Aston Villa under-10's vs Arsenal -FA Cup Final Post-Match Thread

[warleyboy]

The reason Arsenal don't win the league isn't because they can't beat teams like Villa,
it's because they can't beat teams like Chelsea

Relatively speaking it's a little like the jump we need to make it compete with Arsenal. It's not just the huge investment it's a massive cultural shift that would be required. For Arsenal to catch up with Chelsea they would need a similar leap and another big one to bridge the elite CL gap.

It's a much smaller gap for Arsenal.  They need 2 or 3 top players to take them to the next level.  They have the finances to do it, but for some reason Wenger seems reluctant of is too stubborn to address those issues,  We would need the kind of investment that gas happened at Manchester City over a number if years to even get near the top four again,

Yes to compete with chelski, mancs, but just look at what Southampton have done and are achieving, look at Stoke, Swansea....
I envy Southampton at the moment, some really exciting players and great football being played..
I'd take finishing just in the top half of the table for next season, but I have this horrid feeling that we are relegation fodder..
I hope TS proves me wrong.

[Toronto Villa]

The reason Arsenal don't win the league isn't because they can't beat teams like Villa,
it's because they can't beat teams like Chelsea

Relatively speaking it's a little like the jump we need to make it compete with Arsenal. It's not just the huge investment it's a massive cultural shift that would be required. For Arsenal to catch up with Chelsea they would need a similar leap and another big one to bridge the elite CL gap.

It's a much smaller gap for Arsenal.  They need 2 or 3 top players to take them to the next level.  They have the finances to do it, but for some reason Wenger seems reluctant of is too stubborn to address those issues,  We would need the kind of investment that gas happened at Manchester City over a number if years to even get near the top four again,

I'd equate it to losing weight. The initial weight loss is generally quite quick, it's the last few pounds that are the toughest to get to your target. Like Arsenal they are always in the CL but when you say the gap is small, what is required to close the gap isn't easy. It isn't just money. They have it. Can they convince the very best players to join them? Can the manager bridge the gap mentally? It might seem a small gap but year after year they have fallen short for one reason or another.

[Ron Manager]

I think the next news we will get is who he intends to let go. Doesnt look like Alan Hutton is one of those judging by his comments. I would say for certain Phillipe Senderos,Charles N'Zogbia and Andreas Weimann are going. Possibly Joe Cole with Carles Gil and an outside bet of Jores Okore who I think TS doesnt rate too highly.

It is his decision and we may hear something tomorrow.

[john e]

I think the next news we will get is who he intends to let go. Doesnt look like Alan Hutton is one of those judging by his comments. I would say for certain Phillipe Senderos,Charles N'Zogbia and Andreas Weimann are certainties to go. Possibly Joe Cole with Carles Gil and an outside bet of Jores Okore who I think TS doesnt rate too highly.

It is his decision and we may hear something tomorrow.

Problem is if you announce the names and no one wants to buy them you end up with a sort of bomb squad 2

[clash city rocker]

Can't imagine Sherwood would be daft enough to publicly announce the names.

[LTA]

As a glutton for punishment, I've sat and watched the final again this afternoon.  It's even worse watching it back. 

From the outset there was no belief in our side that we could get near to Arsenal  and from the off, we retreated very quickly into our shell.   All the high energy we showed up till a few weeks ago was nowhere to be seen.  There was no looking up to see where anyone was.  It was just hoof to the big man and hope for the best.   The total lack of width was just glaring. 

Even Sherwoods body language before hand looked that of a man who knew we were beaten before we started.

[Toronto Villa]

Why on earth would you do that?

[john e]

As a glutton for punishment, I've sat and watched the final again this afternoon.  It's even worse watching it back. 

From the outset there was no belief in our side that we could get near to Arsenal  and from the off, we retreated very quickly into our shell.   All the high energy we showed up till a few weeks ago was nowhere to be seen.  There was no looking up to see where anyone was.  It was just hoof to the big man and hope for the best.   The total lack of width was just glaring. 

Even Sherwoods body language before hand looked that of a man who knew we were beaten before we started.

I can't watch the match back, but have seen the players picking up their losers medals
Sherwood looks absolutely gutted, almost in tears, looks like he was taking it hard

Which in a perverse way is good to see

[VillaAlways]

I got nervous when I saw the team selection. Would preferred to see Sinclair &Blacuna in to give us width

Even more nervous when someone wished Sherwood good luck and he replied "We will need it".  Didn't look confident from the off.

Did he really ? And he says the players have a losing mentality!

[ChicagoLion]

I've been a big fan of Sherwood since he arrived, but he was found wanting yesterday.  He seems to have the mindset that the 4-3-2-1 worked against Liverpool, so it must automatically work against Arsenal, and it quite obviously didn't.  The three of Cleverley, Delph and Westwood were completely bypassed, and Grealish and N'Zogbia offered nothing at all.  I know it's easy to say with hindsight, but the signs were there in the Southampton game, and so I'd have gone:

Given/Guzan
Bacuna Vlaar Baker Richardson
Grealish Sanchez Cleverley Delph Gabby
Benteke

Exactly how I see it and exactly the team I would have picked. I can not understand why he did not change it, he needed to get Zog off and Sanchez on to help out the midfield which was being over run. We were so lucky to have got to Half Time only 1 goal down. Sorry I blame Sherwood, he got it completely wrong and did not try and change before it was too late.

