It's not Sherwood!

[Dante Lavelli]

Sherwood said before the game that the selection of Walcott meant that the team's tactic would change.  I think the defence sat too deep, fearing Walcott's pace, and consequently the midfield was over-run.

We were quite happy to just play our own game in the semi-final in spite of them having Sterling's pace up front.

Exactly.  I'm not sure why he didn't have the balls to do it v Arsenal.  It was very un-sherwood.

[Archie]

With the quality  players that Arsenal have, and the money that they spend for them (Ozil probably costs more than the entire Villa squad) Wenger should have won many more trophies than two FA Cups in ten years.
Yes, they are good to watch as they are capable to play an attractive, flowing,  attacking football, especially against crap teams as we are,  but I am convinced that with another manager thay would have won much more  trophies.

[Toronto Villa]

The fact that Sherwood came in and was able to change what he was able to change in such a short time was remarkable. We were dead and buried after Hull. The FA Cup was a nice bonus and as a hugely disappointing as it was he didn't come in for that reason. And he has made mistakes along the way and much of that comes from the trial and error methods that had to employ.

Now that the dust is starting to settle and it will still take a few weeks, he will have a far better idea of what he wants in the future. Certain players will be gone. Certain negative influences need to be worked out of system. He can't do it all on his own and he won't.

I am going to reserve proper judgement on the manager until next season. Let's see what he creates for himself. If it goes shit shaped next season he'll only have himself to blame. For now he took a mess, kept us up and got us to a cup final. And in the process got us playing some cracking football at times. For doing that he has provided a bit of hope for the future.

[john e]

With the quality  players that Arsenal have, and the money that they spend for them (Ozil probably costs more than the entire Villa squad) Wenger should have won many more trophies than two FA Cups in ten years.
Yes, they are good to watch as they are capable to play an attractive, flowing,  attacking football, especially against crap teams as we are,  but I am convinced that with another manager thay would have won much more  trophies.

true

but I would rather watch the football Arsenal play every week for the last 10 years and win little than watch Chelsea play there stuff and win loads

I realise i will be in a small minority here

[myf]

With the quality  players that Arsenal have, and the money that they spend for them (Ozil probably costs more than the entire Villa squad) Wenger should have won many more trophies than two FA Cups in ten years.
Yes, they are good to watch as they are capable to play an attractive, flowing,  attacking football, especially against crap teams as we are,  but I am convinced that with another manager thay would have won much more  trophies.

harsh IMO. He's had to compete with man city, Chelsea and manu who have all had an abundance of riches.  Arsenal have only spent really big in last few years and had to sell some good players to their rivals.  Now that they've paid for their their stadium they are quids in and should be a force to be reckoned with  in the next few years. Wengers a gaffer we  can only dream off

[Clampy]

Sherwood said before the game that the selection of Walcott meant that the team's tactic would change.  I think the defence sat too deep, fearing Walcott's pace, and consequently the midfield was over-run.

We were quite happy to just play our own game in the semi-final in spite of them having Sterling's pace up front.

Exactly.  I'm not sure why he didn't have the balls to do it v Arsenal.  It was very un-sherwood.

Although, Arsenal have a lot more quality players than Liverpool. It wasn't just Walcott we had to worry about.

[Rudy65]

With the quality  players that Arsenal have, and the money that they spend for them (Ozil probably costs more than the entire Villa squad) Wenger should have won many more trophies than two FA Cups in ten years.
Yes, they are good to watch as they are capable to play an attractive, flowing,  attacking football, especially against crap teams as we are,  but I am convinced that with another manager thay would have won much more  trophies.

true

but I would rather watch the football Arsenal play every week for the last 10 years and win little than watch Chelsea play there stuff and win loads

I realise i will be in a small minority here

Where does this Chelsea are shite to watch come from?

Its rubbish.

So you would rather win nothing for 9 years and play fancy football than win a stack load of trophies with the likes of Lampard, Hazard, Drogba, Terry, Oscar, Costa, Fabragas etc etc in your team and playing some very decent stuff

[Toronto Villa]

Sherwood said before the game that the selection of Walcott meant that the team's tactic would change.  I think the defence sat too deep, fearing Walcott's pace, and consequently the midfield was over-run.

We were quite happy to just play our own game in the semi-final in spite of them having Sterling's pace up front.

Exactly.  I'm not sure why he didn't have the balls to do it v Arsenal.  It was very un-sherwood.

Although, Arsenal have a lot more quality players than Liverpool. It wasn't just Walcott we had to worry about.

