Jump to content

Ratings and Reactions: Arsenal - Villa


limpid

Match Poll  

134 members have voted

  1. 1. Manager's Performance

    • Very Good
      1
    • Good
      3
    • Average
      23
    • Poor
      67
    • Very Poor
      40
  2. 2. Refereeing Performance

    • Very Good
      2
    • Good
      0
    • Average
      16
    • Poor
      52
    • Very Poor
      64

This poll is closed to new votes


Recommended Posts

Anyone know what happened to the lad that ended up in an air ambulance? Didn't look good when I walked past.

Unfortunately he fell from the bridge above, (touch wood) it appeared he was lucky that his head didn't hit the floor first or he most likely would have died instantly. I was actually one of many who phoned for an ambulance as was nearby as it happened, the sound was horrific, and the air ambulance rang back to confirm location etc which the police acted on brilliantly to clear the landing area so soon - credit to our services where it's due.

Me and my sister didn't know the man, but like many others who witnessed it were both pretty obviously affected and if anybody knows the guy would really like to know how he's doing - have been hoping/praying for the best as he appeared conscious, if not moving when they took him to the helicopter.

Villa fan or not, it really did put things sharply into context straight after the game - just hope he's still with us and able to make a decent recovery

My initial thought was he fell from there, must have been climbing over the barrier though? Fingers crossed he's ok! Like you say it put things into context.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll throw a spanner in the works... I slept on it and came to a conclusion that we weren't all that bad. 

Did you dream a different game then?

 

Because we were **** awful

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 If you truly believed that 4-0 flattered Arsenal then you didn't watch it. 4-0 flattered us.

 

 

Agreed.

 

1-0 at half time was about as positive as it got for us. I couldn't believe it was only 1-0 because they absolutely dominated us.

That was our chance to come out and change things and take advantage of still being in the game, score wise.

As soon as the second went in we were finished.

 

3-0 at half time wouldn't have flattered Arsenal. It was as one sided a cup final as I've ever seen. DK82 was right. The bastard ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just gone past Wembley on the train into London.. I consider myself to be a level headed middle aged fan who has experienced highs and lows following Villa but i can't remember feeling so flat after a game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well that was just typical Villa. Build us up just to knock us back down, really **** hard. I was expecting that in the semi final to be honest. I let myself get excited about football for the first time in god knows how long and was just reminded why I started to hate it in the first place. Gutless, pathetic, cowardly performance. Our "senior" players should be ashamed of themselves. I'm sick of being laughed at for supporting Villa. Unfortunately, this club keeps on giving people reasons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/football-aston-villa-fan-put-house-life-savings-193011355--sow.html

 

 

Goals from Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez, Per Mertesacker and substitute Olivier Giroud made sure of Arsenal's second consecutive FA Cup at a packed Wembley Stadium.

 
Sherwood's side were taught a lesson by Arsene Wenger's dominant attacking side and as it became increasingly evident that Villa's chances of getting back into the game were low.
 
But more than the usual sympathy towards the losing fans, one individual in particular has now received plenty more after a remarkable bet was reported.
 
Tim Sherwood promises Villa clear-out after final humiliation
 
According to journalist David Blackmore, one Villa supporter on the London Underground told him he was told by a psychic to bet his life savings and house on the Villains coming out as winners in the showpiece final.
 
"Just met an Aston Villa fan on the Tube. He was told by a psychic to put his home and life savings on his team winning," Blackmore said.
 
"He has. Unbelievable."
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My mate witnessed the guy fall from the balcony as well and even still yesterday felt sick from it. I didn't witness it but when we walked past he did seem to be showing signs of moving, shame that some kids also witnessed it and I don't know what he was trying to do but lets hope he is OK.

 

On to the game.... we were disappointing could sort of understand what he was trying to do and I think he was trying to get at least to  half time with the scores still level and taking it from there and it was close to working, then second half we gave up.

Thought Bacuna and Gabby should have started  but can understand as well why Hutton played and why N Zog kept his place after how he played in the Semi.

 

We do have some moaning gits in the crowd, fair enough I agree we don't need to sing but to have a running commentary through out the game of how shit we are, its not needed at times. We can all have a beer after the game with mates and moan but to have it constantly does get irritating.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah that's great news, thanks for posting. Just spoken to my sister about it - such a relief, been playing on our minds ever since but delighted that he's woken up and his wife seems positive.

He appeared to be talking to friends, and attempting to climb/drop from the walkway above - I think it was the big advertising boards which he unfortunately got his foot stuck in which meant he flipped in mid-air, and as I said earlier just lucky that his head didn't hit the floor first. He'll no doubt have a long road to any form of recovery, but it could have been much worse for him and his family, so just delighted for them that he's OK - apparently he has 2 young children who I'm sure are going through hell atm along with his wife, so all the best to them & UTV

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a disappointment but the team did try but everything went arsenals way. All ref decisions, all deflections either went straight back to them or out for a throwing to them it was obvious what was going to happen. There is Definately a defeatist attitude amongst the villa faithful. It's years of frustration and heartache.

AVFC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This was a decent post mortem:
 

Theo Walcott’s subtle threat helps Arsenal unravel Tim Sherwood’s plot
Michael Cox
Arsène Wenger’s tactical decision to start with Walcott up front in the FA Cup final paid dividends as Mesut Özil and others were able to exploit the space between Aston Villa’s defence and midfield.

