Villa duo give brutally honest assessments as Emery makes Arsenal and Liverpool point after Wolves loss
Aston Villa fell to their first league defeat of the calendar year on Saturday night as Wolves beat Unai Emery’s 2-0 at Molineux.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde opened the scoring in the 12th minute, but Villa were lucky to not be further behind come half-time after Matheus Cunha and Goncalo Guedes both missed big chances.
Cunha put the seal on things late on, but not before some VAR controversy as Villa were denied what would have been an equaliser. In an offside position, Morgan Rogers was adjudged to have prevented Nelson Semedo from trying to block John McGinn’s cross to Donyell Malen.
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Here is the reaction from the defeat against Wolves…
Emery makes Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City comparison
While clearly disappointed with the result, Emery chose to reflect on the club's progress until this point and recognise that this season has been more challenging than the last.
"Overall, of course, we were enjoying Wednesday in the Champions League," he explained in his post-match press conference. "We got to the last 16 in the Champions League. We were very happy. But the next step in this club is to have something like a normal way for us. Last year we did because we were in the Conference League, we reached the semi-final, and we got the Champions League position through the league. And this year we are in this direction.
“But of course, it's been more difficult. It's been more difficult. We have to be intelligent as well, because we don't have the power some teams have. It's clear. We are not Arsenal, we are not Liverpool, we are not City.
"And of course, to get them and to be competing with them - wow, it's a big effort we have to do. And as well, sometimes we are not getting them. And this is more or less the analysis I can have today overall, of course, I can analyse now the match, but how we are, the frustration, how I can get the balance in our frustration, in my frustration."
What Emery was inferring is that sides who are capable of competing for titles every season have more resources and financial muscle to remain consistent from competition to competition, week after week.
Villa are now of course winless in their past seven league games following Champions League fixtures, with three home draws and four away defeats.
Konsa and Martinez's brutally honest assessments
Ezri Konsa is currently the only fit recognised senior centre-back in the squad following the sale of Diego Carlos in between injuries suffered by Pau Torres and Tyrone Mings. The latter will hopefully return against Tottenham next weekend, but Torres remains out for around another four weeks.
"We just weren't good enough today, simple as that," Konsa admitted. "In the second half we performed better but we didn't have enough. We can make excuses about being fatigued but if we want to play Champions League we have to be prepared to play this much.
"This season, away from home, we have conceded early quite a lot and it is something we have to work on. The second half was better but it wasn't enough. We put pressure on but I don't think we troubled their back four or goalkeeper enough. We have to improve and we have to do it now."
Konsa added: "I think we have to stop conceding goals. I feel like we are conceding every game and me being in the back line, I have to go back and look on it and change it."
Another brutally honest admission after full-time came from Emi Martinez, who posted on Instagram: "I was not good enough today. I will train harder for the next game."
Malen and Garcia show positive signs
Emery handed a debut to Andres Garcia at right-back on Saturday, but then took him off at half-time as one of four changes. The Spaniard was signed for just £6m from Levante last month and this was his first taste of top-flight football.
He showed a good turn of pace and was looking to make a positive decision when he received the ball. He was dispossessed on a couple of occasions, but he would have learned plenty from his first 45 minutes as a Villa player.
Villa's only other January arrival, Malen, is showing signs that he is adapting to the Premier League relatively seamlessly. He was unlucky not to have been awarded an equaliser before he had a presentable chance to score late on.
Played in by Youri Tielemans, Malen's effort was blocked by Jose Sa, who made a good save to deny the Dutchman.
