I’ve always loved the FA cup. I find it nostalgic and it reminds me of when I was a young lad, watching the likes of Steve Heighway in the final. Whole saturdays from 11am spent watching the build up and the coaches arriving. It was always a massive event.
Of course it’s been massively devalued now after the years of the big clubs, beginning with United, treating it with total disdain and always playing the second string in the early stages. In fact it’s been so devalued it hardly counts if one of the big boys win it. I still regard it highly though.
The trouble is, now our squad is currently so weakened, I think it’s a competition that is going to prove too much of a distraction. Don’t get me wrong, nothing has changed in the way I view the FA cup, but we already have two massive priorities to cope with, in qualifying for the Champions league or winning the Europa league to qualify through that route. There’s already too much of a dilemma there and I’m asking myself if we can afford too much energy in trying to win this cup too.
I never thought I’d hear myself saying that.
Squad news and John McGinn, Youri Tielemens, Boubacar Kamara and Andres Garcia are all out, as is Matty Cash. Which is a shame, because as much as I’m not keen on him, he has actually done pretty well this season and he is a loss. You may think I’m being harsh in my view of him, but I’ve always regarded him as a player we could improve on. Given our financial situation, I tolerate him. Unai seems to rate him quite highly and it’s his opinion that matters, not mine.
As for Newcastle, Bruno Guimaraes is doubtful, which is good news if you consider that the Toon never win when he doesn’t play and that run extends for about nine games, I think. Quite remarkable, but so typical of quirky things in football, which is just another reason why we all love it. Lewis Miley is out and Joelinton is very doubtful . I’m not seeing anything else and that’s actually not too bad a situation at this time of year.
So given that I almost feel disgusted with myself in asking if we should play a weakened side, what do I think?
Well, my thoughts are somewhat academic because Emery always plays to win, doesn’t he? And quite rightly so.But I do find myself wondering how many players he will rest. Tammy comes in for Ollie, and Bizot replaces Martinez for a start. Mings or Pau or maybe both and rest Konsa?? Who knows? And I expect Alysson to start for this game.
We’re definitely going to see changes and as much as I contemplate resting the whole side, that isn’t going to happen. The fans who turn up would feel robbed for a start (not that that seems to matter too much nowadays).
So I’ll just go with the flow and accept who Emery decides upon.
Of course, similar questions apply to Eddie Howe too. Can he afford to distract his side when they’re still in the CL and have qualifying to worry about? They already seem to be feeling the strain, as it is.
So a lot depends on what sides both clubs put out.
But you can only hazard a guess in the cup anyway. That’s the beauty of it.
I’m going for a 2-1 win, which seems to be my default prediction these days. And probably after extra time too, which we could probably do wihout.
UTV!
Back to is it worth £127k. No – protect key players.
HaHa, comedy of errors tonight.
Total joke.
What’s that circus music I can hear in the background.
Awful. We need some players with brains.
Can’t beat 10 men, can’t defend with 10 men.
Important we just put this behind us and get on with the real challenges of top5 or Europa League.
Fortunately I haven’t had to watch as treating the meme sahib to a Valentine’s dinner
We were poor before the red card. Every decision was going our way and then Bailey and Bizot decide to throw away our chances with combined moments of madness.
Let’s face facts, we got a goal that would have been ruled out with VAR. I actually thought the referee assistant had a Villa scarf on.
Digne should have been sent off and they should have had a penalty. There was also a good shout for a penalty for them in the first half!
Disappointed again and we are a shadow of the team without our injuries.
We were poor Holte. But better than them, imo and looking quite comfortable.
Badger, Don’t you think we tend to get sloppy when we go a goal up? We faff around with the ball in our own half and invite pressure rather than try to kill teams off. Newcastle weren’t good first half and defensively they looked vulnerable.
I hadn’t considered that Holte.
I do however think we have a mentality problem.
We’re not what I call winners.
Absolutely shite that was as soon as we scored we sat back then got fuckin battered by a shit team we been poor for weeks to be honest and will be lucky to finish top 5 as for the uefa cup no fuckin chanch
We won’t win the Europa league without our injured players. Our best hope is to cling onto a top 5 finish.
Have you all given up on the team ‘cos it sounds like it.
Hitch, it’s just the typical afer poor performance response.
Given up? No,, not on my part.
It just makes you despondent when you gift games to the opposition.
That was easily winnable, imo.
Same here. We’re treading water, but we certainly ain’t drowning.
Just thankful we don’t actually have that many games in the next few weeks.
If you treadmill water indefinitely, you will, eventually, drown.
Hitch, we have been poor without our midfield trio. Also Cash missing has added to it. What I saw today was one team winning 50/50 tackles consistently and it wasn’t us. Too many pussies in our side with a weak mentality. It felt like they weren’t too concerned about winning today. Emery wasn’t his usual bouncing around the technical area which tells me something.
The positive is we don’t have a midweek European game and maybe the international break in March could prove beneficial if McGinn and Tielemans are close to returning by then.
Tonight was the perfect representation as to why we simply do not win trophies.
Last season, Martinez gets a red and costs us UCL. This season, bizot knocks us out at 1-0 up.
Just not natural winners.
What? You mean like some of us have been telling you for years? 🙂
Throw the game but try not to make it obvious. 7 changes to the starters failed on that count. Howe then plays his joker, Ramsdale! Only way to get a worse performance from your keeper is if he gets sent off. ¬Tick.
Never mind: Torres, Douglas-Luiz and Bailey must lead to errors in defence, but did we have to deflect the first goal for them? Next year will our customers put bums on seats if we get a home draw in the FA cup?
