Aston Villa head coach Steven Gerrard has ‘extremely impressed’ his counterpart at West Ham United, David Moyes, with how he has taken to being a manager, via football.london.
Moyes’ Hammers host Gerrard’s Villans at the London Stadium on Sunday in the pair’s first meeting in opposing dugouts. Dean Smith still oversaw the Birmingham side when the two clubs met at Villa Park in October. But a 4-1 Irons win was his penultimate match in charge.
Gerrard took up the challenge of replacing Smith at Aston Villa in November with the team 16th in the table. They had also lost their last five fixtures, to sit just two-points above the drop zone. But Villa are now ninth and can move within six-points of West Ham with a win.
Form had begun to elude Aston Villa over the festive period, with Gerrard only overseeing three wins in 11 games from December 1 to January 31. Yet winning ways have returned, with the Birmingham natives taking all three-points in their last three without conceding.
Aston Villa boss Gerrard has ‘extremely impressed’ West Ham boss Moyes
West Ham’s Moyes respects how Aston Villa’s Gerrard went about forging his career in the dugout after retiring in 2016. He notes how the Liverpool icon returned to Anfield in 2017 as a youth level coach. The 41-year-old then took a risk in 2018 to take charge of Rangers.
“I’m extremely impressed because there are so many top-flight players who often think the best route is to go straight to a top-flight club,” Moyes said.
“But Gerrard did a couple of years in Liverpool’s U18s and then took a huge task on at Rangers to stop Celtic from doing ten in a row. A monumental achievement and a stressful task to take on Glasgow Rangers and now another big task at Aston Villa.
“I like how he’s not jumped in thinking it’s all going to be easy. He’s got his experience, and wants to learn on the job.”
Celtic had clinched each Premiership title from 2011/12 to 2019/20 until Gerrard’s Rangers ended their dominance in 2020/21. The Gers also lifted the crown after claiming 102-points during an unbeaten campaign. It was the first time in the club’s history to hit triple-figures.
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