Aston Villa star Ezri Konsa has claimed Unai Emery was right to call the players “lazy” after the draw against Sunderland, and revealed what was said in private by captain John McGinn.
After Villa surrendered their one-goal lead and drew against newly-promoted Sunderland last weekend, it would be fair to say Emery was left very disappointed, saying: “As well, we were lazy sometimes defensively. For example, the way we conceded, we were lazy.
“When we are playing here, we have to fight in the duels and we were not fighting in all duels. I watched the goal we conceded and we were lazy.”
The comments have sparked a mixed reaction, with Danny Murphy querying why the Spanish manager doesn’t rotate his starting XI, if he believes the current crop aren’t giving maximum effort.
With the Villans without a win in their opening five Premier League games, pressure is starting to mount on Emery, who will be looking for a reaction from his players in the Europa League tie against Bologna this evening.
It is a bold strategy for a manager to be so publicly critical of his players, but Konsa has since leapt to the 53-year-old’s defence, insisting he was right to make the comments.
The centre-back said: “Yeah, it’s a fair comment. I think everyone has seen the picture, seen the goal.
“Here we pride ourselves in trying to play a high line, it is something the boss has instilled since he first came. We didn’t quite get it right. Things have not been good for us so far this season. But there are blips in the season and we are going through that now. Hopefully we can move on.”
When asked whether Emery had made the comments privately, the defender said: “No. The boss is not a big speaker. Sometimes he keeps himself to himself.”
Konsa reveals that the Villa captain, on the other hand, did try and motivate the squad, saying: “People will talk about crisis meetings and things like that but we have got a great captain in John McGinn, who really takes the lead in stuff like that.
“After the game, he said a few words to keep us going, to keep encouraging us.”
Villa must respond against Bologna
There can be no denying that Aston Villa’s start to the campaign has been worrying, having scored just one Premier League goal, while also struggling to create chances despite scoring against Sunderland.
Moreover, the 3-0 loss against Crystal Palace is likely to be particularly concerning, with the defeat ending their imperious record at Villa Park, having previously gone 19 Premier League games undefeated on home soil.
Emery should be safe for the time being, given that the Spanish manager is responsible for transforming Aston Villa from a relegation-threatened side into Champions League quarter-finalists, but results must start improving soon, starting this evening against Bologna.
