Danny Ings let down by these ‘turgid’ Aston Villa players after what I’ve seen – McLeish
Alex McLeish has insisted Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings were let down by their Aston Villa teammates in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham.
The former Villa boss, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, blasted the “turgid” display after watching on in person at the London Stadium.
Villa slumped to their first loss in four games in east London, with Jacob Ramsey’s late goal not enough to rescue anything for Steven Gerrard’s men.
Only Lucas Digne, who went off after 10 minutes, had fewer touches than both Watkins (35) and Ings (20) in the Villa starting XI (WhoScored).
However, McLeish blamed the rest of the team for their “slow” build-up play.
“Listen, Steven’s done a really good job since coming in. There’s been an upsurge in terms of results and climbing up the table,” McLeish told Football Insider’s Russell Edge.
“I really like Ollie Watkins and at the moment they’re playing with the two strikers, with Danny Ings. He’s a terrific player as well.
“In that respect, I didn’t think they got enough service at the weekend. They were maybe too slow in their build-up. When you saw them the week before against Southampton, the two of them were tremendous.
“Southampton play a really high line and Watkins and Ings exploited that. West Ham probably didn’t give them that kind of running room.
“I’m not saying West Ham don’t have the legs to catch them. They certainly played a little bit deeper, just to absorb them a wee bit.
“The first half was pretty turgid and the home team were definitely up a level in the second half. We were all sitting there thinking: ‘For goodness sake, we need to see a bit of action. Somebody shoot at goal, please.'”
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