Troy Deeney slams Aston Villa 'egos' after Sunderland draw

Ex-Premier League forward Troy Deeney has suggested that player egos are exacerbating Aston Villa's early season woes. Despite having a man advantage for over an hour against Sunderland on Sunday, Unai Emery's side failed to secure their first victory of the season.

Reinildo was shown a straight red card after VAR spotted him kicking Matty Cash, who subsequently broke the deadlock in the 67th minute with a long-range effort past Robin Roefs.

However, Villa's lead was short-lived as Wilson Isidor equalised for the hosts, latching onto Granit Xhaka's uncontested header into the box.

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Deadline day arrivals Jadon Sancho and Harvey Elliott made a positive impact from the bench, but Villa were unable to find a winning goal, leaving them without a win after five league games.

"It's a weird one," Deeney commented on talkSPORT. "I thought maybe with [Jadon] Sancho and [Harvey] Elliott coming in, there'd be a bit more dynamism to it. But they must not be fit enough as he's not putting them anywhere near the starting line-up.

"It's an ego thing now, a player-driven ego thing. I think the manager is a very, very good manager, but you have to start looking now and saying: Why are the players trying to play inside the pitch? Why is Morgan Rogers not the focal point?".

"He's not away from any level of criticism, by the way, he needs to raise his game a little bit more. You can't go and do it for England and not do it for your club.

"Villa are ending this weekend in the bottom three. It's not good enough, not good enough at all. Not with the talent that they have, not with the squad they have. Yes, it's a bit lopsided, yes, PSR is an issue, but you can't be in the bottom three."

Ollie Watkins, who remains goalless this campaign - with Cash and Harvey Elliott the sole scorers across all competitions - squandered a golden chance to snatch a dramatic late victory against Sunderland.

Deep into second half injury time, Jadon Sancho whipped in a perfect delivery, yet Watkins couldn't get a proper connection on the ball.

"The biggest problem is lack of goals, lack of goals from Ollie at this moment in time," Deeney continued. "I've stuck up for Ollie on a number of occasions where they brought in [Marcus] Rashford and had [Jhon] Duran, and they are trying to move on from him.

"But at this moment in time, you're the only striker there, you're the one they're looking towards and for the start of the season, you're not delivering.

"Whether it's goals, whether it's performances - at the moment it's both. I always think as a striker you can't guarantee you're going to score.

"But you can always guarantee that you put yourself about and give the opposition something to think about. At the moment in time, he just looks off it, he looks comfortable."

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