The making of Steven Gerrard, the manager
Seven Gerrard has returned to the Premier League as Aston Villa’s new head coach on a three-and-a-half-year contract following Dean Smith’s departure.
But what can Aston Villa supporters expect from Gerrard, the manager? Here, we examine the former Liverpool and England midfielder’s road to the Villa Park hotseat, including…
Taking notes on his managers while contemplating a future in coaching during his playing career
Turning down a chance to manage MK Dons in favour of an academy role at Liverpool after leaving LA Galaxy
Impressing Jurgen Klopp with his work ethic and attention to detail while in charge of Liverpool’s U18s
Forging his identity as a manager while steering Rangers to a record-breaking 55th Scottish league title
Turning down MK Dons and taking first coaching steps at Liverpool
Pete Winkleman remembers it as a sliding doors moment. It was November 2016 and the MK Dons chairman had offered Steven Gerrard the chance to take over as manager of the League One side following his departure from LA Galaxy aged 36.
Gerrard gave serious consideration to the offer but ended up turning it down. “It’s a bit too soon for me,” he said at the time.
“Unfortunately for us, the timing just wasn’t right,” recalled Winkleman this year. “When I see him doing so well at Rangers now, there is no doubt I ask myself ‘what if?'”
It was already clear at that point the former midfielder, who scored 186 goals in 710 games for Liverpool and won 114 caps for England, saw his future in management.
“What I have tried to do with managers I have worked with down the years is to write notes on them all,” he said after playing his final game for Liverpool a year earlier.
“I’ve kept an eye on the sessions the players have liked and always tried to remember the one-liners or bits of advice, whether good or bad. It’s not a big suitcase full of notebooks, but there’s some important stuff that might
Gerrard’s Liverpool connections helped him too.
A few months after turning down MK Dons, he returned to Anfield to coach in the club’s academy. A few months after that, it was confirmed he would take charge of their U18s for the 2017/18 season.
“When I saw the excitement in his eyes, I was really happy about giving him the opportunity,” said Jurgen Klopp.
Gerrard’s return to Liverpool was of course big news but he later described the decision to start his coaching career in academy football, one he made after some words of wisdom from the man who gave him the opportunity, as “the best thing he ever did”.
Speaking to the Champions Journal, he said: “The fantastic advice Klopp offered me was, ‘Don’t go into this as Steven Gerrard, with the name on your back. Go back to the beginning, strip it back. Get your pitch confidence; get used to tactics, different formations. Try things. Make mistakes, get it horribly, wildly wrong. Experiment! Do all these things away from the cameras.'”
Gerrard added: “Jurgen added that he’d seen tonnes and tonnes of footballers go in there right away, using the weight of their name on their back, and it doesn’t work.”
Instead, Gerrard had the opportunity to hone his craft with a Liverpool U18s group which included Curtis Jones, Rhys Williams and Neco Williams, all of whom have since gone on to represent Klopp’s senior side.
Under Gerrard that season, they finished third in the U18 Premier League, the same position as in the previous year, and reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Youth League, where they were knocked out on penalties by Manchester City.
The side struggled to find consistency in terms of their results but Jones, in particular, benefitted from Gerrard’s one-on-one coaching and guidance.
“A lot of people didn’t see the work both of us put in to push me on to get into the first team,” the midfielder said in an interview with the Independent last year. “Things weren’t always easy, but he was the perfect person at the perfect time to help me.
“He was the main coach who really told me what I had to work on. It was my all-round game, but also my all-round person. He knew the talent I had and put the fine details to me.”
That attention to detail was evident to Klopp too. “I like his desire and how he’s doing the job,” he said in February 2018. A few months later, he gave Gerrard his blessing to take over at Rangers. This time, thanks to his academy apprenticeship back at Liverpool, he felt ready to accept the challenge.
