Darren Bent believes there are problems at Aston Villa after Premier League defeat v Bournemouth
Darren Bent believes there are problems at Aston Villa for Steven Gerrard to sort out after their disappointing opening day defeat to Bournemouth.
Two goals from set-pieces were Villa’s undoing as Gerrard’s side failed to create enough chances to break Scott Parker’s side down despite dominating the play.
Bent believes there are a couple of players that need to start performing for Villa in the coming weeks and months.
Talking on talkSPORT on Tuesday 9 August, he said: “I do think there are problems there for Steven Gerrard.
“I look at some of the players and I don’t think they’ve really excelled.
“The likes of Leon Bailey has had injury concerns but I am still waiting for him to give me a performance where you go okay.”
He added: “We still haven’t seen consistency from Coutinho.
“The one positive coming out of the football club is the form of Jacob Ramsey.
“Matty Cash was good [v Bournemout] and so was John McGinn but other than that there have been a lot of underwhelming performances for Steven Gerrard.”
Pressure on
Is the pressure on Gerrard to really get the best out of this Villa team?
He has been extensively backed this summer and much like Dean Smith, it would not be a surprise to see the board lose patience with the former Rangers boss if things don’t go to plan.
There are clearly an array of talented players in Villa’s squad but something wasn’t clicking in an attacking sense on Saturday at the Vitality.
Furthermore, to concede from two set-pieces demonstrates a lack of organisation and leadership in Villa’s backline.
Gerrard is clearly a big character and will be able to handle the criticism thrown at him.
What is crucial is how he reacts to get his side moving in the right direction in the Premier League this season.
It has been a stop-start reign at Villa Park for Gerrard after doing an excellent job in a pressurised environment at Ibrox.
It is clear the job at Villa is taking him time to adapt to, but he should be given time to allow for his new additions to bed in.
In other Aston Villa news, there was one glaring problem in how Villa defended at the Vitality Stadium but it should be easily addressable.