Unai Emery is public enemy number one among West Ham United supporters at the moment. He is not exactly popular amongst the Aston Villa fans right now either.

Following a 2-1 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur which put the Hammers back in the bottom three with a trio of fixtures remaining, Emery hit back at questions regarding his team selection.

Seven changes were made from the Aston Villa side which started the Europa League semi-final first leg defeat by Nottingham Forest three days earlier. Spurs, who may have viewed a trip to Villa Park as their toughest remaining assignment in the battle against the drop, presumably could not have believed their luck as they raced into a 2-0 lead inside half an hour.

What a sorry old mess 😪 How have we let it slip AGAIN?!

Tottenham now hold their fate in their own hands, leapfrogging West Ham United into 17th. The Hammers faithful are not the only ones demanding an explanation, though.

Aston Villa fans fume as Unai Emery harms West Ham United’s chances

Successive Premier League defeats – three in a row across all competitions – leaves Aston Villa vulnerable to a Bournemouth hi-jacking. A Champions League spot should have been sewn up weeks ago.

Instead, they are now only six points clear of the Cherries with three matches remaining.

“Listening to him, he was happy to throw the game today in the hopes that we could beat Forest [in the Europa League semi-final second leg this week]. Teams seem to have more fight than us at present. Very alarming,” one Villa supporter wrote on X.

Villa, of course, have two routes available to them as they pursue Champions League football. Finish fifth or win the Europa League. In the space of three days, both roads became a whole lot rockier.

“Love Unai, but he should be ashamed tonight,” another fumes after a much-changed side, including Victor Lindelof, Ross Barkley, Jadon Sancho and Lamare Bogarde mustered just one shot on target on home soil.

“It was only two games ago Emery was talking about dreaming of finishing third. Then we put in the performance at Fulham [a 1-0 loss], and the team selection and performance today. Did he actually want third?”

“Nice, three games lost on the bounce, shown how pathetic Villa Park is to Forest. Real good focus on the second-leg to get obliterated the game before.”

Hammers face relegation as Villa worry about Champions League

Emery will look like a managerial mastermind if Villa turn around that 1-0 deficit against Forest; the likes of Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers rested and raring to go. If they don’t, and then slip up against Liverpool and title-chasing Manchester City, an entire season’s work may be tossed aside in a matter of weeks.

How do you FEEL about West Ham wanting to keep Nuno next season? 😳

“Just feels to me and possibly the wider Villa base that we looked lost lacklustre and, most of all, scared. All our eggs are in one basket is how I see Emery playing this out. He’s stubborn, hellbent on this Europa League.”

“Someone should have asked him why he stood there with his hands in his pockets all night, when normally he is jumping about like a madman. I love the bloke, but everything about last night was disgusting.”

“I’ve had my season ticket 40 years and today was the first time I’ve left with 15 minutes still left. He should be ashamed of himself.”

“I still cannot get my head around that performance. Someone please explain it to me. It’s as if they didn’t care and had absolutely nothing to play for. We can forget winning on Thursday now, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t get a single point from our last three. Shocking.”

“If we bottle Thursday after that diabolical performance and also bottle Champions League… I love what Emery has done for us, but this is unacceptable. I’m sorry, he’s got to walk.”

West Ham, really, cannot blame anyone but themselves for the position they find themselves in. Still, seeing Aston Villa drop three potentially season-saving points into Tottenham’s grateful lap, Emery might have unwittingly played a decisive role in a tense relegation battle.