One player who’s currently on loan from Liverpool was called out by his manager after a disappointing result over the weekend.Harvey Elliott joined Aston Villa on an initial loan basis on deadline day -a decision he admitted was ‘very difficult‘ – with the deal containing an obligation for the transfer to become permanent once he makes 10 appearances for the Midlands club (The Athletic).The third of those came during the Villans’ 1-1 draw at Sunderland on Sunday, with the 22-year-old only coming off the bench in the second half despite scoring his team’s first goal of the season in their Carabao Cup exit to Brentford last week.Emery calls out Elliott after Aston Villa drawUnai Emery cut a hugely frustrated figure after the game at the Stadium of Light, in which his team relinquished the lead given to them by Matty Cash, and he singled out the Liverpool loanee for criticism in an uncharacteristic post-match tirade.As per The Athletic, the Villa manager raged: “Some players need adaptation. For example, Harvey Elliott, a little bit he was getting the ball and so quick doing passes behind the defence without options.“He needs to understand, ‘Okay, Harvey, you have skills to play more passes, more passes, more passes, and then to do the pass behind, outside or inside,’ in better positions to get something more.”(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)Emery’s criticism of Elliott seems strangeEmery’s frustration after the continuation of Villa’s dreadful start to the season was understandable, but it seemed strange that he’d publicly throw Elliott under the bus.In 32 minutes on the pitch, the on-loan Liverpool attacker completed almost twice as many passes (26) as the man he replaced (Emiliano Buendia, 14) – Morgan Rogers completed 25 in his 82 minutes of action – while the 22-year-old also had the joint-second highest xG (0.17) of any player in his team (Sofascore).Birmingham Live reporter John Townley was also bemused by the manager’s ‘misplaced’ public criticism of the England under-21 star, rightly pointing out that the Reds’ one-time no.19 is still getting acclimatised to playing in Emery’s tactical setup and is showing the ‘urgency and personality’ that the Midlands side are ‘sorely lacking’ at present.If anything, the Spaniard should be appreciative of Elliott’s desire to create chances for Villa by getting the ball into a threatening area where his teammates should be, rather than castigating him for taking risks at a time when Villa need to roll the dice a bit more if they’re to kickstart their season.The youngster might have more opportunities for regular game-time away from Liverpool, but having been part of a Premier League-winning squad last term, it looks increasingly as though he’ll need to steel himself for a rather different challenge with his new club as their struggles continue.The post ‘He needs to understand’ – Liverpool loanee criticised by his manager after frustrating result appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.