Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was as balanced and frank as ever after seeing us fall to a 5-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on the final day of the season.
In the bigger picture, it has been a wonderful season in which we’ve secured a place in the Champions League for next year, a remarkable achievement in itself and it represents further progress after our upturn in form under Emery in the previous campaign.
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There is so much to look forward to this summer as we plot how to build on it, and so it’s important to remember and appreciate the positives when assessing the season in its entirety.
That said, there is no denying that our performance at Selhurst Park on Sunday was nowhere near good enough, and while we were missing countless key individuals again as we’ve had to deal with damaging injury blows all year, it will hopefully continue to help Emery build a squad capable of competing on multiple fronts across a gruelling season.
Nevertheless, the Villa boss didn’t focus on the negatives and disappointment of this result in isolation, as although he’ll likely have a lot to say to his players about it at a later time to learn from it, his focus right now is on celebrating what we’ve achieved, and giving his players a well-earned rest.
“It’s not a good result,” Emery said in his post-match press conference. “They showed us their power and how they have played recently here [Selhurst Park]. We tried to keep consistent in our way, trying to be competitive in 90 minutes.
“More or less in the first half we were creating chances. We had chances to score and equalise but in the second half we lost our energy. After we achieved our strong objective that we were planning since August, it was very difficult today. It is a disappointing result. Today we didn’t feel strong in the field.
“We have to accept it. We achieved our objective, but it is important to keep being consistent.
“I can’t tell nothing [negative] about the players or our work. Sometimes, like when you have circumstances like today, you have to accept it.”
In truth, Villa have limped to the finish line this year as not only did the injury setbacks continue to weaken us, but it took its toll on those who stayed available and took on a heavier workload.
Coupled with the midweek celebrations after guaranteeing ourselves fourth spot, it was to be expected that we wouldn’t be at our best this weekend, but it’s hoped that it’s another learning experience for the players and we continue to use disappointments like this one to our advantage in the long-term future.