Aston Villa boss Unai Emery insisted that we deserved more after a 2-0 defeat to Wolves on Saturday evening.
Goals from Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Matheus Cunha secured all three points for the hosts, and many will argue that it was deserved as Villa were poor again.
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While we improved in the second half, our performance was lacking physicality, aggressiveness, intensity and tempo for large periods, and it ultimately proved to be a disappointing and frustrating watch.
Emery often looks for the positives after most games, and this was no different, and while we had a goal seemingly incorrectly ruled out in the second half, it’s hard to agree that we deserved much more having failed to perform at the necessary level.
“We tried,” he told Sky Sports, as quoted by BBC Sport. “We started very well in the first 15 minutes but when they scored the goal it was more difficult to come back. We had more chances to score the second goal and in the second half we tried to push. We competed better but we had two chances to score and maybe if we score it is different. Over 90 minutes, we deserved more.”
On Donyell Malen’s ruled out goal: “It is VAR’s task. They watched it and told me. It was not offside because he did not touch the ball. But it is VAR’s task. Even sometimes I think they are making mistakes.”
The Villa boss went on to speak about the overall picture, and he conceded that there is frustration over our inability to increase our level despite demanding more, and more time is needed to continue to develop and improve the group.
It’s hard to ignore our absentees list this weekend which left us short-handed and it was a key factor in our struggles, but the level of those on the pitch wasn’t good enough to get something from the game.
Emery made changes at half-time to give us a lift and inject freshness into our display, and while it had the desired impact as we improved, it wasn’t enough to turn the game around and so he’ll continue to work diligently and tirelessly to get more from the squad.
“We tried to give fresh legs and tactically tried to change things (in the second half). Watkins had a small pain and hopefully it is not a big injury he has. I needed to introduce some fresh legs and something tactically with Leon Bailey getting wider.
“We had two chances from Malen that the goalkeeper saved really well and then the goal VAR refused. We controlled it better and the last one they scored the goal but in the second half we didn’t conceded many chances.
“We are speaking about our ambition and increasing our levels and then when we are not getting it, the frustration we have. We are still building a team. We got Champions League this year and are competing well but to build a team to be competitive in the high demands, we need more time.”
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What is vital for Villa now is that we get healthy and recover injured players, as having to play Boubacar Kamara as a centre-half and Lamare Bogarde in midfield absolutely contributed to this defeat.
It’s a situation we shouldn’t have found ourselves in, but little can be done about that now, and so with just a couple of days left in the transfer window, we must act where possible to rectify those issues.
As noted above though, those who featured in this game didn’t perform at the required level even when we take quality out of the equation, and that makes this defeat all the more difficult to take.
“I was frustrated. Still work to do. The frustration is with the ambition we have,” he later told BBC Sport. “We are not Manchester City – the teams strong in everything. We are increasing our level, our demand but we don’t have the power they have. We have to do it intelligently. To get Europe two years in a row and be in the last 16 this year is fantastic. To be consistent in the Premier League has been more difficult for us.
“We competed today at the beginning, trying to get this challenge. First half was really bad. We started well but didn’t control the game.
“We needed it [changes]. Fresh legs. Tactical change with Bailey going wide. Second half we were better. We created two or three changes to score.
“I think we deserved to lose.”
On Ollie Watkins’ injury: “A little bit. He felt some pain but hopefully not a lot. We’ll test him tomorrow.”
On new signings: “We need some players. We need to replace some players who left. Tomorrow and Monday are the last two days. I think we’ll get some players to help us because we’re in the Champions League last 16. We have to try to get points in the Premier League to be top eight, seven, six, five.”