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Aston Villa fans criticise John McGinn for ‘defeatist’ comment after losing 4-1 at Tottenham

Aston Villa fans criticise John McGinn for the ‘defeatist’ comment he made in his post-match interview after losing 4-1 at Tottenham.

Spurs move up to 7th in the Premier League; Brennan Johnson cancelled out Morgan Rogers’ opener, then Dominic Solanke’s double was followed by a late free-kick goal by James Maddison.

John McGinn said Aston Villa must take their medicine after defeat, calling for cool heads and perspective, but his comments about it being ‘too loud’ in the stadium haven’t gone down too well with his club’s fanbase judging by the reaction on Twitter.

Villa now turn their attentions to Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Club Brugge while for Tottenham, they are away at Galatasaray on Thursday in the Europa League.

Aston Villa captain John McGinn: 

He said: “We’ve got to keep our heads a bit in there, keep a bit of perspective, [and] realise the progress we’ve made as a team, [and] the start to the season we’ve had.

“Many teams will come here and suffer that defeat, definitely. Every time we’ve won here, we’ve suffered heavily for 90 minutes.

“For us, it’s about keeping perspective, [and] staying positive. There’s a long, long way to go. Spurs beat us 4-1 last season and we managed to finish above them.

“So, we’ll be staying positive. We’ve got a big game on Wednesday, and we keep going.

“We’ve got to take our medicine today, [and] stay positive like the manager has just touched on.

“We’ve got Champions League on Wednesday and then another tough game on Saturday, so [we will] rest up, recover and go again.”

“We had a good first half,” McGinn added.

“Usually, in the second half, a bit of space opens up, but it opens up for both teams.

“An amazing cross from [Heung-Min] Son, 1-1, and then this place got loud – probably as loud as I’ve heard it as an away player.

“The way we lost the goals pretty quickly, probably making the wrong decisions at the wrong times, can happen.

“The first half, we were a little bit more solid, but maybe the goal had an impact. They got a little bit of confidence, momentum, and played with a little bit more speed.

“From there, [with] their momentum, their speed, they deserved to win, and we hold our hands up.

“They punished our mistakes. You get punished in this league, and Tottenham proved that today.”

Player ratings (per Sky Sports)

Tottenham: Vicario (6), Porro (7), Romero (6), Dragusin (7), Udogie (7), Sarr (7), Bentancur (6), Kulusevski (8), Johnson (8), Solanke (9), Son (7)

Subs: Richarlison (7), Bissouma (7), Davies (7), Maddison (7), Gray (6)

Aston Villa: Martinez (5), Cash (6), Konsa (6), Pau Torres (5), Digne (6), McGinn (6), Onana (7), Tielemans (6), Ramsey (6), Rogers (7), Watkins (6)

Subs: Carlos (6), Duran (6), Bailey (6), Philogene (6), Kamara (6)

Man of the match: Dominic Solanke

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery speaking to Sky Sports: “We won two times here and we knew how to win here but they are a good team.

“We had to keep going and try to focus again on our way [after conceding] because in the league the most important thing is to keep the position we are in.

“They scored so quick in the second half. When they scored the second goal it is difficult because their transition is so, so strong. Winning was more difficult. If we score the second goal maybe it is a possibility to win here.

“When you are losing you have to try and get one step forward to try and change the result. But we know how difficult it is against Tottenham. 4-1 is a tough result but the match we played was more or less in line with the expectation I had before the match.

“We are disappointed, frustrated but we are accepting it. We know our way, it is 38 matches, the league is very tight.”

Emery to BBC Sport“We started the match like we were planning. At half-time the plan for the second half was to try to keep it. They scored the first goal. We had chances to score a second goal but they were pushing.

“We accepted the result.

“We have to try to be consistent. We had our chances in our transition and set-pieces. But they were clinical today.”

Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke told Sky Sports: “We stuck with it. A few times this season we’ve gone a goal down. Against Palace we didn’t react in the right way but today we did.

“We always believe we can score many goals. It all came together today in the second half.

“We had to adapt to the way they were playing. At half-time we had time to regroup and discuss what we had to do.

“It’s been a few games without one [goal]. I’ve been trying to get one and I got two. Buzzing with it.

