Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was unsurprisingly disappointed after our 5-1 defeat to Newcastle Utd, but was particularly downbeat over the injury suffered by Tyrone Mings.
Moussa Diaby scored on his Premier League debut to draw us level just minutes after the hosts took the lead, but parity was restored for just five minutes before they regained their advantage and eventually punished us in the final half hour to run out comfortable winners.
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It’s a bitterly disappointing way to start the new campaign after such optimism and positivity following on from our pre-season schedule, and there will no doubt be plenty of reflection, analysis and work in training this week as we try to regroup and react against Everton next weekend.
The Villa boss was gracious in defeat as he gave credit to Newcastle for their performance, but naturally he will be hugely frustrated and disappointed with the manner of the loss and our inability to produce a solid defensive display.
“Newcastle are strong at home and they started winning and when we were in the match and we score the goal and we had good chances with Ollie [Watkins],” he said, as per BBC Sport. “In the second half we tried to change and tried to control the match but when they scored the third goal the match was finished. But Newcastle deserved in 90 minutes to win and then we had some momentums that were good but it wasn’t enough today.
“This week is very sad for us. With Emilio Buendia, today with Tyrone Mings. We lost today but there was something that was more than we wanted but the worst today was the injury with Tyrone. We have to take some days in reflection and then prepare for the game against Everton.
“Of course, each match is different. I always try to keep clean sheets as a way to win. We did that last year but it is a new year and we played today the power was big and we have to react. The worst today is the injured player and only when we analyse and try to review the mistakes we did today but it is three points and we have the next match at home.”
Nevertheless, he remained defiant in terms of not wavering from the style that he is implementing as he isn’t planning on making significant adjustments, and that is the right approach given how far we’ve come since his appointment.
This was of course a major blow and a negative way to start the new season, but it’s a setback that we must learn from and come back better from ahead of next week to immediately bounce back and start moving in the right direction again.
Further, Emery was also asked about the condition of Mings who was stretchered off in the first half with what looked to be a serious knee injury, and the early indications don’t sound positive in a week where we’ve already lost Emiliano Buendia to a significant setback of his own.
“We’re not changing our idea,” he added. “We are going to be very demanding but we know the top seven teams in the Premier League. One of them is Newcastle. We have to analyse and try to get again our way. But the worst is the injured player.
“It doesn’t look good [Mings injury]. He is injured. This week has been very tough, we lost Emi Buendia and today we lost Tyrone Mings, two important players in the squad. Everything this week is not working well but we are going to react. I want to be positive with the players we have and we can change the situation.
“We are going to try to analyse everything and focus on the next match. We will try to understand why we lost but Newcastle were good, they are strong at home and they won. We are trying to be intelligent in the window. After these two injuries we will have to analyse the squad and the way we are going to face this year.”
Mings will be a major loss for us given his defensive strengths, leadership and experience of organising the backline so effectively, and it remains to be seen who will step in and fill that void moving forward.
Pau Torres, Ezri Konsa and Diego Carlos will battle it out for a starting berth at centre-half, but question marks will likely be raised over Lucas Digne and Matty Cash too, as we looked weak and vulnerable right across the backline, particularly in the latter stages.
Villa host Everton next Sunday, and Emery will undoubtedly be looking for a more robust and organised defensive performance, and we can then build on that to show our attacking quality and get back to winning ways immediately after a far from ideal start to the new season.