Matt Maher: Frustrations over Aston Villa's limp Carabao Cup exit unlikely to linger

It's just the 1,000 or so supporters who shelled out for petrol and tickets to be see it in person would rather it had not taken place 150 miles away in midweek.

Nobody's perfect and while Emery might be the club's greatest manager since Ron Saunders, grumbling over his lack of interest in the Carabao Cup has become an annual tradition.

In four seasons, Villa have never advanced beyond the fourth round and every year there has been a sense of missed opportunity.

Emery is hardly alone in placing the competition bottom of his priorities list. Though the Carabao Cup might have served up one of the cup shocks of all-time this week, there is a larger discussion to be had about its place on the calendar.

On Wednesday, Bournemouth boss Marco Rose made eight changes to the team which had beaten Manchester United three days previously, just one fewer than his travelling counterpart.

In an age when it is all about the prize money, every boss in the Premier League is prepared to risk defeat in a competition which offers the eventual winners just £100,000. For context, Villa have already pocketed more than £5million for three wins in the Champions League. Even a draw in Europe's elite cup competition is worth £700,000.

And yet the counter point is the Carabao Cup offers the shortest route to silverware and that is what the sport is supposed to be all about.

Sure, the subsequent draw which handed Bournemouth a last-eight trip to Liverpool might have softened the blow of the 3-0 defeat just a little.

But this is surely now a Villa squad which should fear no-one domestically?

Then again, after Wednesday, you do wonder.

Emery seemed almost affronted when asked whether any positives could be gleaned from 90 minutes at the Vitality Stadium.

In his view, the playing time afforded to Marco Bizot, Leon Goretzka, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Brian Madjo will prove valuable moving forward.

Not all of what he learned was good.

Perhaps of most concern was the performance of Ian Maatsen, one of only two players to actually keep their place from Saturday's win over Manchester City.

Some mitigation is needed as the left-back was only playing in his second match since returning from more than a month out with injury.

But this was not a good display and if we are being totally honest, such outings still happen with a little too much frequency from a player who in his third season since a £37.5million move from Chelsea, should be established as first-choice in his position. Next Tuesday, Maatsen will be tasked with shutting down Lamine Yamal. An improvement is required.

Bizot's night was also of note. The goalkeeper made several key saves to keep his side in the game and might have been a bit unlucky - just as Lewis Cook was fortunate - with the shanked cross which made the Dutch shot-stopper look rather daft.

More concerning than that moment was Bizot's difficulty with the ball at his feet. Indecision, which spread to Villa's backline, encouraged Bournemouth to push on and wait for errors.

When compared with Zion Suzuki, there was a significant drop off and that is significant moving forward, as the Japan international is expected to miss most of January at the Asia Cup.

Goretzka and Harwood-Bellis, making their first and second starts respectively, experienced no better than average evenings.

Perhaps that should be no surprise considering their lack of action. The ultimate feeling was this Villa squad is not yet as strong as you thought it might be. Emery certainly hinted at that, during the post-match debrief.

The sense this fixture was being used as glorified training session came in the fact Villa's recent star of Wednesday night's, Ross Barkley, spent most of the evening on the bench.

Emery is a born winner but some defeats sting less than others and those in the Carabao Cup rarely seem to linger for long, even among supporters who witness them in person.

Frustrating as Wednesday was, it feels unlikely anyone will be talking about it come May.