LC: Final vs Man Utd Ratings & Reactions

[kurtsimonw]

Who took the game to the opposition then?

Who gave 100%?

I think the words Ashley Young answer both of these. I criticise him often, but he gave everything today and had a very good game. Made Evra look poor.

Anyways, can't be too disappointed. They should have had 10 men and a blind man could see that but no use in complaining. What's done is done. Had a great day out and the first time I've seen Villa play in a Cup Final. Fans were superb as a whole, even after the game we outsang their lot. Hopefully we get their again, it really was an awesome day.

[reykjavik]

We need some extra effort. We lost against better team. Nice strategy by Ferguson. Owen starts, and is replaced by Rooney. Eventhought Owen would not be injured, he would have been replaced in 2nd half.

We had no plan B. Of course every team has plan B and C. When ManU scored 2nd goal, we were finished. We need striker.

[Demitri_C]

we tried hard but heskey was holding the ball up well but was non existant as an attacking threat.

the ref was an absolute joke. does anyone remember around the 88th minute when they agve offside to us and when united had THREE united players playing him on?? the ref was an absolute disgrace today. it was a stone wall red and the ref bottled it. it never happens against united in the big games. that fat slob of a ref isnt fit to do the job.

i thought collins was so clumsy today it was unreal. he was making so many mistakes. i think its time to drop him and play carlos at cb and bring young at rb.

the difference today was a 30m striker, its as simple as that

[Guest Ricardomeister]

Overall we did not play well enough to deserve the win but who knows what may have happened if Dowd had done his job. I thought Jimmy was clearly out motm and Gabby and Petrov did ok. The defence was all over the place and will MON ever see that Carlos, a very good centre back, is still rubbish at full back? Ash beat his man a few times but his crossing was poor, as was Downing. Heskey did some good work on the half way line but as usual never threatened to score.

[kurtsimonw]

we tried hard but heskey was holding the ball up well but was non existant as an attacking threat.

the ref was an absolute joke. does anyone remember around the 88th minute when they agve offside to us and when united had THREE united players playing him on?? the ref was an absolute disgrace today. it was a stone wall red and the ref bottled it. it never happens against united in the big games. that fat slob of a ref isnt fit to do the job.

I almost expected it to be honest. I know the offside you're on about, where Dunne was miles onside and came to get the ball on the wide right. How he booked Collins and Downing, then didn't book Carrick for an identical thing is not right. Rafael got away with enough as well before being booked.

[briggaman]

Recently got back from the match. Not quite sure what to say really as I am devastated. This one will take a while to get over and rightly so. The cup was within reach and on another day we could so easily have won it. However, today the footballing gods just simply weren't on our side. It just felt like a day when nothing would go our way and it ended up being just that....

Anyway, the start to the day was a brilliant one. The banter from our supporters outside of Wembley was amazing. The atmosphere was great even though the weather was as awful as it could possibly have been. Best chant of the day: "Are you Norwich in disguise?". I felt so confident going into the match today, compared to the FA Cup Final in 2000. Even walking up Wembley Way felt better today and there was belief in the surrounding are, coming from our supporters.

It was then time to enter the stadium, which I still don't like. It looks nice from the outside, yet once you get inside I still feel it is very poor. It takes far too long to get a programme, nevermind the food and drink. This didn't bother me though as I was more concerned with getting to my seat for kick-off.

Then the big moment came and our supporters were well up for it. On the other hand, the Man Utd supporters seemed very quiet. Five minutes in and we had taken the lead. The celebrations were absolutely mad and it was the perfect start. Then it all went downhill. Despite this being the case, it was another good day out at Wembley. It's just a shame that it was ruined in a big way by the fact that we lost. The trophy was there for the winning and to know we were so close is heartbreaking...

Anyway, when it comes to my opinions on the match, I'm full of them. Some you may agree with and others you may disagree with. Yet the big turning point in the match for me was when Dowd bottled the sending off of Vidic. He quite clearly should have walked. He was the last defender and he clearly denied a goalscoring oppotunity, thus meaning he had to go. Yet, Dowd obviously realised he was in the Man Utd end and probably thought it was too risky to send one of their players off so early. The rules state he should have gone but due to Dowd, he didn't.

Now, some may argue that this is an excuse. However, I am in no way using it as one. The fact remains that if Vidic had gone, the game would have swung even more into our favour at that point. It would have meant that they had to reshape. Plus they would have lost their best CB that was available on the day. Now, in my opinion, this would have had a huge impact. Some will deny and others will say it is too late to complain etc. I'm not crying about it though and saying that we only lost because of that. What I am saying is that this one decision played a massive role in us losing the final. Dowd quite simply should not have gotten it wrong. Absolute bottler!

