out which side was best.

Seeing as it's widely thought that Spurs are the benchmark we should be chasing next season and probably our biggest challengers for 5th spot, I thought it would be interesting to do the same based on the current best XI's for both teams before any further transfer activity.

Close season aint half boring huh? lol Well here goes -

Sorensen vs Robinson - 1-0 to Spurs, no contest really.

Delaney vs Chimbonda - 2-0 Spuds, no doubt Delaney is a cracking defender on his day, but with doubts over his fitness and Chimbondas ability to get forward he nicks it.

Bouma vs Bale - 2-1 Spurs, Spurs fans will most probably dispute this one but Bouma has a wealth of experience, and as highly rated as Bale is he has never played in the top flight and may fail to make the step up.

Laursen vs Dawson - 2-2, If he stays fit Laursen will prove he is one of the best defenders in the prem next season.

Mellberg vs King - 3-2 Spurs, as much as I have loved Melly over the years I don't think he is the player he once was and his distribution is poor. King just edges this one.

Young vs Lennon - 3-3 again I'm sure the Spurs fans will moan about their darling Lennon, but sod it, Ashley Young has all the ingredients to be a world beater, plain and simple!

Barry vs Jenas - 4-3 Villa. No contest. Put Barry up against most midfielders outside the top 4 and he'll come out on top!

Petrov vs Huddlestone - 4-4. Petrov has yet to find his feet despite a full season at Villa. Huddlestone on the other hand has been outstanding for Spurs.

Berger vs Malbranque - 5-4 Spurs. Very very tough one to call. Both players with terrific guile and ability to create something from nothing, I just feel Malbranque will play more games.

Gabby vs Keane - 6-4 Spurs. Keane has been there seen it done it and continues to do it. Gabby has potential but is far from the finished article.

Carew vs Berbatov - 7-4 Spurs. Again no contest, Bebatov is one of the best strikers in the prem, and Carew while he has looked useful for us is way off his standard.

So there we have it. By my reckoning we still fall some way short of the standard we need to be aiming for. Hopefully the transfer window will change all of that!

By DeanoVilla (Forum thread - click here)

(Friendly banter and discussion welcome, abuse from Spurs or Villa will be deleted)




Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco



Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.

