Gerrard 'shocked' after Aston Villa 'didn't show up' in defeat to Fulham but vows to 'never give up'
Steven Gerrard has admitted he was 'shocked' by Aston Villa's performance against Fulham as pressure continues to mount on the Liverpool legend.
The Villans struggled a bit to lose to Chelsea last weekend as they performed well in the 2-0 loss.
But they were defeated 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 head-butt Aleksandar Mitrovic.
The striker doubled Fulham's lead from the penalty spot before a Tyron Mings own goal 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 he is a 'fighter'.
"If you look at how we performed over the weekend, I wanted to build on that, but I got the opposite. We were second best in the first half and were lucky to be even in the game,” Gerrard told Amazon Prime.
"I walked 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 position and I'll try to find the answers but I won't disrespect my players. We just didn't come tonight, it's very hard to congratulate them after this performance.”< /p>
On Aston Villa fans calling for his sacking, 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 am a fighter, I will never give up anything, whether in football or in life."
Fulham, meanwhile, are enjoying life in the Premier League as the win lifted them to ninth place.
Cottagers boss Marco Silva said after the game that his players were "up to the challenge".
"It was a very, very good performance. The pressure we created, the way we kept up that intensity in the first half, was nice to see," Silva told BBC Sport.
p>"Winning 3-0 at home and keeping a clean sheet - something we talked about - is hugely important to us.
"We have prepared well [for the Premier League]. It is the best competition in the world, the toughest competition in the world too.
"Villa are not in a good moment but they also have top players with a good manager. We knew before the game that if we gave them confidence things would be complicated for us.
"We are up to the challenge. We have good days and bad 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 enjoys every moment of working with us.
"He was a key player for us, as he was last season. This performance was more than just one or two players - it was a collective thing."
READ MORE: Villa has a mouth-watering chance of nabbing an elite coach like Pochettino if he ditch Gerrard's experience now
Steven Gerrard has admitted he was 'shocked' by Aston Villa's performance against Fulham as pressure continues to mount on the Liverpool legend.
The Villans struggled a bit to lose to Chelsea last weekend as they performed well in the 2-0 loss.
But they were defeated 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 head-butt Aleksandar Mitrovic.
The striker doubled Fulham's lead from the penalty spot before a Tyron Mings own goal 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 he is a 'fighter'.
"If you look at how we performed over the weekend, I wanted to build on that, but I got the opposite. We were second best in the first half and were lucky to be even in the game,” Gerrard told Amazon Prime.
"I walked 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 position and I'll try to find the answers but I won't disrespect my players. We just didn't come tonight, it's very hard to congratulate them after this performance.”< /p>
On Aston Villa fans calling for his sacking, 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 am a fighter, I will never give up anything, whether in football or in life."
Fulham, meanwhile, are enjoying life in the Premier League as the win lifted them to ninth place.
Cottagers boss Marco Silva said after the game that his players were "up to the challenge".
"It was a very, very good performance. The pressure we created, the way we kept up that intensity in the first half, was nice to see," Silva told BBC Sport.
p>"Winning 3-0 at home and keeping a clean sheet - something we talked about - is hugely important to us.
"We have prepared well [for the Premier League]. It is the best competition in the world, the toughest competition in the world too.
"Villa are not in a good moment but they also have top players with a good manager. We knew before the game that if we gave them confidence things would be complicated for us.
"We are up to the challenge. We have good days and bad 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 enjoys every moment of working with us.
"He was a key player for us, as he was last season. This performance was more than just one or two players - it was a collective thing."
READ MORE: Villa has a mouth-watering chance of nabbing an elite coach like Pochettino if he ditch Gerrard's experience now
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