Jordan Veretout says Aston Villa were so bad that the players became desensitised to losing

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The French midfielder returned to his homeland by joining Saint-Etienne on loan this summer.

On-loan Aston Villa midfielder Jordan Veretout has been talking to France Football about his ill-fated year with the Birmingham club, and claimed that he and his teammates became so accustomed to losing every year that they became desensitised to defeat.

Veretout joined Villa in the summer of 2015 from French side Nantes in a deal worth around £7 million, notoriously and unfortunately turning down eventual surprise champions Leicester City to instead move to Villa Park.

His first season in England did not work out happily, to say the least. Villa were relegated in utter misery, with the third-lowest points total in Premier League history.

Veretout played 29 times in all competitions for the club, starting 21 Premier League games, but was allowed to escape with a return to France this summer, albeit initially on a temporary basis.

Villa lost 27 of their 38 league fixtures last term, winning just three, and their relegation was inevitable before even the halfway point of the season.

Whilst results were abysmal, many accusations were also thrown at the players from fans and pundits alike over the meek way in which the club accepted their fate, with many suggesting that the players lacked the stomach for the fight.

Speaking to France Football, Veretout has now revealed that the Villa squad had become so used to losing every week that it no longer hurt after a while, and they ended up feeling nothing after a loss.

The 23-year-old said, as quoted by Sport Witness: “When you win, you go home with joie de vivre, but we lost so much that, at one point, we didn’t even feel it anymore. Losing became a habit.”

Admittedly in a lower division, that habit finally seems to have left Villa this term as they have lost just three of their 15 Championship fixtures, the joint-second lowest total in the league.

However, Veretout’s words are likely to spark fresh anger and resentment amongst a fanbase for whom the memories of last season are scars that may never fade.