Writer: J P Fear Mail feedback, articles or suggestions

Date:Tuesday June 12 2007

Time: 3:07PM

Your Comments

here we go !!!!
Bearvill
Agree with all except Sorenson is better then Robbo
Bearvill
It depends what way you look at it. For example shuffle the midfield and drop Berger and it looks like this: left-midfield Barry beating Malbranque. Put Steve Davis up against Huddlestone (who didnt play much more than a 2-3 month purple patch) and Petrov up against Jenas and suddenly we have 3 wins and it makes us winners at 6-5.
deano.avfc
Oneaeronlennon will dispute one of these selections (chalky all of them). But I think this is spot on to be honest. These threads are what these sites should be about. Interesting comparison of us vs. the sty dwellers!
tarzan
I'd give Berger over Malbranque and Carew over Berbatov, if only because Carew will start the season for the team he's included in!
Jamie1967
11-0 spurs :-)
Jacky B
Spurs fan, just started reading and I have to say think Sorenson is better than Robinson. More later.
Shannon
Bale & Lennon V Bouma & Young. I'm sorry but that is the most obvious ones there and put your lot better. LOL Agree with most others apart from Agbonlahor should be 1 up on Keane.
ScottDaYid
What surprises me is the ones where you win are the most unexpected for me.
Jacky B
Berbatov will be at Spurs next season without a doubt. Good idea, show's we are a way off the pace, but it could be a bit closer after the transfer window. My only worry is that where we are short (Keane, Berbatov, Robinson) we're very short. We need a top class keeper and a top class striker. These are the kind of players who save / score that goal that turns our 12 odd draws into wins.
claret&blue82
i made that 10-1 to spurs, with petrov just knicking it over huddlestone.
cheddar_green
oh and the "King just edges this one" lol. to look at it another way, how many of your players would get in our team............... ? ................. Only 1. Barry. Don't get me wrong i think you will do well next season though
Jacky B
Get real - Whilst I wish Villa success this season, you are quite a way off us. Firstly, I would disagree with a few of your scoring comparisons, where you fall well short is depth of squad. You would need to spend most of your budget to even match our squad depth, that is not to mention you would need to match our quality. You have the right manager and what seems a decent board, but it will take you at least another couple of years to get to our current standard - by which time we would have continued to progress also. Good luck Villa
Pad01
bale's defensive qualities are unproven at top class level,at the moment Bouma is definatley better.
Pking
I also think Lennon is better than young,at the moment.
Pking
A disappointing article, have to say. Bale hasn't even played for Spurs yet, Malbranque and Huddlestone aren't regulars and, quite honestly, I just don't rate Ashley Young at all!
Shannon
Berba will be a yid next season, dont you worry about that Jamie1967. Over all i dont think any of the ratings are far off, but you picked a player that only played when others were not available in Huddlestone. I would of given you sorneson and taken away whoever beat daws. Young and lennon while both showing great potential are highly over rated and not yet consistent enough for either to be considered that great so would call that a draw, and i dont think there is a midfielder outside the top 4 that beats JJ, but again is my opinion and although i do rate GB i put JJ over him. WOuld probably give you Berger too over steed, but then i would put Zakora in or Tainio and they would both win. Again its all opinion. I do wish all you guys luck as i do like Villa and it would be nice to have someone from the midlands challenging, the Londoners and Northerners for a change.
gally180
honestly its gotta be about 10-1 or 11-0 to spurs. It should be zokora v petrov btw, zokora wins hands down. If you have barry on the left id give you him beating steed, so yeah 10-1
guy7yug
If Lennon could cross a ball then Maybe : ) Ash Young's deliveries are phenominal sometimes
Bearvill
lennons are phenominal sometimes too! hahaha If hes better than lennon why is he in the u21s and lennon in the full england team?
guy7yug
Craig Gardener should be Villa starting XI. Top prospect, and I would prefer him to Malbranque, if on attitude and work rate alone. He will score more goals from midfield as well. Otherwise I think that is a pretty good assessment of the two teams. One massive advantage Villa do have though is their youth system. The number of players they have brought into the first team is incredible, and there is some more top class youngsters on their way in the next couple of seasons.
krfeskivilla
As a villa fan what was the point in all that! we will see who is better at the end of the new season.
samtozer
Robinson on form is a good gk. Sorensen on last season is as good as. 0-0
Delaney if fit is better than Chimbonda but will he get fit again? Do we judge on them both being fit, then Delaney 1-0 Villa
Bouma over Bale because Dutch international 2-0
Laursen would grace any team when fit 3-0 (2 to Villa have bad injury records though!)
Mellberg v King = King just. 3-1
Young v Lennon. Both young, both developing, both yet to hit their peak. Draw. 3-1 still
Barry v Jenas. Barry as he is more consistent and tougher. 4-1.
Petrov v Huddlestone. Ouch, difficult. Hudd isn't fully developed and Petrov wasn't fully awake last season. Experience wins out so Petrov 5-1.
Berger v Malbranque. Bergs has great touch etc but not the legs now. Malbranque wins on age. 5-2
Gabby v Keane. Keane as he is the finished product. 5-3
Berbs v Carew. Berbs, he is an awesome player 5-4.
Take into account Delaney injury record and I'd take a point off us. Seems a draw to me. What they have over us is strength in depth and European football to get more experience for their players. Few choice players bought in the summer and we are starting to play catch up with 5th - 8th in the league.
The Fear
btw, i look at it like this, who would i want at spurs from villa, and it would be young to play on the left and carew as back up to berb and barry as a left back, so id say 8-3.
Shropshire Yid
gally180, Martin Laursen is the most skilled player we have, believe me he is better then Dawson, thats not knocking Dawson but if he stays fit next season you will see how good he is...
Bearvill
Right, if it's who you would rather have, for example neutrals choosing one out of the compared 2 it would be pretty one sided.........Robinson or Sorensen...Robinson. Bale or Bouma...Bale. Chimbonda or Delaney...Chimbonda. Dawson or Laursen...Dawson. Mellberg or King...King. Young or Lennon...Lennon. Barry or Jenas...BARRY. Zokora or Petrov...Zokora. Berger or Malbranque...Malbranque. Gabby or Keane... GABBY. Carew or Berbatov... Berbatov. So........9-2.
ScottDaYid
Villa fans, you lot are dreaming! You have added little to nothing to your squad so far so what makes you think you'll just happen to be competing for 5th? Its mediocrity for another season I reckon. Barry would be your only player to get into the spurs 1st XI and Young would only make the bench- behind Lennon, FACT!
loffree
should be who would you want from villa or spurs to go striaght into your teams starting XI. For me: Id want barry over malbranque. thas the only one. Now villa fans do it from your point of view.
The Fear delaney over chimbonda ahahahah u serious?
guy7yug
guy7yug, Because the media hype certain players up, ie Lennon when they arent developed.... I personally think that you and England would benefit if Lennon was in the under 21's. What is certain is that he is no better then Ash Young and vice versa both exciting prospects. Next season i am confident young Ash will be in the England set up probably too early as well !!
Bearvill
The point was a bit of fun, nothing more nothing less. Don't take everything so seriously dude.
DeanoVilla
Robbo is better, Chimbo, Daws and King are better. Fair enough Bale is yet unproven so I'll give you that 1, 4-1. Lennon is better, Young is good but not quite as good as Lennon 5-1. I am a fan of Jenas but Barry is equally as good maybe shades it, I'm not sure call it 5-2 to keep you happy.Give you Petrov as Huddelstone isn't fully developed 5-3. Malbranque wins 6-3, Keano and Berbs win pretty much hands down 8-3. Sorry but that is my honest opinion lads although i do think UEFA beckons for you with the right signings. Definate top 8 anyway!!!
matt..shelfsidespurs
The Fear you are the most deluded fan on this planet.
ScottDaYid
Scott, ahhhhhhhhh Laursen is so much better then ALL of the defenders from both sides, he would walk into any top 4 side if he didnt have injury problems
Bearvill
Oh and apologies for picking Huddlestone in the Spurs team, I'm not a spurs fan so I think I did quite well to get 10 out of 11 right. lol Everyone was raving about him a few months back tho, what happened?
DeanoVilla
I will look forward to it bearvill
gally180
Its a sham that your can even think of considering Spurs with Villa at this moment in time! Perhaps Villa versus Man City would be a better match seeing your circumstances!
loffree
Bearvil, he does have injury troubles, therefore he may as well be Anthony Gardener!
loffree
How is it a sham, the idea behind it is to see where we need to get too...it is obvious that we are behind you guys by a couple of years so we are looking at where we need to catch up to, if anything it is a compliment that we are using your good selves as where we need to get to : )
Bearvill
im not taking it so seriously deano (if that was directed at me) im just laughing at it! Hudd is still a great great prospect, he just needs to improve his mobility and pace, and be quicker on the ball sometimes. But he is highly skilled indeed
guy7yug
obviously shannon,you havent seen too much of Young towards end of season and slovakia under 21 match,he was outstanding for villa and that slovakia match,he was truly brilliant 2 anyone watching it.by my reckoning think mellberg has been better than king ever since he came back from injury,king hasnt been at his best at all.stick zokora in instead of huddlestone to compare with petrov and i would say they are completely different types of player,zokora holding midfielder and petrov meant to be attacking so you cant really compare.also bit hard on carew,think he will be pure quality next year although still agree with berbatov who is the better player.also if gabby keeps developing to me in few years time will be better than keane.overall agreed spurs are better at minute by maybe 3 or 4 players but martin knows are weaknesses better than anyone and he will for sure sort them out this summer,them being a gk,rb,cb,cm and possibly a cf as well. UTV
Belfast Villain
u call yourself deanovilla?!
leelindsay
