Manager Unai Emery declared Aston Villa “not top-five contenders” in a bizarre interview following the 1-0 defeat to Everton.
Villa missed a chance to put pressure on Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title, but Arsenal finished the game as quickly as it started. They were seven points behind the Gunners, who drew 0-0 with Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Emery sounded frustrated in his post-match interview with Sky Sports, and when asked why he felt Villa could not compete with the top teams in the Premier League, he gave a one-word response and then remained silent.
“We’re not a top-five contender. We’re not a contender yet,” he said.
“There are other teams that have more potential than us.”
Back in the studio, pundit and former Villa player Ashley Young called the interview “bizarre”, and Jamie Redknapp was equally perplexed, calling Emery’s behavior “bizarre”.
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“He looked really angry,” Young said. “Maybe it’s because of the injury, maybe it’s also because John McGinn is on the list and Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana are out.”
“Is it a sale of Donyell Mullen? Is he speaking up to tell the owners they need more players?
“It was a strange interview, you would think he would talk more about the game and the missed opportunity to close the gap against Arsenal.
“It was weird to have five teams with more potential.”
Mr Redknapp added: “That was certainly one of the strangest interviews I’ve ever seen. That’s the part where he went quiet at the end. It was a very sensible question.”
“I don’t know what he’s trying to imply. Maybe he’s just really devastated by that performance and result. They need players.
“We looked at their bench and they were short. They had no options. Harvey Elliott was not on the bench due to lack of movement and Jadon Sancho was ill.
“Boubakar Camara looks like he’s going to be out for a long time and John McGinn has a knee problem. They will need to strengthen their midfield areas.”
The timing of Mullen’s resignation is called into question.
Questions were raised this week about Aston Villa’s decision to sanction Donyell Malen’s move to Roma.
The deal, on an initial loan with an option to buy, was completed ahead of this weekend’s Premier League match.
Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rodgers endured a tough afternoon at Villa Park, leaving Emery with limited options on the bench.
Sky Sports’ Chris Sutton said in co-commentary: “One thing I don’t understand is…Mallen may have been meant to go to Roma all along, but why sell him at the beginning of the month when there’s no replacement?”
“He has influenced a lot of Villa’s games this season.”
Sky Sports’ Redknapp earned the points after completing a full appearance.
“Looking at the sub-bench, I felt it was a really strange decision for Maren to leave in midweek. They didn’t have a choice today,” he said.
