Aston Villa boss Unai Emery remained upbeat despite our 3-2 defeat to Man Utd on Boxing Day, as he emphasised the positives of our season so far.
It was a performance and result that surely would have frustrated and angered him though, given we took a commanding 2-0 lead at Old Trafford but were unable to see it out.
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With a lack of composure, control and quality, Villa collapsed in a chaotic second half as we threw away a big chance to secure an important win over Utd and cement our place in the top four.
Perhaps his message and reaction in the dressing room was different and he’ll be bitterly disappointed with his side’s display, particularly in the second half, but that’s not the message Emery portrayed publicly.
As seen in the quotes and video below, the Villa boss was keen to praise our performance for the first 60 minutes, and pointed out our points tally after 19 games, which still leaves us in third place at the time of writing, but there was arguably an element of him saying those things through gritted teeth.
“Two weeks ago I was asked if we were contenders to the title and said no, and was thinking the same as I am now. Why? Because we are playing several top teams that are contenders more than we are. Of course we are being consistent and better than a lot of teams so far this season,” he said after the game, as quoted by BBC Sport.
“Today we missed an opportunity to have that consistency against one of the top ten teams. This can happen. The reaction after the first goal conceded was good, we even then created a few very good chances, but that is football.
“Move on, be demanding. I told the players that the first part of the season was fantastic but I want more. If they want more we have to work hard to get it.
“It was a fantastic 60 minutes, fantastic. We were in control of the game, we played very, very well.
“We were speaking in the dressing room after the first half that if they score one goal it can happen. We have to try to keep being consistent. But we did do that because we created two very good chances. The best chances of the match with Leon Bailey and John McGinn.
“We were fighting and competing very well but we didn’t score. And then, twenty minutes they scored three goals. It was their best moment, they are a very good team with good players and playing at home.
“We needed control of the game and try to avoid the the mistakes that we did.
“But it was a fantastic first 60 minutes and it’s been a fantastic first 39 points and of course we missed a great opportunity to take the points. But we have to accept and now my only focus is to start the second half of the season against Burnley on Saturday.”
The latter part of his comments feel like a truer reflection of the game, in that we lacked control and made mistakes which proved to be costly as Utd took charge in that 20-minute period.
Assessing the game in isolation and being critical is surely fair, as it was poor given the standards we’ve set under Emery and continue to strive to achieve. In the bigger picture though, the Villa boss is absolutely right to highlight just how well we’ve done to this point.
That said, it’s vital we bounce back well against Burnley this weekend, as after a result like this and the manner in which it played out, there will be a test of character moving forward to ensure it doesn’t impact our season in the coming weeks.
👊🏽🟣🔵#avfc #UTVpic.twitter.com/hYVYmXXy3V
— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) December 26, 2023
