Steven Gerrard

[WakefieldVillan]

I love Dean and we have a lot to thank him for with what he did for us and nothing will change that. I was sad to see him go and hoped that he could turn it around but I understood at the time that losing 5 on the spin and suffering many defeats in a calendar year that his time was unfortunately up. I liked that he was mild mannered and not too up and down (after a victory or a defeat) however maybe that was his downfall, it may have rubbed off on the players and may be they all were to accepting of defeat ? I don't know. I mean no one likes losing but may be it was all a bit too "nicey nicey" in the camp. What Gerrard has done so far is bring passion, fight, a desire to win which we hadn't seen for a long time (odd game aside) plus the most noticeable thing we all can see is that we are much harder to play against, we are much harder to break down and I like that a lot. We needed to be less open and we are so. Whether that comes from Gerrard or Beale or McAllister or whomever I don't care it's a good philosophy to have (obviously not rocket science - making yourself hard to beat is probably on every managers priority list) but wanting it as opposed to implementing it and getting the players to believe in it are two entirely different things but so far so good, he's started his managerial career with us fantastically.

I'm not surprised though, I felt he was the right fit for the job, he's a born winner and he is only going to go one way, to the top (like he did as a player) - That said, we're only 6 games in, things change awfully quick in football but with a couple of solid acquisitions in January then it could be a decent season. I think he will get us European football, but probably next year!

[MrBlack]

55 minutes ago, Laughable Chimp said:

Under Smith this season:

Goals scored per game-1.3

Goals conceded per game-1.8

Expected goals scored per game-1.1

Expected goals conceded per game-1.5

Average possession per game- 47%

 

Under Gerrard this season:

Goals scored per game-1.5

Goals conceded per game-0.8

Expected goals scored per game-1.0

Expected goals conceded per game-1.1

Average possession per game- 39%

 

Suggests that (relatively speaking) Smith got unlucky and/or Gerrard has got lucky. Throw in the fact that they've both had injuries to first team players to contend with and its a miracle we're top half.

Smith had clearly lost the dressing room after Wolves.  And I don't mean they turned against him and wanted him out, I mean he couldn't get them motivated to perform.

Gerrard has got the players believing and fighting for him,  as we could have expected with his background, but what's impressed me most is the organisation that has come with it.  We look a much better cohesive unit.

[TRO]

4 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

I'd argue our results have been better than our performances...(If that makes sense?!).

There has been a lot to like about what Gerrard and Beale have implemented, none more so than how harder we are to play through. Teams simply aren't waltzing through the middle of the park against us and peppering Martinez' goal. They identified that straight away. I also like the narrow 10's formation where the full backs are expected to offer a lot going forward. Cash has excelled. 

We do need to be better in possession though. This will come, but at the moment we need to start doing what we did to Norwich against better teams. We were also superb in the second half against Leicester. 

The future is bright. If we get the next couple of signings spot on then we can challenge for top 8 next season. 

ditto.

[villalad21]

2 hours ago, MrBlack said:

Suggests that (relatively speaking) Smith got unlucky and/or Gerrard has got lucky. Throw in the fact that they've both had injuries to first team players to contend with and its a miracle we're top half.

Smith had clearly lost the dressing room after Wolves.  And I don't mean they turned against him and wanted him out, I mean he couldn't get them motivated to perform.

Gerrard has got the players believing and fighting for him,  as we could have expected with his background, but what's impressed me most is the organisation that has come with it.  We look a much better cohesive unit.

I can't agree with that.

Gerrard has imo given us a better foundation.

The gaps between midfield and defence was too big under Smith and the opposition played past us like a hot knife through butter.

We are a lot more compact and structured now, and if you can keep it tight we've got the players up front that can hurt any teams.

I don't feel it's luck at all.

Edited December 17, 2021 by villalad21

[TRO]

20 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

I disagree.

The squad and Gerrard will have taken plenty from the two defeats so far.

So?

Win percentage is an awful stat to use as any sort of KPI.

"Quality without results is pointless. Results without quality is boring"

Johan Cruyff

 

Results have to be measured and accrued....it's what football as we know it, functions by....its how league tables are formed and rewards distributed.

Its the framework and structure of our great game.

I am not saying perfomances don't matter, they do, but they are just the conduit to results..... Results are the holy grail.....However, I accept better performance are likely to lead to better results.

SG presides over winning, thats what I want to see....the quality of football will come later.

Edited December 17, 2021 by TRO

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Some of what i've seen, seems to coincide with his trajectory at Rangers ( Based on the stats ).

