Hendrie reacts after what ‘very animated’ Emery did in Aston Villa v Tottenham
Lee Hendrie picked out some trademark Unai Emery antics as Aston Villa faced Tottenham on Friday.
The Villans went in at the break without an opening goal against Ange Postecoglou’s heavily rotated Spurs side ahead of the Europa League final.
Chances came and went for Marco Asensio and Ezri Konsa but there was no breakthrough in a half which left the home side largely frustrated.
With the game not going as the Villa Park faithful may have expected, it is little surprise to learn what Hendrie spotted before the break in B6.
Hendrie spots Emery fuming in Aston Villa v Tottenham
The Spaniard is constantly going up and down the touchline and shouting instructions at his players in entertaining fashion.
This has been the case ever since his introduction in 2023 and continued once again as the Lilywhites turned up to the Midlands on 16 May.
It is fair to say his usual passion was mixed with pure frustration as Villa failed to open the scoring in the opening 45 minutes at home to Spurs.
| Stat | Aston Villa | Tottenham |
| Possession | 72 | 28 |
| Shots on target | 3 | 1 |
| Big chances | 1 | 1 |
| Accurate passes | 259 | 87 |
Chances did fall the way of Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers, with both opting to be unselfish at the wrong time inside the away side’s penalty area.
This saw Emery react in furious fashion towards his players as former Villa man spotted the head coach live on Sky Sports Football (16 May, 08:24pm).
He said: “We sat and witnessed it, Unai Emery was getting very animated on the sidelines because he’s frustrated.
“That’s because, when you go through a half and have that many opportunities and you come away at half time and it’s still 0-0, you start to feel a little bit of pressure and wonder where that goal’s going to come from.”
Emery right to fume at Aston Villa players v Tottenham
There was a very nervous atmosphere developing around B6 as the minutes ticked down at Villa Park until Konsa’s opener.
As a result, it was little surprise that the players began to showcase that on the pitch with a general lack of quality for large spells.
Rogers was quiet, and despite starting quickly, John McGinn’s impact was felt less and less as the game went on.
Emery had every right to voice his frustration with his side, and arguably it paid off as Konsa netted just 14 minutes into the second half.