Losses are hard to handle, specially when you are leading or are in a commanding position to get a point or three and end up with none.
Situations like this are bound to make any manager lose their temper. But good for them, they have a solid mental fortitude and some training to remain as poised and calm for the cameras as they can.
Slip ups however are bound to happen. If not straight up eruption, the body language does give us some hints regarding what they are feeling at the moment.
That seemed to be the case for the Aston Villa and the Crystal Palace managers yesterday.
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa have been ‘overperforming’, as some would say and currently boast a third place standing in the English Premier League table. The manager has been pleased with his team’s performance.
However, the boxing day fixture seems to have irked the Spanish. His team led 2-0 in the first half only to lose it all 3-2 at the end of the day.
During an interview with Amazon Prime Video he was seen visibly frustrated. He was rubbing his chin vigorously while trying to turn the question around. Reporter had inquired about what had caused the loss at Old Trafford after they were doing ever so well.
We are aware of the angry Unai Emery and this clearly is a sign of him feeling the emotions. He must have turned his chin raw and red with that rub.
Even during his Arsenal days people had noticed the chin rub as a sign of discomfort and rage. Or maybe, it was just an itchy beard after shaving.
Another funny observation relating to the video has been that it looks like it was the reporter rubbing the chin and not Unai. Dubbed as the ‘smiling assassin’, Unai is sure to stir up some dust in that dressing room.
Roy Hodgson, on the other end of the table, had a similar sour experience the very next day. The London derby amongst rivals Crystal Palace and Chelsea was going well for the 76 years old till the 89th minute.
They were hoping to take away a precious single point home which was denied in the last few minutes of the game as they conceded a penalty.
Roy has entertained us throughout his illustrious careers with so many iconic memories and to add to that he us gave another one of his crazy moments.
He was seen spitting on the ground angrily while walking around the sidelines after shaking hands with the officials at the end of the game. Initial impressions made it look like he was just generally frustrated by the silly mistake made on the pitch.
Turns out he was more so angry about the penalty decision. He feels hard done by VAR and in the post match interviews shared his displeasure about the 2 referee system.
Admirers are loving this new persona of Roy this season, while others are waiting for his Eagles era to be over. Premier league is a fickle mistress and brings out the best and the worst in everybody. We are here for both, Roy.