Hopefully loffree his injury problems have gone now *prays to lord*
Bearvill
Hudd like lennon is not yet ready for a full season, he needs to develope certain aspects of his game in order to reach the level that we believe he should, Undoubtedly he has the potential to reach the top but at the moment is not quite there. Its down to him to prove that he should be a regular starter.
gally180
Belfast Villan, surely in that case comparing Barry to JJ is wrong too.
gally180
looking at the top teams outside the top 4 i think everton and spurs will be the big 2 knocking on the door. I think villa we need another 2-3 yrs to get into evertons bracket. Alot depends on the transfers though i guess. I cant see newcastle and bolton being up there just yet, maybe next season though
guy7yug
Some positive and well thought out posts all round. No abuse at all. I think Robinson is poor, very poor. You only have to look at the goals scored and conceded by both clubs last season to see where the comparative strengths lie. Spurs are poor defensively but great up front. We were defensively sound, especially with Laursen in the team but were short of goals until Agbonlahor went down the middle. Through my claret and blue glasses I can see Villa having a great season and Spurs being unable to push on, but time will tell. I wish Spurs well, just not as well as the Villa.
voiceoftheholte
AC Milan don't spend £8m on bad defenders. If Martin Laursen stays fit, and sadly it is a big if, he is as good as any defender in the Premiership and better than any other defender in either Spurs or Villa's squad. In the 12 league matches Laursen played last season villa were unbeaten. No coincidence, a fully fit Laursen is awesome. Spurs have spent a lot more money over the last two to three seasons while Villa have had to rely on producing their own players and definitely have a better squad AT THE MOMENT. This may be an interesting comparison in 12 - 18 months. Spurs fans, you do have a good team, but don't be so arrogant it may come back to haunt you.
krfeskivilla
Whats that supposed to mean Lee?
DeanoVilla
Belfast Villain. Or a whole team in other words!
Jacky B
I watched huddlestone yesterday in the u21s game, ( He's a good boy, for eating all his dinner aint he) better than petrov! f4ck i bet i could have beaten him over 100m yesyerday!
eltoro
i must say i havent seen much of laursen, but king is up there with the best defenders in this country. Thierry Henry voted King the best defender hes ever played against. That coming from a gooner is a compliment of the highest order
guy7yug
A game I have often played myself and comes down to who you would want from another side. I must admit I not that clued up on your defenders so will give you the benefit of the doubt. But on the whole I'm not sure how many of your players would make our starting line up. Barry is the bolt on as I guess we have been linked with him more often than not. Young and carew I think would make our squad as we were looking at Young for left mid. If Laursen is as good as you say we would take him more to cover the ever injured King. Other than that I'm not so sure, but I am sure O'Neil will get the maximum out of what he has there now and who ever he manages to bring in. I do expect you to be battling a round the UEFA spots with us, along with Everton, Blackburn, Portsmouth and depending on signings maybe the Geordies and Wet Spam. I think it is going to be a tough battle below the top 4 and the winner could even nick 4th. As someone else said as well I think our squad is probably stronger. Defoe, Zokora, Tarabatt, Tanio, Routledge, Rocha would all at least make your squad if not your starting lineup. Good luck
ajm142003
I am impressed with the lack of playschool comments on this article, Fear did you have to delete many ??
Bearvill
Well the article has had the desired effect anyway, some great posts and some nice friendly banter. Just remember what was said in the article we are using Spurs as a benchmark of where we want to be, you should take that as a compliment. You should also be scared that we have a board prepared to do anything to get us there and one of the best managers in the league. I dont think it will take us as long as you guys think, to catch you up.
DeanoVilla
ajm, there is no probably about your squad being stronger
Bearvill
Agree with Shannon that Sorensen is better than Robinson but i have to say Huddlestone is not first team Zokora is and if you align him to Barry it's game over for Barry... I make it 10-1 I'm afraid as well.. Only Robinson loses - Malbranque would if you had a half decent player against him..
The Tailor
yes guy7yug but he was kings best man at his wedding when he said it, what else could he say;)
eltoro
am i just dreaming or have i seen spurs fans arguing jenas is better than barry,now that really is completely and utterly deluded.think jenas is one of the most over-rated players i have ever seen and how he gets in the england squad time and time again is utterly mystifying to me.if anyone seen the england b match last month,barry proved in that match alone how much superior he is to jenas and that aint even counting last seasons form! UTV
Belfast Villain
you will never win against these yids, i don't know why you even try, they're even better than Man.u. ya know;)
eltoro
That is a compliment Deano, a very big one, it's about time teams wanted to be where we are, we were always for so long the team that never did do it, but looks like we've finally turned the corner, but when you say your 3 or 4 signings behind us I think that's wrong because we are also strengthining, for example we're 3 or signings behind Man Utd but they go out and spend £60m on 3 players, so techinically we are quite away off them, more like 3 or 4 years.
ScottDaYid
nah jacky b not a whole team,now thats being silly now.gally180,no mate it aint because barry played at least last 10 games as centre midfielder and outa the last 9 villa were unbeaten. UTV
Belfast Villain
err guys as I already said - maybe you should compare Zokora to Barry as they are more alike in terms of position than Jenas and BArry - that then would really be a no contest.. Zokora wins hands down. Jenas would be up against Petrov and that too would be a no contest. If you are going to try and make comparisons then get the right players up against one another.
The Tailor
10-1 to teh Tottenham, 10-1 to the Tottenham...
The Tailor
no belfast you saw 1 fan arguing that, but most agreeing that Barry is better, and that indeed they would welcome him in our team !!!!
Jacky B
Fun but irrelevant article, next season will reveal all. Good luck next season villa. Here's to the goons slipping down some more at anyone's expense.
EL
If Laursen's injury problems have gone maybe Villa would be interested in swapping him with Gardener? We'll give you an extra 2 million for him. Better than King?- Absolutely no chance.
loffree
yes jackyb MAYBE better than Jenas on the left because if we had Barry in our team he would go in ahead of Malbranque on the left and not in the centre.. Zokora defo better than him..
The Tailor
Well if your comparing Barry to Zokora that is a toal different arguement, I do reckon Zokora would let Barry clean his boots though if he asked nicely, hehe.
ScottDaYid
Barry is better than all of your midfielders, so put him up against who you like. Like I said in the article, outside the top 4 you wont find a better midfielder than Barry, and it isnt just Villa fans who say that, whenever we interview opposition fans for match previews they always pick out Barry, he's a class act!
DeanoVilla
Deano, remember this article. there are going to be a lot of very quiet, red faced yids at the end of the season!!
jonah
Robbo is better than Sorense fine 1-0 Spurs Delaney vs Chimbonda - Delaney wins, solid dolid defender who can get forward, chimbonda goes forward but isnt as solid at the back 1-1 Bouma vs Bale - Boumas good but Bale knicks this as he has set piece ability too 2-1 Spurs Laursen vs King - Laursen is WORLD CLASS King is Premiership class 2-2 Mellberg vs Dawson - Mellberg beats Dawson as a full international and solid, his distribution is a little lame but he is better at the moment 3-2 Villa Young vs Lennon - Lennon wins this at the moment hence hes in the england setup and Ashleys in the u21s 3-3 Barry vs Huddlestone - Barry is EASILY a better player, huddlestone looks promising but we have almost got the complete article in barry 4-3 Villa Petrov vs Jenas - Petrov is better and more versatile than Jenas, seems to have more time and class on the ball 5-3 Villa Berger vs Malbranque - Berger wins, he was instrumental in our seasons end and malbranque is still selfish as a player 6-3 Villa Gabby vs Keane - Keane is as good as he'll get i think that Gabby will be better but right now keane 6-4 Villa Carew vs Berbatov - both offer their teams what they need but people would pay 20+ for berb and only 7m for Carew which speaks volumes Berb wins 6-5 Villa...
shortshadyuk
Like kindling to a flame.
Dannygav
Deanovilla - I agree that he is very good but he is not better than all our midfielders purely because his position is left and not centre. My point is he is better than any option we have for the left side and not better than our centre mid pairing of Jenas or Zokora.
The Tailor
shortshadyuk - what are you smoking and more importantly have you got any left cos I think we'd all like some..
The Tailor
DeanoVilla, they pick out Barry because up until recently he was your only threat!
loffree
jenas,zokora or malbranque are nowhere near as good as barry and never will be whether they are playing as a defensive midfielder,attacking midfielder or on the left.UTV
Belfast Villain
Is Zokora going to back from his training camp with the olympic diving team in time for the start of the season?
jonah
We know Barry's a class act Deano but if you wouldn't mind it is now OFFICIALLY a TOP FIVE, so outside the top 5 there is no better midfielder, I agree. Zokora is going to make the same impact as Essien did this season, just watch him go. To compare the 2 is pretty insulting to Zokora. He;s played 1 season over in England while playing some of the season through Malaria and he has shown he has the potential to be one of the best midfielders about. Barry is just a good prem midfielder, nothing more.
ScottDaYid
Laursen is better then King......If you think otherwise you havent seen him play. No knock on King as he is a very good defender who I would gladkly have at the Villa but Laursen is a different level completely. We didnt lose a game when Laursen played, he is the reason for that
Bearvill
Spurs were one season wonders, and not SO wonderful either. back to their usual mediocrity next season while we are on the march.
jonah
