Steven Gerrard admits Aston Villa still have work to do to get the club where he wants but beating Brighton away on Saturday will quiet the ‘noise’, via quotes by Birmingham Live.
The Villans have won just one of their last seven Premier League games ahead of travelling to the south coast. Results have fallen rapidly off the early pace Gerrard established after taking charge in November, having opened his tenure with four wins in his first six games.
Only Manchester City and Liverpool also interrupted Gerrard’s start to life as Dean Smith’s successor. And in both games, the Citizens and Reds beat the Villans by just a single goal.
Margins have remained tight during the Villa Park natives’ tricky patch, too. Only Chelsea have beaten Aston Villa by more than two goals. But Gerrard has suffered 1-0 defeats to relegation-threatened duo Newcastle and Watford, while Leeds held them to a 3-3 draw.
Gerrard admits Aston Villa need multiple windows to build his ‘identity’
Gerrard now admits Aston Villa cannot hide from their difficult run of form, but feels the mood around the club will improve if they beat Brighton on Saturday. However, he also notes the Birmingham natives will need multiple transfer windows to build his ‘identity’.
“Our form has dropped. We admit that,” Gerrard said. “We take that on the chin, of course we do. But this wasn’t a job that would be sorted in 12, 13 or 14 games. We knew we needed a certain amount of windows. We knew we needed time to implement an identity.
“Yes, we had a positive start but even when we were winning games, we knew there was still a gap where we needed to get to. That doesn’t change. Even if we go and win three on the spin, we know this is a long-term thing we need to improve.
“Look, a good, strong win against Brighton changes the mood and the noise that’s outside. We’re aware it’s one win in seven in the Premier League. That doesn’t lie. But, if we win, it moves us towards the middle of the table. This team hasn’t finished 10th in many years.”
Gerrard’s identity claim should worry Aston Villa and their fans, having started the season with eyes on European qualification. It also suggests he does not expect an instant fix to the Villans’ lack of recent results, which have seen players struggle to play to his system.
Aston Villa also lacked their attacking instincts ten-fold against Watford last time out, so Gerrard will have to hope his work at Bodymoor Heath this week works against Brighton.
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