Aston Villa Academy v Liverpool All Stars FA Cup 3rd Rd post match thread

[Lastfootstamper]

Small point of order, kippax. I know time's lost all meaning of late, but it was 5 years ago, not 4.

[Allan C]

Following on from Martyn’s post above.  Four years ago today was the debacle at Wycombe.  Fans and players tearing into each other at the side of the pitch and the players being roundly abused as they got onto the coach afterwards.  Probably the shoddiest excuse for effort I’ve ever seen in a first team game.  The transformation to today is monumental.

Great post, watching that day was possibly as low as it got for me. I remember the attitude of the players and the disrespect they showed to the fans and the shirt. Yesterday was one of my proudest. I was still dancing round the living room and screaming at half time after our goal

[OCD]

2 years ago we were mid-table in the Championship. The growth and improvement in the club is quite astonishing really.

Some of the absences yesterday were because some of the kids had been in contact with the first team. Aaron and Jacob Ramsey both live in their family home for instance. The commentator mentioned something about Philogene-Bidace living with someone from the first team squad too.

What a great buzz there must now be around the youth sides and the club as a whole. The first team must have watched that and been proud too. It wouldn't surprise me if the first team squad do something for the kids to commemorate the occasion.

As an aside, Klopp said pre-match that was the team they had trained all week for and would have played against us. The way the kids cut through them for their goal makes me think our first team would have a field day...again! The first team must have watched that thinking the same too.

[eddiemunster]

There's a few decent players in that side. It's going to be interesting to see where they end up.

Salah and Mane will probably go to Madrid. The others didn't look all that to me.

  Absolutely love your comment Dave, wish I'd thought of it first!!

[OCD]

Worth mentioning that our kids hadn't played for a month.

[Stinkin_Thinkin]

Interesting to see Michael Owen go from grumpy old pro to being lit up by young Louie.

It did remind me of owen against Argentina, the way he got across the defender. great vision for the pass aswell.

[cdbearsfan]

Nah, he didn't dive.

[Risso]

Interesting to see Michael Owen go from grumpy old pro to being lit up by young Louie.

It did remind me of owen against Argentina, the way he got across the defender. great vision for the pass aswell.

Size of the bugger these days. He must be as wide as he is tall.

[The Edge]

2 years ago we were mid-table in the Championship. The growth and improvement in the club is quite astonishing really.

Some of the absences yesterday were because some of the kids had been in contact with the first team. Aaron and Jacob Ramsey both live in their family home for instance. The commentator mentioned something about Philogene-Bidace living with someone from the first team squad too.

What a great buzz there must now be around the youth sides and the club as a whole. The first team must have watched that and been proud too. It wouldn't surprise me if the first team squad do something for the kids to commemorate the occasion.

As an aside, Klopp said pre-match that was the team they had trained all week for and would have played against us. The way the kids cut through them for their goal makes me think our first team would have a field day...again! The first team must have watched that thinking the same too.

Re: Your opening sentence. I know a couple of blues knuckle draggers I hate to admit I'm related to some too. They hero worship that muppet Paul Mitchell and I really love to point out that was a sliding doors moment when he Judas'ed Jack Grealish. Grealish scored the winner and we've never looked back since. It really grinds their gears.We should have our own Paul Mitchell day to thank him for kick starting our club back on the road to greatness.

[MorrisNielson]

Youngest Aston Villa Debuts (subject to change due to lack of creditable sources!):
1969-70 - Brown JK - Bolton Wanderers - League - 15 years & 349 days
1959-60 - Ashe NJ - Swansea City - League - 16 years & 47 days
2014-15 - Hepburn-Murphy RMA - Sunderland - League - 16 years & 176 days
1957-58 - Hazelden W - West Bromwich Albion - League - 16 years & 269 days
1960-61 - Baker AR - Fulham - League - 16 years & 290 days
1963-64 - Wright MJ - Blackpool - League - 16 years & 347 days
2020-21 - Chrisene BJ - Liverpool - FA Cup - 16 years & 362 days
2020-21 - Swinkels SL - Liverpool - FA Cup - 17 years & 2 days
2020-21 - Bogarde L - Liverpool - FA Cup - 17 years & 3 days
1960-61 - Sleeuwenhoek JC - Bolton Wanderers - League - 17 years & 37 days
1997-98 - Barry G - Sheffield Wednesday - League - 17 years & 68 days
2020-21 - Rowe EJ - Liverpool - FA Cup - 17 years & 83 days
1975-76 - Cowans GS - Manchester City - League - 17 years & 103 days
2000-01 - Cooke SL - Celta Vigo - Inter-Toto Cup - 17 years & 169 days
1978-79 - Jenkins LR - Ipswich Town - League - 17 years & 176 days
1960-61 - Brown R - Rotherham United - League Cup - 17 years & 177 days
1976-77 - Linton I - Stoke City - League - 17 years & 177 days
1984-85 - Daley AM - Southampton - League - 17 years & 184 days
2008-09 - Delfouneso NA - FH Hafnarfjardar - UEFA Cup - 17 years & 194 days
2020-21 - Barry LM - Liverpool - FA Cup - 17 years & 201 days
1978-79 - Shaw GR - Bristol City - League - 17 years & 217 days
1999-00 - Bewers JA - Tottenham Hotspurs - League - 17 years & 218 days
1973-74 - Campbell RM - Sunderland - League - 17 years & 219 days
2015-16 - Green AJ - Tottenham Hotspurs - League - 17 years & 231 days
2019-20 - Archer CD - Crewe Alexandra - League Cup - 17 years & 261 days
2018-19 - Ramsey JMDC - West Bromwich Albion - League - 17 years & 264 days

