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After Liverpool win Sherwood becomes second to none at Villa and more thoughts from the FA Cup

Aston Villa beat Liverpool in the FA Cup semifinal, and the win was too good to not write more about it.

By Robert Lintott
Ian Walton/Getty Images

Quick recap for those of you who have been under a rock today: Aston Villa went to Wembley for the FA Cup semifinal against a heavily favored Liverpool team and won 2-1. We're two hours removed from the final whistle and I am still absolutely buzzing. Usually after a match day I let things simmer for a bit before I write on it again, but that's not what's happening today. Today I need to write more, and if you are anything like me, you'll want to do nothing but talk about this match. So consider the comments your open forum to get out everything you're feeling after what is probably the most important win for the club since Martin O'Neill left.

In the meantime...

  • Tim Sherwood is second to none. There was a lot made of his claim that his win ratio at Tottenham was second to none, and now he can say the same at Villa. Sure, it's only ten matches, but the previously moribund club have won five of those ten. 50%! Unless you count caretakers Scott and Andy Marshall, that is literally the best win percentage in Aston Villa history. Soak it in, Tim.
  • What's more, they've all been pretty good wins. Two over West Brom, a thumping of Sunderland, and back-to-back wins in London over Spurs and Liverpool.
  • Even if you only look at the Premier League record (3 wins, 1 draw, 4 losses) that's pretty good. 10 points from 24 available is not amazing, but if that sort of play were taken throughout the entire season, Villa would have 41 points right now. That would be good for 12th or 13th (depending on what the goal difference was) and guaranteed safety at this point. But given that the two extra wins were against Premier League teams (playing decent lineups, too), perhaps the 5-1-4 record is more indicative of the team's true record under Tim. (By the way, if you transfer all of that into points it's 16 from 30 available, or 53%. Put those numbers over the course of the season thus far and Villa have 53 points, good for 8th)
  • This tweet:
  • To the credit of the person behind that tweet, they also posted this, seconds later:
  • Jack Grealish might be the real deal. Given the freedom to rove and create he put in not only his best shift in the claret and blue today, but perhaps one of the best shifts we've seen from anyone this season. When he finally gets his first goal, I'm pretty sure Villa fans are going to explode.
  • Villa are one win from playing in Europe. If they manage that, I wonder how much it changes the summer transfer strategy with the need for depth.
  • Kieran Richardson was godawful today. Easily the worst Villa player out there. But he did do this, and so we might be able to forgive him (Credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
    Richardson Save
  • That Mario Balotelli disallowed goal was MASSIVE. And it was also a massive mistake by the linesman. Don't believe me? Check out what Mario posted on Instagram:

    And he's not wrong. There have been a lot of bad calls that hurt Villa this year, but it does sort of stink to see such a bad call give the match away. I mean, I'm not complaining too much, but I do feel a bit badly for Balotelli.
  • Apparently Nathan Baker is out for the season.
  • How much fun are this club to watch now? It's not just the winning (though that certainly helps), it's the fact that they look capable of winning. Even if the result isn't always what we want, you can see how it might be, now. In the last few months under Paul Lambert, you certainly couldn't say that.

Anyhow, winning is pretty neat. Winning a cup semifinal is more neat. Jump in the comments and let us know what you're thinking!

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