I think that some of our Premier league rivals have got a rude awakening coming to them next season. I don't think we're that far off Spurs at all providing we strengthen in the right areas. Whilst i don't think we've got the strength in depth that Spurs have, I still think that if we have better luck with injuries than we did last season, we will run them very close. I can see 3 or 4 of the Villa players listed in this article (possibly more) not being 1st team players come next season, being replaced with considerably better. It'll take time for us to get where we want, but I don't think it'll be too long..... UTV
Mylerneredfriends
Laursen better than King........PMSL, LMAO LOLOLOLOL HAHAHAHAHAHA, I am honestly cracking up here/
ScottDaYid
I would have to agree with Scott that Zakora is better then Barry at the roles they do, but they are incomparable really..
Bearvill
The league table does not lie. However, considering we bought Carew, Young and Maloney in Jan, I'm sure the 10 pt gap between Villa and Spurs would have been somewhat smaller....
bazzah
Get real,you won just 1 more game than Sheff Utd last season....!!You are closer to bottom 6 than top 6.............
chalky76
King isnt even first choice centre back for his country !!!
Bearvill
scottDaYid: You are just showing your ignorance mate. You very obviously have never seen Laursen play or wouldn't have posted that pathetic little post just now.
jonah
Martin Jol vs Martin O'Neill - Spurs 7-14 Villa !!
bazzah
Jonah is it still a one season wonder when it is two seasons?
ajm142003
Barry's best position is centre mid. He played the last dozen games there last season and was awesome. He has the ability to become our Steven Gerrard figure.
DeanoVilla
Spurs are one season wonders? Is that why we finished 5 TWO years running? You lot a more deluded than our lot! You are miles behind us and there is only two players I would take from Villa to Spurs, Young and Barry... Bad news is that they would both be competing for the same position as they wouldnt get anywhere near the others!
Gavaldinho
Has Randy "scrooge" Learner lost his cheque book or what...??
chalky76
1 or 2 doesn't make that much difference. You have gone as far as you are going, we are going to the top. maybe not this year or next but soon ajm, soon.
jonah
ajm, it must be to these brummies. lol and if you rate your manager better it counts as 10 people according to these BRUMMIES. ; - )
ScottDaYid
Ok guys its been friendly banter so far lets not get carried away!
DeanoVilla
This has become silly now. The fact is we finished 5th a full 10 points ahead of Villa. Villa were only 11 points off the bottom 5!!! Indeed Chalky, Villa only won one more game than Sheff Utd. I think you guys should pipe down and wait another season and then see whether you can call yourselves our equal. Until then can we have some R-E-S-P-E-C-T..
The Tailor
chalky we won one more game than sheff utd but we lost more games than you so whats your point
VillaMalta
Nothing wrong with brummies mate, if one hadn't have *****ed a pig there wouldn't be any Londoners.
jonah
Yeah, I was enjoying the friendly banter for once
Bearvill
VillaMalta is that meant to say we lost LESS games ?
Bearvill
^^ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, getting wound up now, I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!
ScottDaYid
err, Villamalta would you like to re-write your piece because I don't think that is what you meant...
The Tailor
bingo bearvill...
The Tailor
Nice post Jonah - very eloquent..
The Tailor
lol sory lost less games than you lol dont i look silly
VillaMalta
Think you're the only one getting wound up SDY, calm down mate before you have a stroke
jonah
No one is getting wound up but I would prefer to be involved with adult debate rather then schoolyard games.... As I assume the majority of Villa and Spurs fans would want
Bearvill
Thats the difference between a top 7 side and the rest of the league, when players get injuries have players just as good to step in. Maybe do a 2nd eleven Spurs against a 2nd eleven Villa - I think Spurs would win easy.
Legend23
Written with a smile on my face tailor...chill.
jonah
Have to say this is a pretty hopeful article (fair enough though, I do the same thing with us and the top 4 from time to time – we're always pretty close somehow!) Bouma/Bale – Laursen/Dawson are both particularly biased I think. You've also included Hudd over Zokora, which highlights another big advantage we have – extra depth. You're also talking as if Spurs are resting on their laurels and assuming our team is complete! I'd be surprised if theirs a more active team in the transfer window, and if we sign even a couple of the many players we're linked with that'll put us even further ahead! I think you lot are on the right track now and you got a good manager, but you're a bit further behind than you think!
Pass_and_move
Another interesting comparison which nobody has picked up on yet is the respective managers. Another point to us, Villa, I'd say!!!
Jon.H
Good point Legend23, and quite right. That is where we have struggled in recent years, not enough strength in depth. Hopefully, they will put that right in the coming years.
jonah
Legend there is no doubt that you would win that, I wouldnt say that was the difference though, Everton dont have good squad depth
Bearvill
Bearvill, King has been available to Mclaren 3 times and each time has started. So is he not first choice for his country then??? I tihnk its open to debate.
gally180
Tailor-calm down. Tailor your right but Villa only the BIG 4 lost fewer games than Villa and taht includes Spurs. Villa went wrong with a lot of draws. ONly time will tell but i think it is you who needs to show a tad more respect.
rotter82
It's impossible to judge because if the likes of Petrov played as well as he possibly can, he may be the best on the pitch. All about being on the pitch - otherwise we'd all be making millions betting on dozens of football games across Europe every week!
Jamie1967
Bouma, Laursen, Young & Barry have about as much chance of getting into our first team as mido. 11-0 every time mayte. also the hudd sint even in our 1st eleven but good you can still he's better than the ****e you call a midfield.
superyido
Sorry Bazzah, I was reading through the posts and have just picked up yours which you posted while I was reading. Great minds and all that eh.............
Jon.H
As a Villa fan i wouldn't be taking that many players from your team... I'd take Chimbonda and King, and your strikers Keane and Berbatov. Outside of them I either want better players than what either team has to offer at the moment (eg, better than Sorensen and Robinson) or i'd stick with what we've got cos i don't think that what you've got is that much better. This will change over the next few months cos both Villa and Spurs will buy, and buy well i reckon. But as things stand now I'm really pleased with what we have the makings of at Villa. Spurs, you're running at nearly full steam and have maintained 5th for 2 seasons now. We aint even got started yet......
Mylerneredfriends
gally180 only because Ferdinand is Injured, he is not first choice, I would say that Carragher is infront of him also...it is unfortunate for King that we have such a wealth of talent at centre back to be honest, at any other point in our history he would probably have got in there.......but Laursen is better : )
Bearvill
i'm lost as to why I'm being told to calm down... my post wasn't written in anger but I was stating my thoughts about the debate becoming silly now.. when people start telling us Laursen is better than King and Delaney better than Chimbo then I think calling it silly is actually a nice way of telling it how it is..
The Tailor
Sorry but how Laursen and Young are better than Daws and Lennon is just ............ and King and Chimbo just nicking it ...... 11-0 or maybe 10-1 as Barry has had a good season
brett.spurs
Zokora or Barry????? Zokara is a DEFENSIVE Midfielder, a anchor man. Barry is a goal scoring midfielder you can play in the middle, left or left back - but never as a defensive midfielder. You cant compare. But as a footballer, their are very few better than Barry in the prem. I hate these things anyway, it turns into sticking up for ya players like their your own kids or sumin or sucking the cock of players just because they wear your shirt and end up pretty sad tbh.
MACCA UTV
I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one Bearvill. But Carragher was sub last game and king started despite the fact that King and terry are both left centre backs for there clubs, so that kind of makes me think King is above him. Your probably right about Rio too mate, but facts is facts, available 3 times started all games...... No need to say more.
gally180
People who think that Ledley King is Better then Martin Laursen are clearly ignorant to Laursens abilitys...... i cant be bothered to argue his case anymore and next season I will remember this when he is in Team of the year or something (if he stays injury free)
Bearvill
Despite the aquistion of Berbatov, Spurs have not improved. Their points tally last season was less than the points acquired the season before. Unitl the final game of the 05-06 season, Spurs were challenging for CL football, 06-07 - their challenge was none existent. The sale of Carrick has given Spurs the tag of being a "selling club", who knows where you would have finished if Levy gambled a bit a stuck with Carrick instead of trying to balance the books? Buying Zakora and Malbranque hasnt worked and neither of these give you the balance of what Carrick bought with him. Admittedly Spurs are best of the rest, but are catchable - and all it takes is for a managerial collosus to dip into the transfer market and add 2/3 players to a potentially very good Villa side for us to finish above a Spurs side whom could again this summer sell and stand still while other progress.
bazzah
ok, nice one Gally : )
Bearvill
Yeah but this is McLaren were talking about........ Nuff said
Jon.H
Mac had a choice between King or Carragher and choose King because he's better and is one of the best defenders in Europe. We all know Ferdinand and Terry will never be dropped, while neither of them are that good.
ScottDaYid
We only say it because Laursen IS better than King Tailor...get over it.
jonah
What's ten points in the league, my Yid friends? Three of those draws in the win column and we ain't too far away. If that's the 'enormous' gulf between our respective clubs then I'm not surprised you lillywhites are turning lilly livered!
Rawlie
Spot on Bazzah.
Mylerneredfriends
I think it will be interesting when we play each other that should Laursen and Berbatov both be fit and available you will get to see just why we rate Martin so highly as Berbatov won't get a sniff.
Jon.H
If I were to make a neutral pick between the two teams to make a team that would have the best chance of winning in the Champions League:

