Steven Gerrard

[hippo]

17 minutes ago, TRO said:

did you fall asleep through the Southampton game?

Hippo, he is battling with inconsistency in the team and only a summer window, will cure it IMO......let him get on with it, with what we have and see if he can get a few more wins out of them.

You only have to look at his face and demeanor, the defeats are gnawing away at him.....he looks more pissed off, than some of us.

He will get it right, he has invested too much in himself, not to.

Fair dos - I wasn't at the saints game. But yes heard it was a very good performance - my ommision.

Wasn't really discussing mitigating circumstances. The point I disagree with is "when we are good we are delightful to watch". ....to me that's only been a couple of games.

It's not like we are brilliant one week - then hopeless the next. - imo of course.

 

[StewieGriffin]

23 minutes ago, hippo said:

The point I disagree with is "when we are good we are delightful to watch". ....to me that's only been a couple of games.

 

Which is fair, but I would suggest that it's been more than a couple of games worth. Most games have been a microcosm of our inconsistency - Man Utd at home for example. If you want to be pedantic and confine it to 90 minute matches, then I'd probably be inclined to agree with you (Southampton, Norwich and Leeds away, and Man Utd in the FA Cup - which is 4) but there's been patches in a lot of games where we've looked very easy on the eye.

The problem has been application of the quality/mentality over a 90 minute period, which is a problem that predates Gerrard's appointment. This is 95% Dean Smith's squad, not Steven Gerrard's, and we've had this problem continuously for 18 months or so since the Liverpool 7-2 game, so I would suggest our inconsistent nature is down to the players, not the manager.

As someone else said, Gerrard looks absolutely fuming at times with the drop in levels. If the players arent up to what he wants, that isn't his fault at this stage.

I've veered away a little from my response to what I quoted, but my point remains that this is not Gerrard's squad and whilst I'm not saying he should get a free pass, our biggest problem is down to the collective playing squad not being able to apply themselves mentally for 90 minutes.

Gerrard has hinted that he is aware of this, and at this stage I've got nothing to suggest he's incapable of fixing it. I think we might be surprised at who may be told to find a new club this summer.

Edited April 8, 2022 by StewieGriffin

[Dale]

2 hours ago, StewieGriffin said:

Yes, there's a flip side - when it's bad, it's very... "Dean Smith era". But that in itself is progression - our bad days are probably a mid-table performance, but our really good ones are top 6-8

Presumably the bit of the era where we were just about staying up. Not the bit where we beat Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs. Cos we've not had a performance at those levels yet. 

[Dale]

9 minutes ago, StewieGriffin said:

This is 95% Dean Smith's squad, not Steven Gerrard's

It's 100% Aston Villa's squad. Clubs absolutely need to get away from having coaches that cannot work with the very good players they inherit. I don't want Gerrard to leave in eight months time (or eighteen) leaving a squad unable to play a system other than his one (cos coaches that like that aren't in existence outside of this one). 

Look at Leicester, their turn over hasn't been huge since Rogers came in, he got the very best out of players that were there before him. Conte hasn't overhauled Spurs, yet they're better. Tuchel, won a Champions League without a window. Even Norwich and Watford are better without a massive turnover in players (sadly Norwich just don't have the tools to be better enough). Good coaches take what they've got, make it better and slowly, organically the squad changes taking into account the coach and the Sporting Director. Eddie Howe has made signings not dozens, they're miles better than under Bruce. 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Stressed the importance of Nakamba , to the way they want to play, in the presser.

I agree.

A high class DM goes a long way to transforming this team IMO.

Not sure if this has been said before

Edited April 8, 2022 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[Dale]

1 minute ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Stressed the importance of Nakamba , to the way they want to play, in the presser.

I agree.

A high class DM goes a long way to transforming this team IMO.

Not sure if this has been said before

Yes. It's been an issue for a long while. The club have failed to rectify it. It was an issue for Dean too. 

[nick76]

2 hours ago, StewieGriffin said:

He's a young manager, he'll make mistakes.

When it's good, it's a delightful watch - Palace away, Man Utd in the Cup and 2nd half of the league game at home, 2nd half against Man City, Southampton at home, Leeds away and elements of the home game, Norwich away, 2nd half of Leicester at home... (all off the top of my head).

Yes, there's a flip side - when it's bad, it's very... "Dean Smith era". But that in itself is progression - our bad days are probably a mid-table performance, but our really good ones are top 6-8.

