Stevie G: Listen to our stars
Liverpool and with England. As a manager, I have experienced the same at Rangers. I loved it. It was great to be involved in as many games as you can be.
“But you’ve got to think about the players involved.”
Gerrard added: “On the one hand, you’ve got Burnley near the bottom of the table and Sean is looking for whatever advantage he can to move them up the Premier League.
“On the other, you’ve got Thomas and Jurgen, where the majority of their players are involved in European football and are in a title race and doing well in the domestic cups.
“Their players are also being asked to play extra international games. So, I can see both sides.
“With all due respect, very few of Sean’s players have to play that many games at such high intensity.
Opinion
“If he was managing at the top of the league, maybe his opinion would change, as would Jurgen and Thomas if they were at the bottom.
“At Villa, we’re in the middle. I’ve experienced both situations, but you have to think about the players.
“There needs to be a respect for what they are doing and how often they are getting asked to do it. We need to listen to them.”
Gerrard did offer up one solution – ‘a quick win’ as he called it – saying that he agreed with the proposed introduction of five subs.
He said: “For me, five substitutions makes total sense. Not just from an Aston Villa point of view.
“We don’t play as many games as other teams. But with the speed the game is played at and the manic schedule, we have to think about those type of players who are overplaying and the possibility of burn out.
“Five substitutes helps with the workload.
“From a selfish point of view it helps satisfy more players who clubs are paying very well.
“Everyone else around the world seems to think it is the right thing to do. Why should we be any different?”