I don’t suppose losing on penalties to a Premier League side that’s beaten you once already really counts as ‘crashing out’ of a cup, but it’s still an early exit and despite finally scoring a goal, another uninspiring performance on the whole.

Me, I’d kind of hoped that changes would provide a spark, and maybe in a couple places it did. Elliott managed to find the net, which isn’t a bad thing mentally for the side, and we really should’ve had two but for a post and Cash maybe erring in going for goal when Ollie was square and wide open. And to be fair, while Brentford were tidy and quick in passages, they didn’t really tear open an improvised side, and what can you say about their goal: beautifully taken, but 1 in 1000.

So, I won’t come close to proclaiming any sort of moral victory, just the observation that the feeling after a result (and I did not feel good) isn’t always reflective of the action. For us, I’m sure it was more reflective of context.

Opting to rest Ollie, Morgan, and Youri (who maybe had a knock since he wasn’t on the bench) and hand starts to Donyell, Jadon, Evann, and Harvey, Emery looked to freshen things up and get valuable minutes into some legs. Cohesion wasn’t necessarily going to be the defining feature of such a lineup.

The bigger issue many have alluded to is the ‘vibe’, and as I mentioned, I don’t really know what to say. I can speculate all day long and maybe there’d be something accurate in there. Based on what we were hearing from a couple players as the window was winding down, I still think the group was unsettled by Ramsey having to leave and probably Martinez’s desire for an exit. I’m guessing that was all bigger behind the scenes than what we could see, as was maybe the hope a real impact signing could be made. Maybe there were others thinking Villa have reached their summit and that they want to move on to bigger and greener pastures.

Hard to know if players aren’t openly pushing.

Of course, we don’t care because Villa are paying them wages, they have a job to do, and they aren’t doing it very well at the moment. Guessand’s heavy first touches reminded me of Bailey. Rogers struggled for a bit to show any familiarity with a football. Ollie was isolated but seemed game. Buendia once again provided a spark because he always looks to play quickly, something the side desperately need. By nature, that won’t always come off, but it does lead to more opportunity. Sancho and Maatsen, you’d have thought they could do a bit more, one or two more dangerous balls, the odd drive and shot. Bogarde once again looked largely overwhelmed.

The other bit that stuck out was how poor any longer-range distribution was, definitely far below the Bees’ percentages. Perhaps it’s not something Emery & Co prioritize, though of his signings, you’d think Pau and Tielemans could deliver (and have). But there just weren’t any particularly dangerous balls, and on the odd occasion when there almost was, it was the weight or angle that was lacking.

An easy tweak for Unai would be to simply encourage more balls for the likes of Guessand, Malen, and Sancho to run onto.

I also wasn’t terribly impressed with the ‘aggression’. We seem to half-commit, pull out, basically looking like the players don’t want to pick up a knock. A couple of exceptions, naturally, but not terribly combative in 50-50s, and often a step slow, as if weighing whether they’d get there or even if they wanted to.

Which means my ‘advice’ stands, and that’s for Emery to encourage them to loosen up, play with freedom and bite. That’s what seems to be lacking. I don’t know what the dressing room dynamics are, but my message would also include going out and proving you’ve got what it takes in terms of commitment and pointing out the lack of it in film sessions.

They’ve not done themselves lasting damage to this point, but they’re rapidly running out of wiggle room. Much more can be said, and I’ll leave that to the comments.

Over to you.