Tyrone Mings admits Aston Villa lacked “passion, fight and desire” in Sunday’s dire 2-1 defeat to Tottenham. The defender offered no excuses after Unai Emery’s team were booed off following one of the worst home performances of the manager’s reign.
Match Recap
Goals from Conor Gallagher and Richarlison saw struggling Spurs race into a two-goal lead, with Villa’s only cheer coming from a last-gasp Emi Buendia consolation. Mings said: “Collectively, if you play for this football club, the energy, passion, fight and desire are an absolute minimum, and from one to 11 I don’t think that was there in the first half. I was frustrated with that. We pushed in the second half, but they had a good shape, they were tough to break down, tough to play against, and I think we deserved to lose in the end.”
No Excuses
Mings added: “It’s easy to point the finger at what it could be and what it might be, but I’m not making any excuses for delivering that first-half performance. A few words were said about how it fell below the standards we expect, but the manager was reiterating that where we are is a fantastic position. It’s been a huge effort up until now.”
Looking Ahead
Mings was one of seven players brought into the team by Emery, with Villa now facing one of the biggest matches in their recent history on Thursday when they host Nottingham Forest in a Europa League semi-final second leg. Villa trail 1-0 from last week’s first leg and Mings admitted it will require a vast improvement if they are to progress.
He said: “Thursday is huge, it’s felt huge for a long time. It’s a huge opportunity for this football club in a competition that we’ve felt strong in so far. It’s against tough opposition, but you get to this stage of the season and every game is difficult. We’re a confident group and we have to remain a confident group and remember the things that got us here and the basics required in football that give you a platform to go and win games. That will ultimately be what we take from Sunday.”
