Steven Gerrard spoke to the media on Friday afternoon when he gave his pre-match press conference at Bodymoor Heath.
The Aston Villa head coach had plenty of topics to touch on ahead of Saturday’s home opener against Everton.
Here’s what he had to say…
On Frank Lampard…
“I know Frank extremely well and I shared a dressing room with him for many years. He’s a fierce competitor. He’s a winner. He’s very composed, very calm.
“I could see from very early-on, once I started sharing a dressing room with him, that he’d probably stay in the game in some capacity.
“It’s no surprise to see him in a similar position to myself which is to try and lead a big establishment and progress it and move it forward.
“In terms of competing against each other, whether it be on the pitch or now as a manager, you’ve got two people who are desperate to be on the winning side. That will never change.”
On the Bournemouth loss…
“What it showed me was having a real positive, strong pre-season where your players are in a fantastic place doesn’t guarantee you’re going to get results in the Premier League. Especially on the opening day when we came up against a team that were playing their first game back in the Premier League.
"We were disappointed with the level of performance we gave. In this league, you can’t get away with that – it doesn’t matter who you play. You need to be at it every single week.
“What I would say is that we’ve responded well in terms of training and preparation going into this week. We’re at home tomorrow in front of a full house at Villa Park, so I’m wanting the players to go out and be positive and brave.
“I want them to give a better account of themselves because we can’t expect to get anything when we post that level of performance.”
On playing at Villa Park…
“It (home form) was inconsistent throughout the six months, and if we’re to try to get to where we want to in the long-term, home form is always going to be key.
“I’m really looking forward to the atmosphere tomorrow. When Villa Park is rocking it’s such a big help. The onus and responsibility is on us as a team to get the fans behind us with a positive start.
“Our home form is something that we want to focus on and improve.”
On Leon Bailey…
“I don’t think he had much luck in terms of health and having his body accustomed to the Premier League. On the back of that, he got some injuries and niggles that stopped him from getting in a routine and rhythm.
“In pre-season he’s been healthy and he’s looked sharp. Repeating games and training sessions – again he looked sharp this morning – he’s in a good place.
“He was disappointed, like all of us, with the last game, but it’s one game. Leon’s in a much better place than he was last year.
“He had doubts in terms of his body, he wasn’t having the best of luck and that was quite frustrating for him.”
On the state of the squad…
“We’ve got fantastic players and we’re building a really exciting, talented squad. That’s what we believe.
“I think the players will show that tomorrow. We let ourselves down last week but I believe we’ve got a lot of tools and attributes in our squad and the personnel to hurt teams. The players will hopefully back that up tomorrow.”