[pauliewalnuts]

I've been a big fan of Sherwood since he arrived, but he was found wanting yesterday.  He seems to have the mindset that the 4-3-2-1 worked against Liverpool, so it must automatically work against Arsenal, and it quite obviously didn't.  The three of Cleverley, Delph and Westwood were completely bypassed, and Grealish and N'Zogbia offered nothing at all.  I know it's easy to say with hindsight, but the signs were there in the Southampton game, and so I'd have gone:

Given/Guzan
Bacuna Vlaar Baker Richardson
Grealish Sanchez Cleverley Delph Gabby
Benteke

I honestly thought we had a chance, and then when they showed the line ups before kick off, I realised we had to contend with a really excellent five man midfield with a fast player up front, and we were playing Delph, Cleverly and Westwood in our mid, with Grealish and N'Zogbia ahead of them.

I am no tactical genius, but I couldn't see how that was possibly going to work.

I'm not a massive fan of Carlos Sanchez, but if ever there was a game to play him in, this was it.

[richard moore]

I've been a big fan of Sherwood since he arrived, but he was found wanting yesterday.  He seems to have the mindset that the 4-3-2-1 worked against Liverpool, so it must automatically work against Arsenal, and it quite obviously didn't.  The three of Cleverley, Delph and Westwood were completely bypassed, and Grealish and N'Zogbia offered nothing at all.  I know it's easy to say with hindsight, but the signs were there in the Southampton game, and so I'd have gone:

Given/Guzan
Bacuna Vlaar Baker Richardson
Grealish Sanchez Cleverley Delph Gabby
Benteke

I don't think that would have made a blind bit of difference to be honest. That team is barely any better than the one that played, certainly not in any sort of meaningful way. We need a huge clear out.

[Toronto Villa]

I was somewhat the same. When the line ups were announced for Liverpool I looked at it and thought we've genuinely got a chance here. Versus Arsenal it was really a case of us playing an A+ game and them not playing to their capabilities. As it happened we shit the bed and they played to their normal level and we were blown away. I'm not sure what side or system we could have put out to combat what they had yesterday. In fact a good number of their bench could have started for us.

[LTA]

Why on earth would you do that?

I just wanted to see it again without any distractions to see if I could pick anything that I didn't at the game.  It was mainly the body language that I saw of a team that was beaten before the game began. 

[KRS]

My thoughts and emotions were too raw to post on here last night, but after a good nights sleep...I'm still very pissed off with the pathetic no show performance but can afford to be slightly more reflective.

On the whole, it was a great day...from arriving at Wembley just after 10am, walking up a quiet Wembley way, chilled out coffee and chat at Starbucks overlooking Wembley stadium, breakfast at F&Bs...then a sun soaked afternoon drinking in the Green Man (my slap head is nicely sun burnt today!). Everything was going well until the game...and thats where things went well and truly tits up.

Everything has been said already, but the things that stand out for me is that our worst fears were played out right before our very eyes...we all knew that we had to get into them to stand any chance of causing a cup final upset, but the players simply didn't turn up...they played with fear and stood off them when we didn't have the ball, and we were clueless and sluggish going forward, losing possession as quickly as we got it, and never carried a threat. It looked as though Arsenal stopped trying after 70 minutes but we still looked beyond shite. Arsenal won't have an easier game against a non-entity of a football team for a while.

What really boils my piss is how we can go from playing some of the best football I've seen Villa play for years in the last couple of months to 3 of the worst against Southampton, Burnley and Arsenal...I really can't work out how we can go from being described in the media as "just like watching Brazil" to just like watching a Sunday league team. We were playing incisive high tempo pass and move football, and the players were playing with passion, work ethic and creativity...something must have happened behind the scenes for that to disappear as quickly as it appeared and to return to a team incapable of passing to each other and lumping hopefully long balls and crosses into Benteke.

We didn't really get a new manager "bounce" as such when TS first walked in...it took a while for performances and results to improve but I genuinely thought "we'd got our Villa back" and we were right in our thinking that the squad wasn't as bad as we'd feared. I thought the corner had been turned and the players were showing that they are actually decent footballers...but it appears that corner was more of hair pin bend if the last 3 games are a more accurate reflection of their abilities. We are told that form goes out of the window in big games like the FA Cup Final...but we simply carried on where we left off against Southampton and Burnley.

Pathetic. Embarrassing. Humiliating. Unacceptable.

...oh, and to end on a slightly more positive note...apparently the fact that we made it to the FA Cup Final and came second out of over 700 teams that took part should be something to make me feel better...but I tend to think that is very much clutching at straws and doesn't paper over the cracks that we were absolutely shite.