“Nice dink finish, I enjoyed that.

“When we are playing well we can score many goals and we showed that today.

“We’ve had some great games but haven’t managed to do it the whole season but we think we’re capable of it.”

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou speaking to Sky Sports: “They are a very good side, they have a level of performance that rarely drops.

“It was a tight first half, we had to match up with them and it was disappointing for them to score. After that, we have other gears in us and we showed that in the second half. After the performance in midweek I thought it was an outstanding effort.

“We stick to our principles, there is great belief in these players, and when we do that we are hard to stop. I felt the momentum was going our way, we knew we would finish strong and if we upped it a couple of gears like we can we knew we would be hard to stop.”

On Dominic Solanke: “The amount of work the guy did for us over the week – goals are great but his capacity to do everything he can for the team in every area – I can’t speak highly enough of him.”

On James Maddison: “The game wasn’t going the way it had to go for me to bring Madders on. I say to the guys they are all there to make a contribution. Madders will be key for us.”

Ange told BBC Sport: “Villa are a good side. The first half was a bit of an arm wrestle. They have a consistent level of performance. We have other gears in us which we showed in the second half.”

On Son Heung-min being replaced: “He was never going to play more than 55 minutes. Last time he came back from injury he got to the 60-minute mark and got injured again. He got through unscathed.”

On Dominic Solanke: “Unbelievable effort. The work he did midweek against City. His goals are unbelievable but his general play, his work-rate, I can’t speak highly enough of him.

“Seven days is a long time in football. Seven days ago I was a grumpy old so and so. We have to say true to the course we’re on.

“We made sure not to feel sorry for ourselves and back to the team we want to be.”

Here’s how fans reacted as Aston Villa fans criticise John McGinn for his ‘defeatist’ comment after losing 4-1 at Tottenham…

@SeanMad88: The atmosphere was dead for most of the game. Don’t think that tracks as an excuse. They fell apart after the second goal and I don’t think the defensive changes helped.

@JayMTDee: Sound, John. Just keep giving them the ball & fall over under any pressure 👌🏻

@MarkLuc16269015: Poor excuse didn’t expect that from you Mr McGinn how many times did you lose the ball far too many in my opinion need to up your game

@Porkyboxster: McGinn is almost a waste of space out there today, his output was almost non existent to me, very passive in possession. Spent a lot of time using his arse to hold people off but with no end product at all and constantly robbed of the ball, not sure what the point is.

@GazWilliams1: Losers mentality by McGinn there.Not every team will go there and get battered at all without them even playing that well.

@gortavfc: It got loud? It’s Spurs not Galatasaray and it only ‘got loud’ because we let them score 4 goals

@jonthevillaboy: Wow, the captain with a Gerrard mentality. Nah, I’m not having that, at the end of the day that second half performance was unacceptable. Defensively poor when Carlos came on and offered little going forward when Rogers was finally kicked off the park.

@RicardoAVFC: John needs to up his game and play the ball quicker. Loudness in a stadium, poor excuse. Lot of those players were way off it today. Lazy performance second half. Sloppy passing. Weak in the key areas. Emery needs to fire a rocket midweek.

@Nathan90285415: Dont Think our captain was very good today along with a few others, to much moaning and falling over own feet allot , gave the ball away way to much and the over all mindset didn’t seem right today

@EC_AVFC: We got intimidated by one of the most middle class fan bases on earth is the worst excuse I’ve ever heard.

@McDaddy99: That’s not a proper response from a captain. Yes, teams will go to spurs and lose but that doesn’t justify the 2nd half. Spurs fans got loud? So what.

@_stonyd: Oh fuck off! Wear some ear plugs then!! That’s a piss poor comment to be making. He should be putting a rake of fucks into them

@CreaneyTom: Don’t agree at all, many teams will not perform as we did second half, we fell apart, unacceptable end of

@sturae229: Sorry what John?! It was too loud and that’s why you lost. Take some responsibility for your and the teams performance in the 2nd half. Wank

@ElonIsABitch100: I work around heavy machinery. That’s loud. You can handle some tourists slightly raising their voices, ffs. Embarrassing comment and performance.

@Mattachu_Avfc: Nah shut the fuck up McGinn…. Honestly that’s not the attitude to have….

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