Aston Villa crashed out of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.
Days after Aston Villa’s 1-1 draw against Bournemouth, Unai Emery watched his team suffer yet another morale-sapping result on home soil.
It wasn’t so long ago that Villa were simply unstoppable on home soil, but now, there are more cracks than ever before.
Emery made wholesale changes from the weekend match, with captain John McGinn the only player to keep his place.
The likes of Ollie Watkins, Youri Tielemans and Pau Torres, to name a few, weren’t even in the matchday squad for the Palace match.
But it did open the door for the bench players, with Emi Buendia earning a much-needed start, Boubacar Kamara starting his first competitive match since February and Tyrone Mings playing his first game in 14 months.
Tyrone Mings impresses in Aston Villa return despite EFL Cup exit
If there are any positives to take from the Palace loss, then it’s the return of the injured players and Mings getting a whole game under his belt.
Whilst Kamara has been coming off the bench here and again, Mings has been in a few matchday squads without coming onto the pitch, but now his engine is up and running again.
Given that the 31-year-old hasn’t played in so long, he was one of WhoScored’s highest-rated players for the game (7.23).
Only three Aston Villa players were rated above seven Mings, Kamara and goalscorer Jhon Duran.
Mings won an incredible seven aerial duals during the match and that’s something he will bring to the table as he gets fitter.
| Interceptions | Clear | Key passes | PA% | Aerials won | Touches | Rated |
| 4 | 5 | 1 | 80.6 | 7 | 87 | 7.23 |
What Unai Emery said about Mings after Villa’s loss to Crystal Palace
Whether Villa fans like it or not, the League Cup isn’t top of the priority list. At the end of the day, Villa reached the Champions League last season and the first thing they did was lose key players.
Douglas Luiz left Villa and joined Juventus after being a key midfield player and then Moussa Diaby headed for the Saudi Pro League.
Imagine what happens if Villa finish sixth or below this term? Who will leave next summer? That’s why Emery felt the need to rotate and he doesn’t regret making those calls.
As posted by Birmingham Live, the Villa boss was pretty happy with his call to start Mings and help him get some much-needed minutes under his belt.
“Today was the match to start playing with Tyrone Mings and to start playing with Kamara,” said Emery.
“We played one week ago against Bologna in the Champions League. Last year as well we focused the season trying to be intelligent and trying to be strong. This year is the same.
“We are with our way, building the team and our structure. The structure is for all the season. Today we competed, but we lost. We competed with the idea that the players would get their performance.”
