Really important we hit ground running but players have been fantastic, proclaims Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard is Aston Villa's manager
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In light of the impressive start to his time at Aston Villa, Steven Gerrard has admitted that the players have been fantastic so far although they need to keep that run of form going. The new Villa boss has won four of his opening seven league games and has won plaudits for his performances so far.
After a horrendous run of form, that saw Aston Villa lose five games on the bounce, it saw Dean Smith lose his job with the club sacking the manager and ending a three and a half year spell. But with Steven Gerrard appointed as his replacement, a lot was expected from the Liverpool legend and so far the 41-year-old has delivered. His opening seven games has seen the club win four, losing only to Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool by narrow margins.
It has seen the fans and players take to their new boss superbly with Gerrard already moulding the team in his image, with a complete change in the Villa Park side. It saw the Englishman admit that he had to earn the support that Dean Smith had built, which meant that the club needed a strong start and is happy that his players responded. Gerrard also added that he already knew a lot about the team and that helped his job.
"I think when a local guy in Dean, who's done a really strong job and built a lot of good things, left the club, there were a lot of supporters who had mixed feelings about it. I really admire the support the fans gave Dean, and the job he did. The admiration and respect they did for the job he did, the support they gave me too has been fantastic,” Gerrard told Sky Sports.
“We've had to earn some, perhaps more, of that by coming in when we did and who we've replaced. It was really important we hit the ground running - we had very little time to get an identity and philosophy across to the players, but credit to them, they took it on board extremely well, and we got off to a real positive start. They've been fantastic so far.
"I had to know an awful lot about the team, thankfully I watch a lot of football, I'm interested in a lot of teams, and managers, and styles. To get a job at this level, you've got to have a real detailed catalogue of the players individually, the team, what's gone on before and where you can take it moving forward,” he added.
