MY ACCOUNT
With three wins from four matches, Steven Gerrard has well and truly brought a new manager bounce to Villa Park.
The Villans had lost five games in a row prior to the sacking of Dean Smith but have hit the ground running under their new boss.
Next up for the former Rangers coach is a return to Anfield — the scene of many of his greatest triumphs — to take on Jurgen Klopp’s electric Liverpool side.
Ahead of Saturday’s homecoming, we take a look at how Gerrard is beginning to stamp his mark on the men from the Midlands.
A clear identity
In his first press conference after being appointed, Gerrard was clear about the stylistic direction that he wanted to take Aston Villa.
He said: “I put my own stamp on things in terms of how I want my team to look out of possession and in possession.
“We will become a possession-based team. When we can transition into that, time will tell.”
Such a change does not happen overnight of course, but the former Reds’ star already has his side playing out from the back — a key principle of his approach.
Directing traffic
Gerrard likes his sides to pack the middle of the pitch when out of possession — and this relative narrowness was evident right from the off in a 2-0 win over Brighton.
In attack, the wide players are instructed to come narrower than under Smith, placing even more emphasis on the full-backs to provide width.
The flip side of this approach is that it affords space to the opposition full-backs or wing-backs. And with so many elite operators in those roles in the Premier League, Gerrard may have to make a few tweaks going forward.
Making a mark
Gerrard took no prisoners on the pitch in his playing days — and his Villa side are starting to show signs of the positive aggression which underscored the ex-England midfielder’s game.
For now, it is most noticeable in the Villans’ speed to second balls. That was an area that Gerrard highlighted when commending his team’s “outstanding” second-half performance in Sunday’s 2-1 victory against Leicester.
These are perhaps the first seeds of the intense press that the 41-year-old likes to utilise. It is a key element of his desire to dominate the ball.
Plugging leaks
In the final four games of Smith’s reign, Villa conceded 11 goals — including four to West Ham and three against both Arsenal and Wolves.
As those figures might suggest, they were giving up plenty of opportunities — 12 big chances in those four matches.
Gerrard has quickly stemmed the flow though, with Villa restricting their opponents to only one big chance apiece in their four outings since.
They even held City to their lowest single-game expected goals output this term (0.9).
Getting creative
In beating Leicester, Villa looked as potent in the final third as they have done all season. Gerrard’s men posted a season-high xG total of two, which correlated with their finishing on the day.
They also fashioned four big chances, at least twice as many as they had in any previous match this campaign.
Ezri Konsa’s two goals both came from dead-ball situations as Villa continued to feel the benefit of set-piece coach Austin MacPhee — whose new boss enjoyed delivering plenty of dangerous free-kicks and corners during his playing days.
If Aston Villa and Gerrard continue on the same upward trajectory, he could have just as much success in the dugout as he did on the field.
