Richard Keys slates Aston Villa with 'walking football' jibe

Aston Villa drew 0-0 with Manchester United in an uneventful game on Sunday and pundit Richard Keys didn't hold back

Pundit Richard Keys reckons Aston Villa v Manchester United on Sunday was the worst match he has watched in the Premier League era. The dull, goalless draw was played out at Villa Park days after Villa had toppled Bayern Munich in the Champions League and after Manchester United had spent Thursday in Portugal drawing 3-3 with Porto.

Truly, there wasn't much to shout about for either set of supporters in attendance over the course of the afternoon, as both sides took to the field for the final time before this latest international break. Bruno Fernandes struck the bar with a free kick before Jaden Philogene was denied at the back post in stoppage time for Villa.

For Keys, previously of Sky Sports and talkSPORT, he'll remember the game as being up there amongst the worst he's witnessed in his role as a football presenter. Not holding back on what he thought of either team's performance on his blog, Keys described the match as 'walking football' and didn't consider the high octane night against Bayern as being an excuse for Villa.

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"I’m not kidding. I can’t recall watching a worse PL game than Villa v United," Keys wrote. "It was awful. Coaches are going to have the game done away with if they keep serving up rubbish like we saw at Villa Park. Newcastle/City was bad enough for 45 minutes the week before, but the pain went on from start to finish at Villa. At one point I thought I was watching walking football. Dreary doesn’t cover it.

"How many times did Martinez and Onana stand outside their box with a foot on the ball? I know the idea is to invite the press and then work the ball out - but no-one ever pressed. Clearly Villa were feeling the effects of their big night against Bayern, but that’s not really an excuse. If they want to mix it with the big boys they’ve got to do better, especially when there’s nothing to beat in front of you."

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