[cdbearsfan]

Brilliant research.🙂

[Bent Neilsens Screamer]

Can’t see this anywhere else. Taken from the Athletic by Gregg  Evans

Aston Villa’s team of teenagers had the champions worried.

The gallant young troops were called upon to tackle Liverpool after a COVID-19 outbreak ruled the entire first-team squad out of the contest.

In what was surely the strangest game in Villa’s long history, the youngsters — all of whom made their debuts — had just 24 hours to prepare for the tie.

This is the story of how Mark Delaney and the club put together a patched-up team that held the title-winners at the break before succumbing to a 4-1 defeat.

It includes a whirlwind 24 hours of phone calls and last-minute preparations for Delaney, pep-talks and messages of support from senior players, a player recalled from step seven to add experience, parents dropping teenagers to the stadium and a minibus taking them home — and a pumped-up performance full of grit and fight.

Rain pelted down on the West Midlands streets, turning snow into an icy, slippery surface on Friday morning. If it was uncomfortable to walk outside, the steps that Delaney would take throughout the day would become even more daunting. How do you prepare for a game of this magnitude in such a short space of time?

The chaos had already started on Thursday when 14 positive COVID-19 cases were returned in the regular round of testing. With every member of the first-team bubble forced into isolation, Delaney was called upon to fix up a team. Only the preparation was different.

When Villa beat Liverpool 7-2 in the Premier League back in September, the manager Dean Smith had the benefit of a detailed and well-structured training schedule created specifically to target the opponents’ weaknesses. Delaney, however, relied on a quick video analysis session at Villa Park before the match as preparation. Some of the players were even dropped at the stadium by their parents. There was no pre-match meal together or even a match-related workout to fall back on. After four weeks without a competitive game, they were simply asked to turn up and compete.

Initially, Smith was planning to rotate his team and use some of the fringe players in the game. That team had trained earlier in the week in advance of the game and were ready to start shape work on Thursday.

Then came the setback. Every member of the first-team bubble was tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday but when so many cases — including nine first-team players — returned positive, the entire set-up had to then enter into a period of isolation. As some of the top under-23 players such as Carney Chukwuemeka, Jadon Philogene-Bidance and both Jacob and Aaron Ramsey — had also been training with Smith’s group, the task of assembling a back-up team was difficult. Could Villa really put together a squad made up largely of under-21s for a televised match against the best team in the country? Cue panic and confusion.

The first step was to cancel Smith’s pre-match press conference. Like the rest of the first-team, he began isolating. Smith called Delaney to tell him he may have to step in.

“I was just preparing for a normal Thursday training session,” the under-23s coach said.

The session went ahead as planned but if the talent pool looked slim, it was because most of the top young players had already been ruled out. There were also plenty of confused faces when the players and coaching staff were told that they would be tested afterwards.

What had just felt like an ordinary midweek session had, in reality, become preparation for the biggest game of the players’ lives. Villa Park under the lights against Jurgen Klopp’s, Liverpool… as a teenager. It’s what dreams are made of.

It’s no surprise then, that the following hours were filled with both nerves and anticipation. As the club waited overnight for the fast-tracked test results to come back on Friday morning, it felt like the hours before Christmas for the teenagers.

Some players sought the advice of their experienced peers while members of the first-team got in touch to wish them well. Others had lengthy conversations with their representatives, many of whom are former players.

One member of the team received some useful instructions that he took on board. “Put yourself about, run your socks off and show how much you want to play for the football club,” he was told, echoing Delaney’s message from earlier this season where he said: “If you wear your heart on your sleeve for this club you will get your rewards.”

