With five words, delivered deliberately but emphatically, Steven Gerrard captured the way he played football and the way he now coaches football.
“My teams will be physical,” he says with an emphasis that underlines a determination to ensure that one of the game’s most basic and enduring qualities is not lost having already been watered down.
Asked how he will deliver on that ambition in a culture of showboating, Liverpool’s newly appointed under-18s manager does not take a backward step. “Fifty fifties,” he responds with a laugh that confirmed that he was joking about the strategy if not about the principle.
If the thought of Gerrard thundering into the kind of challenges that provided a physical edge to one of English football’s great careers is enough to bring the youngsters at Liverpool’s Academy out in a cold sweat, his tongue in cheek remark should not be taken literally.
But the throwaway line is in keeping with a long-held belief that to thrive at the highest level even the most talented players must combine physical intensity with individual skill.
Gerrard might not say that he agrees with critics of the academy system who claim giving children the best of everything guarantees only that they will be softened up, but the way he outlines his coaching vision indicates that the players who come under his tutelage will be expected to be as committed, both physically and mentally, as they are gifted.
“I think it is important that you channel it (aggression) in the right way,” Gerrard explains. “As a player, I got many, many tackles wrong and went over the top a few times and I had to come and apologise. That is not something I want to put into kids or young players at all, but you have to prepare them for the top level and the top level is physical and demanding and it is not just about tackles and competing. It is about trying to prepare them for the last five or 10 minutes of games when it is hard and your legs are burning and your heart is burning and it is not a nice place to be in as a player. But you have to get them to be mentally strong to be prepared for that.”
It isn’t that Gerrard is anti-talent, the opposite is actually true, but he does harbour a fear that some of the football influences that youngsters now come under are not always positive for their development and that is something that he intends to combat.
“There is a showboating mentality through academies,” he adds. “A lot of kids that play the games think they have to do 10 lollipops or Cruyff turns to look good or stand out. We all love a bit of skill and talent, I love all that, but the other side of the game is huge. It’s massive These players I have to try and prepare them for careers in the game. Not all of them will play for Liverpool’s first team, but I feel if I can help them to compete in the other side of the game it will help their careers.
“There are a lot of skilful players in the game that young players try and emulate – probably too much instead of trying to be themselves and playing to their own strengths. I think they try and emulate other players in the game and try and model their game on other players like a Cristiano Ronaldo or that type of player. Whereas you have to look at yourself and say, ‘What have I got? What are my strengths? How can I improve my weaknesses and become a player in my own right?’
“I like streetwise footballers. I think all the top players they come from the street that type of player. The kids in our academy are coming into an unbelievable place to work, they are getting boss food, they are getting picked up and the full-time lads get a lot more money now than we got we first started. There is a case where they get a little bit too much, too soon and they sort of get into that comfort zone of working in a lovely place and then it is a big shock for them when they have to move on or get released. So that is what you have to drive into the players that while they are here you have to make sacrifices and give it your best, don’t get too comfortable, because the hard work starts when you get out the academy.”
What Gerrard is outlining is the footballer’s graft bible, the philosophies of which he subscribed to as a player and which he now espouses on a daily basis at Liverpool’s Academy in Kirkby. Prior to confirmation of his elevation to taking charge of the club’s under-18s team, the former midfielder was given access to all age groups at training sessions and games in order to allow him to build up his experience and influence before a permanent role was decided upon.
During that period, those who worked under Gerrard and who watched him in action all came to the conclusion that he wanted them to – that he would settle for nothing but 100% effort and a desire to perform at the highest standard at all times.
Prior to confirmation of his elevation to taking charge of the club’s under-18s team, the former midfielder was given access to all age groups at training sessions and games in order to allow him to build up his experience and influence before a permanent role was decided upon. During that period, those who worked under Gerrard and who watched him in action all came to the conclusion that he wanted them to – that he would settle for nothing but 100% effort and a desire to perform at the highest standard at all times.
That became apparent early on during his “shadowing” phase when Gerrard would work alongside Liverpool’s various age group managers in order to learn on the job at the same time as giving players the benefit of his considerable experience. Two games, in particular, stand out from that period – a 2-0 win for the under-18s against Manchester City before which he gave his first ever team talk and a 2-2 draw for the same side away to Manchester United in a match in which they had been reduced to ten men – with many of those present taken aback by Liverpool’s physical approach on both occasions.
“You definitely get a buzz if the players deliver what you have asked for whether that it is half-time or before the game,” Gerrard admits. “But I am shadowing and assisting. It comes from the other coaches as well it is not just from me saying it to these players. But I hate watching footballers and football when there is no physical side and you don’t compete. The key with this age group is development. Of
“But I am shadowing and assisting. It comes from the other coaches as well it is not just from me saying it to these players. But I hate watching footballers and football when there is no physical side and you don’t compete. The key with this age group is development. Of course I want to win and the kids want to win as well but it can’t be the be-all and end-all at that age. It is about their long-term development, trying to prepare them for their own careers, but once the game starts…”
Leaving that answer trailing is as deliberate as the sentiments behind it but while those who Gerrard is coaching are on a learning curve in terms of his expectations and style, so too is he as he works towards the completion of his A licence which the former England captain hopes to obtain before the end of this season.
