By 
Follow us on Twitter @claretandview // Words by Regan Foy (@FindFoy)
Looking up at the scoreboard at full time to the view of a dreary 3-1 loss against lower league opposition probably did feel like the end of the world, and that’s okay. However, a day later and you’ve got to realise that it’s not the end of the world at all.
In the history of the F.A Cup, there’s been plenty of upsets. Only three years ago did lowly Bradford send Chelsea – yes, Chelsea – packing in the fourth round with a 4-2 win away from home. That Chelsea side included the likes of Petr Cech, Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta, Didier Drogba, Mo Salah and Chinese League imports Oscar and Ramires. Those players would walk into any Villa side of the last ten years.
An upset is always on the cards, it’s part of the magic of the cup – just sometimes it happens to your club. Did everyone forget that Liverpool had to come back from behind twice against non-league Havant & Waterlooville? Or that last season Sutton beat Leeds, who were 84 places above them in the footballing pyramid?
It’s a little embarrassing to lose to a team that by position in the pyramid is worse than yours, and that’s probably where a lot of the dross has come from on social media in the last twenty-four hours.
But it’s not the end of the world.
Looking at the squad, there was a lot of experience paired with a lot of inexperience. The likes of John Terry, Birkir Bjarnason and Henri Lansbury all made appearances, but so did the likes of Jed Steer, Callum O’Hare and Keinan Davis. Paired with the inclusion of players who haven’t had much of a run out in recent months, this lead to a cocktail of disaster for the Villans.
But it’s not the end of the world.
Yes, we’re out of the FA Cup and we’ll not be going to Wembley unless we finish in the play-offs. We’ll not be reaching the heights of the 14/15 season where we lost to Arsenal 4-0 in the final.
But this gives us the opportunity to fully focus on the league, playing our best eleven (whilst considering injuries).
Take a look at the result we had against Bristol City, when both sides were exhausted from the Christmas period of games. They played Wolves just a few days before, who knocked the stuffing out of them and left them for dead on the doorstep of Villa park where we hammered them 5-0.
If other Championship sides are playing F.A Cup games, especially replays, such as Norwich who will have to face Chelsea in a mid-week game – that just leaves them open for a hammering from the Villa.
Take the positives from the negatives, because there’s always one or two.
Spot on assessment and great blog too. Just found. Definitely following.!
Sorry, I lost Internet connection. Was about to say we write a general football blog (link in my name) and will keep a look out for Villa related stories and link back to them in any article we write relating to your work.