Ianis Hagi produced two goals and one assist in his final three games of 2020. But, while paying tribute to the outstanding form of Rangers’ enigmatic Romanian, Steven Gerrard pointed not to his outstanding technical ability but to his relentless work ethic.
“He’s someone you have to drag off the training ground,” Gerrard beamed in conversation with the Scottish Sun.
“Ianis is always in the analyst department too. He’s never out of the gym, so he’s an absolute dream to work with.”
If Leon Bailey hopes to survive under one of the most demanding young managers in the game, Aston Villa’s £30 million forward could do worse than to take a leaf out of Hagi’s book.
Following Gerrard’s appointment in November, former Villa captain Gabby Agbonlahor expressed doubts about the Jamaican’s work ethic.
Bailey’s performances, over the last five months, will have done little to quell his – or Gerrard’s – concerns.
“I watched the Southampton game (a 1-0 defeat that proved the final straw for Dean Smith in November). Leon Bailey is a great player but he didn’t track (Kyle) Walker-Peters once,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT.
“If you’re a winger, a number ten, a striker, you’ve got to do your defensive work. I think Steven Gerrard will demand that of every player.”
Can Leon Bailey save his Aston Villa career?
Bailey has started just once since returning from a niggling thigh injury two months ago. And it’s fair to say he didn’t exactly grasp that opportunity.
The Birmingham Mail awarded the second-most expensive signing in Aston Villa’s history a dismal 3/10 for his performance in the 2-1 loss at Wolves, arguing that he was simply ‘too weak in the challenge’ as the visitors struggled to deal with the physicality and the energy of their hosts.
Will Bailey ever start a game for Aston Villa again? Few would have imagined that we’d be asking such a question when Bailey ripped Everton apart all on his own in 20 astounding minutes of rampaging wing play back in September. Gerrard himself described Bailey as a ‘fantastic’ talent not so long ago too.
But that cameo performance against a toothless Toffees side is about as good as things have got for the former Bayer Leverkusen star on English soil.
According to talkSPORT, Gerrard has scouted Noni Madueke extensively since taking charge at Villa Park, identifying PSV Eindhoven’s jet-heeled England U21 international as a potential addition to a talented but inconsistent frontline.
Links with another winger – one who would set Aston Villa back around £30 million – will raise further doubts about Bailey’s future. Especially with The Mirror stating that bids for the 24-year-old benchwarmer will be considered this summer.
Bailey out, Madueke in?
Selling one of last summer’s marquee signings – potentially at a financial loss – would be a major show of faith in Gerrard on the part of the Aston Villa bosses, particularly on the back of four successive defeats.
Time appears to be running out for Bailey already. He certainly can’t afford another display like that 3/10 performance at Molineux, that’s for sure.
And Bailey’s departure, should it come to that, should act as a cautionary tale to anyone sharing a dressing room with Gerrard. It doesn’t matter how talented you are. If you’re not willing or not able to put in the hard yards, then things are only going to end one way.
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