Villa supporters appreciate effort and enthusiasm and while there weren’t any inside to offer their backing, the thousands watching across the globe acted as a encouraging alternative.

Another player was also told to “be vocal”. For a young group, there were some loud voices out there, especially during a period of productivity before the break.

Smith also addressed the group via video link before the game wishing them well and telling all those in the squad to enjoy the experience.

At times it was testing beyond belief. Sadio Mane’s opener after just three minutes didn’t help. Villa’s squad numbers made the teamsheet look like the middle of a takeaway menu and it was very much as you would expect; men against boys. The youngest-ever Villa team in history were camped inside their own half for the majority of the game, but only late on did they really crumble, and even then, the scoreline stayed respectable.

It was an inspired effort given that Delaney didn’t even know his starting line-up until just eight hours before the game. He told many of his players that they were in the squad via a phone call. Then there was a mad rush to get shirts printed and the kit laid out in the dressing room in time.

With the two first-team kitmen isolating, the job fell to the another member of staff in the department. It was eventually completed with time to spare. For the first time this season Villa were not allowed to advertise the LT.com betting partner patch on the arms of their shirts because the team was made up largely of players under the age of 18.

Their excited reaction on arrival to the ground two hours before kick-off showed a wonderful youth and exuberance. The players took selfies with their hanging shirts and sent the pictures to loved ones. Some parents were there waiting at the end to pick them up while a minibus was laid on to take the other stragglers home.

Were they deflated by a big defeat? Not a chance. Instead they were filled with joy and delight with memories and mementos that will last a lifetime.

Louie Barry swapped shirts with Fabinho and then quickly grabbed his own back as well, no doubt realising the importance of retaining such a prized asset. And they say the magic of the FA Cup has disappeared. No doubt the 17-year-old’s equalising goal was certainly the Villa highlight, but Kaine Kesler also looks a future star in the making, too.

Lamare Bogarde showed good energy in the heart of midfield on the same day as he signed his first professional contract. Dom Revan wore the armband to become the least experienced captain in Villa’s history, Akos Onodi made some impressive saves and Jake Walker, recalled from a loan spell at Alvechurch in step seven of the league system specifically for the game, stood firm as one of only four starters past his teenage years.  His social media following increased significantly in the build-up to the game, and like his team-mates, he emerged from the outing with praise.

Unused substitute, Taylor Hart, might not have got on, but it was quite the rise for another young member of the squad. In 2015 he was a part of Villa’s under-11s who travelled to Wembley to watch the FA Cup semi-final win over Liverpool where Jack Grealish first made his name on the real big stage. Last night he sat in the stands close to Jurgen Klopp, watching his pals run a wealth of talent so close that they had to bring on the big-guns in the second half just to finish the job.

Delaney, with his 22-year association at Villa as a player and a coach, had been in the dugout hundreds of times before. But as the first-team manager, for a game live on BT Sport, and with the watching world assessing his every movement, this was completely different.

He stuck to his traditional attire; shorts in sub-zero temperatures, with a club coat and a woolly hat. He looked familiar but nothing in the textbook could have prepared him for such a whirlwind 24 hours.

“It has been manic,” he said, explaining how both Smith and assistant boss John Terry had called him up throughout the day to help him through his moment in the spotlight.

Delaney’s day started by ringing around his young group of teenagers, many of whom still live at home with their parents or in digs provided by the club, to reveal whether they were in or out in the hours before kick-off.

He then had to liaise with the club’s head of communications to find out the schedule for his pre and post-match media duties, before calming the nerves of his players to get them prepared for Henderson, Milner, Salah and co.

Such was the scale of change in the starting line-up, Villa’s content team even provided a stats pack for reporters with information on player positions and offered advice on pronunciations.

It was a strange night full of unusual surroundings. The players’ car park, usually packed to the rafters, had so many empty spaces. Range Rovers were replaced by vehicles in a significantly lower insurance group by essential workers of just the tender age of 16 and 17. What was their answer if the lockdown police questioned the reason for being out late at night?

“I was asked to stop Salah and Firmino, officer.” And for a while, they nearly did.

What happens next will depend on their development, of course, and while it’s unlikely we’ll see many in the first-team again, this fixture could be the springboard to future success.

It was for a clutch of players in December 2019 when Liverpool had to field a young group due to the participation in the Club World Cup. Caoimhin Kelleher has since jumped ahead of Adrian to become No.2 to Allison, Ki-Jana Hoever moved to Wolves for a fee potentially rising to £13.5million, Harvey Elliott is doing well on loan at Blackburn Rovers and central midfielder Leighton Clarkson has featured in the Champions League.