Each season they got harder to beat and score against, whilst progressively scoring more goal and gaining more possession.

If we can do that, things are really looking good.

[TRO]

16 hours ago, ciggiesnbeer said:

My guess is if Gerrard loses 5 in a row within the next year or so he wont be fired.

I believe the 5 games in a row for Deano just confirmed  a change the board had been considering for sometime.

So far they have been proven right imho. Gerrard feels like an upgrade.

Logically that makes no sense ,Deano is a far more experienced coach and emotionally it feels sucky to say it because I love Dean Smith, but its what my eyes see watching the team play. 

I totally agree with that.

But SG will not get a free ride...and more importantly, he won't want one.

He and this board will not sit by and preside over serial losing.....I am confident of that....but together, they will drive us on.

He has not took this job the be a legend at Aston Villa.....He has took this job to be a Legend in Football, we will obviously benefit, too.

He see's us as the ideal conduit to perfect his career in management and together, he wants to smash his way through the league, like a wrecking ball.....it will take time and money......but would you bet against him.

I wouldn't.

[M_Afro]

Anybody still a little unsure about SG should watch today’s press conference. The guy is such a class act. He is business personified. I love him. I am so excited to see where he can take us. 

[TRO]

On 17/12/2021 at 01:38, TheLegendOfLeonBailey31 said:

The way I look at it is Gerard has been a coach on the field as a player since he was like 20 years old, being coached/molded/taught by top managers and playing with top talent....  that's so unbelievably valuable, and he clearly has continued his passion into coaching and the man is all in.  I was not for sacking Deano and I wasn't all that thrilled that SG was who we were rumored to be interested in, but **** me is he outstanding.  He's won me over, and he did it after 1 game, just hearing him talk, it's just different.  Everything about the club is different just because he's steering the ship.  I can't wait to see what comes next.

I think you can't fail to see and hear something when he speaks.....those kind of people have the X factor.

There is bull**** and there is Bull****.......This is substance, from the heart....The man is truly on a mission.

The only thing, I think, will upset some, is he is doing it for him, but I think we just have to accept that......its like Hamilton and Mercedes.( Hamilton does it for Hamilton, but Mercedes get the associated benefit)

Will he grow attached to us, in time.....I have no idea.

Edited December 18, 2021 by TRO

[WallisFrizz]

33 minutes ago, TRO said:

The only thing, I think, will upset some, is he is doing for him, but I think we just have to accept that......its like Hamilton and Mercedes.( Hamilton does it for Hamilton, but Mercedes get the associated benefit)

Will he grow attached to us, in time.....I have no idea.

Definitely sees us as a development move and nothing more. That’s not to say he won’t enjoy it here and maybe grow to have a little affection for the place…but attachment…not a chance. He’ll drop us as fast as Rangers when the moment is right for him. 

To be honest, if he drags us into Europe, I don’t even care how he feels about us. We’ve had the manager who loved us and he took us as far as he could, this is the next level, SG just needs achieve what the club want him too. Anybody expecting love and loyalty from him will likely be disappointed in 2-3 years time. 

[MotoMkali]

4 hours ago, MrBlack said:

Suggests that (relatively speaking) Smith got unlucky and/or Gerrard has got lucky. Throw in the fact that they've both had injuries to first team players to contend with and its a miracle we're top half.

Smith had clearly lost the dressing room after Wolves.  And I don't mean they turned against him and wanted him out, I mean he couldn't get them motivated to perform.

Gerrard has got the players believing and fighting for him,  as we could have expected with his background, but what's impressed me most is the organisation that has come with it.  We look a much better cohesive unit.

Not really. We are talking 0.5 vs 0.1 in terms of losing the xG battle.

But the only game we've won that xG suggests we should have lost is against Crystal Palace. And even then I don't fully buy it. Because Mcginns goal and targetts goal were both players with a lot of time and direct look at goal. Yes mcginns was outside the box and a number of players nearly blocked targetts shot. But realistically both had a fairly good chance of resulting in a goal rather than the 0.07 and 0.06 they gave them respectively.

 

Aside from that the main thing that is hurting Gerrard's xG is the Liverpool game where it was 2.97 to 0.2. And even then had we received the penalty it would be 2.97 to 1. Which would be the equivalent of 1.1 to 1.1 overall. 

[HalfTimePost]

How nice is it to be talking about a recent Manager of our club with a near unanimous positive view of the guy?

20 years since the last time that happened?

I can't remember it, I'd have been 9 or 10.

