Aston Villa suffered a 1-0 defeat at Wolves on Saturday on a frustrating and bitterly disappointing afternoon as we stumbled again in the battle for European qualification.
It was vital that we bounced back at Molineux after suffering a loss at Man Utd last weekend, but we fell short and now have a big challenge ahead to turn things around in our favour in our three remaining Premier League games.
READ MORE: What Emery said in reaction to Villa defeat to Wolves
Unai Emery was keen to pick out and emphasise some positives after the game, but he’ll be disappointed with this defeat given our performance after going behind, as we should have got something from it.
Nevertheless, we returned home empty-handed and now prepare for Tottenham next weekend in what is ultimately a crunch clash and will determine where we may finish this season.
Only ourselves to blame after wasteful display
After a poor start where we didn’t adapt to the intensity and tempo of the game very well and then conceded, there was a positive response as we got a foothold and started to gain control.
However, despite having 63% possession and countless attempts on goal, there was ultimately no end product to our play and so we only have ourselves to blame for such a wasteful performance.
Chances came and went, some particularly big ones too with Ollie Watkins and Tyrone Mings having to do better inside the box from good deliveries, and so that was undoubtedly the most frustrating aspect of the display in what was a tight and hard-fought clash.
Huge boost seeing Diego Carlos return
It’s hard to pick out and focus on positives after such a disappointing outcome, but ultimately it was great to see Diego Carlos make his return and get significant minutes.
Beyond the boost for us to see him back and available to Emery, it would have been a huge moment for him personally to put a really difficult time for him behind him, having recovered from such a serious injury so soon into his spell with us.
He’ll hope to build on that now and be more involved, but it was a great moment in itself just to see him back on the pitch in competitive action with the first-team.
Kamara return crucial
Similarly, it was also important that Boubacar Kamara got minutes as he made his own return from injury in what is a pivotal boost for us.
While we maintained our good form in his absence, there is little doubt over the influence he has for us in both phases of the game when he’s fully fit and in top form, and we’ll need that in big games against top opposition in the coming weeks.
Leander Dendoncker was unfortunate to lose his place on Saturday, but with Kamara back in the fold, time will tell if the Frenchman is able to start against Tottenham and be a major presence for us in midfield. Importantly, that will also have a positive knock-on effect for the likes of Douglas Luiz and John McGinn too.
Wrong call on Traore starting?
Emery hasn’t got much wrong since he took charge, but it has to be said that the decision to start Bertrand Traore on the right side instead of Dendoncker in midfield and thus shifting McGinn inside, did raise an eyebrow when it was announced.
In a highly charged and intense game like this one, we arguably could have done with a bit more steeliness and physicality in midfield, as well as a player with the technical quality to show composure and retain possession.
Instead, Traore struggled through the first half and offered very little in terms of an attacking threat in the final third, and his half-time replacement Leon Bailey wasn’t much better either.
All or nothing in ‘final’ against Tottenham
Emery has already labelled our clash with Tottenham next weekend a final, and ultimately it has to be seen that way given we need three points to close the gap on them and go level.
If we fail to win, that will likely be it for our European hopes, as with Liverpool moving clear in fifth place and Brighton having three games in hand, the picture doesn’t look particularly promising now.
Whether or not we qualify for Europe though, and of course it would be disappointing if we didn’t, these are fundamental experiences and games that this group needs to learn a lot from as if we want to compete at the top level, there will be plenty more of these crunch encounters down the line and the sooner we start developing a winning habit the better.