Steven Gerrard has opened up on his spell at Aston Villa, describing it as one of the most testing periods of his managerial career.
He also explained that his last seven games at the club were really difficult and frustrating for him.
The former Liverpool and England midfielder began his coaching career at Liverpool Academy before moving into senior management with Rangers in 2018. In his third full season in charge, Gerrard guided Rangers to an unbeaten league campaign, delivering the club’s first Scottish Premiership title in ten years.
In November 2021, Gerrard was appointed Villa head coach, succeeding Dean Smith. Villa paid Rangers around £4 million in compensation to secure his release, a sign of the club’s faith in his growing reputation along with assistant Michael Beale.
Gerrard started relatively brightly at Villa Park, winning his first two league matches against Brighton and Crystal Palace, but results soon became mixed as the season progressed.
He eventually took Villa to 14th place in the Premier League, a slight improvement from the 17th position he inherited.
After winning just two of their opening 12 Premier League games the following season, Gerrard was dismissed in October 2022 and replaced by Unai Emery the following month.
Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Gerrard reflected on the difficulty of that period and how quickly things unravelled.
“I’ve really enjoyed the journey so far. Of course, I’ve had a couple of tough moments and lost my job at Aston Villa, which was really tough because I found the last six or seven games really difficult; I felt like I couldn’t pull it back,” he said.
“It’s frustrating when you’re in that position. You’re doing your best, working harder, and doing more, and you just can’t pull it back because you know the dressing room is maybe not going to help you do it. That was tough.”
Reflecting further on his time at Villa Park, Gerrard admitted that while the project appeared to have started strongly, but his control of the situation slipped away.
“The Villa thing was really tough at the end because for the first six months I felt like we had control of it and had Villa where maybe we should have had them,” he explained.
“The stats said we had them in the top eight or nine teams in the league after taking them at 17th, so we were really in a good place. But I lost control of it quickly, it deteriorated quickly, and I found it hard to get it back. That was tough and frustrating.
“This is the difference between being a player and being a manager; it’s a completely different role.”
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