FA Cup Final - Post Game thread

[Double R]

Worst night sleep in years, so many weird dreams.
In one, I was working behind a bar with a row of angry customers waiting to be served and I had no idea how to pour a drink or use the till, clueless.
A metaphor for our clueless performance yesterday, possibly. Or maybe just the bar service at the etihad. Fuck knows, glad when I woke up anyway.

 

[fathellensbellend]

Poor, just the same as all the FA Cup early rounds.

If we had beaten Madrid Pep would have put a reserve team out yesterday.

I don’t think that is strictly true, he didn’t last season

 

[Abattoir Blue]

Did any of the highlights show more than one replay of the Haaland penalty appeal from early on in the game? It got glossed over really quickly, but looked like was elbowed in the back. Would like to see different angles of it to see if there was anything in it.

It was a nailed on foul. It gets given anywhere else on the pitch, but VAR looks at the 'dropping zone' for pen appeals from crosses and obviously decided Haaland wouldn't have got to it.

 

[Keeper!]

I don’t think that is strictly true, he didn’t last season

Treble on offer and we had a much stronger side.

I said yesterday to win the title with without doubt our weakest squad since Pep's first season is an incredible achievement.

We were way off it for most of the season.

 

[fathellensbellend]

Did any of the highlights show more than one replay of the Haaland penalty appeal from early on in the game? It got glossed over really quickly, but looked like was elbowed in the back. Would like to see different angles of it to see if there was anything in it.

I have seen both, i Just don’t think either merited enough for a penalty, I was vey disappointed in the big man yesterday, offered nothing, and didn’t do the basics well enough

 

[chaddblue]

Oh yea, we need to play them again dont we. Didnt think about that.
Hope we take the charity shield seriously for once.

We never take the shield seriously. It appears it’s just another pre season warm up game to pep

Only winning 1 of the last 4 proves that

 

[Keeper!]

Worst night sleep in years, so many weird dreams.
In one, I was working behind a bar with a row of angry customers waiting to be served and I had no idea how to pour a drink or use the till, clueless.
A metaphor for our clueless performance yesterday, possibly. Or maybe just the bar service at the etihad. Fuck knows, glad when I woke up anyway.

I was hoping I woke up and it was all a very bad dream, sadly it was reality.

 

[franksinatra]

They are all second rate, our preparations showed what Pep genuinely thinks about the FA Cup.

It's a myth, as said the world does NOT watch on in amazement at this final.

The PL and CL are the ultimate and rightly so, the elite competitions.

In the early rounds of the FA Cup , even Championship teams play weakened elevens.

I would not argue that those two are above it for many and I don't think the world looks on in amazement but football
is about feeling and emotion and the FA Cup, whether its nostalgia or not, draws out those emotions in an incredible number of people.

So you can try and find reasons to devalue it as much as you can, but you cannot change what people feel, which is what sport is all about.

 

[hilts]

Didn’t think either were penalty’s tbh , each to their own opinion obviously but if either had been given against us I’d be furious.
Football would be shit if it was predictable and being on the wrong end of a defeat like that makes the winning taste so much better whe we do 5 in a row next year.

Thought the first one wasn't but the second was. Only saw both replays once mind.

 

[bluemoon32]

Pissed off with the choke yesterday but we've still had a fantastic season.
I don't hold much for the " we were running on fumes" theory, these players will be running around like spring chickens in the international tournaments coming up.
Attitude was all wrong yesterday, seemed as if Pep & the players thought we only had to turn up to win, some of the players just didn't work hard enough & you can rarely usually say that about us.

 

[Abattoir Blue]

I don’t think that is strictly true, he didn’t last season

He obviously wanted to give Stones a game to make him feel better about being left out over past 2 months (he hinted at doing same for Julian too). Kova has played well recently but we gave them too much respect. Should have played Doku and torn in to them like v West Ham.

 

[Keeper!]

I would not argue that those two are above it for many and I don't think the world looks on in amazement but football
is about feeling and emotion and the FA Cup, whether its nostalgia or not, draws out those emotions in an incredible number of people.

