Aston Villa boss Unai Emery remained philosophical after our disappointing 4-1 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday.
Villa produced a strong defensive performance in the first half in north London, with Morgan Rogers giving us the lead and something to build on after the interval.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Tottenham: Passive display ends in heavy defeat
However, that ultimately didn’t materialise as we didn’t improve our play in possession, and our own mistakes were punished as Spurs produced a comeback to secure all three points.
It was a disappointing and frustrating afternoon as Villa were ultimately far too passive despite showing some good signs with our organisation and discipline, but Emery praised Tottenham for their response in the second half and was eager to reflect on the bigger picture.
“We won two times here and we knew how to win here but they are a good team,” Emery told the media, as quoted by BBC Sport. “We had to keep going and try to focus again on our way [after conceding] because in the league the most important thing is to keep the position we are in.
“They scored so quick in the second half. When they scored the second goal it is difficult because their transition is so, so strong. Winning was more difficult. If we score the second goal maybe it is a possibility to win here.
“When you are losing you have to try and get one step forward to try and change the result. But we know how difficult it is against Tottenham. 4-1 is a tough result but the match we played was more or less in line with the expectation I had before the match.
“We are disappointed, frustrated but we are accepting it. We know our way, it is 38 matches, the league is very tight.
“We started the match like we were planning. At half-time the plan for the second half was to try to keep it. They scored the first goal. We had chances to score a second goal but they were pushing.
“We accepted the result.
“We have to try to be consistent. We had our chances in our transition and set-pieces. But they were clinical today.”
After squandering a lead late against Bournemouth and being eliminated from the Carabao Cup, this ends what has been a bitterly disappointing run of results for Villa over the past week.
In turn, a response is now expected from the players to bounce back from this adversity, starting with a trip to Club Brugge in the Champions League in midweek before we head to Anfield to face top-of-the-table Liverpool.
While it will be difficult to come away with positive results in two tough assignments on the road, the very least we’ll be hoping for is more energy, intensity and urgency in those games to give a better account of ourselves and improve on our recent outings to help us build back some confidence.