Steven Gerrard reveals advice Sir Alex Ferguson gave him after he arranged meeting with Man United legend in wake of Aston Villa sacking... and insists 'I actually felt my own performance was really good'

Steven Gerrard has revealed he reached out to Sir Alex Ferguson after his sacking by Aston Villa.

Gerrard was let go by the now-Champions League club in October 2022, 11 months into a three-and-a-half year deal, with his side losing six games in 11 Premier League outings and winning just two of their first 12 matches of the season.

He was out of work for a little less than nine months, being appointed Al-Ettifaq manager in July last year and leading them to a sixth-place finish in the Saudi Pro League this season. 

Leaving Villa was a stumbling block for the former Liverpool and England captain, who had been tipped to eventually take over at the Reds when Jurgen Klopp stepped down.

Speaking to The Telegraph, he revealed how he reached out to former rival Ferguson, and the advice that he received from the Manchester United legend. 

'I am not one of those people who looks to blame, who looks to point fingers, he said. 'It's not my style and that's the reason why I needed a period of time to process that hard toughness. It knocked my confidence a little bit. It does. I spoke to a lot of managers around it. I went to see Alex Ferguson for a couple of hours and he said, "Take your time, don't jump into anything. Take your time and process it, analyse it".

'And that is what I have done. But it has not affected my ambition. I didn't have any targets when I set out on this different journey. I didn't have a plan to go to Glasgow Rangers. I didn't have a plan to go to the Premier League after three-and-a-half years. I didn't have Aston Villa on my resume. I am going along trying to be the best version of myself and have a career in coaching because I am passionate about it.'

Gerrard has had to somewhat step back, despite having offers to manage in the Premier League again, to re-build his coaching career.

Still only 43, he is eager to learn form his mistakes, but was keen to express that he doesn't feel he let himself down too heavily at Villa Park.

'When you suffer a set-back and a knock you have got to look yourself in the mirror,' he added. 'You've got to have a look at where you have gone wrong and try and improve.

'So, of course I want to bounce back from that. But I didn't want to jump into something that didn't feel right and take an unnecessary risk when I am a young coach. I've had success up to a certain point. I actually felt my own performance at Villa was really good. I actually felt I went to the next level in terms of what I had learnt from Rangers. I felt like I had grown.

'But we had a bad run of results. I have to own that and take full responsibility for that. I have to learn from my mistakes. Maybe do things slightly differently and grow and evolve. That's the only way you can move on from a set-back or a knock.'