Aston Villa boss Unai Emery remained upbeat despite our disappointing 3-1 defeat to Newcastle Utd on Tuesday night.
The visitors went 3-0 up at Villa Park and deservedly so as we were bitterly poor in the first hour or so, and while there was temporary hope of a comeback after Ollie Watkins struck in the 71st minute, it was short-lived as we ultimately suffered a rare loss at home.
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Ultimately, it’s hard to deny that Villa’s performance level and form has dropped in the last four games, as we’ve struggled to score and looked vulnerable defensively.
While we’ve managed to come through that period relatively well in terms of results, we were eventually punished by Newcastle on this occasion, and so a reaction is absolutely now needed against Sheffield Utd on Saturday evening.
Perhaps Emery likes to keep his frustration and disappointment within the dressing room when speaking directly to his players, as it’s difficult to see how an elite coach like the Spaniard will be content with what he saw and accept it.
Speaking to the media after the game though, he continued to paint a positive picture despite conceding that there was frustration with the way we played, and it’s imperative that we now bounce back at the weekend to get past this sticky patch of form where we’re struggling to play our best football.
“It is a little frustrating,” he told BBC Sport. “I told the players I feel like tonight had to come one way. Today we have to accept because they deserve it. The first 60 minutes, they were better. We couldn’t take chances to draw but we have to accept and remind the players everything we did here was perfect [unbeaten run at home]. We then have to correct what we did here.
“Newcastle’s power is in the set pieces and they won at Fulham this way on Saturday. We conceded more corners than usual at home and that is the first way to concede a goal from a corner. We have to be demanding that we can improve. We have to react tactically. I am very proud of the players. We are more or less fifth in the table. Overall, we are happy and feeling comfortable.
“Congratulations to Newcastle and they played tonight being successful in their performances,” he added when speaking to TNT Sports, as per BBC Sport. “First half we did not control the game like we wanted. Obviously at the beginning was because they were playing well and we had to assess. In the second half we got the goal and had chances then to be close to score the second goal but we have to assess the match.
:I spoke with the players and told them I am very proud of them after a lot of matches we are successful here. One loss has to come and it was today. We have not lost our perspective. The message is to keep going ahead and try and find comfort in the work that we are doing overall.
“We were more or less not controlling the game like we wanted and they were threatening in behind, getting in our box and getting corners. After it they scored two goals. Again, we are frustrated, little bit disappointed, but in our perspective we are happy. We have 43 points. We are going to work and try to keep the distance that we have now and then focus on Saturday.”
On one hand, it’s crucial we don’t fall deeper into a slump and so Emery adopting this approach and mentality will hopefully help the players stay positive and calm, and produce a result on Saturday.
However, there is no escaping the drop off in performance level as noted above, and so there is hopefully more urgency and frustration within the group to put on a display this weekend and get back to winning ways.
The first half of our defeat to Newcastle was arguably the worst 45 minutes at home under Emery, and so there is a lot to work on as we look to put this run behind us, and rediscover our best form.