It was a humiliating night on the Thames. Douglas Luiz was easily removed from the field by Marco Silva’s Fulham team, receiving a brainless red card. There was no insufficiency of frustration from Aston Villa fans as the abysmal defense.
Of course, one could think of Gerrard’s time at Liverpool, when he was frantic in midfield and always fought to the end. But managing is a much lonelier and more difficult job. It’s impossible not to feel sorry for Gerrard. After another disappointing result for Villa, he came into the press room and said he was a man who didn’t give up. The team let him speak, and before the end of the evening they opened a 41-word message denoting that Gerrard had resigned after less than 12 months as head coach.
The reaction and the cause
It was a cruel approach. But it is what has been done. Villa is in a bad situation; they are in the top 3 in terms of goals conceded. The fans who came to Craven Cottage booed the director at pause and after the end signal, creating a somber mood. And judging by their attempts here, the contestants must have given up on Gerrard.
For Gerrard, it was a shame. One, he debuted with Jan Bednarek in an attempt to mitigate the aerial threat of Aleksandar Mitrovic, which was a tactical failure because it merely exposed Willian’s uncomfortableness as right-back Ezri Kons. The other was sending the team off without a clear program. Villa lacked a route in every section, and perhaps their disappointment was reflected in Lewis, who was suspended for a Mitrovic header when Fulham led 1-0.
Not that it was something out of place in the Fulham game. The win lifted the team to 9th place in the table and was a payoff for the work Silva has done after succeeding in the Championship last year.
At the time when Silva praised the excellent play of Harrison Reid and praised the inventive play of Andreas Pereira and Willian, Gerrard looked dejected when he appeared at the post-match meeting.
The consequences
Gerrard had trusted that Villa would perform as well as possible in the failure to Chelsea by taking the lead. The result, however, was disastrous. Villa lacked form, and Gerrard’s appointment of Bednarek appeared misadvised from the second William and Robinson started to team up.
To conclude it all seemed like a perfect job but in the end turned out to be just a great shame.