Onto our players now. I wasn't overly impressed today in all honesty and thought that we could have played much better. We did show up though and it certainly wasn't one of our worst performances. We do still lack that goalscorer though and the gap left between midfield and defence is nothing short of worrying at times. There were many times today when we gave Man Utd far too much space and time on the ball.

Their first goal was an absolute shambles. Not just from Dunne either. It was a shambles for the defensive unit as a whole. They should have easily dealt with the situation, yet didn't. It ended up costing us big time when Owen had a clear shot to put it into the back of the net.

Then there was there second goal. I'm not too sure who was at fault for that to be honest. Rooney should have been marked better though and perhaps Friedel should have saved it. However, truth be told it was a perfectly placed header.

Our lads did try to be fair though. They gave it their all at times and we did look like a threat. It was just that final ball lacking though, or that nice touch from a proven goalscorer. On another day we may well have walked this match and I feel we could have quite easily done so today. It's an opportunity missed in my opinion, yet hopefully the players will learn from this. It was the first time in a final at Wembley for most of the team, which is no small thing.

Full credit to MON and the team for reaching the final and for giving it a fair whack. On the day we were unlucky with the Dowd decision and just not good enough at certain points. We have much to improve on, however it is clear to see that we are on the up.

I would also like to commend Gabby for his performance and work rate today. He was all over the pitch, getting stuck in and trying to get the team moving. Dunne (other than the mistake), Milner and Petrov also played very well in my opinion.

Cuellar isn't a RB and that is clear to us all. He should have been CB today alongside Dunne, with Young as RB. Cuellar did give it his all though and wasn't a complete flop. His passing was the big problem today. Then there is Heskey. I actually thought he did alright. Nothing great but nothing awful throughout the match. He hed the ball up well at times and did do a couple of good things. The main problem with him though is that he simply isn't a threat. I honestly don't rate him very highly, despite the fact that he can do some things well.

Anyway, another trip to Wembley has ended in disaster for me. I was at the final in 2000, yet this one hurts more. I think it's because there was so much expectation. We could have easily won today and it is an opportunity missed. Now is the time for the team to step up and go for FA Cup glory. We can go all the way in that competition and be at Wembley once again.

We are on the up and whilst I am upset, I recognise that we are going places. We do well with what we have at our disposal. Hopefully we will continue to strengthen over the summer. Before that though, we have fourth place and the FA Cup to fight for. Hopefully we can get one of them, otherwise this season may end up looking like a big missed opportunity.

I believe in the lads and MON and think that we still have some unfinished business this season. I may be down today but hopefully over the coming months that will change. Anyway, well done to the lads. We were unlucky in many ways today. Onwards and upwards. UTV!

[sjinus]

I am proud to be a Villa fan today !

I thought the lads competed with Utd in all areas. The game was very open and suited our counter-attacking approach - indeed, the only time I think we struggled was when we slowed the attack down and got all 'European'. We looked very threatening when we went at them at speed. Dowd aside, we were beaten by a Rooney moment of excellence, assisted by loose marking. Petrov was my Villa MotM, closely followed by Gabby, Milner and Ashley - I would go as far as saying that for me, Petrov was the best player on the pitch.

A special mention to the Villa fans at Wembley - absolutely outstanding...most poignant moment for me was after the final whistle, when Utd are celebrating all you could hear was Holtenders in the sky ! Amazing support for a team who had given everything.

We will grow from this experience and hopefully it won't be too long before we are back...a little over 2 months would be perfect !!

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Gutted. Luke Young should have started...and not just today...Cuellar offers nothing going forward and can't pick a pass. We need a top quality striker/big man. Gabby really impresses me these days. James Milner is a legend in the making. Heskey is pointless. Proud of the lads. We're on the UP...but MON needs to stop doing the strange things he does tactically.

BRING ON THE F.A CUP! It's bigger anyway. 8)

[omariqy]

Great day out and villa fans were awesome.

All in all we were very good for the first 25 but after that united were the better team. Thought the midfield and strikers were good but weirdly our defence were not at the races today. If Vidic had been sent off then I have a feeling i would be posting about Stan lifting the cup. It was a big decision and shocking one at that. I just dont understand how it wasnt even a yellow card never mind a red.

Proud of the boys and I hope we will be there again for the FA Cup.

[drat01]

Not long back - long day.

Good start meeting so many VT'ers in the pub in Harrow.

