Steven Gerrard demands 'greater belief' from his Aston Villa players
Steven Gerrard is demanding Villa show a greater collective belief if they are to bridge the gap to the Premier League’s best.
Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal was their 10th defeat in 12 matches against teams in the top eight and the boss took issue with his side’s “passive” first half performance.
Villa face further tests against Wolves, Tottenham and Liverpool after the international break and Gerrard wants to see a more positive attitude.
He said: “We have to respect the fact there is a gap at the moment and we need time. It is a process before we can really take the challenge to them.
“But we have to want to grab it. I believe we can grab some of those positions above us. Collectively we have to believe as well.”
With nine games remaining, ninth place is realistically the highest Villa can finish after Bukayo Saka’s 30th minute strike condemned them to a 15th Premier League defeat of the season.
Gerrard continued: “We need to see more collectively. We need to do more. We need to put in 90-minute performances for a start, to give us a better chance.
“You can’t wait to go behind against these teams. There have been too many occasions now, like City for example, or Liverpool where we concede a stupid penalty, Manchester United where we wait for a reaction.
“It is almost like they (the players) are waiting for something to happen in the game or for me to get into them for that reaction to come.
“We need to be more positive and have more belief from the first whistle. That will give us a better chance to take points off teams above us.”
