Steven Gerrard identifies main change he wants to make at Aston Villa, from Dean Smith’s era

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Steven Gerrard has told Aston Villa’s website the one area he wants to change from Dean Smith’s tenure is the defensive structure of the side.

Gerrard, 41, gave his first interview to Villa’s website since penning a contract at the Premier League side until the summer of 2025.

In what was a somewhat surprising move, given how Gerrard publicly stated he was happy at Rangers, Villa moved quickly to get their man.

The man Gerrard is replacing, of course, has taken over at Norwich City – as announced on Monday. They will face off on December 14 at Carrow Road.

Asked about the identity he will bring to Villa Park, Gerrard stated that the one major change he wants to make from Smith’s era is defensive structure.

“One thing I would like to instill, and improve on, is the structure of the team from a defensive point of view,” Gerrard said.

“Out of possession, our distances, our shape and what we do to regain the ball – that is very important to me.”

Villa fans should be excited, as Gerrard eyes improving Smith flaw

If Villa fans could draw one criticism from their time under Smith, it would be how many goals they concede. Under Smith, 198 in 138 games.

That is on average, 1.5 goals every game. They conceded the second most in 2019-20, their 67 Premier League goals only eclipsed by Norwich.

They still conceded 46 last season, an improvement – but still more than one a game. This season, 20 in 11. A total of 133, in just 87 league games.

That need to change and under Gerrard, it will. His Rangers side kept an astonishing 26 clean sheets in 38 league games last season.