What happened against Spurs on Sunday night? Unai Emery elected to shuffle his pack, and there were seven changes, but the line-up wasn't too dissimilar from the one that beat Fenerbahçe away 1-0 in the Europa League. The back four was the same apart from the left-back; the base of the midfield was the same with Bogarde next to Tieliemans, with Sancho and Rogers further forward, and Barkley and Abraham in instead of Watkins and Buendia (who both did come on), but they have been patchy at best anyway. At least against Spurs, you also had Martinez in goal, as Bizot played in Turkey.
Nobody complained about the line-up as they tackled a tough trip to Istanbul.
It was the effort and application of the players that let the team down, not the team sheet. The performance was indefensible, regardless of Thursday.
Conor Gallagher, who had not scored for Spurs all season, scored. Richarlison, who had never scored against Villa, scored. When Buendia's consolation header arrived in the ninety-fifth minute — it was Villa's first shot on target of the entire game.
In this episode the show does not dress it up. The performance was an embarrassment. The team that started was good enough, every player a full international bar one and they put in absolutely nothing. Emery's programme notes talked about laser focus and determination. His body language on the touchline told a different story.
The harder question is what it means for Thursday. With Forest a goal up from the first leg. Villa need to score at least twice at Villa Park to win without penallties. The crowd that was asked to put up with ninety minutes of nothing against Spurs is now being asked to roar the team into a European final.
Everything on the line on Thursday night at Villa Park and only a win can banish what happened against Spurs before it.
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