Aston Villa dropped valuable points in the Premier League on Saturday after their 2-2 draw against Chelsea.
Unai Emery might be looking at the positive side of things, but that was a performance to forget from the team.
The worst thing about it all was that, as soon as Aston Villa conceded the goal, you just knew and could sense the comeback was on.
This wasn’t a case of being negative or having that type of mindset, but after going 2-0 up, the home team were second best and it was just a matter of time before Chelsea knocked that door down.
When it did, the Champions League-chasing team couldn’t cope, and in truth, Villa were lucky to walk away with a point.
Thanks to an unbelievable Robin Olsen save when Cole Palmer went through one v one and VAR disallowing a Chelsea stoppage-time winner, this was a performance to well and truly forget.
READ MORE: Mauricio Pochettino spotted hugging one Aston Villa star before 2-2 draw v Chelsea
With his Chelsea hat on, Frank Leboeuf offered an interesting take on the game and probably summed it up perfectly, as he told ESPN.
The former centre-back called Emery a ‘clever guy’ for how he set up in the first half by scoring the goal early, dropping off and then waiting for their opponents to create knowing full well that they can’t.
But, in the end, everyone knew that if the ninth-placed team turned the screw, then it would spark trouble and that’s exactly what happened.
Unai Emery’s tactics against Chelsea
“The first 45 minutes of the game, I think, well, Emery is a clever guy,” said Leboeuf. “He scores an early goal, then drops off, and waits for Chelsea who can’t create, even if they had one shot with Jackson who hit the post.
“Mainly they had possession of the ball, but they couldn’t do anything and Aston Villa were taking their chances in the counter-attack as soon as they got the ball. It’s going to work, they scored the second goal and they are going to hammer Chelsea every time they have a chance, even in the second half.
“And then, a miracle. Pochettino maybe said something in the dressing room ‘guys, if you don’t change the pace of the game, then we are going to be smashed’. They changed the pace of the game and the game changed, because of Aston Villa’s tactics and Emery’s tactics, they weren’t able to change that thing and get a little bit higher up the pitch. Villa didn’t exist anymore in the second half.”
European semi-final
One thing this team has done very well this season is react to setbacks and not let performances such as this affect them.
You are hoping that will be the case when Olympiacos come to town for the first leg of the Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday.
Villa narrowly squeezed past Lille via a penalty shootout, whilst, in the end, it was a memory many fans won’t forget, you can’t go down that same road again.
Not only do Villa have to win the first leg, but you feel they have to win by a margin of two goals, just to take some sort of insurance to Greece because it’s going to be needed.
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