The Liverpool legend was appointed as the head manager of Aston Villa in November 2021 and was expected to be a successful manager after his time at Rangers FC. Although, he was sacked by the Villans just 5 days ago as Aston Villa dropped 17th to the Premier League table after their 3-0 loss to Fulham. Let's have a look at Gerrard’s time at Villa Park as a manager:
Steven Gerrard was appointed by the club on a 3.5-year contract after Dean Smith was sacked. Gerrard won his first game as Villa’s manager against Brighton in a 2-0 victory at home. But things really went down for Gerrard since then.
He managed to win only two of the opening 12 Premier League games of the 2022-23 season. His tactics and approach to the game weren’t suiting the players he had and could not get the best out of a very promising squad. Gerrard’s side scored 45 goals, only to concede 47, throughout his tenure.
Gerrard also signed the Brazilian superstar, Philipe Coutinho from FC Barcelona on loan in 2021. The club paid $17 million for the attacking midfielder who had an explosive start to his campaign. Although, he wasn’t very effective this season having 0 goals in more than 10 appearances in the current campaign.
Aston Villa had the chance to give the Premier League title to Liverpool on the final matchday of the 2021-22 season as they were beating Manchester City 2-0 at Villa Park till the 75th minute. Manchester City only needed a point to secure the title as Liverpool needed to win their last match. Not only did Gerrard’s side concede 3 goals in 5 minutes, but he also missed out on Liverpool’s chances of winning the league again.
Steven Gerrard had a horrendous time at Aston Villa as he could not get the team’s defense to work properly in the build-up plays. He had his moments as the man-in-charge when Aston Villa was competitive. He was replaced by the former-Villareal manager, Unai Emery just yesterday.