Jamie Carragher turns sour on Rangers tactics of Steven Gerrard as he warns old pal 'it's not working' at Aston Villa

Concerned Jamie Carragher has pinpointed why Steven Gerrard is struggling at Aston Villa as he pointed to the Rangers tactical formula his Liverpool pal must abandon.

Gerrard traded his title-winning Ibrox side for a shot at the English Premier League last term when he made the move to Villa Park following the Scottish Premiership title success, but has so far failed to win over the diehard fans in the Midlands. Following a draw with Nottingham Forest the Villains are hovering dangerously close to the relegation spots nine games into the campaign.

The Liverpool icon has yet to create a firm identity for the Villa squad after two transfer windows and pressure is rapidly mounting in the cut-throat managerial world of top flight football in England. Now former Liverpool teammate Carragher has urged Gerrard to find an alternative to the same game plan he deployed at Rangers on route to title glory.

Carragher told Sky Sports Monday Night Football that the Premier League side had become too reliant on the full-backs. He reckons Gerrard is trying to recreate the magic he created with Borna Barisic and James Tavernier.

Carragher said: "Stevie is in his fifth season as a manager and has managed two huge football clubs. Rangers and Aston Villa, so I certainly think we have an idea of what his teams look like right now.

"Stevie goes to Rangers. When you go to a club of that magnitude, they only lose 11 games and that's only winning one title. It shows how dominant the two clubs (Rangers and Celtic) were. So you get an idea of how successful they were.

"You also get an idea of how important the full-backs were to a Steven Gerrard team. The full-backs are absolutely imperative of how successful his teams are.

"We see this with