Journalist claims the performance levels of Douglas Luiz ‘have slipped’ in recent weeks

Journalist Dean Jones believes the performance levels of Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz ‘have slipped’ in recent weeks under the tutelage of manager Steven Gerrard.

The Villans got off to a solid start following the arrival of their new boss, claiming back-to-back victories over Brighton and Crystal Palace, but have begun to falter in recent weeks.

Dean Smith was relieved of his duties by the Villa Park hierarchy back in November after five consecutive defeats in the Premier League made his place in the dugout untenable.

And the Midlands outfit experienced an initial boost after former Rangers leader Gerrard was announced as his successor, with four victories in his first six league games sparking hope of a dramatic turnaround in fortunes.

However, Villa’s form has taken a turn for the worse since then. A 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Chelsea on Boxing Day has sparked a run of one win in their last eight games in all competitions.

The Villa faithful even booed their side off the pitch last time out as relegation-threatened Watford came away with all three points, and Gerrard admitted his side ‘deserved’ the hostile response.

But the 41-year-old tactician has been let down by some hugely underwhelming displays from his more senior players of late, and Luiz is perhaps amongst the biggest culprits for this downturn in form.

The likes of Tyrone Mings, Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings have all put in multiple sub-par performances during Villa’s disappointing post-Christmas run of results.

Chelsea 2-0 Lille: Full match reaction on The Football Terrace as Blues win in Champions League first leg!

Yet Jones has claimed that Luiz is the player he is ‘most surprised about’ after witnessing his standards drop.

He told