Steven Gerrard

[WallisFrizz]

1 hour ago, rodders0223 said:

I think we should go our separate ways in the summer.

Do not give him a full season. It well get ugly fast.

He's so far out of his depth it's untrue. Time to go back to a pub league where he can have the bestest players and the bestest budget.

I can't believe how bad he is and how utterly bereft of any attacking play for about 50% of his games. If I'm being kind.

Horrendous. Utterly horrendous.

Use of the squad. Non existent.

Completion for places. Non existent.

Football style. Non existent.

Attacking play. None.

Balance. None.

Midfield. None.

Link up or cohesion. None.

Subs in game management. Non existent.

 

So much of this is rubbish. I was at the Southampton game where we great, I was there at Spurs where we played some lovely stuff but were punished by a ruthless world class attack. 

Not Gerrards fault that Bailey appears to be a dud. We spent 30mil on him, he’s right to start him and see what he can do.

Not Gerrards fault that our midfield is rubbish. Deano couldn’t get more out of them either. We went for Bentancur, he chose Spurs so he’s stuck with what we’ve got for now.

Not Gerrards fault that Watkins can’t score, he can’t take the shots for him.

Talking about completion for places- Hause, Sanson and Traore are all out. We’ve just lost 4 on the bounce, not a game to start Tim, although we will see more of him. 

So many of the issues you mention were there before he arrived. I’m most annoyed at how we spent the Grealish money (Buendia being the exception).

We’ve taken 4 points off Leicester, all under his reign. 
 
I don’t like that we’re not playing Buendia but the level of hate he’s getting is weird and I think largely based on jealousy of Newcastle. Form is temporary, they’ll have a dip and theres only so many players they can buy.

There is a lot to be positive about at Villa, not that you would know it. 

 

[Stephen_Evans]

I don't know why people worry about Gerrard.  The progess is clear.  I mean, the possession percentage for our emerging "possession-based" team was up to a whopping 36% this week (according to stats on official site).

[rodders0223]

2 minutes ago, WallisFrizz said:

So much of this is rubbish. I was at the Southampton game where we great, I was there at Spurs where we played some lovely stuff but were punished by a ruthless world class attack. 

Not Gerrards fault that Bailey appears to be a dud. We spent 30mil on him, he’s right to start him and see what he can do.

Not Gerrards fault that our midfield is rubbish. Deano couldn’t get more out of them either. We went for Bentancur, he chose Spurs so he’s stuck with what we’ve got for now.

Not Gerrards fault that Watkins can’t score, he can’t take the shots for him.

Talking about completion for places- Hause, Sanson and Traore are all out. We’ve just lost 4 on the bounce, not a game to start Tim, although we will see more of him. 

So many of the issues you mention were there before he arrived. I’m most annoyed at how we spent the Grealish money (Buendia being the exception).

We’ve taken 4 points off Leicester, all under his reign. 
 
I don’t like that we’re not playing Buendia but the level of hate he’s getting is weird and I think largely based on jealousy of Newcastle. Form is temporary, they’ll have a dip and theres only so many players they can buy.

There is a lot to be positive about at Villa, not that you would know it. 

 

I was at both too. It was one game and one half hour. 

[WallisFrizz]

Just now, rodders0223 said:

I was at both too. It was one game and one half hour. 

So not attacking play “none” then. Prior to our most recent crap run we had scored 9 in 3 games and conceded none.

[blandy]

STAY ON TOPIC PLEASE VILLANS.

This thread is for discussion of our manager. There are threads for reaction to the Leicester game and also for tactics and selection thoughts. Thanks

[villarule123]

I'd rather we let him go at the end of the season than chance a big budget on him in the summer. Can't stand the way we just hand the ball straight back to the opposition, you'd think given the player he was that this would be the least of our worries. 

[rodders0223]

He has nice hair.

[UpTheVilla26]

If I owned this club and had watched that today, Gerrard would be answering some serious questions tonight about what he's actually trying to implement as manager of the club. 

[Rightdm00]

He bores me. Don't need my football to have the same excitement as reading a work email. It all feels very Brucian. If you are going to play this style of football you better win or people are going to grow tired very quickly. 

[Xela]

How dare he have not won the league after 20 games in charge. What a charlatan!

