Unai Emery gave his honest verdict on Harvey Elliott after he left the Liverpool loanee out of Aston Villa's matchday squad for the third game in a row against Manchester City on Sunday. The Villans clinched all three points against Pep Guardiola's side courtesy of a first-half goal from Matty Cash as they moved up to eighth in the Premier League table, tied on points with reigning champions Liverpool.
Getty ImagesElliott continues to struggle for minutes
After Liverpool spent heavily to sign a host of attackers in the summer transfer window to bolster their title-winning squad, Elliott was allowed to leave on loan as he signed for Aston Villa for the duration of the 2025-26 campaign. With the likes of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak joining Arne Slot's squad, Elliott would have found it difficult to get enough game time at Anfield, but Villa was deemed the ideal place for him to feature regularly.
However, things have not turned out the way the attacking midfielder would have hoped, as he has made just seven appearances for Emery's side across all competitions. Elliott has not featured in Emery's squad for three consecutive Premier League matches, including the win over City, with his last appearance for the club coming in a Europa League clash against Feyenoord on October 2 as an 86th-minute substitute.
AdvertisementAFPEmery explains selection decision
Explaining his decision to leave Elliott out of the home game against City, Emery told reporters: "In the squad we needed one player to take out and I decided him. I am happy with him, he's training well. His commitment is fantastic, he's a good guy. It was a tactical decision. I spoke with him about it and my advice was to keep going. He's a very good player, only our demands are at a high level and some players and how they are performing last year and this year, are playing in the same position. We signed him because I believe in him. He will need time."
'His performance was not enough'
In the build-up to the game, Emery was also asked about Elliott, and admitted he has not been hitting the neccessary levels of performance to play week in, week out. "I am being very, very demanding myself to choose in each match the player to start and the players on the bench and the subs players, always trying to get the best performance collectively, through individual players," the Villa boss said. "Harvey is a 10 number in our structure, in our shape, and he plays some matches and there is still adaptation to add himself individually in our structure, the task we have. Of course, he is training well, and his commitment is being very well as well, but his performance was not enough (up to this point). At the same time, we have other players who can play as a 10 and they are performing well, and I have different players. This is the main reason he is not playing the last matches minutes, but he has to continue working like he is doing in the training session and of course, getting his confidence in the performance we need through him."
GettySancho slammed by fans for Emery snub
While Elliott failed to make it to Emery's squad, Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho started on the bench against City and was introduced against City in the 29th minute. Buendia, who provided the assist for Matty Cash's winner, was forced off the pitch with an injury. However, Sancho lasted just 45 minutes as he was called back to the bench in the 74th minute, with Evann Guessand introduced in his place.
Sancho was visibly frustrated after being subbed off and appeared to ignore Emery on the touchline before heading back to the bench. The Spanish coach tried to comfort the player, but he was in no mood to listen. The gesture was not appreciated by fans on social media, who called out Sancho's "awful behaviour". The United outcast was also labelled as an "embarrassment".
The Villans will be back in action next Sunday as they face an out-of-form Liverpool side, who have lost four league games in a row, at Anfield. Elliot is ineligible to face his parent club, but Sancho will hope to earn a place in the starting XI.