Steven Gerrard was named Aston Villa manager days ago and has a lot of work on his hands considering the Midlands outfit are languishing near the relegation zone, so Gabriel Agbonlahor laid out everything Gerrard needs to do so Villa can turn things around.
Villa finished 11th in the Premier League last season and invested significantly on new players over the summer to secure a top-half finish this campaign. They’re currently 16th in the table and only two points above the drop zone, however, so Agbonlahor believes a January spend might be on the cards.
He said on talkSPORT: “He just needs to get in there, get the new signings firing and try and finish the season top 10. I think Aston Villa fans would take top 10. Then next season push on again, maybe be able to bring in a couple of signings, change a couple of players, get rid of a couple of players.
“Then start looking at that top six, that will be the plan over the next three years – challenging to get into the European places.” Villa are coming off the back of five consecutive defeats and host an out-of-form Brighton & Hove Albion after the international break. A win could see them move two places up the table.
Gerrard has inherited a talented squad of players at Villa, but he does have a decision to make on how best to include them all – new-boys Emiliano Buendia and Leon Bailey have underwhelmed since their summer arrivals and they aren’t the only inconsistent performers.
Agbonlahor believes Gerrard can fix the problems at Villa and have them chasing a place in Europe soon enough, so time will tell if his prediction holds up.
In other news, fans on social media fume as Aston Villa are linked with ‘overrated’ Glen Kamara
