Steven Gerrard Manager
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Steven Gerrard reveals how Aston Villa set up versus Brighton #AVFC

November 22, 2021
Steven Gerrard said his Aston Villa side allowed Albion possession “in certain areas”. And he felt their eye for a counter-attack ultimately paid off. Villa’s new boss wants his team to be a possession-based outfit eventually. But he was happy enough to see Graham Potter’s team have 63% of the ball and run into cul-de-sacs. Gerrard said: "Graham is an outstanding coach. "He has a lot of support around him. He has implemented a style that are a real possession based team. "It was important that we didn't chase lost causes otherwise you are made to pay for that. “We wanted to own the middle of the park with or shape and structure. "We wanted to block the middle of the pitch and when our moments came we wanted to semi-counter and full counter and wanted to hurt the opposition. BRIGHTON PLAYER RATINGS IN DEFEAT AT ASTON VILLA "It took until the last ten or 15 for us to look like a real threat but we have a lot of attacking players in squad who can run and who are dangerous. "We allowed them to have the ball in certain areas of the pitch and when Brighton tried to win it from us, we made them pay."
Steven Gerrard
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Steven Gerrard calls on fans to back Aston Villa against Brighton #AVFC

November 20, 2021
Steven Gerrard has called on Aston Villa fans to make life as tough for Albion as they did for his old Liverpool team. The new Villa boss says the Anfield outfit were given a torrid time in the second city when he was playing for them. Liverpool at home is the sort of occasion for which supporters might be expected to raise their game. But the first match under a high-profile new boss, after five straight defeats, probably fits the same bill this time. There will be a 42,000 full house packed into Villa Park tomorrow afternoon. Gerrard called on supporters to give the home side “a huge lift” as he takes charge for the first time. He said: “I’ve played here and the atmosphere has been top and I’ve felt that. “It has been tough to play against this support and now it’s with us. “I hope it’s rocking and roaring. There’s a motto at the club to be prepared. We will be and I hope they will be too.” Albion played Gerrard’s Rangers side early in pre-season, drawing 0-0. They will have monitored Villa throughout the current campaign under Dean Smith. What happens when you add Gerrard to Villa will be of interest. Especially when they have enjoyed time to work together. Gerrard had the facts at his fingertips as he faced the media yesterday. He knows Villa rank eighth in the Prem this term for scoring goals but only 18th for stopping them. He only took charge of his full squad for the first time yesterday afternoon as some members returned from international duty. So we will not be seeing anything like his full Villa masterplan for a while as he sets off on a long-term target of European football. But he has promised some immediate changess and they are likely to be aimed at tightening defence. He said: “We will play different to what’s been before, my own stamp on things, my own identity and philosophy. “That will take time so you will see changes at the weekend. “We are very much looking forward to the game. “We have a big 48 hours ahead. In a normal world you have 5-6 weeks in pre-season. “We don’t have that luxury but we can be prepared for the challenge. “It will be tough but we will look forward to the challenge. “It’s a new start, a fresh start. I won’t be digging into any previous games, it’s about tomorrow and going ahead. “We had a meeting in terms of how we want the culture to look and the environment, the expectations, the attitude and mentality so far has been first class. “We will become a possession-based team when we can transition into that. Time will tell.” So probably not by tomorrow, then. There is good news for the hosts with Danny Ings set to return in attack and star goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez back safely from helping Argentina reach the World Cup finals. It looks like Ings will partner Ollie Watkins in attack with Emiliano Buendia among those looking to provide service in a 4-3-3 set-up. BRIGHTON'S JASON STEELE HAS 'EARNED THE RIGHT' TO FACE ASTON VILLA Trezeget, Morgan Sanson and Douglas Luiz are expected to miss out. Gerrard, who looked somewhat nervous in his press conference, said: “For me, the important thing is worrying about the next game, the next three points. “I don’t want to look too far past that, but we should be higher than we are. “The challenge is, can we do that against Brighton?”
Steven Gerrard
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Steven Gerrard warns Brighton about an aggressive Aston Villa squad #AVFC #BHAFC

