Aston Villa supporters could quickly activate Steven Gerrard if he fails to steer the club to a vital victory over Everton in Saturday’s early kick-off, based on Gabriel Agbonlahor. Villa were unable to register a winning begin to the brand new Premier League campaign last weekend as they fell to an opening-day defeat by the hands of Bournemouth, who scored two goals without reply to assert all three points on the Vitality Stadium.
The result marked something of an anticlimax for all those connected with Villa, who’ve invested heavily each on and off the pitch over the course of the summer transfer window. Agbonlahor believes that a victory can be the minimum expectation when Everton make the trip to Villa Park this weekend with a view to avoid supporters growing frustrated with Gerrard after just two matches of the brand new season.
“He’s got a squad of players where he’s got a little bit of a headache,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT on Thursday morning. “You already know while you’ve got options as a manager, he could play Emi Buendia or Philippe Coutinho, Ollie Watkins or Danny Ings and Leon Bailey’s been in good form in pre-season.
“He’ll know that Aston Villa must be ending in the highest 10 this season. It’ll be an incredible game on Saturday against Everton at home to get a result, but that Villa crowd, if we go 1-0 down they’ll be able to turn after the Bournemouth game.
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“Aston Villa needs to be ending in the highest 10 with that squad of players. He’s been given the cash. He’s got [Philippe] Coutinho, one other centre-half and one other centre-midfielder in [Boubacar] Kamara.
“He’s been given money to spend and that squad of players needs to be competing and ending in the highest 10. He’ll know that he’ll be under pressure if he doesn’t deliver that.
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“The board have pumped loads of money into Aston Villa Football Club, they’re bettering the stadium and the academy has had money pumped into it, so Steven Gerrard knows that Aston Villa need to complete in the highest 10 and, in two seasons, to be taking a look at stepping into those European places.”
Villa have spent near £50million on at least five latest signings within the months for the reason that end of last season, with Gerrard having taken a proactive approach to improving his squad in the summertime transfer window so far. It stays to be seen whether the 42-year-old will have the option to match the expectations of Villa fans by sealing a good finish within the Premier League at the tip of the campaign or if things will begin to deteriorate over the approaching weeks and months.
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