Steven Gerrard slams Aston Villa players post match with huge transfer claim

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard has slammed his players following the 2-1 defeat to Wolves and rued the fact they didn’t ‘go to war’ until the 70th minute.

The former Liverpool captain called his side a ‘45 minute team’ and adds that if the current crop don’t buck their ideas up, they will be replaced in the summer.

Speaking immediately after the game, a passionate Gerrard promised that he will fix the repetitive problems Villa keep making, one way or another.

“I think it was game we never turned up for from the first whistle,” he said.

“We’re playing against Wolves, a local rival. We tried to prepare in a way to give it a real derby feel but you can’t come to derby’s at half-time.

“We were second best for the first 45 minutes and we’ve gifted Wolves two goals.

“We actually started the game really well, on the front foot and we had control.

“The first goal is unfortunate, a couple of us lose our footing on a couple of occasions and Wolves finish it off well.

“Then we had a major wobble for 10 minutes where we looked nothing like an Aston Villa team and then we obviously concede another poor goal from our point of view.

“At half-time we put ourselves in a real difficult position at 2-0 down with a lot to do.

“Everything I asked of the players from half-time onwards they gave me, I thought we were much different in the second-half but when you’re up against teams in this league at this level it’s unforgiving and you can’t give teams a two goal start, you can’t because it’s too much to do.

“We could have snatched something at the end, we decided to have a war with Wolves on the 70th minute - 70 minutes too late. We’ve got ourselves to blame for this result.”

“At the moment, we’re looking like a 45 minute team and that’s on me,” he added.

“I’ve got to fix it and I will fix it.

“The players that I’ve got in the building right now have got to help me fix it now for the next eight games, if not, we’ll get players that will help me fix it because we can’t keep giving sloppy goals away and gifts.

“Since I’ve been in the building, I can’t remember a gift that we’ve been given. We’ve had to show incredible quality, whether it be Ramsey, whether it be Coutinho, whether it be Watkins, Ings - we have to show amazing quality to score against opposition whereas we’re gifting teams really poor goals.

“It’s really difficult to get results in this league when you do that.”

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