What to expect from Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa?
By Oli Dickson Jefford
Having ended Celtic's ironclad grip on the Scottish Premiership in his time at Rangers, Steven Gerrard will now look to revive the fortunes of another fallen giant as he heads to the Midlands to take charge of Aston Villa.
The former England captain brought the league title back to Rangers in an historic unbeaten league campaign, but now does seem like the good time for a new challenge.
It may not be a long-term stay for Gerrard with the Liverpool job looming in the horizon at some stage, it will be interesting to see how he fares at Villa.
The club sacked Dean Smith after five straight league defeats and they sit 16th in the Premier League table, taking just ten points from 11 games and sitting only two points above the relegation zone.
Yet, despite Jack Grealish’s summer departure, Villa have a squad that should be competing in the top half of the table and potentially challenging for European football.
Though that might be beyond Gerrard’s reach after the club’s start, fans of the Villans should be excited about what they can expect during his tenure at the club.
4-3-3 formation
One of the most recognisable features of Gerrard’s time in Scotland was his use of a 4-3-3 formation, which he rarely switched away from.
Rangers’ football was incredibly attacking and it is unlikely that this will be different at Villa, with the way Gerrard uses his defence likely to be a little different to Smith.
Full-backs Matt Targett and Matty Cash will be particularly influential and could be key to a Villa surge back up the table.
Gerrard will likely ask Targett and Cash to attack regularly and provide a greater service to the club’s attacking midfielders and strikers than they did under Smith.
There will have to be a balance with their defensive duties which will be particularly key considering their poor run of form, but this is something that should be addressed.
Though opposition in the SPL is not at the same calibre as the Premier League, Rangers had a strong defence during Gerrard’s reign and he’ll hope to get the best out of Targett, Cash and Tyrone Mings among others.
Revitalising Danny Ings
Ings was one of several players brought to Villa Park this summer following the £100m sale of Grealish, and though he hasn’t been poor, he can certainly offer more than he has.
Ings is still only 29 and should have a good few seasons of top-flight football in him, and Gerrard may be the ideal man to help deliver that.
At Rangers, Gerrard was able to get the best out of both Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe during the past season.
Roofe was particularly potent in the last campaign, scoring 18 goals in 36 appearances across all competitions while Morelos struck 17 times in a successful campaign.
As well as helping Ings, the new manager could also help Ollie Watkins, who hasn’t quite formed the relationship with Ings that many people were hoping.
Having helped create a strong goal-scoring front in the blue side of Glasgow, Villa fans will be hoping for much of the same from Gerrard when he takes charge for the first time against Brighton this weekend.
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