Didi Hamann: Gerrard will be fully focused on taking points from Anfield

Few people know Steven Gerrard better than his former Liverpool team-mate Didi Hamann. Read what the former Germany international thinks about Gerrard's start as manager at Aston Villa, he chances of becoming Anfield boss one day and what Manchester United fans can expect from new gaffer Ralf Rangnick in an interview with freesupertips.co.uk

It is going to be a big occasion for Steven Gerrard going back to Anfield with Aston Villa on Saturday, but rest assured, he’ll have nothing on his mind apart from taking points off his old club.

He’ll get a tremendous welcome from the Liverpool fans and it will be a big occasion for him, but building on what has been a good start for him at Villa Park will be all he is concerned with.

I watched them against Leicester and although they were up against it in the first half, they played really well and claimed a good 2-1 win.

They showed a great desire and willingness to get it over the line, and that is what you would expect from a Steven Gerrard team.

They should also be encouraged that they had a couple of big chances when they lost 2-1 against Manchester City and they could have got something out of that game.

He's just taken to management so comfortably and when I last saw him, he spoke so much about what he tries to do as a manager.

As a player, second best was never good enough for him and he always had that desire to be better.

As good as he was, he always had that desire to improve, and you can see that in him as a manager.

The start he's made at Aston Villa is very promising and I think he’s a good fit for the club.

I think a lot of it came down to timing.

But if you look at the rest of the Premier League apart from four or five other clubs, there aren't many bigger than Aston Villa.

They were very good last season, although they have struggled since Jack Grealish went to Manchester City.

But there's a lot of young and exciting players currently at the club and Stevie will give them a chance to play in the first team.

People ask me whether I always thought he would be a manager and it is always difficult to know.

Sometimes you play with players and you think they either will or won't end up in management and majority of the time you get it wrong.

I don't think he was ever somebody who was too focused on tactics or thoughts on the games as much as other players.

So at the time, I would have said no, but from speaking to him since he finished playing, I know that he will be a successful manager.

The biggest question of course is whether he will be the next Liverpool manager.

I think he said in an interview a few years back that he wouldn't like to take the job straight after Jurgen Klopp.

Those would be too big boots to fill, but I'm not sure if he's said anything on the subject since then.

Sooner or later I think it could happen - it is his dream job - but whether it'll be directly after Klopp, I'm not too sure.

But for now all he’ll be worried about is those three points and they are coming up against a phenomenal side.

The Reds went to Milan in the week and made plenty of changes but they still got the result they wanted.

Klopp has got so much strength in depth - he may want to look at central midfield to boost his options because Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita haven't cemented their places - but I am confident they will be able to fight it out both in the Premier League and in Europe.

Janaury will be key when Mo Salah and Sadio Mane are at the Africa Cup of Nations and Klopp will have to shuffle the pack with others stepping up.

Diogo Jota has been great since he joined from Wolves but he will not be able to get through those games on his own so it is good to see Divock Origi score in his last two games. We'll need to see more of that.

If Mane and Salah come back with Liverpool just a few points off the pace, then they should be able make that up.

In the meantime, I would expect Manchester United to improve now they have Ralf Rangnick at the helm.

It’s a very shrewd appointment.

They have lacked structure since Sir Alex Ferguson left and I think Rangnick brings a football style that United fans will cherish.

You always looked at United as a free-flowing attacking team with attacking flair players that have a lot of freedom.

I don't think he's a long-term manager for United but he wants to bring a style of football that he knows, and they need it because they've gone so far down.

He's wise, shrewd and smart enough to know how to work with these players.

I don't think any player needs to be worried, but they need to know that they have to work hard.

There will not be any passengers and there will not be any shortcuts with Rangnick.

If you want to be in the team, you've got to work hard regardless of who you are and that can only be good for Manchester United.

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