Steven Gerrard reveals what Jurgen Klopp told him ahead of stepping into management at Liverpool
Steven Gerrard has revealed how Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp’s words helped him on his way to management. The former Reds midfielder took his first steps into coaching at the Reds’ academy before moving on to his wildly successful first managerial gig at Rangers.
Speaking to his former England teammate Gary Neville, for his YouTube channel “The Overlap” (via The Daily Mail), Gerrard said:
“He said to me, ‘I see so many who have been good players or have had strong careers and they automatically think they can go into the coaching or the management side of it and be a success.’ He said for me, the key is going back to the beginning, taking your team at a level where there is no cameras and making tons of mistakes.”He said to me, ‘I make tons of mistakes every day’ – I said, ‘It doesn’t look like it. He said, ‘Take the U18 team here, we’ll shuffle the staff about and no one will lose their job. Don’t take the 23s because I give you players, I take players, I have them training at the time that I do and I run it around what I need. Take your own team, play your own way, try things, make mistakes, it doesn’t matter.’
“It did matter to me, I wanted to win all the games. But I think that 18 months at the academy really helped me and gave me the confidence that I could take a job like Rangers.”
Klopp’s advice to start with the basics would prove to be sound help the former England international iron out his footballing identity at the start of his managerial career.
The Liverpool manager, who is one of the best tacticians around, now sits on the precipice of an unprecedented quadruple. Klopp is arguably proof that a good knowledge of the basics can take a managerial career farther than anything else.
Lautaro Martinez wants to sign for Liverpool: Reports
According to TuttoMercatoWeb, Lautaro Martinez doesn’t want to move to Arsenal, but is willing to join Jurgen Klopp at Anfield.
Arsenal and Tottenham were both reportedly interested in the star last summer, but he turned down their approach and signed a new contract with Inter. Reports claim Inter will not stand in his way if a big offer arrives from the Premier League, but Martinez isn’t prepared to join just any club.
The Argentine international is reportedly intent on winning trophies, and with the Reds’ interest in him, alongside their potential quadruple this season, Liverpool look like Martinez’s next step.
