Aston Villa should go and hire the manager Gerrard called ‘world class’ to replace him - opinion

By Milo Clay

Aston Villa should go and hire the manager that Steven Gerrard once called ‘world class’ to replace him – former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino. 

Gerrard replaced former boss Dean Smith back in November last year after leading Rangers to their first Scottish Championship title in nine years. 

The Liverpool legend did a superb job in Glasgow but hasn’t quite managed to have a similar impact in the Midlands. 

Gerrard took over Villa in 16th place during the last campaign and guided them to a 14th place finish. 

The English boss has had considerable backing from the Villa owners since his arrival, without showing many signs of improvement. 

But former Tottenham man Mauricio Pochettino is currently a free agent after parting ways with Paris Saint-Germain over the summer. And he could be the perfect fit to get the best out of this talented Villa squad. 

Villa should go and hire Pochettino 

Pochettino did an incredible job with Spurs during his time there, guiding the north London club to their first-ever Champions League final in 2019. 

The Argentine turned Spurs into one of the top sides in the Premier League as he challenged for the title on two occasions. 

During the 2016-17 campaign, Pochettino’s side went head-to-head with Antonio Conte’s Chelsea team for the title. And Gerrard labelled the former Spurs man as ‘world-class’. 

The Villa boss was seriously impressed by Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Chelsea back in January 2017. 

“I think he was one of a few who spotted Chelsea’s weakness in getting crosses from the right side and playing on Cesar Azpilicueta,” Gerrard told Premier League’s tonight show on BT Sport. 

“They got two very similar goals in that game. Credit to the manager. He’s world class, he spots things very easily.” as transcribed by Football Insider.

Pochettino has gone on to lift the Ligue 1 title with PSG since leaving Tottenham. But it didn’t quite work out for the Argentine in France. 

The Athletic’s David Ornstein previously claimed that Pochettino would be open to taking over at Villa Park. And in our view, Villa should go and hire the former PSG manager now. 

It may seem slightly harsh on Gerrard as he has only been in charge for just under a year. The Englishman has also picked up improved results in his last four games. 

But Villa are massively underachieving when you consider the talented players they have in their squad. 

Pochettino has shown during his time at Spurs and Southampton that he is capable of helping teams overachieve. With a promising Villa squad at his disposal, Pochettino could be capable of achieving big things at Villa Park.