Steven Gerrard was involved in a heated exchange with BT Sport's Des Kelly after Aston Villa 's defeat to Arsenal on Saturday.
The former Rangers boss watched his side suffer a second straight defeat with Bukayo Saka's 30th minute strike the difference.
But the 1-0 scoreline didn't tell the full story as Villa failed to trouble Bernd Leno's goal for virtually the entire game.
Arsenal were comfortable and Gerrard accused his players of lacking "belief" after they fell further behind Wolves in 9th place.
And when Kelly, who has famously clashed with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp in the past, pointed out that his team had only one shot on target, an emotional Gerrard let rip.
You can read the full remarkable exchange below.
Des Kelly : They pinned you back for long periods. Were you giving them too much respect, perhaps?
Steven Gerrard: Yes, I think individually and collectively we did that.
I thought we lacked a little belief in what we were doing. It's difficult to execute a game plan, what you want and how you want it to look, if not everyone believes in it.
Second half I thought we believed in it a lot more. OK we went back to front a little bit quicker, we wanted to test the centre-backs and make it a little bit more about their defence second half.
Kelly : I don't think you got a shot on target until right at the death, there.
Gerrard: Yeah, that is exactly how I described the game to you, though, is it not? Not good enough first half and then improved second half. We pushed at the end, got some good crosses in, created some more interesting moments, and I thought the performance was a lot more positive second half.
But well done for spotting that.
Kelly : Since April you've made a lot of progress, but you've lost to Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal - so there is still that gap that you have to close…
Gerrard: Well done, Des, for recognising that. If you asked me that question, I would say the league doesn't lie and I'd say that Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man Utd, West Ham, Wolves, at the moment, are ahead of us for a reason and there's a gap and that is what we are striving to do.
But if we want to take one of those places, we've got to be positive, believe in it, can't be indecisive, and we've got to go and grab it off them. We've got to believe what we're doing, to keep learning and get support from up above and grab it.
I do like the way you work those things out pretty quick.
Kelly: I think you're aggressive in the interview, and you should tell your players to do the same thing.
Gerrard: I'll tell you what I am in the interview, I am emotional, I care, I don't like getting beat and I actually thought your questions would be a little bit better, in all honesty.
No disrespect, Des, I'm not making it personal. But you've just said to me there's a gap to Manchester United and City, blah blah blah and we know that. And you also said we had one shot on target towards the end of the game, that's how I described the game as well.
Kelly: Well, we both agree.
Gerrard: Cheers Des. All the best, fella.
