Birmingham World reporter Charlie Haffenden reacts to Aston Villa's 1-0 defeat away at AS Monaco in the UEFA Champions League.
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00:00I'm in a rather miserable-looking Nice, about 5 or 6 miles down the coast from where Aston Villa suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to AS Monaco last night.
00:10The weather today rather summing up the performance, the mood and the atmosphere within Stade Louis II.
00:16Villa fans, packed out in their thousands behind the goal and in the neutral section behind the press box, had so much optimism going into the match.
00:23Unai Emery talking about how four points from the last two matches in the league phase of the Champions League
00:28could secure a position in the top eight, crucially avoiding two playoff fixtures that would make February an incredibly busy month.
00:35Unfortunately though, Villa, they were the architects of their own downfall and AS Monaco ran out 1-0 victors.
00:41Adi Huter, the Monaco boss before the match, said that realistically they needed to win both games to have any chance of finishing in the top eight.
00:48They needed to win at least one to have a chance of going through in the competition whatsoever.
00:52Well, they passed their test. Villa, on the other hand, certainly did not.
00:56Emery in the post-match press conference, I don't think I've ever seen him as angry as he was, to be honest.
01:01His body language, the way he was speaking, completely out of character.
01:05He's normally very cool, calm and collected. Maybe in the dressing room, he's not so much.
01:10We got a taste in the press room of just how frustrated he was with his players and with himself.
01:15The mentality he criticised from his players, he said that they didn't follow the instructions,
01:20that they didn't follow the tactics as he had asked, they didn't follow the game plan.
01:24And the set pieces, both defensively and in an attacking sense, were horrible.
01:29He wanted to repeat that word, horrible.
01:31Seven attacking corners that Villa had, not a single chance created from that.
01:35And then the one goal in the match was nine minutes in from a corner, conceded when Tyrone Mings gave the ball away.
01:41Ezra Condor made a brave block, but then the resultant set piece swung in.
01:45A header by Thilo Kehrer saved brilliantly by Ami Martinez.
01:49Then Wilfred Singo, on the rebound, was going to make no mistake from just a couple of yards out.
01:54That goal was the only goal of the entire match. Villa unable to get back into it.
02:00They did dominate possession for large stretches, to be fair.
02:03And in the middle of the park, they had overloads, lots of runs in behind.
02:06Emi Buendia, in for a rare start, had a fantastic performance.
02:10That is the one positive that Emery picked out in his post-match press conference.
02:14But the finishing from Watkins, from Leon Bailey, from Morgan Rodgers, simply not good enough.
02:18And the desire in that second half, there wasn't really any urgency.
02:22So many stray passes, blind passes played.
02:25And then Emery, he admitted himself, he made a big mistake in bringing on John Duran alongside Oli Watkins.
02:31Duran coming on always seems to make an impact, especially in the Champions League, has the potential to change matches.
02:36But playing in a front two, Emery admitted it just didn't work at all.
02:40Villa, they lost momentum, they lost structure.
02:43It allowed Monaco to get back into decent areas, create space through the middle and get in between the lines.
02:48And in the end, Monaco were able to see out the game pretty comfortably and look the more likely team to score.
02:53A very disappointing game on the road then for Villa.
02:56They must beat Celtic now to have any chance of finishing in that top eight, to avoid those playoff fixtures.
03:02But then they have to rely on fixtures elsewhere.
03:05A win might not be good enough and Emery, well, no wonder he was so frustrated in that press conference.
03:10A safe trip home to all the Villa fans who came out here to the south of France and to the principality along the coast.
03:15A fantastic city. The weather, though, not so great and the performance, unfortunately, even worse.