Ross Barkley sees Aston Villa positives after Manchester United 'disappointment'
Ross Barkley believes disappointment at Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Manchester United demonstrated Villa’s greater expectations under Unai Emery.
Villa struggled to find attacking rhythm in what was their seventh match in 22 days but Barkley, who described the result as two points lost, refused to blame the performance on tiredness.
The midfielder, handed his first Premier League start since joining in a £5million switch from Luton in the summer, also dismissed suggestions of a mental hangover from last week’s emotional Champions League win over Bayern Munich.
He said: “It felt like two points lost rather than one gained because of how good we are now.
“From the performance we put in in midweek and the points we’ve been putting on the board, we really wanted to take them today. The clean sheet is a positive."
Emery has constantly declared the Premier League to be Villa's main priority as they look to repeat last season's top-four finish. Sunday's result and the previous weekend's draw at Ipswich both felt missed opportunities.
Barkley said: “The club finished in the top four last season and that’s what we are striving for again. The dream is to win silverware.
“Our focus, our main objective is to improve on last season. The disappointment from Sunday was not coming away with the win.”
The goal-less draw was the first at Villa Park since May 2021, a fixture played behind-closed-doors due to Covid restrictions.
United have beaten Villa 40 times in the Premier League, more than any other opponent, yet they have now made their worst start to a season since 1989-90 and sit 14th in the early season table.
Villa are fifth after taking 14 points from the first seven matches of what promises to be a hectic campaign. Emery’s team will face a similarly congested schedule on the other side of the international break but Barkley does not think the number of matches can be used as an excuse.
Asked if players had been feeling heavy-legged after beating Bayern, he replied: “I don’t think the squad felt that way. We had an extra day’s recovery on Manchester United, who played on Thursday night, so there are no complaints on that side of things.
“We weren’t clinical with the chances we created. It was just one of those games.
“From the last international break to now we’ve done well, we’ve put in some really good performances and we are going to do that after this one as well.”
Villa resume their season away at Fulham on Saturday week, before they return to Champions League action at home to Bologna. Trips to Tottenham and Liverpool also feature in the next portion of the campaign.
Barkley continued: “You want to play games. They come quick, sometimes you might not have the right time to recover.
“But the equipment and what the lads have now to what was available when I started professionally, there have been a lot of improvements to help them recover quicker.
“There are no excuses. A little break, then back to it. We want to win every game.”
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