{"id":5669,"date":"2026-05-08T03:26:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T03:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=5669"},"modified":"2026-05-08T03:26:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T03:26:31","slug":"roberto-de-zerbi-responds-in-the-aston-villa-debate-that-annoyed-west-ham-fans-so-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=5669","title":{"rendered":"Roberto De Zerbi responds in the Aston Villa debate that annoyed West Ham fans so much"},"content":{"rendered":"


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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. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Indeed, Villa were terrible against Tottenham and three points for Roberto De Zerbi\u2019s men placed West Ham United back into the relegation zone with three games left to play after the Irons lost to Brentford. <\/p>\n

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How do you FEEL about West Ham wanting to keep Nuno next season? \ud83d\ude33<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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West Ham fans were unhappy with Emery\u2019s team\u00a0selection, with major changes made as they balanced their Premier League campaign with a\u00a0two-legged Europa League semi-final. <\/p>\n

De Zerbi, unsurprisingly, saw little wrong with it. <\/p>\n

De Zerbi\u00a0defends Villa\u2019s team selection <\/h2>\n

Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Thursday, the Spurs boss said: \u201cThe first eleven of Nottingham Forest (vs Chelsea) was maybe more changes than Aston Villa did. <\/p>\n

\u201cFirst 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. <\/p>\n

\u201c(Ian) Maatsen, one of the best left-backs in Europe. (Lamare) Bogarde and (Youri) Tielemans. Tielemans is normally in the first eleven. <\/p>\n

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Imaging you\u2019re in Nuno\u2019s shoes; Who are you bringing in to face Arsenal? \ud83d\udc5e<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201c(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. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe more\u00a0players (out) than Villa.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0better if the people speak about us than we speak about them.\u201d <\/p>\n

Villa\u2019s performance against Spurs was dreadful and it was understandable as to why supporters here in east London and beyond would be annoyed. <\/p>\n

Still, it is not Emery\u2019s problem that West Ham were in a position that they needed to rely on his team selection. <\/p>\n

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Had Nuno Espirito Santo\u2019s side beaten Brentford \u2013 a team who hadn\u2019t won for an age before their clash with West Ham on Saturday \u2013 it also didn\u2019t matter what happened at Villa Park. <\/p>\n

It is no one\u2019s obligation to do West Ham any\u00a0favours. One team\u00a0selection\u00a0in a game the Irons\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0even playing in does not do as much for their position as the 35 league games they have played in this season. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

No one should tell fans how to feel and taking umbrage to the way in which Villa approached the game is an understandable outcome. <\/p>\n

Still, the reason why West Ham are staring down the barrel is not because of Emery\u2019s selection, as unwelcome as it may have been. <\/p>\n

West Ham got themselves into this mess and they have to do all they can to get themselves out. <\/p>\n

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