Very, very pressed-off

[glasses]

Excellent summaries, all.
As I - apparently - kept saying to anyone who would listen on Saturday evening, "we just didn't turn up".

My abiding thought is that Sherwood has got his job cut out to shape a squad for next season that will not be struggling. A Cheslsea-supporting mate said to me on Saturday morning that he believed a Villa win would create the start of the renewal process toward a strong Villa team. I wonder whether the reverse is also true.

Or, the win may have papered over the cracks

[Dave]

I think mental fatigue was a factor in our last 3 games.Sherwood did his best to get them up to get over the line but as mentioned even 2nd half against West Ham we were flagging.

Which makes the team selection v Burnley appear very odd

I'd say yes and no. Yes because some players could have done with a breather. No, because we just got battered 6-1 and maybe a part of the selection decision was to get them to get over that game with what the manager would have hoped would be a significantly better display. As it happened it was (because it couldn't have been worse) and we still lost. I think the approach backfired and maybe then the writing was on the wall.

It was strange. I understand trying to play your better players into form, so in which case why give a youth team goalkeeper his league debut for no evident reason?

If it's the sort of end-of-season training match in which we can throw in a youth team player, why keep Benteke and Delph on the pitch for 90 underwhelming minutes?

There didn't seem to be any cohesive plan.

[levico]

I've come to the conclusion that if Liverpool had got through to the final they would also have suffered the same fate. Maybe even worse.

[dave.woodhall]

Someone whose opinion I respect made a good point this afternoon. When you're as good as Arsenal you can rest players against the lesser teams, you can play within yourselves and still win, relax and take players off when you go ahead because you know the points are safe. When you're as crap as we've been for most of this season you can't do any of that. You have to give your all in every minute of every match to stand any chance, and all this takes effort.

[Toronto Villa]

I think mental fatigue was a factor in our last 3 games.Sherwood did his best to get them up to get over the line but as mentioned even 2nd half against West Ham we were flagging.

Which makes the team selection v Burnley appear very odd

I'd say yes and no. Yes because some players could have done with a breather. No, because we just got battered 6-1 and maybe a part of the selection decision was to get them to get over that game with what the manager would have hoped would be a significantly better display. As it happened it was (because it couldn't have been worse) and we still lost. I think the approach backfired and maybe then the writing was on the wall.

It was strange. I understand trying to play your better players into form, so in which case why give a youth team goalkeeper his league debut for no evident reason?

If it's the sort of end-of-season training match in which we can throw in a youth team player, why keep Benteke and Delph on the pitch for 90 underwhelming minutes?

There didn't seem to be any plan.

wasn't the GK because Given was injured and not guaranteed for the final, Guzan was therefore going to play, and if he got injured vs Burnley then with Steer cup tied we'd be down to some 16yr old playing vs Arsenal?

[Dave]

wasn't the GK because Given was injured and not guaranteed for the final, Guzan was therefore going to play, and if he got injured vs Burnley then with Steer cup tied we'd be down to some 16yr old playing vs Arsenal?

Like I say, that makes perfect sense.

So if it was because we were worried about a hypothetical injury that leaves us up shit-creek if it happens, why was Benteke on the pitch for 90 minutes rather than letting Gabby run around for a bit?

[PeterWithe]

Wasnt there also a hint that Sherwood didnt know Steer was cup tied, something like him saying he didnt want his (Steer) first game for the club to be at Wembley.

[Dave]

Wasnt there also a hint that Sherwood didnt know Steer was cup tied, something like him saying he didnt want his (Steer) first game for the club to be at Wembley.

I remember the rumour, but I can't imagine for a moment it would be true.

There's no way that Sherwood or the dozen or so people looking after match preparations would all be stupid enough to not be aware of it or think of checking it while getting things ready for the Burnley match.

I hope not, anyway.

[Legion]

On FB Page. Sorry for the delay but my laptop has died and I've had to go back to work to borrow one and get it configured correctly for use at home.