Sorenson
Delaney
Bouma
Laursen
King
Young
Barry
Huddlestone
Malbranque
Keane
Berbatov

So that's Villa 6 - 5 Spurs
Jamie1967
I think a lot of the spurs fans on here are a bit deluded about the ability of our players. We have some good players yes, but they are far from the finished article and no better than some of what villa have. The big difference is our front 3 score a bucket full of goals and theres dont, otherwise the teams are pretty even. SO thank god for Keano, JD and the berb.
gally180
Yes Jamie I can see that is a neutral selection....
The Tailor
Erm, We have progressed, we were knocked out of the TWO cups we were in in the first round 05/06. This year we made it to AT LEAST the 1/4 final of ALL THREE cups we played in 06/07 and still finished 5th, that to me is improvment. Zokora is a new addition and will be better for us next year than Essien was for Chelsea this year, it takes at least a year to bed in a player from a foreign country (generally) and on top of that Zokora got a bout of Maleria which seemed to take him months to get over but towards the end of the season really started to show what he is capable of. Berba wasnt that ***** hot for about the first 10 games and was often absent in away games but again, this has improved and he will be even better next year than he was this year!
Gavaldinho
Don't get me wrong, I agree O'Neill is a great manager... but what makes you say he's better than Jol... Look at what he's done to Sopurs, something that managers have been trying to do for years!!! also.. young better than Lennon??? Why is it young's in the U21's and Lennon's in the full England squad??? common sense please... also Hud don't play Zakora does... and that makes our midfield even stronger... King doesn't just 'edge' against Mellberg either, he is on another level to him. I like Laursen, he has a great work ethic... but Dawson he aint... the rest I would be enclined to agree with
Dan Mac
Laursen's the best defender I've seen for a few seasons, but he doesn't play many games. The league tables tell the story. One thing is for sure, Spurs have better strength in depth.
tarzan
How about my neutral selection Sorensen Chimbo Bale Dawson King Barry (LM) Zokora Jenas Lennon Berbs Keane So that's 9-2 Spurs...still more netural than yours Jamie..
The Tailor
Lennon won't be in the full England squad now Beckham's back
Jon.H
I think you have more to worry about than Spurs. You finished 10th last season didn't you? - jumping the gun a little bit expecting to challenge for 5th methinks. And if you think Laursen is better than Dawson you have no idea about being the 5th best team in England. And did Ashley Young go to the World cup? As for the Fear - apart from your ridiculous comparisons, European football was a hindrance to us this season (in terms of league position, not fun) so you can't hold that as your excuse.
wemustsignaleftwinge
Spurs conceded 54 goals last season, Villa 41 This is an area that Villa are much better than Spurs. Spurs scored 57 against our 43 and are much better up front. Spurs finished above Villa last season and the table doesn't lie. Next season, who knows?? But for Spurs fans to come on here and say their defence is better than ours has obviously been on the weed or the magic mushrooms. I would possibly have King in preference to Mellberg ...... at a push. As for goalkeepers ...... the Venus De Milo would do better in goal than Robinson, who is possibly the worst keeper seen in the top division since Les Sealy (and he played for us, amongst others).
voiceoftheholte
Jamie you cant no much about football if you pick Hudd and Malbranque mate, they are not 2 of the better yids. Personally my team would be Sorenson Chimbongo King Laursen Barry Lennon Zakora JJ Young Keano Berba Thats 7-4 to us, and i think that would be a pretty great team too. Levy give me BMJs job and champs league here we come lol
gally180
Gally180... you hit the nail on the head there. Your strikers stick the ball away and ours struggled as per usual for most of the season. Also, you've got three top quality finishers playing for you where we have perhaps one in Carew (more of a handful than an out and out sniffer) and a couple of potentials in Gabby and Luke Moore. I still think we're better at the back though!
Rawlie
Jeeees - Imagine the number of responses a comparison between Aston Villa and Celtic players would bring to this site!!!???!
bazzah
We did, however, play with a make shift defence for most of the season and a GK in Robbo who was / is suffering from a severe lack of confidence after the world cup shambles that he was wrongly blamed for... First rule of defending, never pass back to the goal keeper between the sticks, put it wide incase of a bobble or mss kick!!!
Gavaldinho
wemustsignaleftwinge, its not that hard, we jumped from 9th to 5th, Nearly 4th or did you forget that :-)
gally180
We finished 10th last term with the smallest squad in the prem. We are in the process of clearing out the dead wood and soon will be replacing them with better quality. We have THE best training facility,probably in Europe, certainly in the prem, one of, if not the best Academies in the country and one of the best managers in the game. We may not know about being the 5th best team in the country but quite frankly we'll be looking higher than that soon.The fact of the matter is that you have reached a plateau, we are on the march!!!!
Jon.H
Tailor - a fan of another club comes on and gives his opinion and you say he is biased?
Hoss The Villain
Jon.H Martin Oneil had success with Celtic in Scotland, something i feel my mum could do and she knows nothing about footie, what else has he really done, yes he could be a great manager but he is certainly not one of the greats yet.
gally180
hmmm clearly he is a fan of another club and doesn't like Spurs very much... he is talking nonsense and he knows it..
The Tailor
a Celtic fan no less... and he would like Martin O'Neill me thinks so probably counts Villa as one of his favourite English sides..
The Tailor
To gally180 re: Hudd and Malbranque. No, I wouldn't claim they are that good but compared to Petrov, who has been largely disappointing, and Berger, who has injury worries all the time and is getting no younger, I think they edge it.
Jamie1967
We conceeded all the goals cos our captain and best player (maybe 2nd best, depends if Berba can keep his form) was missing 2/3's of the season!!! my team Robbo, Chimbo (Delaney hahahaha), Mellberg, King, Bouma (just), Lennon, Jenas, Zakora, Barry, Keane and Berba.... 9-2 to Spurs... I can't see it any other way!
Dan Mac
Don't take it personally Tailor... no one likes Spurs very much :-)
Hoss The Villain
How do we know Jamie is a nuetral, that was not his first post on the article, i took it that he was trying to look from a nuetrals point of view. But lads we all need to realise that we would probably pick more yids and you lot would pick more villans, there is not alot between the two teams so individual preference comes in, which for you guys is Villa as its probably what you see most where as for me its spurs as thats what i see most. But i do like the look of Young for the Under 21s
gally180
I would suggest that everybody actually watches some football before commenting here please. Laursen is outstanding - easily ManU fodder if 100% fit for a season. Dawson and King are liable to mistakes - just look at King against Brazil once Terry went off - like a lost lamb. Jenas is a waste of space, as most of your forum have been saying all season, with Zokora also been critisised continuously. And Lennon has lost it. He may get it back, but he can't run at players any more, and hasn't scored nearly enough goals. Agbonlahor scored more from the right wing in 3 months than Lennon scored all season, never mind Young. Left wing - no contest. We have about 4 players better than your best LW. Goal scoring is the only reason we are behind you. Take Berbatov and Keane out of your team and see where you finish.
CLVilla
Christ, can't you tell that there's no Villa or Spurs transfer news.....
Mylerneredfriends
Jamie, they are not Regulars at spurs though was more my point, they are squad players. Dont think Hudd started a game after march when JJ and Zok and TT were all available. And steed did not start many,
gally180
Jamie is site journalist for Vital Celtic, and many of his articles are biased against MON and Villa, so I think you can take it that he is as neutral as it gets for Spurs. And he knows what he is talking about!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CLVilla
sorry villa fans but spurs win this one 10-1! i respect villa as a big club and think you deserve some success as we do but up untill bmj took over i spent all my time talking about how our team were good on paper and were not that far away, now i realise ziege, sherwwod, anderton, poyet, nielson, richards, scales, ferdinand (i really could go on all day) were ****. We r the only team capable of challenging the top 4, we finished 5th and must have played 20 games more than the likes of everton.
scoobys
i agree spurs certainly have the edge over Villa, but i really feel few spurs fans have seen Laursen in action. I would take a fit Laursen over Dawson. Tactically he is outstanding. Villas defence was 13 goals better than Spurs last season. Good luck SPurs but please stop ignoring the stats, which are something you frequently use to score points over other fans!
rotter82
Defoe got 17 and played half a season... Still miles ahead of Villa. Young scored on his Villa debut the wasnt that it? Kings only recent returned from injury and keeps carragher out the england team - think that speaks for itself. if you watch the spurs' forum you'll recognise how highly Jenas's contribution has been praised since he reurned from injury. Think he scored 5 in his last 10 games? I think Villa will do well next year but i honestly wouldnt swap many of your players for ours!
cheddar_green
OK Rotter, but we had to play strange defences due to injury, Chimbonda played, right, centre and left back at times. We had CBs playing left back, Ifil a right back played there. Its fair what you say, but if we had a full strength side then maybe it would of been different for us. But we will never know now.
gally180
I don't mean for this post to start any arguments but if i had to choose a team out of Spurs and Villa it would be; Sorenson, Chimbonda, King, Laursen, Bouma, Lennon, Zokora, Jenas, Barry, Keane, Berbatov. That makes it 7-4 to Spurs. Bale would have been in there for me but he has little experience, Laursen over Dawson for experience, Barry over ??? because we do not have a left mid and Sorenson over Robinson because Robbo is s***. Come on Delaney better than Chimbonda!!! Please. Laursen over King!!! Again, please. You are judging Laursen on a 12 game run when King has been brilliant every single time he has played, What has Laursen got better than King? Apart from heading. Like everyone has been saying, the only player i would take from Villa for our first team would be Barry. Young, Agbonlahor and Laursen would be good back up.
OneAaronLennon
Defoe got 18 but other than that well said Cheddar.
gally180
Laursen is great every game he plays-its just there havent been enough. When he plays we concede few goals. Hopefully we will see more of him. As has been said we all have our favourites for both teams