I want instant success - **** waiting for anything and giving people time and buying the players they want.

[ROTTERDAM1982]

And Get?

 

Hes brought 3 players in. One of them is one of the finest footballers ever to wear a Villa shirt.

If Luiz, Watkins, McGinn, Ings, Bailey are not upgraded by this time next year, then fair enough.

[KentVillan]

This was always going to be a tough run of fixtures. Tbh I thought it would be 5 straight defeats, so he has slightly outperformed my expectations.

We now have:

• Norwich H
• Burnley A
• Liverpool H
• Palace H
• Burnley H
• City A

He should be targeting 10-12 points from those games. If he can do that, then I think he can make the case that he's done enough to justify another season.

If we throw away points against Norwich or Burnley then it does start to look very questionable, as these are very inferior squads that are getting turned over most weeks.

I *think* Gerrard is probably a half-decent manager. The problem is the Premier League is stacked with really excellent, experienced managers. Klopp, Guardiola, Conte, Tuchel are world class, and then you have wily operators like Moyes, Hodgson, Rodgers, Howe, Hassenhutl, Smith, etc. who have been around the block and learnt a few tricks along the way.

It's really only Vieira and Lampard (and now Mike Jackson at Burnley) who are in the same position as Gerrard of really having to learn on the job.

If the plan was to gamble on a young, hungry manager, then really we have to see it through and give him next season to prove himself. Otherwise, what was the point?

[Nicho]

6 minutes ago, ROTTERDAM1982 said:

And Get?

 

Hes brought 3 players in. One of them is one of the finest footballers ever to wear a Villa shirt.

If Luiz, Watkins, McGinn, Ings, Bailey are not upgraded by this time next year, then fair enough.

For me its the fact that Luiz, Watkins, McGinn, Ings, Bailey have got visibly worse under his tenure. 

[rodders0223]

9 minutes ago, ROTTERDAM1982 said:

And Get?

 

Hes brought 3 players in. One of them is one of the finest footballers ever to wear a Villa shirt.

If Luiz, Watkins, McGinn, Ings, Bailey are not upgraded by this time next year, then fair enough.

And he can't get anything out of him

[holteendhero]

2 minutes ago, Nicho said:

For me its the fact that Luiz, Watkins, McGinn, Ings, Bailey have got visibly worse under his tenure. 

If they were playing well before Gerrard came in why was Smith sacked? None of them have had a good season 

[rodders0223]

We play negative football. Even games when we take the lead. Everton away. Brentford away. One we won. One we lost. But the pattern was the same. Negative anti football once we scored a goal. We can't even get that anymore.

He's a negative dour manager.

 

I really can't believe we sacked Smith for this.

Edited April 23, 2022 by rodders0223

[icouldtelltheworld]

Over our last 15 league games, only Watford, Everton and Norwich have taken fewer points than us. That is relegation form over a sustained period of time and we are no better than we were when Smith was sacked, with several players having dropped off noticeably. He really needs a strong finish to the season and if things don't improve then serious questions need to be asked, currently he has done very little to suggest he should be trusted with a major squad overhaul

[Delphinho123]

4 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

We play negative football. Even games when we take the lead. Everton away. Brentford away. One we won. One we lost. But the pattern was the same. Negative anti football once we scored a goal. We can't even get that anymore.

He's a negative dour manager.

 

I really can't believe we sacked Smith for this.

Christ Rodders, tell us what you really think why don’t you!

[Dale]

1 minute ago, icouldtelltheworld said:

Over our last 15 league games, only Watford, Everton and Norwich have taken fewer points than us. That is relegation form over a sustained period of time and we are no better than we were when Smith was sacked, with several players having dropped off noticeably. He really needs a strong finish to the season and if things don't improve then serious questions need to be asked, currently he has done very little to suggest he should be trusted with a major squad overhaul

That's really rather damning. Talented players are looking incredibly ineffective under Gerrard. Coutinho occasionally very good, more often a passenger. Consistent performers, Mings, Cash, that's about it! 

[Nicho]

11 minutes ago, holteendhero said:

If they were playing well before Gerrard came in why was Smith sacked? None of them have had a good season 

Exactly, they were bad before and are now worse. I fully give Gerrards tactics credit for it their decline from an already poor season to a bad season.