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Steven Gerrard last coached the prestigious Scottish club Glasgow Rangers for three years
Photo:
Francisco Seco / AP
Former Liverpool captain and England international Steven Gerrard returns to coach the Premier League.
The 41-year-old is moving from Scottish record champions Glasgow Rangers to Aston Villa and should save the Birmingham club from relegation after coach Dean Smith was sacked on Sunday.
Villa is currently only in 16th place in the table.
For Gerrard it is the first station as head coach in the English league.
"Aston Villa is a club with a rich history and tradition in English football and I am very proud to be the new head coach there," he said.
17 years, 504 appearances for Liverpool
Gerrard played in midfield at Liverpool FC for 17 years.
In 504 appearances, he scored 120 Premier League goals.
With the club he won the Champions League in 2005.
In 2007 he was again in the final with the Reds.
But he could not achieve the great goal of becoming English champion.
Even so, Gerrard was considered one of the best midfielders in the world in his day.
He is still a legend in Liverpool to this day.
After retiring in 2018, he first trained at the Liverpool Academy before moving to Glasgow as head coach.
Last season he led the Rangers to their first championship since 2011. An impressive defensive performance was also decisive for the success: In 38 games they conceded only 13 goals and remained 26 times without conceding.
This year, too, Gerrard and his team were on course for the title.
Gerrard also has a good record in Europe: In his first two seasons he reached the round of 16 of the Europa League with Rangers.
Villa could use a strengthening of the defensive.
The team has conceded the third most goals in the Premier League (20 in eleven games).
Although Villa has struggled since top player Jack Grealish left for Manchester City, the club is a good opportunity for Gerrard to recommend himself for higher duties.
The club can count on the investments of billionaire co-owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens and has spent significant sums on transfers over the past three years.
In the long term, Gerrard is considered a possible successor to Jürgen Klopp in Liverpool.
"Of course it would be my dream to coach Liverpool FC," he once said.
He could now have come a little closer to this goal.
mey / reuters