So you can try and find reasons to devalue it as much as you can, but you cannot change what people feel, which is what sport is all about.

No problem but I disagree.

The FA Cup is a cup competition, anyone can get lucky for 6 games and it showed yesterday.

 

[fathellensbellend]

Treble on offer and we had a much stronger side.

I said yesterday to win the title with without doubt our weakest squad since Pep's first season is an incredible achievement.

We were way off it for most of the season.

I agree, I think we have over achieved, we have one or two elephants in the room where sentiment cannot be allowed, KDB has to accept he is not an automatic starter, I think another full back is essential and the midfield needs some legs, every team has a cycle, if we don‘t refresh I think Arsenal will win it at A canter next season

 

[fathellensbellend]

He obviously wanted to give Stones a game to make him feel better about being left out over past 2 months (he hinted at doing same for Julian too). Kova has played well recently but we gave them too much respect. Should have played Doku and torn in to them like v West Ham.

sentiment shouldn’t have come into it, but I think you could be right, the notion they were shit, and we had won the league, we took our eye off the ball, and reaped our rewards

 

[Len Rum]

Particularly since some are alleging the piss up extended well into the week. While somewhat annoyed at our non show yesterday we must accept that it took a supreme effort to win that league this year. I did not think we could do it until the last weeks. In some respects it was a bigger achievement than the treble.
The sheer relief felt by the players after the West Ham game was bound to spark celebrations that had an end of season feel about them. Simply put, they were physically and mentally unprepared to face into a Cup Final.

You're right .
The previous season the league was wrapped up with three games left. So the players were better prepared both physically and mentally.
This season winning the title particularly the run in took a hell of lot out of them.
Having said for all the reasons discussed in this thread we still IMO should have won yesterday but there we are.

 

[terraloon]

Some of you need to Wobble your Heads.

You have had a fantastic season are a fantastic team the fact was that the effort put in to get over the line in the PL must have required vast amounts of both physical and mental effort and sadly for you ( and us ) was a bridge to far for you.

Going again after last Sunday was never going to be easy whereas Utd had no more than an exhibition match at Brentford.

I do see that there is a need of some changes for you but there again that applies to most clubs.

Pat yourselves on the back not for what you haven’t done but what you have and every club is envious of that whereas most nowadays treat both the FA and EFL cups as a distraction not an ambition.

 

[Father Paul]

Thought we'd struggle after the over celebrations. Pep looked a bit knackered and not arsed in the pre-match presser apart from blowing smoke up the Rag's arses. Long season and it was a game too far for the players who probably had too little time to prepare and not the same level of intense motivation from Pep. Credit to them though, they defended well, were organised and Ten Haag deserves a lot of credit for how he set them up.

Yeah right about Pep. Looked like a man rightly pissed off because he was in Wembley the wrong Saturday.

 

[Keeper!]

I agree, I think we have over achieved, we have one or two elephants in the room where sentiment cannot be allowed, KDB has to accept he is not an automatic starter, I think another full back is essential and the midfield needs some legs, every team has a cycle, if we don‘t refresh I think Arsenal will win it at A canter next season

There are several elephants' in the room, Stones, Grealish, KDB, Bernardo, Ederson and maybe Walker.

A lot of work to be done in the next few windows, and some serious talent need to be brought into to maintain and improve.

PS: I am amazed that we would consider letting Ederson leave but maybe all is not well behind the scenes.

 

[Bellamy's Caddy]

It was a nailed on foul. It gets given anywhere else on the pitch, but VAR looks at the 'dropping zone' for pen appeals from crosses and obviously decided Haaland wouldn't have got to it.

Thanks mate. I've only seen what they showed at the time. Thought it looked at least worth a couple of replays from different angles, but haven't seen it back.

 

[red 2 hats]

We didn't show up, that first half was horrendous, we looked out of sorts, no energy, no drive, nothing, we got what we deserved, we were that bad we made amrabat look decent.
Second half was better, Doku caused them problems, it was a shit way to end the season, I hope our summer targets have some pace coz we lacked that yesterday, they looked hungrier and faster.