Steven Gerrard has told Aston Villa players he wants seventh place – The Athletic
Steven Gerrard is aiming high for the upcoming season amid lofty expectations at Aston Villa and among fans, according to The Athletic.
After significant backing in the transfer market, which a significant amount has crucially been completed early, the club want to be the top team in the Premier League outside of the established “big six”.
And the Lions boss has already communicated as such to some important members of the squad, telling them that the next position is the minimum goal.
Gregg Evans writes in The Athletic: “Manager Steven Gerrard has already told some key players that finishing in the top seven is the aim for 2022-23.
“Gerrard was disappointed with the way the season fizzled out, admitting there was little to celebrate when the campaign ended, and has spoken about “ambitious but realistic” targets for the coming season.
“Those above him in the hierarchy hope this is the year Villa make serious progress up the table, and supporters’ expectations are growing.”
Grand plan
That the boss is being explicit about how much of a leap he expects after a 14th-placed finished in his first season in charge is a high-risk high-reward strategy.
He didn’t get the benefit of a preseason last term, having replaced Dean Smith in early November, but he was given support in the January transfer window.
So the late season run that saw two wins from the final 11 top flight matches was still very disappointing.
Realistically Gerrard knows as much as anybody that he now has to deliver with results, after securing marquee signings such as Philippe Coutinho, Diego Carlos and Boubacar Kamara.
A full summer of preparation should have been him in a better place to do so, although the loss of his trusted right-hand man Michael Beale, who left to take the Queens Park Rangers job, is potentially a concern.
There are a number of pretenders to the “best of the rest” crown, including the likes of Leicester and newly-rich Newcastle, but Villa have as good a chance as anyone if they can get things right.
The pressure is on and if things don’t go to plan there will no doubt be calls for the manager to lose his job, but the club have gone all in behind him since he arrived so the owners would have a big decision to make.
Fans will hope that the former England captain is the man to take the club back to the level it maintained during the Martin O’Neil era or better, and a good set of early results will surely be vital, but it will be no easy feat.
In other Aston Villa news, Gerrard cannot afford to get off to slow start after the summer transfer business.