rotter82
OAL seems fair, based on our relative league positions, London team young players do tend to get over hyped in the local press. But that's always been the case. We'd take Keane, Berbatov, King & Chimbonda in our first team.
tarzan
It seems that Spurs fans are starting to except that Villa, man for man are much better defensively than Spurs. To combat this the excuses are coming out ........ Robinson was out of form, King was injured etc. This still doesn't stand up though because our first choice right back was out all season, injuries to both keepers meant we had to have Gabor Kiraly (on loan) in goal for over a month. Laursen missed all but 14 games this season (and we were unbeaten in every game he finished). But still we conceded 13 less goals than Spurs. It is not rocket science, Spurs were poor defensively but good up front (signing Berbatov was great business). We were solid defensively but lightweight up front. Over the season Spurs were better. And still Spurs fans come on here to say there defence is better????? Pass me one of your spliffs please!!!
voiceoftheholte
Our defense was hardly settled either last season. Laursen spent a few months out and we were using our youngsters Ridgewell and Cahill throughout a very testing winter. We still managed to concede considerably less that Spurs. Laursen is utterly superb when fit and playing, I just pray we can get a full season out of him next term cos with the right rightback our defense can get even better. It's goals we need now....
Mylerneredfriends
The guy sitting next to me is Spud season ticket holder and thinks Jenas is mince.
tarzan
gally 180, sorry went to have me tea, O'Neill took Leicester City, established them as a top 10 prem side and won the worthington/coca cola/whatever it was at the time/cup. For a club of this size and stature it was some achievement. He took Celtic to the later stages of European competition which considering the level they play at domestically is also some achievement. He made Celtic the dominant force in Scotland in double quick time which was impressive considering how superior Rangers had been prior to his arrival. In my opinion every England fan wanted him for the next international manager instead of the ginger muppet, Englands loss is very definately our gain. I think even your mom, with her limited footie knowledge would agree he's a top manager and there is no one else I would rather have leading us back to the top.
Jon.H
This is where the strength in depth comes in - and that is the crux. Every team needs full back up in every position, and we have to admit this is where we fall down. Hopefully to be corrected very soon!!! Don't forget we lost Angel, Baros and Moore up front for long periods. January helped us getting Carew and Maloney in. Agbonlahor played with an ankle injury for months. The defensive problems have already been highlighted.........So to summarise - to catch up we need a few players in the starting team and good backups all the way through.
CLVilla
Robbo, Chimbo, King, Dawson, Bale, Barry, Jenas, Zokora, Lennon, Berba, Keane = Best of both teams ... villa fans don't make me laugh (Delaney, Bouma, Sorenson etc ect hahaahaha)
brett.spurs
No worries, Jon.H hope it was nice. still not really anything better than BMJ has done. He turned a low level dutch team to the top division and won the cup and has now turned a team that always finished between 9 and 14 into a top 5 side. Anyway, thanks for the debate lads, going home now.
gally180
Brett, Bale will progress into a better player than Bouma but at the moment he is not better. Also, although Dawson is a great player you cannot say that he is better than Laursen, i remember when Laursen signed for Villa and me thinking "How did they get him?" Laursen is not better than King though!!!
OneAaronLennon
You should concentrate on finishing above Reading....He he he..!!
chalky76
chalky - isn't that a Jim Davidson character. Just read his posts with the accent - it's hilarious. Especially the "He he he" at the end.
CLVilla
Now you're showing your age CLVilla, made me laugh too though :o)
Villain Of The North
Blimey
Dannygav
I think next season will be interesting. I full expect both clubs to put pressure onthe top four. Good to see.
Dannygav
What a load of crap. Spurs are better than us (on paper) but not by much. Theyve done well and signed Berbatov and he's had a great season but which for some reason makes most spurs fans think they up there with the top 4. Id like to see this same arguement after the transfer window closes.
son_of_cher
I think the whole point is that spurs are ahead of us in the level of investment over a longer period of time which has enabled them to progress to a certain level, but they appear to have hit a ceiling. We now have the right chairman/board who are willing to invest and speculate for success. That levels the playing field out somewhat. The big difference is the investment in infrastructure, we have better training facilities, a bigger and better ground with bigger potential capacity, a youth system second to none and a far better manager. Given a couple of seasons worth of investment similar to that which spurs have enjoyed I would expect us to be in a better position to that which they are at now.
Jon.H
Villa, you are relying on IFs and BUTs, you are further behind than you think! Why would top players join you lot? You offer a city no top foreigner would join, you offer no wages and you haven't exactly got a reputation as a good team over recent years! As someone pointed out earlier you were closer to the bottom 6 than the top 6 in terms of total wins! The only chance you have of getting into Europe next season isn't through the cups, nor is it through league placing or either the intertoto cup; its through the fair play league! I am a Celtic fan also but in honesty I can say that O'Neill has been hyped up! He won one cup with Leicester through playing village football and he dominated the Scottish Premier League due to the fact R*ng*rs were on a spiral fall and Celtic had one of the best players in the world in one of the worst leagues in the world- discuss that!? The O'Neill affect- please!!
loffree
If he was so bad why are Celtic fans still so bitter and twisted about him leaving?
Jon.H
loffree O Neil got wycombe out of the conference and into div 2. Two promotions in sucessive seasons. And also Won 2 fa trophies He got leceister with the little resources they had into the premiership and then got them to finish into the top ten - for 4 years running. In those 4 years he got them into 3 league cup finals, winning 2 league cups not one - with a side like leceister. He also built a hugely sucessful team at celtic and got them to the uefa cup final. So dont talk *****.
MACCA UTV
But you'd forget all that through bitterness though.
MACCA UTV
Jon-H...Our reserve side with an average age of about 18 did the double over Villa last season.The Villa side was full of senior pro"s as well.I think you will find that Spurs have a far better crop of kids.We have snapped up Europe"s top 16/17 year olds recently as well.Seems your lagging behind in all departments..........
chalky76
Also loffree we started the season with the smallest squad in the prem, were decimated by injuries following a nine match unbeaten start, and picked up significantly after the January transfer window when MON was able to shape his side as opposed to the one he inherited. In fact I didn't want the season to end such was the quality of football we were producing which augers well for next year. And considering our city is so bad we still managed to attract two of your best players to come and play and live down here. Why is it that whenever a player or manager leaves Celtic you all turn on him? Perhaps you should get O'Leary as your next manager because you lot really are fickle.
Jon.H
If it was a choice between Villa and Spurs I'd take Arsenal plus Barry and Berbatov. End of story
myleftfoot
Macca thanks for the extra info on MON at Leicester. It makes for even more impressive reading.
Jon.H
Chalky, I think you'll find that most of our acadamy players were in the first team last year at some stage. It shows we can bring through our own youngsters without having to buy every young child in Europe who's dad says can play football.
Hoss The Villain
Chalky fair point, but our academy produced Cahill, Ridgewell, Osbourne, Moore, Agbonlahor, Gardner and Davis all of whom represented the first team last season. Also if you look at sky sports we have/are about to sign three of the brightest prospects in Europe.
Jon.H
All the same, you played boring football- great you didn't lose in your last 9 but is your football desirable to the neutrals? Who have you signed this year that is going to change that?
loffree
Hoss you posted while I was writing, but nice one, emphasises my point.
Jon.H
loffree, erm.... Ashley Young, John Carew and somebody you may have heard of, Maloney I think his name is... and thats before we've even begun in the new window. Also try and get hold of a copy of the Sheff. Utd. match and tell me that's boring.........
Jon.H
So first you say MON is ***** and your proved wrong and then you say we play boring? And as a season ticket holder - I can say Villa are not boring to watch under O Neil whereas they were under O Leary. Youve laready been proved to know nowt anyway so there is no point in telling ya.
MACCA UTV
Did you not have these players last year?
loffree
Anyone that plays alongside Berbatov is going to score goals. Keane couldn't b4 and now he scores 20+. I'm not saying Spurs are a one man team but it emphasises the importance of creativity and individual brilliance. I'd guarentee Villa would have finished 5th at least if Berbatov had played for us. Spurs should have been top 4 this year - would have been with a decent manager. Arsenal at their weakest and an over acheiving Liverpool team should in all honesty been challenged harder by Spurs. What has saved the pie eater from media speculation - thus any pressure - is the speculation surounding the deluded one at Chelski. Spurs fans should be annoyed. Now they face the real prospect of a scrap for fith place next year from the likes of newcastle, wham, everton and the Villa (if they sign anyone) instead of trying to cement a top 4 finish. Everyone talks about the lure of playing in europe - well thats the same given the choice between CL and UEFA. Expensive quality (for there is surely undiscoverd quality and therefore hope for the rest of us) will always plumb for CL. For spurs to advance they must rid themselves of their manager - but they probably won't and there lies the hope that the rest of us have in catching and overtaking Spurs. I predict 2 more seasons b4 Villa can consistently challenge the likes of Spurs and yes Liverpool.
myleftfoot
Keane couldn't score goals before??? It gets worse and worse! You lot have been desperate to sign him for 3 seasons. If you believe your statement imagine how many goals he'd get playing with your average team!
loffree
Yes loffree for only the second half of the season (at the end of jan) when we finished strongly?
MACCA UTV
The word IF comes up again! 5th IF you sign anyone!!! So IF Fulham and Man City sign people they will be challenging! Your getting excited about nothing Villains!!!!