November 16, 2021
Steven Gerrard says Albion will face an “aggressive” Aston Villa in his first game in charge. But the new boss admits he is short of time in which to get his message across before they tackle the Seagulls. Gerrard has arrived in the West Midlands to succeed Dean Smith at the helm. But he will not have the full squad who will tackle Graham Potter’s side until late in the week. He told Villa TV: “That’s the priority. The main thing everybody should focus on now is the Brighton game. “We have very little time to prepare in terms of having the full group. “Thankfully we have some players on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that we can try and get a head start with and start getting some information over to them. “Brighton will be a tough game. “They are going well, they have got an exciting young manager and they are probably really satisfied with where they are right now. “But it’s a game we will go into and be aggressive and we will be looking to take maximum points for sure.” Albion picked up their first ever win at Villa Park with a 2-1 success behind closed doors last season. Saturday’s game is likely to be a very different proposition with a raucous atmosphere expected. The Seagulls led on their two visits before fans in recent seasons but came away with a draw and defeat. They will be looking for ways to exploit a Villa side who lost five in a row before sacking Dean Smith. Gerrard suggested there are defensive weaknesses. GRAHAM POTTER IS HAPPY WITH BRIGHTON, SAYS PAUL BARBER He said: “One thing I would like to improve on is the structure of the team from a defensive point of view. “Out of possession, our distances, our shape and what we do to regain the ball. "That is very important to me.”
Matt Targett Aston Villa
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Matt Targett thinks manager Dean Smith not at fault after defeat against former club Saints #SAINTSFC #AVFC

November 7, 2021
FORMER Saint Matt Targett insists Aston Villa’s players have to take responsibility for a run of five defeats which has seen pressure mount on manager Dean Smith. Adam Armstrong’s early strike was enough to see Saints inflict a 1-0 loss on Villa at St Mary’s on Friday night. The loss means Villa have taken no points since winning at Manchester United on September 25 and Smith admits he has “no idea” if he will be given the time to turn things around. Targett, however, feels the reasons for the poor spell fall at the feet of the players. “There’s only so much the manager can do,” he told Villa TV. “Us, as players, we’ve got to take responsibility. We’ve got to worry about our own performances and not many of us have been doing that this season. “I put myself up there too, I haven’t been as good as I was last season. It’s difficult to take. “At the moment, we’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror and just say it’s not good enough; we need to improve, every single one, we’re working hard on the training pitch but we need to transform that into the game. “We’ll reflect, the players who go away (on international duty), hopefully they’ll stay healthy, and then we’ll kick on from there.”
James Ward Prowse
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Ralph Hasenhuttl discusses James Ward-Prowse’s Aston Villa bid #SAINTSFC #AVFC

November 5, 2021
RALPH Hasenhuttl has insisted “there was not for one minute fear that he would leave us” as James Ward-Prowse prepares to face the club he was subject to a bid from in Aston Villa. The Daily Echo understands that Saints rejected a £25million bid for captain Ward-Prowse during a summer window which also saw three fellow seniors exit. Ryan Bertrand, Danny Ings and Jannik Vestergaard all made transfer moves, with the latter and former going to Leicester City and Ings ending up at Villa. But the skipper remained with Saints and signed a brand-new five-year contract to tie him to the club until 2026. He was targeted by the Premier League side after netting eight goals in the league season, scoring on the international stage for England and becoming further renowned as a free-kick specialist. Villa lost talisman Jack Grealish to Aston Villa in the summer for a £100million fee, and went on a spree of spending with the likes of Emi Buendia, Leon Bailey and Saints’ Ings signing. But Hasenhuttl insists he was never worried that Ward-Prowse would join them. He said: “There was not for one minute a fear that he would leave us, to be honest. I was relatively sure that he knows the role he has to play for this club. “It’s more than losing a very good footballer, a free-kick expert, he’s a real model for our club and it’s always helpful when you have someone like that here. “He’s somebody that the young lads are looking up to and want to do the same, and this is why it was important that he was then committing even more to the club.” He added: “I think we found a solution where we had a win-win situation for the club and for him. This is how it should be.”