Asked how they felt after the outing, Delaney said: “Shattered!”

“They’re proud of what they have done, but they’re shattered.”

Winston Churchill famously once said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” The bravery that Villa’s under-age rookies showed suggests they gave it their best shot.

[Risso]

Gregg's actually got quite good since he left the local rag.

[The Edge]

Can’t see this anywhere else. Taken from the Athletic by Gregg  Evans

Aston Villa’s team of teenagers had the champions worried.

The gallant young troops were called upon to tackle Liverpool after a COVID-19 outbreak ruled the entire first-team squad out of the contest.

In what was surely the strangest game in Villa’s long history, the youngsters — all of whom made their debuts — had just 24 hours to prepare for the tie.

This is the story of how Mark Delaney and the club put together a patched-up team that held the title-winners at the break before succumbing to a 4-1 defeat.

It includes a whirlwind 24 hours of phone calls and last-minute preparations for Delaney, pep-talks and messages of support from senior players, a player recalled from step seven to add experience, parents dropping teenagers to the stadium and a minibus taking them home — and a pumped-up performance full of grit and fight.

Rain pelted down on the West Midlands streets, turning snow into an icy, slippery surface on Friday morning. If it was uncomfortable to walk outside, the steps that Delaney would take throughout the day would become even more daunting. How do you prepare for a game of this magnitude in such a short space of time?

The chaos had already started on Thursday when 14 positive COVID-19 cases were returned in the regular round of testing. With every member of the first-team bubble forced into isolation, Delaney was called upon to fix up a team. Only the preparation was different.

When Villa beat Liverpool 7-2 in the Premier League back in September, the manager Dean Smith had the benefit of a detailed and well-structured training schedule created specifically to target the opponents’ weaknesses. Delaney, however, relied on a quick video analysis session at Villa Park before the match as preparation. Some of the players were even dropped at the stadium by their parents. There was no pre-match meal together or even a match-related workout to fall back on. After four weeks without a competitive game, they were simply asked to turn up and compete.

Initially, Smith was planning to rotate his team and use some of the fringe players in the game. That team had trained earlier in the week in advance of the game and were ready to start shape work on Thursday.

Then came the setback. Every member of the first-team bubble was tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday but when so many cases — including nine first-team players — returned positive, the entire set-up had to then enter into a period of isolation. As some of the top under-23 players such as Carney Chukwuemeka, Jadon Philogene-Bidance and both Jacob and Aaron Ramsey — had also been training with Smith’s group, the task of assembling a back-up team was difficult. Could Villa really put together a squad made up largely of under-21s for a televised match against the best team in the country? Cue panic and confusion.

The first step was to cancel Smith’s pre-match press conference. Like the rest of the first-team, he began isolating. Smith called Delaney to tell him he may have to step in.

“I was just preparing for a normal Thursday training session,” the under-23s coach said.

The session went ahead as planned but if the talent pool looked slim, it was because most of the top young players had already been ruled out. There were also plenty of confused faces when the players and coaching staff were told that they would be tested afterwards.

What had just felt like an ordinary midweek session had, in reality, become preparation for the biggest game of the players’ lives. Villa Park under the lights against Jurgen Klopp’s, Liverpool… as a teenager. It’s what dreams are made of.

It’s no surprise then, that the following hours were filled with both nerves and anticipation. As the club waited overnight for the fast-tracked test results to come back on Friday morning, it felt like the hours before Christmas for the teenagers.

Some players sought the advice of their experienced peers while members of the first-team got in touch to wish them well. Others had lengthy conversations with their representatives, many of whom are former players.

One member of the team received some useful instructions that he took on board. “Put yourself about, run your socks off and show how much you want to play for the football club,” he was told, echoing Delaney’s message from earlier this season where he said: “If you wear your heart on your sleeve for this club you will get your rewards.”

Villa supporters appreciate effort and enthusiasm and while there weren’t any inside to offer their backing, the thousands watching across the globe acted as a encouraging alternative.

Another player was also told to “be vocal”. For a young group, there were some loud voices out there, especially during a period of productivity before the break.

Smith also addressed the group via video link before the game wishing them well and telling all those in the squad to enjoy the experience.

At times it was testing beyond belief. Sadio Mane’s opener after just three minutes didn’t help. Villa’s squad numbers made the teamsheet look like the middle of a takeaway menu and it was very much as you would expect; men against boys. The youngest-ever Villa team in history were camped inside their own half for the majority of the game, but only late on did they really crumble, and even then, the scoreline stayed respectable.

It was an inspired effort given that Delaney didn’t even know his starting line-up until just eight hours before the game. He told many of his players that they were in the squad via a phone call. Then there was a mad rush to get shirts printed and the kit laid out in the dressing room in time.