loffree
zokora is the starter and lee is better then bouma easily. also dawson and king r the best defensive partnership in the prem. you r alot more off us then u fink as we have a much higher position then u
patspurs123
bearvil, agree, good days banter and chat and NO comments needed to be deleted. Superb!
The Fear
Loffree does your carer know you have access to the internet?
Jon.H
jenas has so much more quality then barry. jenas can actually pass the ball forwards and has clever chips and scores goals NOT PENALTYS like barry. barry is just a tckler wake up u villa fans have been smokin 2 much
patspurs123
Barry can score 20 yard "goal of the month" contenders as well, or have you forgotten that one already?
Jon.H
1 goal. u base ur whole argument on 1 goal. jenas scores important goals like in the 90th minute screamer against deadly rivals
patspurs123
No I was shooting down your whole argument in one sentence.
Jon.H
i fink what u have 2 look at is just how bad ur worst players are e.g berger and how good ur best players are if ur best player is a centre bak who isnt really good to a neutral which i am as i neither hate nor love aston villa. and then this season spurs worst player was probs robbo hu is the national goal keeper 4 england and our best striker is berbatov hu literraly could walk into ne 1st team in europe. not like laurensen hu us ay could but if he could he wouldnt be at villa
patspurs123
He scored against your ***** defence home and away so he cant be that bad because they are brilliant apparently!!! Barry isnt a tackler, he is nothing of the sort, tackling isnt one of his strong points so ya wrong on that one and is a 10 x the footballer that jermaine jenas is lmao!!!!!
MACCA UTV
Jenas scores 1 important goal to secure a desperate last minute... wait for it... equaliser
Hoss The Villain
2 goals against a defence that contained anthony gardener and dawson hu is still developing. that is what makes him much better then spurs is it. correct me if i am wrong but didnt we beat u at home and draw with u away only because u play rubbish football defending against gr8 attackin teams like spurs
patspurs123
and what does barry do??? and jenas is younger aswell. b4 lerner came along u were strugglin against relegation. u cant beat us u finished lower then us. what more evidence do you want
patspurs123
patspurs go back to the article and read all the posts. Even the majority of your own fans admit that Barry would get in your side. Support your own player, fair enough but GB is a class act and would walk into any side outside the top 4.
Jon.H
My grandad just gave me his old black and white TV. He reckons if you tune it properly you can still see the last time Spurs won the league in 1961.
Hoss The Villain
if they think that then they dont realise the quality jenas posses that barry lacks.
patspurs123
what is the next article gunna be is ashley young better then barcelonas lionel messi. if enough aston villa fans agree it means its true????
patspurs123
patspurs get back to your village mate, they miss you!!!
Jon.H
lennon is 2 years yunga and has had 2 seasons in the top flight. also lennon cost 1 mill and young cost 7 risin. thats a good idea y dont u do an article comparin spurs and aston villa players and value 4 money. or even how many full internationals in each squad. or hu has the brightest prospects. aston villas future is noway near as bright as spurs
patspurs123
Patspurs. Are you drinking again? Remember your 10 steps. And learn to spell.
Dannygav
dont be silly pat123,this shouldnt even be an argument.jenas was getting widely booed by his own supporters was he not before he scored that goal when he just hit it as hard as he could because he was *****ed! jenas is wildly over-rated,just as barry is under-rated in my eyes.barry has class in abundance and you can see it every time he touches a football where as jenas completely does not and only has loads of energy to go with his usual wastefulness.UTV
Belfast Villain
dannygay it saves time
patspurs123
Just picked myself of the floor. Jenas better than Barry? Youre having a bubble.
Dannygav
Patspurs. I see what you did. You changed the V on my name to a Y. Planting the suggestion that I am homosexual. Guess what I am! Come here a giv'us a kiss.
Dannygav
Patspurs i think we all know you failed your GCSE English. Get back to your comics!
rotter82
ok then i think i am right but jenas and barry aside for spurs 2 finish 5th twice in successive seasons whereas you finished dangerously close to the relegation zone one year and mid-table the next it does nothing but emphasises the gap in quality between our 2 sides. not forgetting the fact that we were fighting on four fronts for the majority of this season. your team are mostly players at the end of pointless tragic careers whereas ours are embarking on careers full of glory.
patspurs123
i just did as level english i think i did alright. btw i like the way u ignore valid points to attack my spellin which is clearly a habbit from msn and texting to save time.
patspurs123
You real;ly don't have a clue what your talking about do you?
Jon.H
Patspurs. What have i told you. If you spend all your time on the Villa site and not working through your routine, you will never make the Cheerleading team. Twirl and twirl and jump and twirl.
Dannygav
And what valid points have you made which we're ignoring?
Jon.H
AS English. So you are what 17? Never would have guessed.
Dannygav
I dont quite understand the purpose of this article other than to wind up Spurs fans and get more futile arguments going between two sets of supporters who are aiming at 5th-4th in the table.until were all aiming at 1st this is pretty stupid.
Pking
How busy are you, that you need to miss the g of spelling?
Dannygav
Bored. I am going to wind up the missus. Only joshing with you Patspurs. All in good humour.
Dannygav
You put Bouma before Bale because of the experience factor and that although he's proving himself at the highest level (international) he's not proved himself at Premiership level???????? Yet you seem to think that Young is a better prospect than Lennon despite the fact that lennon is a proven premiership and international star and Young was only bought by you lot because he has potential but he may not ever fulfill it. Your post has some good comments but I think you may have posted some **** about Young being better than Lennon.
Brown Yid
busier then you dannygay. u should be an english teacher u seem like a pr.ick. does people not spelling properly offend u does it well i am really sorry. u should get bak 2 either a) watching porn and jostlin or b) playin world of warcraft
patspurs123
No it does not offend me. I am just worried about you. What are you going to do in the big wide world. You would be laughed out of any company with your grammer. Still I suppose its not a bad life being a windscreen washer on the north circular. I will watch out for you. I will be the one in the new Beamer.
Dannygav
aint u from birmingham. doesnt that say alot what which words cannot
patspurs123
This is great, i love winding Spurs fans up. What shall topic of the day be for tomorrow? ?.......Cant wait for the season to start though. I think alot of people may have to retract a few of their statements.....WE ARE NO LONGER A JOKE TEAM, THE MIDLANDS GIANT HAS WOKEN
son_of_cher
"Mellberg vs King - King just edges this one" - bit of credibility lost there in the article guys. But anyway, nice to see the Villa on the up and up after a few years in the doldrums. The most important thing you'll need though is a squad not a team. We've learnt that the hard way having to play the likes of Ghaly, Davenport in important matches due to not having enough depth.
muttley
Born in Birmingham. Settled in London via a five year stay in Australia. What does that say? By the way. How is Hackney?
Dannygav
p.s barry is better than jenas, ask any neutral
son_of_cher
i dunno this isnt about footabll nemore so i am no longer commenting this is sad
patspurs123
if aston villa are so much better then spurs how do u explain the difference in position even though spurs have had alot more games 2 play
patspurs123
Patspurs. You make me so happy.
Dannygav
and i dunno bout hackney i am from wood green
patspurs123
I never said that Villa are so much better than Spurs. Are you okay? Do you feel a bit out of your depth?
Dannygav
explain y spurs finished so far above villa. without jammy excuses like injurys because every1 gets them
patspurs123
Last year Spurs finished above Villa because they were the better team. This year however, will be a must close race. I am not say Villa will finish above Spurs or visa versa. I do think that does clubs will challenge the top four.
Dannygav
Spurs fans would only be happy if it was 11-0 as they cannot grasp debate/argument - i would say 7-4 Villa if i was honest.Robinson,Chim,Bouma,Laursen,Mellberg,Barry,Lennon,Berger,Petrov,Carew,Berbatov,
ASPINALL
Patspurs your grammer is rubbing off on me! :-)
Dannygav
I hate tetchy, petty comments and attacks that come from fans and (no offence to the majority of you but) it seems that spurs fans are always behind it. Me and my uni mate (who is a yid through and through), have had a discussion about this, and it's our honest combined line-up of the two squads. Argue all you want, it's com from both of us. Robinson Chimbonda Bouma King Laursen (Why argue over which is better, both would do just fine) Lennon Barry Zokora Berger Keane Berbatov That makes it 7-4 to spurs, but that isn't even the finished article. I know (and so do most) that gabby is going to be special, and young isn't far off Lennon, with his international status counter-acting his poor season just enough to get him in. Carew is a quality forward who can do his job extremely well. and so it goes on. I have always thought that spurs were a great squad, and it's more the attitude of a few extremist fans that puts me off. I genuinely wish you luck in breaking into the illustrious top 4, and believe you have the quality to do it (especially taking into account summer signings). However, i don't see why you feel the need to come in here and ***** all over our bonfire when you know as well as we do that we have the potential to push up in that direction too. Sorry for the essay, but it's all relevant, so whatever.
Carlosio
the only quality in that team aspinalll comes from the spurs players. the proof is in the pudding m8 spurs are better. you could play us 10 times and still not beat us by the look of the games last season. also WE FINISHED HIGHER THEN U it wasnt even close
patspurs123
ashley young is rubbish stop going on about him he looks out of his depth at premiership level.
patspurs123
Patspurs. Sorry mate, you are an idiot.
Dannygav
if jol spoke 2 oneil and goes u can swap bouma 4 lee and young 4 lennon if you want do u really fink he would turn it down. u need 2 think outside the box boys u cant make an article comparin spurs 2 villa and not expect comments. and just because sum1 is a spurs fan doesnt mean they no nething bout football or the spurs team. alot of what people think comes directly from the mouth of pundits commentators and newspapers. e.g you think young is promising when for villa and watford he hasbeen nothing but average and you spent 7 mill on him
patspurs123
