Aston Villa boss Unai Emery insisted he saw improvement in our defeat to Brentford on penalties, but also conceded that more is still needed.
Villa ended our goal drought that has blighted our start to the season as Harvey Elliott put us ahead in the first half, albeit there was a helping hand from Brentford goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson, and that was undoubtedly a major positive to end that talking point which has been adding to the pressure that’s building on us.
However, Aaron Hickey’s superb strike levelled things for the hosts after the break, and while both sides had chances to win it, the encounter was eventually decided on penalties with Brentford emerging victorious after a 4-2 shootout victory.
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After collecting just two points from our opening four Premier League games of the campaign, exiting the Carabao Cup in our first outing in the competition only adds to the misery that has surrounded our start to the season.
While there have been improvements and encouraging signs in our last two outings compared to what we saw in the opening three games, it’s still ultimately not enough to get back to winning ways, and the longer that this dire form drags on, the more problems it will likely cause for Emery and the players.
Naturally, the Villa boss wanted to maintain some level of positivity after the game in his post-match interview, but he’ll know better than anyone that more is needed from his players to ensure that we get the desired result at Sunderland this weekend ahead of our Europa League opener next week.
“We improved things and we scored one goal, which is important as well,” he told VillaTV. “We drew but we created chances to win the match. I think we deserved something more – we competed well.
“We used in the starting XI some players who joined us in the last moments of the transfer window. They need minutes to get confidence and feel comfortable in our structure, trying to adapt as soon as possible. They played and they performed well. We created chances and in the last minute were pushing to win the match, and I think the spirit we showed today is the spirit I want.
“I’m grateful for the supporters. Their effort was here and they were supporting us. We’re a little bit disappointed, but we have our way and I want to try to get strong in our way. Today we lost but I want to keep going, to keep improving things, giving some players minutes we need to add in the squad. We keep going thinking now about Sunderland on Sunday.
“Harvey Elliott showed his qualities to us and he scored one goal. The press we did with John McGinn was really fantastic, and then in 90 minutes we created three or four clear chances and even hit the post with Jadon Sancho.
“I think we’re getting better. There’s still work to do and we’re going to practice, preparing the game on Sunday. We have to work hard like we were doing, with the new structure and new players we have who joined us two weeks ago. We have to improve and we have to keep the same progression we were doing and showing today.”
There is still a lack of clinical play and cutting edge to Villa’s attacking work despite an improvement in terms of creating openings and chances, and that has to be fixed sooner rather than later otherwise we’ll continue to see similar results.
It could be argued that we are setting a solid foundation defensively to give ourselves the chance to go out and win games, but it’s just hoped that the goal on Tuesday night opens the door for many more to follow now, and that in turn will hopefully get us back to winning ways and back on track as this blip to start the season continues to lower the mood.
The longer it does drag on though, the more questions will be asked of Emery’s ability to fix it, with many key individuals still not playing at the level required while collectively, we’re nowhere near our best.