Roberto De Zerbi headed straight down the tunnel at full time, and the boos followed him. Tottenham’s 3-2 home defeat by Aston Villa left them without a Premier League victory to their name this season and with just two points on the board as they went into the three-week international break. Two late Tottenham goals reduced the deficit but amounted only to consolations.
Speaking afterwards, De Zerbi did not disguise his anger. “I am very disappointed, sad and frustrated for the performance,” he said. “We can’t lose the game in this way, we can’t concede the second goal, we can’t lose balance just because we are losing. I spoke with our four attackers in minute 51, I asked them to use their head, all second half I was telling people to be calm. But the second goal was incredible.” The manager criticised his team’s mentality, but also the physical condition of his players, and said the substitute Mohammed Kudus had disrupted the balance of his side.
Jackson scored in the 67th minute, latching on to a long kick from the impressive Aston Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki. De Zerbi said his players had been prepared to deal with the goalkeeper’s clearances but had switched off. “We knew this season Aston Villa are playing 86% more long balls than last season and we spoke in many meetings about it,” he said. “Now we have to explain another game like [the home defeat against] Newcastle where we played the first half well, got to 60 minutes OK, and then we lose.”
With his players departing to join their national sides, De Zerbi said he had left them with no parting message. “I didn’t speak with the players today because I didn’t want to say anything,” he said. “The players who go with the national team have to play and work and the others; for sure we have to work more because I didn’t like the finish to this game. We can’t say everything is bad, but it is not enough.”
For Unai Emery, a first Premier League victory of the season served as a reminder to his players of the style of play that has delivered success for Aston Villa in recent seasons. “The players did well because they believed,” he said. “We needed to build a team that could play in this way, could defend with resilience and playing with passion when our opponents were attacking. We needed defenders, we needed the keeper, we needed everyone committed in that direction. We needed to feel strong first, then we could try to play with our structure and our ability. This is the competitive way.”