Steven Gerrard can’t allow Liverpool homecoming to affect Aston Villa’s performance at Anfield
So far, so good for Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa.
The former Rangers manager has slipped into the hot-seat at Villa Park with ease, and has already got the Midlanders playing the sort of front-foot attacking football that he himself was renowned for as a player at Liverpool.
He returns to Anfield for the first time as an opposition manager on Saturday afternoon, but he’ll need to ensure the focus remains on the job in hand rather than his homecoming.
It appears that he’s done a reasonably good job of deflecting the attention from himself thus far.
However, once he steps out of the tunnel at the club he knows like the back of his hand, there’ll almost certainly be a few wistful looks around the ground, particularly if they rise in unison to greet one of their own.
Steven Gerrard and Jürgen Klopp
How he handles the occasion, uses his demeanour and transmits his thoughts to his players is likely to have a bearing on the outcome.
Surely the last thing Gerrard would want is to be blamed for any reverse were that to be the result.
If Reds supporters end up turning on him during the game, that will at least show anyone connected with Villa that Gerrard is doing something right.
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