“I want to prove that I can do it”
Purely in terms of transfer spending, Aston Villa is in the lower midfield in the Premier League this summer with 70 million euros for Diego Carlos (29), Philippe Coutinho (30) and Co., 13 clubs spent more. Since the squad has always been strengthened with more than 100 million euros per year since the resurgence in 2019, it is seventh in the market value ranking – ahead of West Ham United or Newcastle United, for example. The current 16th place in the table is therefore logically a disappointment for the ambitious “Villans” – a development that also affects the status of coach Steven Gerrard, who is responsible for 100 million euros in transfer expenses.
In the 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest, who had been promoted so far on Monday, there were fans for the first time, in the loyal away block of all places, who called for the 42-year-old to be thrown out. The newspaper “TheTelegraphSees the pressure on Gerrard at Birmingham mounting, an actual sacking before his one-year anniversary on November 11 is far from out of the question if Villa in the next few games against Chelsea (Sunday, 3 p.m.), Fulham (20/10). ) and FC Brentford (23.10.) the score and the appearance are not correct.
Coutinho, Bailey & Co.: Aston Villa’s most expensive purchases
In 38 competitive games with Aston Villa, Gerrard averaged just 1.24 points – a stark contrast to his successful time at Glasgow Rangers, which he led to the title and where he laid the foundation for reaching the Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt put in the pre-season. Reasons why Aston Villa were keen to have him succeed promotion coach Dean Smith 11 months ago. The ex-Liverpool captain should underpin the Villans’ ambitions to attack the European Cup places in England. So far, the team put together by sporting director Johan Lange so expensively has shown very little in this direction.
Aston Villa’s Steven Gerrard combative: Graham Potter as a role model
In an interview with “Sky SportsHowever, Gerrard was combative – and named his upcoming opponent Graham Potter as a role model: “I think Graham really deserves this chance at Chelsea. After some difficult spells at Brighton he has managed to get the side to where he wanted them in the league. Graham made it, he got through it, he was given the time to get through it and he proved that there are good coaches out there. That’s exactly what I want to prove here. I want to prove that I can take this team up the league, that we can compete in the top half of the league and that’s the challenge I’m facing now.”
After all, Aston Villa has not lost since the 2-1 draw against leaders Arsenal at the end of August, not even against Man City with top scorer Erling Haaland. Gerrard has stabilized the defense despite the absence of new signing Carlos – but the shoe continues to pinch on the offensive. The traditional club only scored more than one goal this season against third division team Bolton Wanderers in the EFL Cup (4:1). Coutinho, who named Gerrard as the most important factor in his decision to go to Villa after his initial loan transfer in January, is now a shadow of himself after a strong start. Ollie Watkins (26), who actually has World Cup ambitions, only has one goal this season and record signing Emiliano Buendía (25) has only been a joker three times in the past four games. No player has scored more than one Premier League goal of the season.
Aston Villas and Steven Gerrard’s injury worries mainly on the defensive
Gerrard also made it clear that things were still not going smoothly due to injuries – however, in the cases of Carlos (torn Achilles tendon), Boubacar Kamara (22; knee injury) and Lucas Digne (29; ankle) these mainly affected the defensive. “If everyone was fit and available, we would be much further along,” said Gerrard. “We signed some players at a higher level to try and improve things and move forward as quickly as possible. We were a bit unlucky but that’s part of the game and certainly not an excuse. I think if all the players are fit and available then we won’t be far from that.”
At the same time, he knows that he is responsible for the current sporting situation: “I’m very aware of that, you can’t always just talk about ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’. It’s only small jumps, but we have to prove that we can take the maximum number of points from one of these big teams (Chelsea; editor’s note). We have to try to reach that level of performance. If we can do that, things will look a lot better.”
It remains to be seen whether this will work against Potters Chelsea, who have been in very good form since the change of coach. The club management actually wanted to make the project with Gerrard a success, summarized the “Telegraph”. In a clear defeat against Chelsea, the view will be much more critical.
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