Arsenal would have torn a lot of teams apart yesterday, including Liverpool. If yesterday's game highlighted the gulf in quality between us and Arsenal then it should be a particular concern to sides like Liverpool who have spent a fortune to look as poor as they did by the end of the season.

[kippaxvilla2]

It's quite obvious to me that whatever happens from now on Sherwood is going to be yet another manager that completely polarises fan opinion until the inevitable day he departs these shores.

[SoccerHQ]

Sherwood said before the game that the selection of Walcott meant that the team's tactic would change.  I think the defence sat too deep, fearing Walcott's pace, and consequently the midfield was over-run.

We were quite happy to just play our own game in the semi-final in spite of them having Sterling's pace up front.

Exactly.  I'm not sure why he didn't have the balls to do it v Arsenal.  It was very un-sherwood.

I think we were more petrified of Arsenal's midfield 5 which is complete and utter class, far better than Liverpool's in the semi where Gerrard was with his walking stick.

[Toronto Villa]

With the quality  players that Arsenal have, and the money that they spend for them (Ozil probably costs more than the entire Villa squad) Wenger should have won many more trophies than two FA Cups in ten years.
Yes, they are good to watch as they are capable to play an attractive, flowing,  attacking football, especially against crap teams as we are,  but I am convinced that with another manager thay would have won much more  trophies.

true

but I would rather watch the football Arsenal play every week for the last 10 years and win little than watch Chelsea play there stuff and win loads

I realise i will be in a small minority here

Where does this Chelsea are shite to watch come from?

Its rubbish.

So you would rather win nothing for 9 years and play fancy football than win a stack load of trophies with the likes of Lampard, Hazard, Drogba, Terry, Oscar, Costa, Fabragas etc etc in your team and playing some very decent stuff

Chelsea have been dull to watch this season mainly because they haven't had really stretch themselves. I agree that over the years they've had some very good sides who have been ruthless in how they have handled their business. For me as much as Arsenal are incredible to watch at times we've all seen them succumb to those sides who are organized and disciplined. Arsenals plan A when it works is on par with any side in the world. When it doesn't they get frustrated very quickly and they've had their arses handed to them quite a few times. That includes by us.

[john e]

With the quality  players that Arsenal have, and the money that they spend for them (Ozil probably costs more than the entire Villa squad) Wenger should have won many more trophies than two FA Cups in ten years.
Yes, they are good to watch as they are capable to play an attractive, flowing,  attacking football, especially against crap teams as we are,  but I am convinced that with another manager thay would have won much more  trophies.

true

but I would rather watch the football Arsenal play every week for the last 10 years and win little than watch Chelsea play there stuff and win loads

I realise i will be in a small minority here

Where does this Chelsea are shite to watch come from?

Its rubbish.

So you would rather win nothing for 9 years and play fancy football than win a stack load of trophies with the likes of Lampard, Hazard, Drogba, Terry, Oscar, Costa, Fabragas etc etc in your team and playing some very decent stuff

I didn't say they were rubbish, you don't win the stuff they have won by being rubbish, and also Mourinho is probably the best manager ever

but I would still prefer watching Arsenal, I don't much care for that footballing stealth stuff

Chelsea are like Mayweather, the best there is domestically, but Mayweather is not that exciting to watch because his whole game plan is about not getting hit

I did say I would be in a small minority

[ozzjim]

The difference with Liverpool is we clearly felt our midfield could out work and it play them, which we did. Yesterday I looked at the 5 in for Arsenal and just thought oh crap before a ball was kicked. They have a stunningly good midfield, and should be up there with Chelsea but Wenger refuses to buy basics to get them there.

[tomd2103]

The difference with Liverpool is we clearly felt our midfield could out work and it play them, which we did. Yesterday I looked at the 5 in for Arsenal and just thought oh crap before a ball was kicked. They have a stunningly good midfield, and should be up there with Chelsea but Wenger refuses to buy basics to get them there.

Agree.  Their midfield 5 destroyed us at Villa Park earlier in the season and it was the same again yesterday.  the sobering thought is that as back up, they also have the likes of Wilshere, Arteta and Oxlade-Chamberlain.  A top class keeper, centre half, defensive midfielder and striker to add a bit of physicality alongside those players and they would be right up there.   

[SoccerHQ]

Arsenal have clear balance in midfield now with Cocquelin in there. Before it was Arteta who can't run nowadays and Wilshere who just wanted to get forward and score so when he loses the ball on the edge of the box so you could easily counter attack them as we did in August 2013 down there.

Cocquelin isn't bothered about any of that, he'll happily stay on the halfway line all game.

He isn't quite elite though certainly not when you compare him to players like Matic, Paul Pogba or even Morgan Schnderlein who Arsenal are still being linked with.