your opinion abotu me personally doesnt change the fact that you support a mid table team wanting 2 achieve the success of spurs this season and i support a team aiming to achieve the highest honours.
patspurs123
This all bollox also why does villa's team have Delaney who hasn't kicked a ball for about a year,and players like Cahill and gardner are missing its the amount of quality young homegrown players we have that sets us apart from other teams.
Pking
You won 1 more match than Sheff Utd & looked at times simply woeful,how on earth do you think your going to challenge the top 4..??Was it 3 months you went without winning...??Aim to finish in the top half before you delude yourselves about top 4/6 hey.......
chalky76
By buying new players, see its that simple ;)
bluedose
I also think only the top 3 lost fewer games than us.And we conceded far fewer than yous.
Pking
ye because you play rubbish defensive football thats y u lost so little
patspurs123
Id call that effective defensive football;one day yous will get the hang of it.
Pking
Carlosio you are spot-on mate-Zokora is quality and should have been in list - 6-5 Villa as i`d replace for Berger.
ASPINALL
I couldn't agree more chalky. This article is a complete joke - you boys didn't even make it in the top half?! - next we will have middlesborough fans after the title.....give us one credible reason why you think you might be better than us, or any of the other six teams that finished above you but outside the top four last season? Not to mention Newcastle, West Ham and Man City will be back with a vengeance. Incidentally, Martin Oneil has shown he is pretty terrible with transfers so I wouldn't hold out much hope there: Petrov, Carew (how many goals did he get), and how much did you pay for Young? I genuinely believe that not even Randy's money will help you next season. Reading may well slip below you, but Newcastle and West Ham will both be above you, so Ill go for an 12th place finish, and that is being generous.
wemustsignaleftwinge
Berbatov Vs Your starting 11 11-0 spurs ;)
mooney
why are you picking on middlesborough?
Pking
Thanks for being so kind wemustsignawhatever
bluedose
Good constructive comments from the Spurs fans, as per. Back in the Volvo boys.
Dannygav
Spurs fans - god bless em,more paranoid than a screwed up ex-missus and feel as insecure,must be living in the shadow of Arsenal..........they just need a big hug.We`ll see next season now we have a level playing field.
ASPINALL
Why are we comparing ourselves to anyone when we haven't made any signings yet?It will be a different team thats starts the new season.
Pking
Got to admit it though, Spurs fans are complete Saints compared to Celtic fans.
bluedose
*more
Phartman87
If Villa's starting XI is better (as some of you are suggesting) why did we finish 6 places higher up the league despite playing about 15 fewer games?
Phartman87
That Patspur was the biggest laugh though. A guess that spelling is the product of a real London education!
rotter82
Yous played 15 fewer games?Your a phsycho.
Pking
Dannygav's replies to Patspur was hilarious.
bluedose
Phsycho? Sorry don't speak Brum you'll have to help me out here
Phartman87
Pking - Meant more games. I was just making the point if Villa's squad is better they should have finished higher. 'Pottential' will only get you so far
Phartman87
its in the urban dictionary,someone who is dellusional.
Pking
Oh, so whould I be correct in saying Vital Villa are phsycho's or can't you make it plural?
Phartman87
*would
Phartman87
I think last seasons Villa squad wasn't much different from the 05-06 squad which apart from a few players was awful.The fact we tightened up at the back is good progress after seasons of annual decline,we should improve again next season.
Pking
I don't doubt Villa will improve and probably challenge for atleast a UEFA spot in the next few seasons I just don't think the CURRENT squads are as evenly matched as some of you think which is backed up by the league table. Good luck for next season btw, keep WH out of Europe and i'm happy!
Phartman87
Touche'.
Pking
how can you start on london education. the product of birmingham education = council flat and benefits. you are living in a fantasy world boys villa are rubbish if jol did what oneil did this season he would have been sacked.
patspurs123
Who said all Villa fans live in Birmingham ;)
bluedose
To be honest phartman mate I dont want keep saying it in this post I think this was just aimed at winding yous up,all Villa fans have been praying for a squad clearout and buying better players to supplement our younger players for years.Most of the squad is players D,OL bought for a bit of a laugh I think.
Pking
Djemba Djemba clarifies that comment.
bluedose
What are you talking about BD? The Djemba brothers are the greatest footballing Dynasty since the Charltons!
Phartman87
Djemba Djemba has to be one of the worst signings ever.
Pking
"The Fear you are the most deluded fan on this planet. ScottDaYid" no he's not I am : ) I'll let our boys do the talking for me on the pitch.
steff_the_villan
"And did Ashley Young go to the World cup? wemustsignaleftwinge" did Lennon?????? Can't say I noticed ; )
steff_the_villan
spurs fan's smell there own farts.
chris the villan
To be honest guys, if I remember rightly the last team to break into the top four was Everton. I feel we're doing them a bit of disservice concentrating on the Yids as they have actually qualified for CL footie in recent memory, something Sperms have only dreamt of. Also, they finished just two points behind Spuds with a vastly superior goal difference. Spuds may score goals but they are as leaky as hell. Maybe Deanovilla, you should have stuck with the Everton - Villa comparison as they are obviously so much more balanced than the Spurs.
Rawlie
Excellent point, Rawlie.
villabrownie
Spud baiting. Got to love it.
Dannygav
What did spurs actually win last season - oh thats right NOTHING! How much did they spend? how many points above Villa? 10 I think - Not much to show for the outlay - You aren't that much better than Villa Don't forget at Villa park it took a Villa player to score for u guys. BE AFRAID BE VERY AFRAID my spuds
myleftfoot
myleftfoot.........the key word here is EUROPEAN FOOTBALL, I understand you wont have witnessed that for a fair few years.
ScottDaYid
Everton more balanced than us?? Everton 4th, Everton 15th-17th?. Spurs 5th, Spurs 5th. Yep they certainly sound more balanced.(in a 2 year period)
ScottDaYid
Without looking through my claret & blue tinted spectacles, Spurs are quite a way ahead of us at the moment as far as quality and squad depth are concerned. However, we have suffered from years of under-investment and are probably 2 or 3 years away from Spurs in that respect. If we're honest, how many Villa fans would not be delighted to see the likes of Defoe, Keane, Berbatov, Jenas, King, Bale, Dawson or Chimbonda sign for Villa? All of the above would walk straight into our starting XI at the moment. However, what Villa have is massive potential if the investment is made. In O'Neill we have one of the best managers in the Premiership and a youth acadamy which continues to produce quality players. Cahill can be a world class centre back, if Gabby continues to improve the sky is the limit and Gardner could be the answer to our midfield problems. At the moment though, all we have is potential. We need serious investment to be where Spurs are now and that doesn't account for the fact that they could and should push on even further. If all the 'ifs' come good next season, then we could be pushing for a UEFA place which would be a fantastic season. That shows how far we have fallen and it is going to take us a few years to get back to where we belong. Now we have the right board, the right manager and the right infrastructure in place it won't be long before we fulfil our potential. UTV
Geordie_Villa
Listening to Talksport on the way home last night the two presenters (Adrian Durham and Ian Wright) were discussing events at North Londons big club, the Arse. They were suggesting the club is struggling to reverse a downward spiral and were giving their views on who is most likely to break into the top four this season. Villa was the common consensus, although Spuds were mentioned, as were Newcrapstle providing they can sort their defence out. To summarise Spuds have been better than us for the last two seasons and this means that in 16 years of the Premier League they have finished above us 5 times in total. However we had Ellis in charge for most of that time and we were still better than Spuds. Now we have owners who know how to run a business, it will be interesting to see what the future brings.
voiceoftheholte
The most telling comment on this thread was the one about Everton - they have broken into the top four recently and have performed consistently. I was most impressed with them at VP this season. I bet you most Villa and Spurs fans would only swap Arteta and possibly AJ in thier 1st 11. It is all about results. On paper Arsenal's squad was amazing this year, but they came away with nothing.
tarzan
306 posts in 24 hours, great debate. Now come on somebody, it has to be done Villa v Celtic like for like comparison...........
Jon.H
Thank god we are all agreed then. Spuds have a better forward line. Villa have a better defence. This season will determine if that remains the same. There are two clubs in Narf Landan. A big one and Spuds. Similar to Brum really with the Dildo Salesmen from Somali Heath being a smaller version of Spuds (without the history).
voiceoftheholte
It's interesting that statistically we have a better defence than the fifth placed club in the prem when you consider our first choice centre half was out for all but 12 games, we had an emergency loan keeper for a few games and our first choice right back missed the whole season. We all know that we'll be strengthening at the back and will also be improving what already looks like a promising front line for next season as well. The future's bright, the future's claret and blue.
Jon.H
jon.h, i could but there would be no chance of logical debate there it would just turn into abusive ***** as per usual mate,not like this very good thread for the most part. UTV
Belfast Villain
Scott Da Yid - EUROPEAN FOOTBALL is two words....Any how. Spurs better at present. We are on an upward turn and will be chasing you guys over the next two/three seasons. Expect Young and Lennon to be in next World Cup squad. Peace y'all.
koolbill
Jon.H - spot on dude - gotta be Villa v Celtic next comparison thread !! They are freaking !!
ASPINALL
Interesting article by Deano. One things for certain, Tottenham will be up there again next season, so are obviously one of the main clubs we shall be competing with. We can overtake them that's for sure, but quality signings need to arrive at VP before battles commence in August. Lets recall that it wasn't but three seasons or so back that Spurs came to Villa Park sinking fast, a complete and utter shambles. We beat them 1-0 (JPA scoring-O'Leary's first season) around Easter time, and they (Tottenham) looked a joke. They've turned things around since then quite impressively. Now we have to follow the same route. Last season was a huge step forward for us, now we need to continue our progress and development.
glensider
 

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