As well as concluding those formalities, Gerrard has also been involved in a more informal process in which he has sought and taken the advice from Liverpool’s established coaches, ranging from first team manager Jurgen Klopp to Academy director Alex Inglethorpe and Steve Heighway who also managed him as a young player.
“It has been really good, I have enjoyed it,” he says. “I have been shadowing five or six coaches and been mentored by Steve Heighway and Alex Inglethorpe as well. But the 5-6 coaches ie Mick Garrity, Neil Critchley, Tommy Culshaw, Barry Lewtas from the under 14s and 15s all the way up they have all been an open book to me in terms of session plans and how they do it themselves. I have had licence to assist every single one of them in the games. I cannot really ask any more from the staff at the academy, they have all been brilliant. I am still obviously waiting for the first day to start in terms of being a No1 coach that leads a team, shadowing is a bit different. I am more in the background. I haven’t had to make any big decisions, or any substitutions, formations or tactics just yet. But I am really excited and looking forward to starting it next season.
“Alex has been first class and an open book and we’ve had chats and I’ve got a lot of feedback. The deal with him was ‘If you’re going to mentor me be honest and straight with me. If you see something I am doing wrong or you want me to change something then tell me because if you don’t I’ll never learn anything.”
Inglethorpe’s constructive criticism has been taken on board and Gerrard does not shy away from revealing the kind of advice he has been given. “Body language on the side in coaching sessions,” he specifies. “Alex also talked to me about my coaching voice and he wants it to be the same as it was when I was a player, when I was captain. He is very good.”
Gerrard describes his relationship with Klopp as “good” and “very strong” and the Liverpool manager helped his high profile protégé come to the conclusion that taking an under-18s team would be the ideal starting point for his coaching career. “It was a bit from me, a bit from Jurgen and a bit from Alex if you like,” Gerrard says. “I don’t know why I just got a connection with that age group. It is a place where I can go and make many, many mistakes because that is what I have been told I am going to do and I probably will do that. Every manager and coach I have spoken to
“It was a bit from me, a bit from Jurgen and a bit from Alex if you like,” Gerrard says. “I don’t know why I just got a connection with that age group. It is a place where I can go and make many, many mistakes because that is what I have been told I am going to do and I probably will do that. Every manager and coach I have spoken to has said I will make loads of mistakes, but your first job is better to be away from the cameras. But you still get that little bit of exposure with the U18s – LFC TV, doing interviews with the local paper and so on. I think it is a great age and a good idea to start there.
“The kids were a bit shy at first but once you start speaking to them as a group and start pulling them individually and they know you are approachable and you tell them that you are there for them and it is all about them then they get comfortable around you very, quickly. I will be approachable I think you have got to be. I will try and take all the best bits of all the managers I have worked with and the best managers, the ones I enjoyed working for, were all very approachable, always very honest and fair with me, always gave me feedback whether it was positive or negative. If those managers were fair and honest with me I would always respect them.
“I hope what I say to the players resonates with them because I’ve been through that process from the age of eight. I’ve had the injuries, I’ve had the highs and lows and that will help me moving forward as a manager and coach. I’ll treat players how I expect to be treated myself. I’d love it if one of my players goes on to the first team. I’d love it for them because it is a life-changer. Making your debut for a club this size changed my life and I’ll be pleased for that kid and his family because it is an unbelievable thing to do. If you love the game and you want to play at the top level making your debut here was one of the best days of my life.”
While his ambitions for himself and his players are characteristically high, there is an acceptance that the jump from youth football to first team, which he made at the age of 18, can be too big for some but the fact that the opportunity to take that step exists under Klopp gives Gerrard hope that others will follow Trent Alexander Arnold to Melwood. “I think a lot of them are shocked with step up to Melwood from
“I think a lot of them are shocked with step up to Melwood from the Academy,” he says. “I’ve seen a lot of players who have come out of the academy with huge reputations and go into the Melwood dressing room and then it is sink-or-swim and a lot of them sink. But there is a pathway there because we have a manager who will play them. He’s given a lot of debuts this season and there are a lot more chances now than when I was in the team. There is a pathway but not for all of them so as well as competing together they are competing against themselves to get to Melwood and get that debut. Trent’s going to be a beauty.”
Gerrard doesn’t say it but the development of Alexander-Arnold, an athletic, marauding midfielder who came into the first team at right back, is reminiscent of his own emergence. It also indicates that the 36-year-old has a keen eye for a player having identified his potential while still a Liverpool player. “He has all the attributes” Gerrard said of the teenager two years ago and his prediction looks increasingly well founded.
Now, though, Gerrard must show that he can harness talent as well as spotting it but while he admits he will “have to wait and see” what his strengths are as a coach, he is not intimidated by having to prove himself. “These nerves are excitement,” he says. “I feel confident I can do a good job and I am really looking forward to it. I am not scared nervous – I am excited nervous.”
