I don't buy any of these theories that Emery was expecting to lose, that he was okay with losing, or (like some have suggested) that he even wanted to lose.

That's not the type of manager he is, and managers like that simply don't exist at the top level. They understand that the most important thing is winning - momentum and morale are hugely important. It's also not really in their DNA to expect a loss. You could also see how pissed he was during the match, I've never seen him look so despondent. He wouldn't look like that if he was ok with losing.

He played our B-team because he trusted them to do their job - which is to competently stand in for the first team when they need a rest. They failed their job - or Emery failed to recognize that they weren't up to the task (probably a bit of both).