Aston Villa suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat at Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday after a woeful second-half performance.
Villa took the lead through Morgan Rogers in the first half, and received deserved praise for a disciplined and organised display as we allowed the hosts very little in the opening 45 minutes.
READ MORE: Jhon Duran on Emery relationship, competing with Watkins and Villa future
However, it was clear that we still had to improve after the break as we were poor in possession, and while that didn’t happen, our defence became increasingly exposed as our own mistakes were also punished.
In turn, it’s a damaging defeat that we have to learn from and react to, as the response this week has to come with more energy, intensity and urgency after what was ultimately a passive effort in another disappointing setback.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Tottenham:
Emiliano Martinez, 6 – Made a crucial save after Tottenham’s equaliser to help us stay in the game after a quiet first half, but time and again he was left exposed by his defence and could do very little.
Matty Cash, 6 – Defended diligently and stuck to his task well, but there was disappointment again as he picked up an injury setback in the second half that had a negative impact on our performance.
Ezri Konsa, 5.5 – Struggled after being shifted across to right-back following Cash’s withdrawal, as we lost our defensive shape and organisation. Was solid prior to that in the first half in his more natural position.
Pau Torres, 5 – Tough going for him as we weren’t effective enough in playing around Tottenham’s press, and that pressure eventually told as he was guilty of gifting them possession for their third.
Lucas Digne, 5 – For all the deserved praise he receives, there’s no getting away from the fact that he bizarrely stopped tracking Brennan Johnson for the equaliser in a pivotal moment in the game. Pau was left with two men to mark at the back post and was overrun, while Digne should have been desperately scrambling back too in an attempt to clear the danger.
Amadou Onana, 5.5 – Excellent in the first half as he helped us get a foothold in the game and was covering so much ground to snuff out danger as Spurs broke forward from midfield. Much like the rest of the team though, went missing in the second half as we couldn’t control proceedings or impose ourselves.
Youri Tielemans, 5.5 – Remains the key to how we want to play with his ability to play out of pressure and break the lines. Continued to do that today but not as effectively or consistently as we struggled as a unit to control the game.
John McGinn, 5 – Did well to retain possession and win free-kicks, but constantly looked for fouls as he shielded the ball and while effective at times, it also felt like it was slowing our counter-attacking play down to our own detriment. Didn’t offer much quality on the ball to go with his tireless work ethic.
Morgan Rogers, 6.5 – Showed good instincts for the goal to apply a simple finish, and could have had an assist just minutes later after setting Ollie Watkins through. Didn’t want to come off despite looking like he had picked up a knock, but remains our most threatening presence in the final third.
Jacob Ramsey, 5.5 – Does well to carry the ball forward into the opponent’s third and either alleviate pressure or create a dangerous attack, but there was no end product to that play again to make a decisive impact, which is still wants missing from his game on a consistent basis.
Ollie Watkins, 5.5 – Starved of service for the most part, was isolated up top as we didn’t play with any rhythm or tempo to create sustained pressure. Did drag a good chance wide before half-time and had a decent sighter with a header prior to that too, but couldn’t find a finish.
Substitutes:
Diego Carlos, 4.5 – The switch at the back didn’t work as we looked much more disorganised and vulnerable without Cash and having to shift Konsa across.
Jhon Duran, 4.5 – With Villa failing to hold onto possession and build pressure, there wasn’t a lot he could do as this perhaps wasn’t the game for us to go with two up top in the latter stages.
Leon Bailey, N/A
Jaden Philogene, N/A
Boubacar Kamara, N/A