Emery described his Aston Villa team as "lazy" and called on them to "recover their identity" after their winless start to the season continued this weekend as they failed to capitalize against newly promoted Sunderland.
The Villa boss ripped into his side which has left many fans shocked as the normally calm manager lashed out:
“We were lazy sometimes defensively. Lazy. For example, the goal we conceded, we were lazy. Maybe it’s because we didn’t play in our style.”
Emery was rightly frustrated as his side have looked pathetic since the start of the season. However, calling out his players publically like this has drawn a lot of criticism and responding to his comments on Match of the Day, Given said:
“I think that’s a risk when you call out your players in public.
“I think you can say that behind closed doors and say it’s not acceptable, it’s not good enough, you’re lazy.
“But I think when you say it in the press the players can maybe take that the wrong way.
“He doesn’t seem happy at the minute, I seen him going down the tunnel early, he didn’t clap the away fans. That won’t sit well with the fans either. So it’s not all well at Villa at the minute.”
Sunderland now have eight points and sit well above Villa who are deep into the relegation zone. Life is tough for Villa at the moment and they must start to pick up form before Emery’s job is on the line and their European hopes are over.