Former Liverpool utility man Jason McAteer has called on former teammate Steven Gerrard to take a learning brief in his new coaching role at Anfield.
The Irish international, who played in the same team as Gerrard in the ex-England man’s debut season, believes spending time under the tutelage of Jürgen Klopp will help determine whether the 36-year-old will ultimately make the move into management.
But McAteer made it clear that the former club captain “knows his place” after taking up a new wide-ranging role with Liverpool’s academy.
Speaking exclusively to 888sport, McAteer said he is confident that Gerrard will respect the will of Klopp, who has already made his mark on the club since taking over in October 2015.
“Klopp’s philosophy goes down through the club, like at Arsenal. The under 18s and under 16s play the same way as the first team,” he says.
“So it’s not like Steven Gerrard will go in and say ‘well I like 4-4-2 because me and Rafa played it’. He has to emulate Jurgen Klopp’s philosophy and it’s important that Steven knows his place. I’m sure he will.”
Gerrard took a wide-ranging role with the club earlier this year (photo credit: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Gerrard took up his new role with Liverpool after turning down the opportunity to manage MK Dons, and McAteer thinks the learning process under Klopp will act as the main factor in giving him an idea of whether a future role as Liverpool manager could be on the cards.
“There is no way of knowing if Steven will become the next Liverpool manager and, first of all, he needs to know if he can be a manager. He might be a better coach,” McAteer adds.
“As a manager you have to make different decisions and distance yourself from the team. Steven has got all that to learn and I think it’s brilliant that he is starting at the bottom and working his way up.”
