Jurgen Klopp revealed to reporters ahead of Liverpool’s upcoming meeting with Aston Villa that he had congratulated Steven Gerrard on the Villans’ 2-1 victory at home to Leicester City with a short text message, as reported in a tweet by Goal journalist, Neil Jones.
The West Midlands outfit have undergone a significant upturn in form since Dean Smith was handed his marching orders, winning all but one of their last four games – a 2-1 defeat at Villa Park to in-form side, Manchester City.
Klopp: "After the last game I sent [Gerrard] a message; 'not bad at all, see ya!'"#LFC
— Neil Jones (@neiljonesgoal) December 10, 2021
It’s a switch in fortunes that will no doubt give the Villa faithful hope of some kind of result at Anfield, though it should likewise be noted that the Reds have hardly had a poor spell of results either, securing six wins following the resumption of domestic football.
It’s quite remarkable that our former No.8 and his coaching team have already managed to deliver a pretty instantaneous reaction, turning things around despite a five-game losing streak under the prior manager.
We’ll be expecting a tough battle at L4 come kick-off, with Aston Villa appearing to have undergone a relatively significant transformation under Gerrard’s reign.
Though there’ll be no sentimentality on our former skipper’s end (or, at the very least, restrained), we’ve no doubt it’ll be an emotional moment for fans as we look to welcome back a club legend.