This is a squad that isnt his - he's only signed 2 players who play regularly (Coutinho and Digne). There are a few who don't fit the way he seems to want to play, so it's only fair to judge him once he's had a proper opportunity to shape the squad.

We havent seen enough to say he's the next Klopp, but I think we've seen enough to be confident he's not a Tim Sherwood

I think the “Dean Smith era” comment is a bit out of order.  The first half of last seasons football was some of the best football I’ve seen down Villa for a very long time.  Obviously the highlight was the Liverpool 7-2 but other fans enjoyed watching us regularly and was the main reason we got 55 points last season and looked like we were well on our way to European place football at Xmas.  Second half of the season was a major let down performance and results wise but the “Dean Smith era” seems to forget how good it was for a large number of games at the beginning of last season which hasn’t been replicated since by Smith and or now Gerrard.

[VillaParkAvenue]

21 minutes ago, StewieGriffin said:

Gerrard has hinted that he is aware of this, and at this stage I've got nothing to suggest he's incapable of fixing it. I think we might be surprised at who may be told to find a new club this summer.

Not arguing against what you’re saying, but I’ve seen many say Gerrard will surprise when he gets rid of players.

By now it feels like almost every player has been mentioned as being in danger. The only one who would be a real surprise imo is Martinez.

[maqroll]

 

[foreveryoung]

2 hours ago, Follyfoot said:

The thing I find odd with Gerrard and also to a lesser degree with Smith is why we seem to wait until 65/70 minutes to change something when it clearly is not working. If we are going to change the course of the game we need to be brave and make substitutions earlier for players that aren’t working. We now have the personnel to completely change shape with five substitutes allowed we could capitalise on this

This annoys me too, like the time to change is set in stone! If someone is glaringly not doing what they are supposed to after being shouted at numerous times from the touch line, drag them off at half time, or even sooner. Set the f***g standard, that lazyness will not be tollerated.

it's working for Tottenham.

[Dale]

2 hours ago, jim said:

Conte and Tuchel are elite managers who inherited some very good players, including a smattering of world class players that were under performing. 
Gerrard inherited a mid table squad that was staring at relegation, we are now around mid table…

Gerrard inherited a team that was having a bad run, there was no serious prospect of relegation. He had a bounce, then a run of form as bad as Smith's last eight. And now may well hit a five game losing run... 

[foreveryoung]

3 hours ago, nick76 said:

I think the “Dean Smith era” comment is a bit out of order.  The first half of last seasons football was some of the best football I’ve seen down Villa for a very long time.  Obviously the highlight was the Liverpool 7-2 but other fans enjoyed watching us regularly and was the main reason we got 55 points last season and looked like we were well on our way to European place football at Xmas.  Second half of the season was a major let down performance and results wise but the “Dean Smith era” seems to forget how good it was for a large number of games at the beginning of last season which hasn’t been replicated since by Smith and or now Gerrard.

It won't be replicated by Gerrard, cause we haven't got a Grealish. People need to remember most out success was down to Grealish. He was unfortunately the demise of Smith....................an Watkin's so it seems.

[Dale]

2 hours ago, MaVilla said:

the problem is, quite a few of our players arent actually very good......

They're more than good enough for this league. They have their flaws, but Gerrard hasn't got them playing particularly well, certainly not as well as they could be and have. 

[StewieGriffin]

4 hours ago, nick76 said:

I think the “Dean Smith era” comment is a bit out of order.  The first half of last seasons football was some of the best football I’ve seen down Villa for a very long time.

Yes, I absolutely should clarify that I meant towards the end of Dean Smith's time with us when it sadly did go very wrong after the covid outbreak in the January, and naively assumed people would understand that was what I meant.

[Tom13]

Just put SoccerAM on for the first time in God knows how long and there was a Gerrard chat with Tubes.

He came across really well, and was good to see him relaxed after all the pressure interviews he's had lately.

Feel I've been a bit harsh on how he was in those recent interviews now.

[AshVilla]

Please don't give Sherwood Mk2 100m to spend in the summer.

Thanks.

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by AshVilla

[NoelVilla]

Need to be allowed to buy at least 20 players before he can be judged. For being a "winner" he does lose a lot of games.

[joshharris12]

Gerrard out 

[mykeyb]

1 minute ago, R.Bear said:

I dont blame Gerrard for this but a week after saying "we're a 45 minute side, I need to change that" and then having one of the best 45 minutes we've had then going on to lose whatever this ends up is the worst timing.

Why don't you blame Gerrard?

[UpTheVilla26]

Needs replacing as much as any player, we took a huge risk and it ain't working.