Another question – why is it that so many of Villa’s games seem to attract some sort of media identified controversy – am I just being over sensitive or is there some sort of conspiracy to undermine Villa as they are not one of the ‘chosen few’ and have the cheek to challenge the comfortable status quo?
Which part?
Rogers to whoever?
Happens all the time and is just par for the course
We’re still very well placed in the league and in Europe. However, that’s 4 home games without a goal in open play; that needs addressing immediately. I foresee more trouble against Leeds… We badly, badly miss the midfield but also Malen; I think the loss of Malen is underestimated.
Longer term, the average age of the squad is 28. How long before we start to plummet like Big Ron’s ageing squad in 94? Major work needed in the summer but how when we’re not allowed to spend?
I would imagine that us having older players would mean we have a higher wage bill. I think we need to offload Martinez, Torres, Digne, Barkley, Bailey and Watkins in the summer to drastically reduce costs. If we can hang on to Martinez and he’s happy to stay, then I would like to see him stay.
Digne signed an extension on lower wages recently.
I can understand the disappointment but I have to admit that my overriding emotion at the final whistle was one of relief. With our patched up team the fewer the games the better.
We’re still where we need to be and, when our injured players return, I think the team will get a real boost. If we win the Europa League and play CL next season, this game will be long forgotten.
Totally agree.
After Sid’s comment about losing Kamara in the cup tie, and how much thd cup is worth, I actually thought I wouldn’t have a problem with the club not entering the cup anymore. Yes, really.
The message to the FA and football would be clear: “you’re killing us with your financial restraints so this competition is essentially worthless to us. We can’t afford (literally) to lose any players to injury and our squad is threadbare because of the rules. Therefore, we’re not playing.”
In fact, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Sorry to the purists but we’re at that stage now. I wouldn’t bother entering the league cup either. Why bother? Not worth it.
I had a similar thought recently. Even better why not a group of teams start this action. Villa, Newcastle, Everton, Forrest, Palace, West Ham, Bournemouth, Brighton , Fulham. The list goes on and on these are all teams of the top of my head I can clearly think of this season who either been robbed by FF effing P, had players purchased by the “big 6” or had numerous decisions go against them. Then there are some who have had all 3. Newcastle and Villa getting the worst of it for FFP. Fulham I can think of to many occasions the ref has gone against them. Brighton and Palace sell on demand. The more o think about it the worse it gets.
Call them out! Don’t bother with the FA cup, save the injury’s and negative press during the , before and after the match. Who needs it!
Hard to disagree. Very sad. It’s all about the money. It looks glossy and vibrant, but actually football is in a decrepit, desperate state. It’s paradoxical, because before the Premier League, it looked decrepit, but there was passion, substance, hope and joy; all the main ingredients. Now even the players represent the overall state. Picking up fat, obscene paychecks but giving very little back. Sancho falls into that category; there are many.
Very sad.
Maybe a good idea just go for the money games as can’t afford to play in the cup games
Getting fed up with football nowadays not worth watching to be honest.
Looked like emery thought the same with the strange substitutes yesterday..
Going to watch flies racing up the wall now.
It’s a valid point.
If the EPL and EUFA are going to put in place financial restrictions that benefit the historical rich clubs (I.e, those that made £millions before artificial financial restrictions) then why should clubs be forced to enter competitions that risk players without adequate financial rewards.
Although it pains me to say it – we should withdraw from the League and FA Cup – for Villa they are no longer relevant and if we’re forced to enter then put up the U21’s and wave two fingers to the regulators. So what, they fine us a few hundred thousand against losing our top players to injury?
I’m beginning to think if the ‘protected few’ want to go off and play amongst themselves – then let them. I, for one, would not pay a cent to watch and I don’t think I would be in a minority.
Football s in danger of destroying itself on the god of money.
My instinct was to totally agree. Just boycott the competitions outright.
Only two problems though.
One, we are not going to be in this position permanently and these cups will be our only route to any form of silverware in the future.
And two, the club chuck revenue away? Not a chance, imo.
Clubs like Villa and Newcastle are already putting this into practice. The loophole is in the wording “strongest available squad”. That means all players not yet recovered from the match 3/4 days earlier can be rested. Emery gives all the regular bench-warmers a start. he tells them he does not care if Villa lose – but should they win the same players will get the nod for the next round.
What revenue, Badger? It’s the minions that need the revenue from the cup. Any revenue Villa make would be more than eaten up by the loss of a key player. It’s not worth it; the prize money is a joke. Embarrassing, in fact.
The biggest problem is the UEFA SCR rule at 70%! Do we boycott all European competitions in protest too?
I have come to terms that the ‘Super 6’ is already established. We ARE the annoying team that WILL eventually go away, which will please Carragher. Newcastle possibly could break into this club with a state backing.
We could qualify for European football for the next 5 years and Spurs could get relegated, but the media would still give them more airtime than us.
I get it as fans we want to be seen as one of the big English clubs. Unfortunately we haven’t won anything yet. Two more domestic trophies gone again this season means all our eggs are in the Europa basket. Just like the Conference League a couple of seasons ago, we are the big favourites! Trouble is we have a knack of blowing it when it comes to the crunch.
I’m tending to agree with Hitch. Let the big boys take their ball and go play on their own and we can go back to the old style English league division one!
I don’t think we’re favourites for the Europa. Certainly not in our current state. Pre Christmas, yes. Now, no chance.
We probably are, BFR. That’s not to say we’ll win it though, as we were also favourites for the Conference League and realisitcally all things considered we didn’t really get anywhere near winning it.