Aston Villa manager Unai Emery says the Premier League is the club’s main focus after their hopes of winning the English League Cup ended with a 3-0 defeat by AFC Bournemouth in the fourth round on October 28th.
Villa were unable to reach the quarter-finals after conceding to AFC Bournemouth, despite creating more opportunities in attack than during their previous visits to the club.
“We are very disappointed,” Emery said in an interview with Aston Villa’s club media.
“Since I arrived at Aston Villa, we have played here four timeswe won once, drew once and lost today. But the match situation was similar to before, and their style of play hasn’t changed from our previous encounters.”
Emery said Villa needed to remain compact defensively to cope with AFC Bournemouth’s approach, particularly during the strong spells at the start of each half.
“Here, you must maintain a compact formation and limit their chances. That was true before, and it was true today,” he said.
“We need the goalkeeper and defenders to stay compact together, which is the team structure we have been building. In attack, we actually created more chances today than in our previous visits, but we couldn’t convert them.”
AFC Bournemouth made an intense start and again began the second half strongly. Villa attempted to manage those periods but conceded, before failing to take the chances they created afterwards.
“From the first minute of the first half, we played very tough because their start was intense,” Emery said. “In the first 10 minutes of the second half, they came out strongly again. We knew this and tried to handle it, but they still scored.
“After that, we created chances but couldn’t finish them. The players gave their all.”
The match also provided playing time for Harwood-Bellis, Marco Bizot and Goretzka, who featured for 30 minutes. Emery said those appearances would help the players gain confidence and become more familiar with Aston Villa’s system.
“This playing time helps them build confidence, understand our system, see our level, and realise how difficult it is to face a team like AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League on their ground,” he said.
Emery added that he had no criticism of his players after their effort in the defeat.
“I have nothing to criticise the players forthey tried their best, and we worked hard,” he said.
Villa now turn their attention to Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Fulham, which Emery described as their “top priority”.
“Of course, we are out of this competition, but we have many challenges ahead,” he said. “The Premier League is the priority. Then we still have the Champions League and the FA Cup.
“The League Cup is a competition where we can win a trophy, and we had high hopes for it. But now we are out. I want to thank the fans who travelled from Birmingham to support us here. Thank you all. We must keep moving forward.”
