54veteran

Seems Villa are leading the injuries table with 10 players out, and Spurs 9. It all makes you wonder whether the PL is sustainable in its present form. Midway through November and it's a friggin war zone out there. How much are the tv rights going to be worth when all the star players are missing? It all seems like a bad business plan to me

Can't run AND have the PL heavyweights kicking the sh*t out of you though

At 17, I doubt he has the stamina for 90 minutes, however talented. If we'd given him and others 45 minutes from day one, the injury crisis may not have got this silly.

I don't think we'll be the only ones scratching around for 11 fit players come Xmas. The PL is becoming a gladiatorial sport for the amusement of a bloodthirsty tv audience. Don't fancy anyone's chances in the CL right now

which is another way of saying we have no real faith in them.

Simple. Players over 30 can't handle two matches a week.

Like the French World Cup team?

The complete lack of fightback today suggests some kind of player protest over Ray's departure. Was JT's injury for real? Sounded fishy to me. I think maybe the players are sending out a message that the dressing room is as important as the boardroom. And do you really bring the kids on when you're 2-0 down? Is there anything more likely to sap their confidence? Bring them on at the beginning when they can make their mark, not as a desperate measure when you've run out of ideas.

But they need real PL experience now, not next Spring when we're struggling to put a team together from the walking wounded. Unless we start using more players on a regular basis we're going to hiccup our way through the season instead of cruising the way we should be able to with our squad.

Not having anyone snapping at our heels should allow us to go out and play with confidence but, with a weakened side, we may have to grind this one out. If we're going to use the youngsters, I just hope it's early on. They're never going to make their mark otherwise.

Nice one Villa.

The truth will never be known, any more than we really know what happened with Mourinho. Your lips are sealed when you leave this club.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Step up Mr. McEachran. Let's not forget our now ex-assistant manager was captain of the side at 18.

Carlo must reckon his English is up to scratch now, so he won't need an interpreter. It's a mystery to me how any of them communicate the finer points to each other. Drogba talking to Zhirkov? The mind boggles.

I think we could have done with a dribbler in the last 20 minutes. Katuta might have been able to slow things down and pick up free kicks round the box. You really don't want end to end stuff when you're trying to kill the game

For a top side we're not very good at holding the ball up in the closing stages. Essiens' tackle shouldn't have been necessary if the front players had been doing their job

I'd rather City won that one, preferably in the tenth minute of injury time. I hope we don't play Drogba. He can't possibly be fully recovered

Bite the bullet and give McEachran the first 45 I say.Then give Ramires the 2nd half, even if Josh plays well. Genuine rotation, week in week out, is the way forward

Let's not get things out of perspective. Liverpool were all over us like a rash in midfield, and would probably have beaten anyone on that form. For them it was a cup final, for us just another away fixture.They won't be able to play like that every week though

Fair result, but the CL hangover seems to be a fact of life, only ManU picking up points with a jammy home win. We could afford to lose this given that Arsenal are probably going to be our main challengers

Unlike last season, we don't seem to have any weak links in the squad, and there is a spirit and understanding that was lacking when we had Ballack and Deco strolling about and drawing their pensions. We can pretty much do without any individual player now.....well, apart from Cech of course.

Anelka. I don't think any other PL player could have scored that goal

City were in top gear that day, but they haven't been able to sustain it. Ok, we were in 2nd gear, but then went to Russia and got the points. Top gear every week isn't an option in the modern game and changing gear during a match is as difficult as it's ever been.

Not a good time to be playing at Anfield. It's a very big game for them, so they'll be throwing the kitchen sink at us from the start. Everyone will be trying to rebuild their reputations but, if we can get to half time and silence the crowd, I think we'll grind them down second half.

If the "virus" was anything like flu, there are no fancy treatment for speeding recovery, and he was probably still a bit fragile. For me Drog thinks faster than anyone in the team, and his exquisite little touches are at least as important as the goals he scores. Sure, he looked a little casual at times, but you have to allow that in a player of his type. Compare his overall contribution to Adebayor's for example!! Finally Wenger has found a team prepared to stand and watch Arsenal play.