Villa moved quickly to appoint Gerrard after firing Dean
Smith on Sunday, with the club having lost five straight games in the league to
drop to 16th place in the 20-team top flight.
Gerrard is one of Liverpool’s greatest players and coached
in the team’s academy before taking charge of Rangers in 2018. He ended the
dominance of Glasgow rival Celtic, which had won nine straight league titles,
by leading Rangers to the title last season in an undefeated campaign.
“We are excited he has agreed to lead us in the next phase
of our ambitious plans,” Villa chief executive Christian Purslow said of
Gerrard, who is widely seen as a future Liverpool manager.
Villa finished in 11th place in the Premier League last
season but has been inconsistent since selling captain and star player Jack
Grealish for 100 million pounds ($139 million) — a British record fee — in the
offseason.
From relying largely on one player, Villa has tried to
implement a new, more expansive approach but it has left the team more open —
it has conceded the third-most goals this season — and many of the players
brought in with the money earned from Grealish’s transfer have been injured.
Gerrard’s first game as Villa manager will be against
Brighton on Nov. 20. He will return to Liverpool when Villa plays the Reds at
Anfield on Dec. 11.
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