Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa: A Mini Liverpool

Excerpts of this Tactical Analysis: Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa from December 29, 2021 by Arhum Siddiqui (@MrArhumSiddiqui) are courtesy of Breaking the Lines https://breakingthelines.com/manager-analysis/steven-gerrards-aston-villa-a-mini-liverpool/.

At just 41 years of age, Steven Gerrard has already served as Rangers manager, coaching 196 games, winning 64% of those games, and leading them to their first league title in a decade and ending Celtic’s domestic dominance. This resulted in his first-ever Premier League job, with Gerrard replacing Dean Smith as Aston Villa manager on November 11.

The Key Principles

In both of his jobs in Glasgow and Birmingham, Gerrard has stuck with the 4-3-3 formation. There have been several variations from the line-up, with Ollie Watkins sometimes playing on the left wing and Danny Ings operating as a center forward, as well as Leon Bailey and Douglas Luiz earning starts from time to time, but the 4-3-3 has nevertheless remained over Gerrard’s first month and a half at Villa Park.

In Gerrard’s 4-3-3 formation, the fullbacks push higher up the field to act as wingbacks and hold the width, allowing the wingers to tuck in and operate narrower as inside forwards.

This creates a 2-3-5 shape in attack that can change to a 3-2-5 if a man advantage at the back is needed, and it is created by dropping the defensive midfielder between the two center backs with the midfield trio covering the wider areas.

When watching Gerrard’s Villa, one cannot help but notice the similarities between Liverpool’s title-winning 2019/20 side that placed a huge emphasis on attacking down the flanks whilst dominating the middle of the park. 

For more on the story, Tactical Analysis: Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa: A mini Liverpool from December 29, 2021 by Arhum Siddiqui (@MrArhumSiddiqui), please go to: https://breakingthelines.com/manager-analysis/steven-gerrards-aston-villa-a-mini-liverpool/.