Roberto De Zerbi responds in the Aston Villa debate that annoyed West Ham fans so much
Plenty of West Ham United fans felt aggrieved after Unai Emery made wholesale changes to his Aston Villa team ahead of their Premier League defeat to Tottenham.
Indeed, Villa were terrible against Tottenham and three points for Roberto De Zerbi’s men placed West Ham United back into the relegation zone with three games left to play after the Irons lost to Brentford.
How do you FEEL about West Ham wanting to keep Nuno next season? 😳
West Ham fans were unhappy with Emery’s team selection, with major changes made as they balanced their Premier League campaign with a two-legged Europa League semi-final.
De Zerbi, unsurprisingly, saw little wrong with it.
De Zerbi defends Villa’s team selection
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Thursday, the Spurs boss said: “The first eleven of Nottingham Forest (vs Chelsea) was maybe more changes than Aston Villa did.
“First half, 2-0 for Nottingham Forest and no one said anything. I think Aston Villa played (Matty) Cash, (Victor) Lindelof (who played) many years at Manchester United, (Tyrone) Mings, the captain of Villa.
“(Ian) Maatsen, one of the best left-backs in Europe. (Lamare) Bogarde and (Youri) Tielemans. Tielemans is normally in the first eleven.
Imaging you’re in Nuno’s shoes; Who are you bringing in to face Arsenal? 👞
“(Morgan) Rogers, (Jadon) Sancho and (Ross) Barkley and (Tammy) Abraham as a striker. I think it was a great first eleven. We played without (Cristian) Romero, (Dejan) Kulusevski, (Mohammed) Kudus, (Dominic) Solanke, Xavi Simons and (James) Maddison.
“Maybe more players (out) than Villa. It’s better if the people speak about us than we speak about them.”
Villa’s performance against Spurs was dreadful and it was understandable as to why supporters here in east London and beyond would be annoyed.
Still, it is not Emery’s problem that West Ham were in a position that they needed to rely on his team selection.
Had Nuno Espirito Santo’s side beaten Brentford – a team who hadn’t won for an age before their clash with West Ham on Saturday – it also didn’t matter what happened at Villa Park.
It is no one’s obligation to do West Ham any favours. One team selection in a game the Irons aren’t even playing in does not do as much for their position as the 35 league games they have played in this season.
Emotions are bound to run high in the midst of a relegation battle, particularly when the closest competitor on that front is a genuine rival in the form of Spurs.
No one should tell fans how to feel and taking umbrage to the way in which Villa approached the game is an understandable outcome.
Still, the reason why West Ham are staring down the barrel is not because of Emery’s selection, as unwelcome as it may have been.
West Ham got themselves into this mess and they have to do all they can to get themselves out.
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