Villa not prepared to run the extra yard, says Richards

REUTERS – Aston Villa captain Micah Richards has slammed his team mates for being too nice and said they could all put in more effort.

Villa, who are bottom of the Premier League table, have not won since the opening day of the season with Remi Garde stepping in as manager after Tim Sherwood was sacked at the end of October.

Garde begun with a goalless draw against Manchester City on Nov. 8 but the side were pounded 4-0 at Everton last weekend.

Villa have scored 10 goals, the fewest in the league, and have shipped 24 goals in 13 matches with centreback Richards calling on his team mates to change their mentality.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, we’ve got too many nice players and we’re too easy to play against. Everybody seems to be — I wouldn’t say passing the blame — but they don’t want to run that extra mile and take responsibility,” Richards told the Daily Telegraph.

“I’m not big on stats but I think we’ve run the least in the Premier League — if you’re not prepared to run the extra yard for your team mate then obviously you’re going to concede chances.

“When we’ve got the ball we’re fine but defensively we’re too nice and it’s too easy to get past us. We haven’t got the players who have the mentality to not lose the game.

“There’s a few good players in the team and they’re probably thinking, ‘If Villa get relegated I’ll get a move in the summer’ — but it doesn’t work like that any more.”

Villa host 13th placed Watford on Saturday.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru. Editing by Patrick Johnston)