Aston Villa boss Unai Emery conceded that he was left frustrated and disappointed after our 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in our FA Cup semi-final encounter.
It was a woeful performance from Villa at Wembley on Saturday evening, as we never really got going and lost to the better side, as Palace were more aggressive, played with more intensity and urgency and ultimately outfought and outplayed us throughout the game.
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Given the occasion and what was on the line as we targeted a trophy, it was a bitterly disappointing way to exit the FA Cup, and there will be a lot of questions to answer and solutions to be found to bounce back and finish the Premier League season with significantly better performances with just four games remaining and a Champions League qualification spot still in our sights.
Emery apologised to the supporters for the performance and result, and went on to share his emotions after watching us fall short of a major objective this season with Oliver Glasner and his men once again getting the better of us in convincing fashion this year.
“I’m sorry for our supporters,” he told VillaTV. “We were very motivated and we wanted to share our moment with them here in the semi-final. We have to accept how we lost this match, because Crystal Palace played very well and we didn’t perform like we are usually doing.
“How we are increasing our level and our demands through Europe, in the Conference League last year and Champions League and FA Cup this year, we have to be happy, motivated and excited about how we are improving and increasing so quickly the process we are doing here.
“In some matches like today, when we’re being disappointed and frustrated, we have to dominate our frustration and disappointed moments and keep going.
“We have to change again our objective because the Premier League is our priority. Through it we can again play in Europe next year.
“We lost a possibility to get one trophy in the Champions League and again today, but we have to keep going. Only one team is winning, and to play in Europe consistently is the next objective and the priority when I arrived here.
“This is the message I send always to the supporters: to be consistent in Europe, to try to play for a trophy – we did this year and last year we did as well in the Conference League.
“We keep going and we really need next week against Fulham at home every supporter trying to be close to us, supporting us and helping us to get again our full energy to play the final four matches.
“It’s our objective to play again in Europe.”
While we certainly shouldn’t forget or dismiss what we’ve achieved over the past two years or so after a bad result as it’s been an extraordinary and thoroughly enjoyable process, and ultimately we can come up short on the day, that can’t always be the response after setbacks.
This should sting the players and coaching staff just as much as it does for the fans as it was not only the result, but the manner in which we lost given we were dreadfully short of our own high standards and never really showed up.
From the approach to individual duels and the collective inability to dominate in either phase of the game, it was an evening to forget at Wembley, and having been in such a strong position not so long ago looking to compete on three fronts, this has been a really poor run of results at the most crucial of moments, and the character and resolve of this group will undoubtedly be tested in our remaining four games of the league campaign.