Arsenal had thrashed Aston Villa twice already this season – 3-0 at Villa Park, then 5-0 at the Emirates – so a 4-0 win on neutral ground should not have come as a complete surprise. But Villa had replaced their manager since those two Premier League defeats, and their supporters were left frustrated that Tim Sherwood repeated many of the mistakes made by Paul Lambert.

When the starting XIs were revealed, the main news was Arsène Wenger’s decision to play Theo Walcott rather than Olivier Giroud. Although probably swayed by Walcott’s hat-trick on the final day of the Premier League season against West Bromwich Albion, this was also a tactical decision, with Walcott’s pace offering a different option to Giroud’s hold-up play.

When quizzed before the game about whether Villa’s tactics would change accordingly, Sherwood was typically straightforward. “Obviously, the starting positions of our defenders needs to be looked at, and they’ll realise that, they’re not stupid,” he said. “If there’s no pressure on the ball, they drop off. We cannot get beaten over the top with a long ball.”

And, in the opening stages, they were not. Villa’s centre-backs, Ron Vlaar and Jores Okore, took up positions close to their own penalty box, and therefore Walcott was rarely able to use his pace in behind. In fact, his first major involvement was meeting a deflected Mesut Özil cross, forcing Kieran Richardson into a last-ditch block. It was the type of chance Giroud thrives on.

But Walcott’s subtle influence was significant: the threat of his pace meant Villa’s defenders were forced to defend very deep, but the rest of the side failed to adjust their positioning. In particular, the midfielders Fabian Delph and Tom Cleverley attempted to press Arsenal high up the pitch, often being turned easily. Both were guilty of cynical fouls to stop Arsenal’s midfielders breaking directly towards the defence, and both were cautioned in the first half by the referee, Jon Moss.

With the defenders deep and the midfielders high, there was inevitably a huge gap between them. This played perfectly into the hands of Özil, who drifted laterally to collect the ball under little pressure, and then easily shimmied past Ashley Westwood, forced to cover a huge amount of ground, when a challenge eventually arrived.

Villa’s centre-backs had unquestionably reacted to the threat of Walcott, but the rest of the side had not adjusted accordingly. Sherwood’s strategy was disjointed: midfield pressing must be combined with a high defensive line or, alternatively, deep defending must be combined with the midfield getting back quickly into a shielding position. This was an example of why top-level modern managers are obsessed with their side remaining “compact”. Otherwise, the opposition find space between the lines and dominate the midfield zone.


Eventually, as Villa chased the game, even the deep defending to nullify Walcott was understandably ditched, and Arsenal’s centre-forward had two chances when racing in behind the defence.

Sherwood’s side were also unable to offer anything in an attacking sense. In a 4-3-2-1 system, Charles N’Zogbia and Jack Grealish had hoped to collect the ball in central positions between the lines, but instead were forced to chase back and track Arsenal’s full-backs. This left Christian Benteke isolated, and Villa could provide him only with hopeful, high crosses from deep positions, usually dealt with by the proactive Wojciech Szczesny.

Overall, Arsenal’s dominance was staggering: 16 shots compared with two, nine on target to none, eight corners to none. Wenger’s players produced a memorable performance, but even they must still have been surprised at being afforded quite so much space.

 

 

It was a harsh lesson to have to learn.  I was hoping that the Southampton result would have been a blessing in disguise, showing that we couldn't play a high line (certainly with our current injury and fitness problems in defence) or we would get torn to pieces.  Instead of reacting positively to that it seems Sherwood either panicked or didn't know what to do.  

 

I think his insistence that the midfield push forward and support Benteke is what kept us up this year, but like his spell as Spurs indicated the risk/reward nature of such tactics mean that if you don't win the midfield battle then you are likely to get tonked.   Arsenal are probably the opposition most suited to exploit our shortcomings that we are going to come up against and it sucks big time that they showed us up on a global stage, but I've seen reactions online and amongst my Villa supporting friends where they have slaughtered Benteke for his performance and I really don't think that is fair at all, there was nothing he could have done to significantly change the way this game went because we were so comprehensively out thought on a tactical level. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, if you play deep you need to have your midfield working to stop the opposition getting in between the lines.

 

Interesting write up as always from Cox

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a good analysis. 

 

You know, on the basis of the poorest midfield performance I've seen since Lambert, I half considered that we threw the final so that we wouldn't have to play Europa League next season. Silver lining: we'll finish above Southampton next season.

Edited by gaffmaster
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was absolutley gutted during and after the game, then fuming when my mate said gabby delph etc were out clubbing in London that night.

Disgraceful performance with no fight at all, Arsenal were good but lets not forget we didnt even try to play.

Sherwood couldnt see they had 2v1 against Hutton every single time, nzog and jack didnt track back at all and we didnt go wide enough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was absolutley gutted during and after the game, then fuming when my mate said gabby delph etc were out clubbing in London that night.

Disgraceful performance with no fight at all, Arsenal were good but lets not forget we didnt even try to play.

Sherwood couldnt see they had 2v1 against Hutton every single time, nzog and jack didnt track back at all and we didnt go wide enough.

How dare they, they should go home and sulk!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was absolutley gutted during and after the game, then fuming when my mate said gabby delph etc were out clubbing in London that night.

Disgraceful performance with no fight at all, Arsenal were good but lets not forget we didnt even try to play.

Sherwood couldnt see they had 2v1 against Hutton every single time, nzog and jack didnt track back at all and we didnt go wide enough.

How dare they, they should go home and sulk!
After playing like that without a care in the world about the 28000 of us who made the journey and spent hundreds, its a pisstake for them to go straight out after the game to party.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...
Â