Aston Villa head coach Steven Gerrard has revealed he has “stolen a few things” from Brendan Rodgers’ managerial skillset.
Rodgers was Gerrard’s boss during the pair’s time at Liverpool and also faced each other in the dugout while managing Rangers and Celtic in Scotland.
The ex-Reds boss is now in charge of Leicester City, who face Gerrard’s Villa side on Sunday.
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In an interview with his former team-mate Jamie Carragher, the 41-year-old has detailed the influence Rodgers has had on his managerial style.
“I learned a lot off Brendan, probably more than my previous managers because of the age I was at,” Gerrard told Carragher for Sky Sports.
“I believe that had I worked with Brendan earlier, we’d have had more success together for sure. I think he’s a top coach and he’s very slick in the way he delivers it. He’s really good with his one-to-one stuff, how he manages dressing rooms and deals with individuals.
“If I didn’t take stuff off Brendan, I’d be very stupid and naïve because he’s going to manage at the top for a very long time. I experienced him as a player, I’ve seen it from afar and I’ve competed against him already as a coach up in Scotland. I’ve learned tons off Brendan and I’ll admit I’ve stolen a few things off him as well.
“He wanted to build everywhere and to overload in every area of the pitch so that gave me something different to think about in terms of how I wanted my teams to play.
“I’ve tried to get a combination of both. If I can get the balance right in terms of being organised whilst having the right players who can hurt the opposition, I feel we can move forward.”
Elsewhere, Everton manager Rafael Benitez is trusting in his vast experience to arrest his side’s worrying slide but he has warned fans the pain could last until the new year.
“I have experience in situations like these, to fight for titles and to try to avoid relegation and my experience is telling me to stay calm, to keep working hard, to try to correct the mistakes, then keep going,” said Benitez.
“What we want is to stick together because that is crucial. It is a frustrating time for us, but we have to keep going and work really hard.”
