'The problem was Gerrard' - Liverpool legend blasted by Aston Villa star

Tom Weber

• Updated: 23 Feb 2024 10:04 GMT
• 3 min read

Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Sanson had some choice words for former head coach Steven Gerrard.

The French midfielder is currently on loan at Ligue 1 side Nice and is enjoying a solid campaign, though they did recently relinquish their second place to surprise packages Stade Brest. The expectation is that the INEOS-owned club will make his move permanent and, in fact, they will have to make it permanent if certain conditions are met.

By his own admission, Sanson's Aston Villa career is over, the player having had a torrid time in Birmingham. Injuries played a massive part, but perhaps more critical was the fact that the Frenchman arrived shortly before Dean Smith was sacked and replaced by Steven Gerrard.

The Liverpool legend was unable to improve Villa's fortunes and departed the club after less than a year in the job. Sanson has now revealed that he did not see eye-to-eye with the current Al-Ettifaq boss, believing that he was treated unfairly by the 43-year-old.

Sanson blasts Gerrard

“[The stint at Villa] was complicated because I was injured nine to ten months out of my first twelve months there," Sanson told RMC. "I had a series of injuries and I had Covid twice. Nothing worked out for me."

"I made the decision to leave when Unai Emery arrived [in October 2022], even though he would have liked to keep me. I told him that me and Aston Villa were finished. Something there was wrong...I was sure of myself and my qualities but certain things went very badly with a coach at Aston Villa."

"It was a bit unfair. The problem is that it was Steven Gerrard who arrived instead of Unai Emery.” Unlike Gerrard, Emery has been nothing short of a stunning success at Villa Park, with his side currently in the Premier League top four. The Basque coach was even recently linked with a shock switch to Bayern Munich.