It was a chastening afternoon for Aston Villa on Sunday, as we slipped to a 4-0 defeat to Tottenham at home in a blow to our top-four hopes.
The result leaves us just two points ahead of Spurs, who have a game in hand, as our hold on fourth place in the Premier League table becomes a little more precarious.
READ MORE: What Unai Emery said in assessment of Villa’s disappointing Tottenham defeat
Two quick-fire goals to start the second half stunned Villa, and that misery was compounded by the dismissal of John McGinn shortly after which left us with a real mountain to climb.
After shipping two more goals in added time, focus must now switch to Ajax on Thursday as we look to use this defeat as fuel to bounce back and produce the necessary response.
Did Emery go with the right approach to start the game?
There was arguably a questionable decision from Emery to start the encounter, as Villa essentially went with a back five and defended deeper while allowing Tottenham to have significantly more possession.
It was in stark contrast to what we’ve seen in some of our big wins at home previously where we’ve got on the front foot early and set the tone to make life difficult for our opponents.
Ultimately, the altered approach allowed Spurs to dictate and gain momentum, and we were eventually punished, McGinn was sent off while trying to wrestle back control and tiredness became a factor as we chased the game. Emery is obviously more qualified to assess whether or not it was the right approach for this game, but it did seemingly cause problems later on.
McGinn dismissal a result of lacklustre Villa performance
Unsurprisingly, there will be a lot of focus on McGinn after his red card, and that moment was effectively the end of our hopes of finding a way back into the game as we struggled thereafter.
He’ll be disappointed he left his teammates short and in more trouble, but ultimately it came during a period of the game in which he was trying to grab hold of the game and get a foothold for us, with others not showing the same level of intensity and urgency.
If his effort and energy was matched all around him, perhaps he wouldn’t have been reckless and let his frustration boil over. We’ll certainly miss his presence in the side now for the next three games.
Big test, chance for Iroegbunam
With Boubacar Kamara sidelined by injury and now McGinn out for three league games due to suspension, the door has opened for Tim Iroegbunam to come in and play a pivotal role in our midfield.
The 20-year-old started against Ajax and will now need to draw on his experiences to try and establish himself as a mature, reliable and technically sound option in the heart of our midfield alongside Douglas Luiz.
His job will be to anchor us in that area of the pitch to give Luiz the freedom to play, and so his tactical awareness, positioning and understanding of Emery’s demands will be crucial to our progress in the coming weeks.
Defensive issues continue, solution needed
That’s now 11 goals conceded in our last five league outings, and so it’s becoming an issue given how solid we were defensively not so long ago, particularly at home.
Injuries haven’t helped as we’ve had to shift things with Alex Moreno, Pau Torres, Ezri Konsa and Diego Carlos all being ruled out at various points, but we’re now in a position of strength when it comes to depth and options.
Would a settled back four of Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Alex Moreno be our best quartet? Or is there a different combination that would be more resolute and disciplined in giving us a solid foundation?
Villa must react positively on Thursday
There’s little point in looking beyond our next game now, as we must produce a reaction against Ajax on Thursday and achieve our next immediate objective of advancing in Europe.
A confidence-boosting win over the Dutch giants will get us back on track, and then it’s about building momentum and following it up when we travel to West Ham next Sunday afternoon.
We’ve suffered various setbacks this year, whether it’s poor results or damaging injury blows, but we’ve reacted well throughout. With the business end of the season now in front of us, we’ll hopefully be able to do the same again in the next week or so to ensure we use this blip as fuel to immediately get back to winning ways and avoid seeing our season slip away.