With the two first-team kitmen isolating, the job fell to the another member of staff in the department. It was eventually completed with time to spare. For the first time this season Villa were not allowed to advertise the LT.com betting partner patch on the arms of their shirts because the team was made up largely of players under the age of 18.

Their excited reaction on arrival to the ground two hours before kick-off showed a wonderful youth and exuberance. The players took selfies with their hanging shirts and sent the pictures to loved ones. Some parents were there waiting at the end to pick them up while a minibus was laid on to take the other stragglers home.

Were they deflated by a big defeat? Not a chance. Instead they were filled with joy and delight with memories and mementos that will last a lifetime.

Louie Barry swapped shirts with Fabinho and then quickly grabbed his own back as well, no doubt realising the importance of retaining such a prized asset. And they say the magic of the FA Cup has disappeared. No doubt the 17-year-old’s equalising goal was certainly the Villa highlight, but Kaine Kesler also looks a future star in the making, too.

Lamare Bogarde showed good energy in the heart of midfield on the same day as he signed his first professional contract. Dom Revan wore the armband to become the least experienced captain in Villa’s history, Akos Onodi made some impressive saves and Jake Walker, recalled from a loan spell at Alvechurch in step seven of the league system specifically for the game, stood firm as one of only four starters past his teenage years.  His social media following increased significantly in the build-up to the game, and like his team-mates, he emerged from the outing with praise.

Unused substitute, Taylor Hart, might not have got on, but it was quite the rise for another young member of the squad. In 2015 he was a part of Villa’s under-11s who travelled to Wembley to watch the FA Cup semi-final win over Liverpool where Jack Grealish first made his name on the real big stage. Last night he sat in the stands close to Jurgen Klopp, watching his pals run a wealth of talent so close that they had to bring on the big-guns in the second half just to finish the job.

Delaney, with his 22-year association at Villa as a player and a coach, had been in the dugout hundreds of times before. But as the first-team manager, for a game live on BT Sport, and with the watching world assessing his every movement, this was completely different.

He stuck to his traditional attire; shorts in sub-zero temperatures, with a club coat and a woolly hat. He looked familiar but nothing in the textbook could have prepared him for such a whirlwind 24 hours.

“It has been manic,” he said, explaining how both Smith and assistant boss John Terry had called him up throughout the day to help him through his moment in the spotlight.

Delaney’s day started by ringing around his young group of teenagers, many of whom still live at home with their parents or in digs provided by the club, to reveal whether they were in or out in the hours before kick-off.

He then had to liaise with the club’s head of communications to find out the schedule for his pre and post-match media duties, before calming the nerves of his players to get them prepared for Henderson, Milner, Salah and co.

Such was the scale of change in the starting line-up, Villa’s content team even provided a stats pack for reporters with information on player positions and offered advice on pronunciations.

It was a strange night full of unusual surroundings. The players’ car park, usually packed to the rafters, had so many empty spaces. Range Rovers were replaced by vehicles in a significantly lower insurance group by essential workers of just the tender age of 16 and 17. What was their answer if the lockdown police questioned the reason for being out late at night?

“I was asked to stop Salah and Firmino, officer.” And for a while, they nearly did.

What happens next will depend on their development, of course, and while it’s unlikely we’ll see many in the first-team again, this fixture could be the springboard to future success.

It was for a clutch of players in December 2019 when Liverpool had to field a young group due to the participation in the Club World Cup. Caoimhin Kelleher has since jumped ahead of Adrian to become No.2 to Allison, Ki-Jana Hoever moved to Wolves for a fee potentially rising to £13.5million, Harvey Elliott is doing well on loan at Blackburn Rovers and central midfielder Leighton Clarkson has featured in the Champions League.

Asked how they felt after the outing, Delaney said: “Shattered!”

“They’re proud of what they have done, but they’re shattered.”

Winston Churchill famously once said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” The bravery that Villa’s under-age rookies showed suggests they gave it their best shot.

Great write up. Thanks for posting

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

A long time after the event but still feeling as proud as it's possible to be.
I celebrated that goal like a demented Banshee and every time I watch it, it gets better!

I can feel Uncle Frank sending lots and lots of "likes"!
He liked a defensive scrap and would have loved this one.

I have read at least two reports that clearly didn't realise this was a makeshift U23/U18 side due to our better youngsters also self isolating, which makes the performance even more credit worthy. Mark Delaney, his staff and these boys deserve every atom of praise that comes their way.
Aston Villa handled the whole of this situation with genuine class and aplomb.

I bloody love this football club.
UTV!