Alan Hutton: Steven Gerrard has to stick with settled Aston Villa starting XI
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Alan Hutton has suggested that Steven Gerrard must find a settled starting 11 as the Aston Villa manager looks to turn Villa’s poor start to the Premier League season around.
Gerrard’s side have suffered three straight Premier League defeats on the bounce with the latest coming against table-topping Arsenal.
The Villa boss has been prone to chopping and changing his side and that’s something Hutton has urged him to stop doing.
“I think he has to find a solid eleven,” Hutton said exclusively to Villa News.
“I’ve spoken a lot about this recently but it does feel as if he is changing formations and changing players.
“It’s as if he still hasn’t quite found that right blend as a defensive unit and as an attacking unit at the moment.
“Obviously Diego Carlos’ injury has gone against him along with a couple of other things but I think he has to try and find that settled team now.
“They have spent money and they have got aspirations of climbing up the league and it’s not been an ideal start but within the squad, they’ve definitely got the squad to do it.
“At this moment in time, it’s about picking the right players for the right games and getting confidence among the squad up, because right now it’s relatively low.”
Things don’t get any easier for Gerrard with Erling Haaland and Manchester City heading to Villa Park in their next Premier League fixture.
However, after the encounter with the Champions, Villa face struggling Leicester before a home match against Southampton in a favourable run of fixtures for Gerrard.
The Villans will be looking to kickstart their season in the coming weeks.
In other Aston Villa news, Paul Merson says the club have cup finals to come with Gerrard under pressure