John

I do not think that cup games should take priority over league games for the final.The number of combined cup/league games attended would seem the fairest way to allocate tickets after ST holders get their shot. Creaming off 2,500 tickets from an allocation of 25,000 tickets by the club before the above get a shot at tickets also seems around 1,500 to much for me. It seems fans will be paying for this new Wembley for some time not only through the cost of tickets but by the FA allowing such a high proportion of tickets to go to Club Wembley members in addition to the so called "football family". I have to say that I think if the game was at Old Trafford for example most of those that managed to get a ticket for the semi-final would most likely get one for the final as well. But that new stadium has to be paid for and the FA's concerns are for that and the "football familly" rather than on how many fans of the two teams get to watch their teams at the final

Source: Player Match Ratings: Football doesn’t get any better than this!

How joyous was this semi-final victory and how proud of our team do we all feel? We left the stadium having witnessed the best display a Villa team has given in 19 years at Wembley. This was an occasion to be celebrated and one that will live in our memories. What had threatened to be a season of despair may yet prove to have a glorious conclusion. We proved the press, pundits and bookmakers wrong yesterday. We did not play like the long-odds underdogs they considered were just there to make up the numbers. We fought like lions and fully deserved our victory. We had the resilience to come back from a goal behind and had the better of the game dominating it until we were put under some sustained pressure near the end. But we were not to be denied our first FA Cup win against yesterday’s opponents since our double winning year. So it is not to be the much anticipated and longed for final hurrah for Stevie G at this year’s FA Cup Final thanks to us party-poopers. But it is not all doom and gloom for Stevie because he is now free to book an early holiday in the sun. He can then watch us play Arsenal in comfort with a sangria in his hand as his glittering playing career winds towards its conclusion. His team-mate Sterling may have other forms of relaxation in mind for the end of May but I’m sure he found Sunday’s defeat to be no laughing matter. No doubt we will start the FA Cup Final as underdogs and with everyone expecting Arsenal to cruise to a comfortable win. But wasn’t that what everyone other than us thought was going to happen yesterday? As Ron Saunders once said “Do you want to bet against us?” My player ratings from a game that has left us 90 minutes from lifting the FA Cup for the eighth time and for the fist time since 1957 are: Shay Given – 7 – Did what he needed to do and looked solid when tested. Shay showed how much winning this game meant to him with his post game celebrations. Leandro Bacuna – 7 – Gave a solid performance. Nathan Baker – 7 - Left the field due to injury on 26 minutes. Had looked steady and composed until then. Ron Vlaar – 9 – Gave an immense performance at the heart of our defence which was reminiscent of his summer World Cup assurance. Kieran Richardson – 8 – Continued the upturn in personal performance he produced at Spurs on the Wembley turf and did not let anyone down at the back. A loose ball fell to him inside the box on 62 minutes following a Lovren challenge on Grealish but his effort was well wide of the post. Headed a Gerrard header from a corner off the line on 86 minutes. Tom Cleverley – 9 – He gets better with each game and wins like this may yet have him seeing his future as with us rather than elsewhere. His best performance for us and one that demonstrated he can still find the performance levels that made him an international player in the past. Ashley Westwood - 8 – Made a big contribution to our strong midfield display on his welcome return to the side. Fabian Delph – 9 – He was Captain Fantastic yesterday. He controlled the middle and hit our winner to put the icing on the cake. Delph started the move in the centre circle on 54 minutes by playing the ball forward to Benteke who back heeled the ball for Grealish whose well timed pass into the box found Fab. He then turned inside two defenders before hitting the ball into the back of the net. Jack Grealish – 9 – MOTM - He was so comfortable on the Wembley turf and produced a superb display being in no way phased by the importance of the occasion. Jack was always available to his colleagues and gave a match-winning performance. Made some good threatening runs and might look at having a shot when he gets himself into such positions in the future. He can now look forward to a Cup Final appearance for us 110 years after his great-great-grandfather did the same in our 1905 FA Cup Final win. Charles N’Zogbia – 7 – Benteke back heeled the ball to Delph who found Charles on 12 minutes. His shot from the edge of the box was tipped over the bar by Mignolet. Christian Benteke – 9 – His goal run continues and threatens to bring us some silverware as well as safety. Christian hit our vital equalizing goal on 36 minutes. Grealish played a lovely ball to Delph who in turn found Benteke whose shot beat the outstretched hand of Mignolet and found the corner of the net. He was a constant threat to the Liverpool defence. Substitutes: Jores Okore – 7 – Replaced Baker on 26 minutes. He was hesitant when losing the ball inside his own box in the lead up to their goal and unluckily got a touch on Coutinho’s shot which may well have took it from Given’s reach. He then settled into the game well and went on to form a solid central defensive partnership with Vlaar. Scott Sinclair – Replaced N’Zogbia on 75 minutes. Scott was not on long enough to gather a rating. Joe Cole – Replaced Jack on 83 minutes. Not on long enough to merit a rating but he does not lose many semi-finals does he? Up for the Cup Villa! John Lewis

