It’s back to business now after Thursday evening’s defeat of Nottingham Forest in Europe. The euphoria and joy are put to bed as we travel south for this afternoon’s league match.
AFC Bournemouth won away at Fulham by a single goal yesterday, which leaves them three points behind us. They are keeping the pressure on, so we need to respond with a win of our own today against Burnley.
Burnley are already relegated from the Premier League, so the pressure is off them. They have nothing to play for other than pride and making life difficult for us this afternoon. That is exactly why we cannot afford to be complacent.
Against Forest, Villa showed everyone the blueprint for how we should play. The same players, the same formation, and the same forward-thinking approach should be used today. There can be no other way.
After all the celebrations and joy of reaching our first European Cup final in years, reality can hit very quickly if we lose this afternoon. Remember Manchester United in our final game last season? Yes, that kind of reality.
I do not want to be a spoilsport, but we have not won anything yet. There is still plenty to lose.
So Emery, Thursday night’s game plan is today’s game plan. Let’s go and get the win. UTV