Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has called for unity after our disappointing 2-0 defeat to Wolves in the Premier League.
Villa were poor yet again at Molineux, as we failed to take our chances in the first half and gradually struggled more and more as the game went on.
Our slow, passive and predictable approach ultimately allowed the hosts to grow into the game, and they scored twice without response in the second half to secure all three points.
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It extends a poor run of form for Villa, who haven’t looked convincing since our win over Newcastle United over a month ago, and that in turn has opened the door for the chasing pack to close the gap on us in the battle for Champions League qualification.
With a crunch encounter with Chelsea at Villa Park up next, Emery called on supporters to stay united with the team as we look to bounce back, but there is no covering up how frustrating and disappointing this performance and result was, particularly taking into consideration how poor we’ve looked for many weeks now.
“I’m thankful for our supporters, to be here with us in the derby,” he told VillaTV. “And always here is very difficult, every match we’ve played here. We’ve lost three times and drawn one.
“But even losing here in the last three years we’ve achieved our objective and, of course, we are frustrated.
“But it can happen.
“How we played in the first half was really fantastic, we didn’t score but we created chances to score, enough chances to score, we dominated, we didn’t concede.
“And the second half when they scored, the match changed completely.
“We tried but the rhythm was stopping always.
“It was difficult to keep the rhythm and try to dominate the game and create chances; we did, we created one chance, Amadou Onana but he didn’t score to draw.
“And at the end we lost.
“But now is the moment – the supporters and everybody to be together and we need them.
“I am so motivated, so excited about how we are in the Premier League in matchday 28.
“At the beginning we weren’t favourites, we weren’t contenders, and we’re fighting with those great teams like Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool.
“They have huge power and they need to be in our position, it’s their target clearly.
“But we are competing fantastic, we are being consistent, even now when we are losing here, we must react and we must as well tell our supporters we need them and we must be together.
“We must achieve our objectives creating a great atmosphere in Villa Park, a great atmosphere here because they were here with us.
“And, as well, trying to support the players, help the players and again recover our good form, good mood.
“I am being positive because we are in the average but, of course, we must continue analysing, being so, so demanding how we can improve things and recover again our confidence.
“We have two competitions, really motivated, Europa League and Premier League and we are in a very good position to try to enjoy the way we’re doing.”
The concern is that Villa haven’t been able to find answers or solutions in this latest slump, as we look devoid of ideas and creativity from midfield and further up the pitch, and that is a major concern moving forward with critical fixtures ahead as players are out of form, short of confidence and wilting under the pressure of recent setbacks.
Not only do we face Chelsea and Manchester United in our next two league games, but our Europa League round-of-16 tie with Lille is also embedded within that schedule, and so we must improve and make adjustments if we are to get back on the right track, but it ultimately remains to be seen if Emery is willing to part with his usual principles and way of playing in order to break out of the rut.
Based on this display, we still look miles away from rediscovering our spark, but it has to happen sooner rather than later, and the hope is that it will come in a pivotal showdown with Chelsea.