Unai Emery has defended his decision to make large-scale changes to his Aston Villa side after a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. The performance was among the worst at Villa Park during the Spaniard's tenure, with fans booing the team off the pitch following a third consecutive loss in all competitions.
Emery made seven alterations to the lineup from Thursday's Europa League semi-final first leg against Nottingham Forest, with captain John McGinn omitted as a precaution due to a tight hamstring. The changes backfired as struggling Spurs raced into a 2-0 lead inside 25 minutes through Conor Gallagher and Richarlison. Emi Buendia scored a consolation goal in the 95th minute, Villa's first effort on target.
Despite the defeat, which leaves Villa six points clear of Bournemouth for a top-five finish with three games remaining, Emery insisted the changes were not to blame. "We lost on Thursday and lost last week. Maybe it is better to continue playing with the same players but we lost those games," he said. "Some players have the challenge, when they were losing. And the challenge was at Sunderland at home. I made some changes against them and we won. You were not asking about those changes because we won. If we are losing maybe it is 'ah, you change.' I know before the match, my challenge is to win with some changes. But I believe in the players."
Emery expressed pride in his squad despite the result. "Those same players three months ago were winning a lot of matches in a row and we have now 58 points because of them. Sometimes they can play bad, of course. Sometimes they cannot get their performance, of course. Now I can tell them I am proud of them, so proud of them how they are doing their performance in the day 35. Today we lost and we deserved to lose. Congratulations to Tottenham."
The pressure now mounts ahead of Thursday's second leg against Forest, with Villa needing to bounce back to secure their European ambitions.