We had two pairs of seats, me and my daughter had a pair right next to the TV studios. Dwight Yorke, Jamie Redknapp and Scott Parker (what a very nice bloke - he even had a hat like mine - The Harrow lot will understand) were right behind us. All could not believe that Vidic remained on the pitch and a common quote was it is expected from him to favour UTD.

Lots of empty seats in this bit which was disgusting. A cockney Red sat near us and said he was embarrassed by Dowd. I've been to the New Wembley quite a few times with England and thought it was OK, but now having seen it for a final you can stick it up your arse FA because your ticket bias and allocation is that of a body more interested in money than any fan

The UTD fans were pure scum - a disgusting bunch of inbred words removed

As for the performance from Villa - Plan B didn't get to the match.

[The_Lions_Roar]

Just got back, going to sleep on this one before i post my comments, treuly shocked is an understatement!

[markavfc40]

Not long back and after having just tucked into a nice chinky thought I'd post a few thoughts.

There is not much to say that hasn't already been said I guess. I'm not going to criticise the players or the manager as I believe to a man they gave there all but in the end it wasn't good enough and one or two players simply had under par games, I'm thinking of Dunne and Downing here, but they too weren't found lacking in effort.

Referee had a massive impact on the game as had United gone down to 10 men, as they should have done, and had to play 86 mins a man short its fair to assume that the game would have panned out completely differently. That's not to say we would have won but we'd certainly have had a far better chance.

The result aside we had a fantastic day.

Big prasie to the Villa fans, and I include myself in this, as where I was we didn't stop singing from start to finish. United fans were shit and I wouldn't have known they were there apart from when they scored and at the final whistle.

Our time will come and I have a feeling its not all that far away.

[OutByEaster?]

Mistakes.

Dowd's and Dunne's.

We'll be back, we'll learn from this, we were very close. Gabby scares the shit out of Vidic every single time he plays against him, Milner and Young were good, Petrov did well. We played a good side and came out second best. All of that stuff and more doesn't help.

Nice to see a big VT turn out in Harrow; a good day out that could have been great.

[TRO]

just got back

too many individual errors on the day, some good individual performances some poor.

for a team who have managed to beat Liverpool and Man utd away this year, I thought there was a lack of mental strength in the team.

It was better than the Chelsea final, but at times not much better.

very disappointed, because I believe this team was capable of winning as opposed to sides in the past being inferior.

not impressed.

[TRO]

just got back

too many individual errors on the day, some good individual performances some poor.

for a team who have managed to beat Liverpool and Man utd away this year, I thought there was a lack of mental strength in the team.

It was better than the Chelsea final, but at times not much better.

very disappointed, because I believe this team was capable of winning as opposed to sides in the past being inferior.

not impressed.

[reddwarf]

Apart from being pretty from the outside the new wembley is shit

1.£70 for a ticket £4 for beer, which I don't mind - but where I was served none of the bar staff could speak english - the bloke in front of me asked for tetleys and the geezer gave him crisps

2. I took my dad who is 77 - no one sat down when the game started - no attempt by stewards to ask themor put an announcement over the PA - not good enough for £70

3. The villa fans were great - but the atmosphere just couldn't get going in this faceless staduim

[rjw63]

Apart from being pretty from the outside the new wembley is shit

1.£70 for a ticket £4 for beer, which I don't mind - but where I was served none of the bar staff could speak english - the bloke in front of me asked for tetleys and the geezer gave him crisps

Agree with that

[MrDuck]

Great effort, no shame losing to Utd, but you feel a bit hard done by after Dowd bottled the Vidic decision - which was surely a complete no-brainer.

Thought Gabby was excellent, rest of the team did well but Carlos should not have been playing. Shown up for what he is today - a poor right back. Must be a blow to Luke's ego to see Carlos consistently picked ahead of him at RB. Carew should have been on much earlier I think. Couldn't fault anybody for effort though.

Disappointing, but reckon we'll be back before too long. I'd totally forgotten how exciting it is to see Villa in a final!

[S-Platt]

i think the view from my £38 seat was fantastic i was impressed to be honest. To think i paid £45 to go and watch us at St Andrews too!!!

[spiezels]

Cant be arsed to type about the game anymore as i've been chatting about it all day, but one thing i need to say is Cuellar seemed to offer absolutely nothing today, we'd have it down the left then spread the play right to ash but there was no overlap or bursting runs (maybe one) and if he did receive it he'd get nervous and pass it right back.

He's a good defender and as a centre back ace but i think today we needed young just for the overlaps and extra attack.

Frustrated the hell out of me.

Had a great day out and as i was sat on the East side got great views of the Villa fans, we were louder, looked more into it and imo had alot more fans there.

Depressed but enjoyed it.