A4 sized grey plastic envelope get down there Neil!

So you can buy the club in the summer then? I did not put quite enough on to be able to do that.

I would disagree if that is true. Its is the semi finals, you play your first choice keeper. Shay has done a good job in the early rounds, but now it is serious. Not really that fair on Guzan as he played every game of the league cup run and was dropped for Friedel when we got to the final. I think there is very little to choose between the two at the moment and I would not see it as fair if Given did not get a game on Sunday. But there will be a decision to be made on which keeper should start when we get to the final.

I just cannot understand why so many people (including the bookies) see this as a one horse race. Corals for example have us as 9/1 to win the cup but 11/2 to beat Liverpool (which appears the easier of the two potential barriers to our lifting the trophy). This is not the Liverpool of the 1970s & we beat them 5-1 in 76/7 in any case! I have backed Benteke to score first and us to win 3-1 or 3-0 @ 210/1 & 340/1 respectively so I may well invest my winnings in Club Wembley seats for the Final!

I think there are young players who could do a job for us in the league(s) below us but the best of these will not come cheap and we have not been able to afford the likes of Hughes at Derby or those mentioned already on earlier pages up until now. You get what you pay for mostly so if you pay say £5m - £8m you can expect them to be better than those you pick up for £2m or less in most cases.

I imagine he just stares at the keeper the entire game I think he was known for that sort of thing on and off the pitch in his days at Small Heath.

We were linked with Lewis Cook & Sam Byram of Leeds along with Teddy Bishop & Tyrone Mings of Ipswich in "The Times" on Monday.

Looking forward to giving Stevie G some polite applause (or a chorus of we'll meet again) as he goes down the tunnel with his head in his hands for the last time having tasted a bitter defeat against the mighty Villa. It would also help our cause and even things up a little if one or two or more of their players missed the game through suspension or injury picked up during their game on Monday. This really is a "must not lose" game for us!

They always want more than they are entitled to. They cannot be allowed to have them. Don't they have any consideration at all for the 20,000 + corporate clients, Club Wembley members and neutral fans who hoover up tickets for games like these?

I have 3 home wins for us from our last 5 league games. But I think 4 points would be enough now along with 2 cup wins. Villa 41 Leicester 36 WBA 34 QPR 33 Burnley 33 Hull 31 Sunderland 29

A horrible result for the teams below us and for WBA who would not have been expecting our win!

Thanks for adding your comments PaulC.

I think Townsend, Eriksen and Kane are well above average av1 but I am hoping they will not be today.

I think 99.9% of us would have gone Lowton for Richardson or possibly played 3 at the back with Okore coming in alongside Vlaar & Clark. I think we may need another 3 goals to get a point from this one.

If we stay up/win the FA Cup/get a new owner who will bring in some players and would not want to spend around £30 - £40m for a like-for-like replacement or any 2 of these happen he may yet stay with us. I think it would be best for us and for him if not for his agent if he is with us again next season.

Point taken. I really like what I have seen from Jack and I am sure he will get the chances to play that other young players have not had in the past. I am confident he has it in him to be a future star (having compared him with the young Brian Little in the past) but I think he has had better games than this one for us and will have even better ones than those in the future. As above regarding Jack and I did say "He (Benteke) should have tried to make a more determined challenge for the cross that led to their second".

Anything from this one would be a big bonus and if we cannot get anything point wise then we need to keep it tight because goal difference may well be crucial.

I hope they will exclude the booking history from the Liverpool match at VP if that is the case.

Paranoid for me.

I was at the club this morning and they did say it would be 4 tomorrow.

Source: Player Match Ratings: Benteke’s hat-trick gives us a lifeline!