London (Archyde.com)
Aston Villa coach Steven Gerrard has called on his players to raise their level of performance and results in order to get a place in the first half of the standings during the new season, following the support the club received from its owners during the current summer transfer period.
In preparation for the new season, Villa, who is seeking to improve his situation following occupying 14th place last season, has signed five players, including Philippe Coutinho, with whom he has a permanent contract following he was on loan from Barcelona.
“Now is the time to start and move on following the pre-season period, whatever the outcome, but 14th is not acceptable,” Gerrard told reporters ahead of his team’s first game of the Premier League season once morest host Bournemouth later in the day. A better level of uniformity in the performance and we want to be in the top half of the list, and we also want to perform and better results in the cup competitions, we have to give our fans more.”
Former England captain Gerrard took over as Aston Villa following his predecessor Dean Smith last November.