[taylorsworkrate]

I've come to the conclusion that if Liverpool had got through to the final they would also have suffered the same fate. Maybe even worse.

It was luck, rather than judgement that meant we only lost 4-0

[Legion]

It was a minor miracle that we only lost 0-4. That score-line flattered us.

[silhillvilla]

I've come to the conclusion that if Liverpool had got through to the final they would also have suffered the same fate. Maybe even worse.

Disagree, as much as I dislike them, I concede that they have a better big game pedigree than us and ultimately better players.

We have a better manager who just needs the tools to do the job now.

[Proposition Joe]

Liverpool was effectively our final, it's the game in which we peaked and we celebrated that day as if we'd won the cup. The media over-hype afterwards on some of our players added to that feeling. In some ways you could compare that game to winning the League Cup and how winners of that often find it difficult to lift themselves for the rest of the season.
Our lads kept going until the West Ham win, when all thought that would be enough to stay up, as it proved. On Saturday we played like we had nothing left in the tank, and anyone who has played the game will tell you that's as much mental fatigue as physical. 
I was also concerned pre-match about how much of the media attention all week was on us and you felt Arsenal had just been left to prepare in quite. Maybe that side of things also played a part in the mental burn-out.

Added to all that was the fact that Arsenal were bloody good. That can't be overlooked in any analysis of the game and Arsenal fans are talking about it as their best ever Wembley performance.
It reminded me (in reverse) of the 1996 League Cup final - as far as we were concerned we were just brilliant that day, but talk to any Leeds fan and it'll be about how they just didn't turn up. They look back on it in the same way we do Chelsea and 2000 and will do with regards to Saturday.

I've always since wished Dean Holdsworth hadn't missed that open goal in the terrible 2000 semi-final for Bolton and we hadn't reached the final but I feel differently this year. The Liverpool semi-final is what I will remember above everything else, it was a fantastic performance and great day all round. Beating the Albion in the quarter-final made it even better.
Maybe, just for this year, playing the semi-finals at Wembley was the right thing to do.

Good post.  I think things turned in the second half of that West Ham game.  We were buoyant in the first half, only for the energy levels to drop considerably in the 2nd half, especially in players like Grealish and Cleverley.  It was down hill all the way from there.       

It's like our team is an alcoholic.  Lambertball is our particular addition and under Tim we were doing so so well keeping off it and then West Ham 2nd half was our first taste of the hard stuff for ages and we just fell off the wagon big time.

It's going to be a huge fight if most of these players stay to keep them on the wagon.  I'm therefore very intrigued to see what happens personnel-wise this summer.

[tomd2103]

Agree with the article and comments made.The Liverpool semi was the peak for the Sherwood boost. However, the stress and strain of a 4th successive campaign (5 if you count Houllier's season) battling against relegation has taken it's toll. As I posted on the post match thread yesterday, on Saturday the team looked physically knackered and mentally exhausted (except Gabby, you have to have a brain to qualify for the latter!). It was not as if they did not want to win but were incapable of raising their game because they were running on empty and had nothing left to give.

Looking forward if there is not significant strengthening of the playing squad in quality and numbers in this all too short a close season then I can see another struggle next time round. Also TS needs to learn from his mistakes and poor choices, then make fewer of them. And has he got the right people in the key positions in his backroom staff? After all we don not want to be talking about TSM3, that is in T im S herwood, M anager.
(could not get Bold font on first letters only)

Not so sure, as there was still a good performance and result against Everton after that.  I think the West Ham game was where we saw them run out of steam. 

[tomd2103]

Someone whose opinion I respect made a good point this afternoon. When you're as good as Arsenal you can rest players against the lesser teams, you can play within yourselves and still win, relax and take players off when you go ahead because you know the points are safe. When you're as crap as we've been for most of this season you can't do any of that. You have to give your all in every minute of every match to stand any chance, and all this takes effort.

That is a good point Dave and every game in the run in (up to the Burnley game) was a pressure game.  I think it is far more draining both physically and emotionally to be involved in games like that and they take their toll.