A few thoughts about... Villa vs Stevenage

What do you get when you cross a star-studded football team which holds hopes of winning the FA Cup with hungry minnows scrapping for promotion from League 2?

You've got Danny Ings - one of the better strikers the Premier League has seen. Phillippe Coutinho, one of the better footballers the world has ever seen. There's Leon Bailey - dynamite on his day. You can't forget the World Cup 'quality' of Leander Dendoncker, Matty Cash and Jan Bednerek.  International level players in Douglas Luiz, Ludwig Augustinsson and Robin Olsen

The entire value of Stevenage FC is estimated at £14 million - or around about the same amount as what Villa paid Nottingham Forest to bring Cash down to Birmingham.

A team, with value that would make Stevenage stare into the cosmos with eye-bleeding wonder in relation to their own, capitulated in the exact way that they deserved.

Where do you even begin?

You begin in the dying embers of the game. A brutal mistake from a player who pulls in the wages of the opposition combined. A player who was taking part in the World Cup just a day after Stevenage put away King's Lynn Town to earn a tie at Villa Park.

I don't know how I can illustrate the gulf between the two sides any further. It hardly matters though. A team with all the firepower in the world compared to the one team it needed to beat, and it couldn't A) do it confidently and B) do it at all.

It's very rare that I'll describe a cup match loss as pathetic because luck can often be the great decider, but what other word do you have?

Don't mind us while we take the piss

Villa should've blown away Stevenage. Football is not paid on balance sheets, nor is it played on team sheets. All are equal when they actually step onto the pitch until the variables of quality, fitness and tactical brilliance come to the fore.

Well, Stevenage played the game they should. They sat deep, ready to go out on their shield. They also gave the first blow - though it was ruled out.

The Villans did not. They flicked, they tapped, they backheeled. They tried to tiptoe around and showcase their fragile brilliance.

Villa's best effort - and goal - came through brutal industry - all thought it was all one-touch. Anything else took the piss. Lame shots from outside the area, and zero respect given until Stevenage took it.

The team selected had the calibre to win. It left with a bloody nose. Deservedly so.

Momentum is the great variable

There is nothing more damaging to a football team than attempting to fight momentum. At 1-0 up, you're caught in-between. Do you push for more and weaken at the back, or do you shore up and invite pressure?

More often than not, the single-minded opposition will make the choice for them. They have the power to do one thing, and one thing well - rather than be caught between ideas.

Villa didn't capitalise on the scoreline with force, and were happy to see the match out.

All it would take was a dramatic shift in momentum to change everything.

The greatest gift

Absolutely champing at the bit they were - and can you blame them? Villa were all to happy to ride out the clock.

Then the unthinkable. The piss-taking grew infectious. The usually-sturdy Leander Dendoncker was caught out, and committed not one - but two - grevious fouls in trying to make up for his disaster. He was rightly sent off, and can have no questions about it.

A penalty, then momentum. One side shellshocked as the safety catch comes off, and another locking and loading.

By the time Dan Campbell scored Stevenage's winner, Villa had already given up. The diabolical defending on a corner (absolutely nowhere near what would've been drawn up in the dressing room before by Austin McPhee and coaches) was slammed past a hopeless Olsen with a stunning finish.

It was the type of shot you'd pay £30 million for.

What now?

Villa must pick up the pieces and fast. Unai Emery has seen within a week how great his team can be - and how bloody awful they can appear. Friday night against Leeds will be telling, as Villa's only hope now is to continue their progress in the league.

They've allowed a golden opportunity for silverware to go knocking, and at the first stage.

As for Stevenage, they average attendance of 2,800 - and brought 3,000 fans to Villa Park.

They'll do just the same against Stoke City in the fourth round, a segment of the competition that Villa haven't seen in close to the decade.

On both accounts, deservedly so.