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Steven Gerrard has admitted that he was “shocked” by Aston Villa’s performance against Fulham as pressure is continuing to mount on the Liverpool legend.
The Villans were a bit unfortunate to lose to Chelsea last weekend as they performed well in the 2-0 defeat.
But they were undone on Thursday night by a dominant Fulham side. Harrison Reed opened the scoring with a fierce strike before the break.
Villa’s situation was made more difficult when Douglas Luiz was sent off with half an hour to go for a headbutt on Aleksandar Mitrovic.
The striker doubled Fulham’s lead from the penalty spot before an own goal from Tyron Mings made it 3-0 before the final whistle.
Gerrard’s side have only won twice this season and goal difference is the only thing keeping them above the bottom three.
Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel have been mentioned as potential replacements for Gerrard but the current boss has insisted that he is a “fighter”.
“If you look at how we performed at the weekend I wanted to build on that but got the opposite. We were second best in the first half and were lucky to still be in the game,” Gerrard told Amazon Prime.
“I got in and among the players at half-time hoping for a reaction. The performance was nowhere near good enough. The first half shocked me after what we had seen.
“I’m in a position and will try to find the answers but I will not disrespect my players. We just did not turn up tonight – it’s very difficult to praise them after this performance.”
On the Aston Villa fans calling for him to be sacked, Gerrard said: “It’s tough. I’m a man, I accept it, I feel their frustrations, I’m frustrated. It was a tough night for me personally.
“We will see what happens. I’m a fighter, I will never, ever quit anything whether it’s football or in life.”
Fulham meanwhile are loving life in the Premier League as this win has lifted them up to ninth.
“It was a very, very good performance. The pressure that we created, the way we kept that intensity in the first half, was good to see,” Silva told BBC Sport.
“Winning 3-0 at home and keeping a clean sheet – something we’ve been talking about – is incredibly important for us.
“We’ve prepared well [for the Premier League]. It’s the best competition in the world, the hardest competition in the world as well.
“Villa aren’t in a good moment but they have top, top quality players with a good manager as well. We knew before the match that if we gave them belief, things would be complicated for us.
“We’re embracing the challenge. We have some good days and some not so good days, but we always try to make the fans proud of us.”
On Aleksandar Mitrovic: “He’s a top guy and a top professional. He’s enjoying every single moment working with us.
“He’s been a key player for us, like he was last season. This performance was much more than just one or two players – it was a collective thing.”
READ MORE: Villa have tantalising shot at nabbing elite coach like Pochettino if they abandon Gerrard experiment now
