Journalist Simon Hughes believes Steven Gerrard’s philosophy at Aston Villa came to him while in his early managerial career at youth level.
Aston Villa fans have enjoyed a great start to life under Gerrard. The midfield legend replaced the outgoing Dean Smith recently, hitting the ground running immediately.
In his opening four games, Gerrard has steered Villa to three wins, with their only loss coming at the hands of defending Premier League champions and current league leaders Manchester City. He managed a comeback win last time out against his old boss, Brendan Rodgers.
And ahead of Villa’s clash with former club Liverpool, Hughes offered an insight into how his time working alongside Jurgen Klopp and at the Reds’ academy may have influenced his managerial career to date.
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Speaking on The Athletic’s 1874 podcast, Hughes had the following to say:
“I’m really fascinated to see how they approach the game, because he’s obviously taken quite a lot from Jurgen Klopp as well from the year that he had at the academy.
“The formation that he plays is different to what he played, actually, as a player – it was always 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 when he played; at Villa it seems it’s a bit more 4-3-3.
“He obviously did that at Rangers as well, so he’s obviously seen something at Liverpool when he was working under Jurgen Klopp that he likes.”
TIF Thoughts on Simon Hughes’ views around Steven Gerrard’s philosophy…
It’s clear to see the impact that working close to Klopp has had on Gerrard, adopting the German’s formation and using it in his team. You can’t blame Gerrard given Klopp’s track record, so you’d be stupid to not take things from him.
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Likewise, in a recent interview for Sky Sports, the new Villa manager admitted he’d also taken things from Rafael Benitez, as well as Rodgers, who he played under as Liverpool captain.
Victory for Gerrard next time out won’t be easy, with the ex-skipper set for an emotional Anfield return. One thing is for certain, though – he’s returning to Anfield to spoil the party. He’ll want three points to go home with him and not his old club. There’s no time for sentiment when that whistle goes at 3pm on Saturday, and perhaps he’ll try to give Klopp a taste of his own medicine if Hughes’ hunch is correct.
In other news: Keinan Davis claims Emi Buendia has a ‘little bite’ about him