Everton Preview

Perhaps only since Alex McLeish's home debut in 2010 can a Villa manager be under as much pressure at the first home game of the season as Steven Gerrard is.

Whilst here at AVFC History we have long been somewhat cynical at the abilities of the current manager even the depth of concern over the Bournemouth performance surprised us.

Villa start their Villa Park campaign against a team they have regularly swatted aside with little difficulty in the recent past. That looks likely to not be repeated on current form.

Whilst Bournemouth have always been a tricky opponent for Villa the sheer mess of the formation, application and Gerrard’s favourite word ‘quality’ was chastening.

One defeat doesn’t make a summer - even if it is against a promoted club amidst a woeful performance (as at Watford in 2021) - but this is a run of form that has been building for far too long.

Brighton (twice), Palace, Leicester, Norwich (twice), Everton, Southampton, Leeds and Burnley are the only sides to have been beaten under Gerrard.

Brighton finished 9th, Leicester 8th and Palace 12th - the sort of position we were allegedly a cert for under Gerrard.

Meanwhile, Norwich and Burnley were relegated whilst Southampton, Leeds and Everton only survived the drop by the skin of their teeth.

However you cut it the growing doubts about Gerrard’s abilities are well founded. But it’s not just on the pitch and in the results that the concerns are focused.

Player morale continues to jar; solid professionals training with the under 21s, the former captain seemingly the subject of an exercise in public humiliation, players venting frustration through social media - Morgan Sanson’s telling tweet about his availability at the weekend being a case in point.

Everything smacks of what you expect from an unpopular manager 3 and a half years in to a difficult spell with the fans turning, the players uninspired by the same old drivel and any idea of tactics in scarce supply. Think Paul Lambert for context.

As Gerrard said at the weekend however you can look at things in two ways.

True, one view could be that Gerrard is incredibly unlucky that the players under his tutelage are unable to transform his instructions into action as he alluded to after the Arsenal defeat in March (**It’s hard to execute a game plan if not everyone believes in what you are doing.**).

The other view is that Gerrard is out of his depth at this stage of his managerial career.

Whichever it may be the root cause needs to be gone by the close of the transfer window if anything is going to change for the better.

A poor result against Everton is the last thing anyone wants but it could be what is needed as a catalyst for action, whether that is in the boardroom or at Bodymoor.