Unai Emery fumes at his players as Steve Evans accuses Aston Villa of being scared of his Stevenage side in the FA Cup upset on Sunday.
Morgan Sanson’s goal in the first half looked as though Villa were on course to make the Fourth Round.
Stevenage, who sit second in League Two, netted twice in the final two minutes through substitutes Jamie Reid (from the penalty spot) and Dean Campbell.
Leander Dendoncker was sent off after he fouled Campbell in the spot-kick.
Evans also suggested that Villa, who made eight changes, was playing with fear against a club who are ranked 59 below them in league.
A shocked and angry Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, said to Match of the Day: “We played the first half being difficult and trying to keep calm with the ball and don’t concede the transition and don’t concede the long ball and to take chances.
“And then slowly, we had to impose are ideas – and we did it. But then we didn’t be consistent in 45 minutes to do more advantage in the tie. In the second half, we improve. We created chances and we controlled the match better than the first half.
“But when you don’t score, a goal could come and in the end our mistake for the goal and they score. They were so excited to try and surprise us in the corner and they did it.
“I’m really sorry for the supporters. It’s a process We are here and I want to create. Today was really so, so disappointing. We can feel because at the end we lost everything we created in the 80 minutes.”
Emery on whether he feels he made too many changes: “Not completely. If I am starting again the match, I will play with the same players because we have our plan and we have players with experience and as well they are training every day to help the team and they have performance as well.
“This match, we can lose with other players on the bench or with the players we lost with. But now is the time we have to be together and continue working as this is our process and we can’t be too disappointed.
“But we can look at each one because everyone has to be critical with himself.”
Emery said via the Villa website: “The big mistakes were in 90 minutes because we had the chances and we didn’t score.
“So many chances, getting into the box, and we were not clinical enough to score the second goal and finish the match.
“At the end, they really played with the possibility in their mind to make us make a mistake. They played with long balls, second actions and crosses, and they pushed for a draw.
“We didn’t control the match in the last few minutes, thinking ‘Ok, we are going to play the next match against them’.
“We can only make one mistake, not two.”
“We are so sorry for the supporters – I’m very upset, like them,” he said.
“Now it’s my idea to try and come back so quickly thinking about the match here at home on Friday against Leeds United.
“We can speak about the match we played today and the FA Cup and how it was very important for us to do something we haven’t done for a long time.
“My process here started two months ago and to feel this way is a process too – not a good process, being disappointed, but we are going to work to try and identify the things we have to improve.”
The thoughts of Unai Emery following our #EmiratesFACup exit. pic.twitter.com/ONbEZV2rl2
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 8, 2023
Stevenage boss Steve Evans, speaking about his side’s momentous win at Aston Villa: “It is really special. The chairman just said to me it’s the greatest day in his life and he’s been with the club for 26-27 years.
“It’s a fantastic day for the town but we’ll not kid ourselves; this is a fantastic football club and we’ll enjoy the moment and these guys have treated us absolutely fantastic since we walked into the building today.
“We’ll know to be humble and get on with our jobs for Saturday.”
‘We wanted to make Villa work as hard as they would against Arsenal, Manchester City or Manchester United and maybe some of them forgot to do that late on, though some of them haven’t played 90 minutes very often,’ said Evans.
‘There was probably a bit of fear. We equalised with 88 minutes on the clock. We went to three up front and had a couple of attacks that didn’t come to anything.
‘When you watch back the corner that led to the goal, you see nearly all the Villa players are inside the six-yard box. It’s that fear factor, players thinking they might go out of the FA Cup to a League Two side, which is not what this club is about.’
Villa’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who was rested, was managed by Evans when on loan at Rotherham from Arsenal in 2015.
‘He (Martinez) came over afterwards and gave me a big hug and said ‘Typical Evans – the underdog wins’ and he had a big smile,’ added Evans. ‘He was hurting – I could tell on his face.
‘If you’re Emi Martinez, you want to play for whoever your team is playing against. I looked at Ashley Young and you could see the hurt on his face. Was it hurt or embarrassment? Maybe a combination of both.’
Steve Evans reacts to what will go down as one of the greatest days in @StevenageFC‘s recent history 🙌#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/NgpGjmexrE
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) January 8, 2023
This is how fans reacted as Unai Emery fumes at his players and Steve Evans accuses Aston Villa of being scared of Stevenage…
@catrinavfc: poor bloke
@SoddyNu: Absolute legend in the making at Villa Park, superb stuff, we move on.
@Alfie1764: feel sorry for him, clearly doesn’t have players good enough for what he wants to do, hopefully he gets some of his signings in and we see improvements
@VillaAstonNews: Hope fans will give Emery time..too many poor players In this squad who seem to accept they’re losers and that loser mentality. Stick with Emery everyone he’s the one.
@EC_AVFC: Tell the players if they want to go straight down the tunnel after that shite, they can leave.
@AVFC1of9: Clear out needed, even at 1-0 for the majority of the match the football was dire, no one making runs, passing back constantly. Boring and you could see them getting an equaliser. Worst match I have seen at VP in years.
@Scott84764090: I trust Emery to put things right. He’s a class act. He knows the deadwood stealing a living and holding us back. For a Club that wants to play in Europe again and win silverware, he needs better players with a winning battling mentality.
@AstonFc1982SANK: Very embarrassing from Aston Villa players last night I’m sure you were all disappointed driving home in your Lamborghini’s but what about yourself respect every time you look in your mirrors all you see is a gutless looser. Time to get rid of the rot
@Daniel_UTV: Looking directly at the camera speaking to the fans is my manager, what a class guy.
@JayVtid: Respect for looking directly into the camera. Love you Unai.
@teaandcakeyum: He’s right, the mistakes were made over 90 minutes not just the last 10. He knows what he’s doing and if not before the size of the job ahead. Our club isn’t an easy paycheck for players who want to go through the motions. Full commitment or get out. Time to be ruthless, Unai.
@SamBrogan3: He knows to many players shouldn’t be at this club hope he gets the time to rebuild his own
@1874Villans: Can beat United, Spurs but lose to a L2 side. Consistency is the issue which lets us down. Can’t keep throwing money at the issue either. Biggest job for Emery is getting the best out of what he’s got until the recruitment team gets it right
@matty__jeff: I don’t even feel too mad, as I just expect it from some of these players we have atm. Can’t wait for Emery to get his hands on this team transfer wise. Bailey, Watkins etc etc, just absolutely dreadful
@SamAVFC1874: Love this man. The players worthy of this manager will still be here in years to come. Those not worthy need to be shown the door. Give him time and he can create great things here.
@gazswain: “Things will have to change “ Unai will sort this out without doubt.
@wilsterdavies1: Incidentally. Our manager is a class act, he will be seething about this performance and a few will be hopefully shown the door soon.
@colleen_potter: We got super stevie Evans @StevenageFC
@beckycanfield: What a manager we have. Thank you Mr Evans
@TheWelwynGooner: What an interview, what focus…what a manager! Bring on Harrogate next weekend!
@ScottEaglen: This is a fantastic and humble interview.
@Chris_Sando: Still miss him #rufc
@amawson: Well said. Steve Evans feet on the ground, humble and matter of fact!
@JSmithh92: He’s even sweating in January, fucking Christ.
@BrookesGary: He gets a lot of stick but this interview is class 👌
@TravellingMP: Great Interview. Doing a decent job at Stevenage considering where they were last season.
@willgranty: Steve Evans, what a character to the English game 🤣
Chairman loves it! pic.twitter.com/ITWL3fhzHX
— Stevenage FC 🔴⚪ (@StevenageFC) January 8, 2023
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