STAR WARS ARE OVER
Gerro and Vieira from a galaxy VAR VAR away
STEVEN GERRARD will relish going head to head with Patrick Vieira again today – but admits their “warrior” midfield style has become obsolete in the Premier League.
Former Liverpool midfield general Gerrard (inset) will be up against an old rival on the touchline with ex-Arsenal star Vieira in charge of Crystal Palace.
And Gerrard, who retired in 2016, says the evolution of football and VAR in particular means he is not expecting too many crunching challenges.
The new Aston Villa boss said: “The game has changed and evolved in a way where maybe you can’t be as aggressive or you don’t get away with what you could 10 to 15 years ago when we played.
“You don’t get away with being that tough-tackler style, real warrior-type midfielder... especially with VAR and the way refereeing has gone.
“But the Premier League is littered with top midfielders.
“Players I competed against were really self-driven players who had top standards, consistency and they were all different challenges in different ways.
“But when I watch the Premier League now, there is a lot of quality, a lot of high-level midfielders.
“Some like to sit in that six position and dominate games, like Fabinho and Rodri, but you also have real eights who like to run into the box like Conor Gallagher, who we come up against at the weekend and is a top player.”
As well as reaching the top as players, Gerrard and Vieira also worked diligently as young coaches to become Premier League managers.
Gerrard served his apprenticeship coaching Liverpool’s kids before taking over at Rangers, where he won the title.
Vieira learned the ropes at Manchester City before spells in charge of New York City FC and Nice until he landed the Palace job this summer.
Gerrard added: “I really admire him as a guy and as a player and a coach.
“I admire when he finished as a player he went back to start at the beginning.”
Villa go into the game on a high after Gerrard won his first game in charge with a 2-0 win over Brighton thanks to late Ollie Watkins and Tyrone Mings goals.
But despite his wild celebrations when Watkins curled in an 84th-minute screamer in front of the Holte End, Gerrard was quick to stress post-match the importance of today’s game.
He added: “The message at the end was, ‘Let’s get recovered, enjoy your day off and then get back to work to prepare in the best way we can for Palace.’
“I must say the players have applied themselves really well.”