Alan Shearer has stated that it has become ‘even more difficult’ for Steven Gerrard after Aston Villa fans booed him after their 1-0 defeat to West Ham United on Sunday.
The Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer added that ‘the balance doesn’t seem right’ at Villa, despite the attacking options Gerrard has to choose from.
Ollie Watkins, Danny Ings and Philippe Coutinho were the attack-minded options picked by Gerrard for the weekend match.
But, once again, they failed to muster any real threat going forward or string together a number of clear-cut chances during the 90 minutes at Villa Park.
West Ham went into that match having lost their opening three matches, and without scoring a goal, yet despite their rusty performance in the Midlands, they still walked away with all three points.
Those inside the stadium made their feelings clear towards Gerrard and the players when they were booed off at full-time, as Shearer reacted to the current troubles facing the club, as he told Premier League Productions MatchDay Extra (28/08/22 at 7:20 pm).
“It’s a hard enough game anyway,” said Shearer. “But when you have your own fans going slightly against you, then it makes it even more difficult.
“What I looked at Villa and then listening to Steven’s interview, in terms of yes they bossed the first half without being creative, he has to find a way.
“The balance doesn’t seem right with Watkins, Ings, Coutinho or Buendia. He’s got to find that balance that, when they get forward, they have to get into the box and they have to stretch and pull teams around. And they didn’t do that against West Ham.
“They had possession. Dominated. But they weren’t a threat. With those three (Ings, Watkins and Coutinho), then that’s a surprise. It tells me he has to find a way of getting the best out of those four (including Buendia), whether he plays all four or three. Or just two of them. They have to create more chances, else they will find themselves in a really difficult position.”
TIME IS TICKING ON GERRARD
It’s only a small matter of facing Arsenal and Manchester City next for Gerrard and many will expect the obvious of two defeats coming their way.
The key thing here is that Villa’s performances, from back to front, have been beyond abject, too slow, lack of ideas going forward, way too narrow and individual players bang out of form.
Gerrard talks about Villa lacking creative spark in the final third, well that’s because it’s sitting on the bench in the form of Emi Buendia and Leon Bailey.
The duo looked Villa’s best threat when they came off the bench against West Ham, yet Gerrard prefers to pick his favourites such as John McGinn and Coutinho.
Not only do Buendia and Bailey need to start, but the manager also needs to change formation and system, or else he will be out of the door by the time his two former sides – Rangers and Liverpool – meet one another in the Champions League in October.
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