[nick76]

6 minutes ago, HalfTimePost said:

How nice is it to be talking about a recent Manager of our club with a near unanimous positive view of the guy?

20 years since the last time that happened?

I can't remember it, I'd have been 9 or 10.

Smith was loved almost unanimously this time last year when we beating top teams and with great performances 

[briny_ear]

4 hours ago, MrBlack said:

Suggests that (relatively speaking) Smith got unlucky and/or Gerrard has got lucky. Throw in the fact that they've both had injuries to first team players to contend with and its a miracle we're top half.

Smith had clearly lost the dressing room after Wolves.  And I don't mean they turned against him and wanted him out, I mean he couldn't get them motivated to perform.

Gerrard has got the players believing and fighting for him,  as we could have expected with his background, but what's impressed me most is the organisation that has come with it.  We look a much better cohesive unit.

It’s nothing to do with luck.

And it’s not a miracle.

[MrBlack]

20 minutes ago, briny_ear said:

It’s nothing to do with luck.

And it’s not a miracle.

It may well not be luck, but the stats suggest it is. The fact we should have conceded more than we've scored under Gerrard (albeit skewed by the Liverpool game) and the fact we scored way fewer than we should have under Dean, goes a long way to suggestion Dean got unlucky. Certainly seemed the case earlier in the season, but definitely less so towards the end of his time with us. It's just a view point from the stats.

Maybe not a miracle, but given the league is so tight, we could very easily and justifiably be bottom half still.

The fact we're not isbcredit to Steven turning us around very quickly. He's earnt any luck he's got through the increased workrate we're seeing across the team. 

[Zatman]

I personally see the formation coming unstuck soon. I think we lack attacking width and teams will adapt

[jacketspuds]

4 minutes ago, Zatman said:

I personally see the formation coming unstuck soon. I think we lack attacking width and teams will adapt

Maybe. I’m sure Gerrard will be aware of the limitations of the squad in terms of how he wants to play. Thankfully the 4 wins puts us in a solid position to get to the January window and make some considered improvements to key areas as opposed to panic buying, Newcastle style, because we are in the shit.

[MWARLEY2]

14 minutes ago, Zatman said:

I personally see the formation coming unstuck soon. I think we lack attacking width and teams will adapt

If its going to become unstuck then it will be tomorrow against a 442 with wingers and full backs that like to get to the byline and cross it in. 

In terms of other teams working us out i don't think its a case of that as the fullbacks give the width. Unless you are a top top team our formation doesnt give much chance to pass through the press. And as we could see a little versus Norwich the creativity is starting to show signs . The quick passing in triangles is especially good to see 

[Laughable Chimp]

56 minutes ago, MrBlack said:

It may well not be luck, but the stats suggest it is. The fact we should have conceded more than we've scored under Gerrard (albeit skewed by the Liverpool game) and the fact we scored way fewer than we should have under Dean, goes a long way to suggestion Dean got unlucky. Certainly seemed the case earlier in the season, but definitely less so towards the end of his time with us. It's just a view point from the stats.

Maybe not a miracle, but given the league is so tight, we could very easily and justifiably be bottom half still.

The fact we're not isbcredit to Steven turning us around very quickly. He's earnt any luck he's got through the increased workrate we're seeing across the team. 

I can understand why it seems that way. But I actually went through the xG for each matches, and I would argue that neither Smith or Gerrard were lucky or unlucky, at least in terms of points they have gotten.

For example, according to the xG stats, we should've conceded 3 goals vs Liverpool instead of one. So in that sense, we were lucky to not have conceded more. But it's kind of meaningless since either way, we would still lose the Liverpool match since we barely created any offensive chances. So there would be no change in points. We would've just lost by a different margin.

Similarly, Smith was rather unlucky in some of the matches we had in the 5 game losing streak. But we would've likely still lost almost all those games even if we weren't unlucky. For example, we conceded about 2 expected goals against West Ham but conceded 4 actual goals. We would've still lost this match either way, just by a different margin.

The end result is that if we're just looking at points, neither Smith or Gerrard have been lucky or unlucky. It's a different case if we were to look purely at goal difference. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by Laughable Chimp

[ciggiesnbeer]

"yes we will be looking for cover for the fullbacks because they are so important to how we play, but I have been very pleased with our current players as well"

Nice to get a straight answer about his transfer thinking. No messing about, straight with the press and honest with the players.

I really like his transparent interview style. He doesn't deflect questions he either refuses to answer "thats private" or gives you his honest thoughts which are always respectful to the players.