He didn’t get offered a role in the first team coaching staff, during or since. No, they don’t all get promoted. There’s too much competition and not enough roles.
The first team moved to Kirkby in late 2020 and even there it’s highly questionable how that studying Klopp would be possible while coaching the U18’s or U21’s.
You need to be part of the coaching staff and it didn’t happen. For me, he did the right choice, rather than just stay at Liverpool waiting for something that might never come (objectivelly, the chances are higher for it not to happen).
We can dance around this all week… Without a proper grounding or period of learning, it would always be difficult to become the best at the job in hand.
Gerard chose to do a ‘sink or swim’ type of apprenticeship by moving to Rangers - Yes he was successful to a point, but the Scottish PL is not exactly the creme de la creme when compared to the elite levels throughout the world.
To me, Gerard has reached the plateau of his managerial skill-set, and that could be called fact. Who knows how good he could have become if he had chosen to bide his time in learning the management side of the business thoroughly.
You have your opinion on this, which is fine. I have mine which is polar opposite, but just that… an opinion.!
I just don’t warm to Gerrard as a person anymore. Whereas Xabi or Mo (for example) would be different, right now. I think his TV work really hasn’t helped and I suppose it would be (somewhat) carthatic for 2014 and 2009.
I’m just saying that we cannot portray it like he could’ve studied Klopp every day (logistically impossible), got offered or always had a spot in Klopp’s coaching staff waiting for him or that he would’ve got promoted or got Klopp’s job in the future.
There are different pathways for different coaches and different levels of how they do and what they merit next. Should Xabi have remained at Real (U14’s), not going to Sociedad (B) and then Leverkusen? He took decisions and 6 years later, there he is, head coach of Real. Too early or not? Up for discussion. But these jobs sometimes appear only once, so it’s also a question for clubs in the first place.
As for Gerrard’s ceiling, that’s also up for discussion and without knowing, so it’s not a fact. I don’t think getting the Liverpool job is his only or main reason why he went into coaching. He knows that’s hard to attain. Because of who he is, he knew if he did well in his process, maybe he could get close to it. It’s still possible. Do I think it will happen? At this stage, probably not. Less chances than between him leaving Rangers and initially doing well at Villa.
But I don’t think he regrets much from his coaching career so far. He said years ago that he would not pursue the coaching dream forever if he sees he’s reached a certain level or not feeling like doing it anymore. Judging by his latest views on it, he’s motivated for another challenge or two.
There are options we see as fans (for example when Rodgers got the sack and you had people like Ancelotti and Klopp available) and then… someone like Arne Slot. Who saw that happening? Apart from well informed media and fans. I didn’t. Whatever happens this season, obviously winning a title in his first season was a major success. So… there are options out there. The thing is that they are not always clear as day to most fans.
Of course it’s likely to nethier. One is connected to Madrid at the moment and the other has offered nothing beyond a decent campaign in Scotland and look how good O’Neill is doing at Celtic and he retired about 5 years back.
Russell Howard says one of the most surreal moments of his life came when he unexpectedly met Jürgen Klopp while on holiday. The comedian was in Australia last year when he spotted a familiar figure walking along Bondi Beach. He told the ECHO: “I was on the veranda of the AirBnB and saw this guy walking along. I recognised the way he walked and said to my wife, ‘That’s Jurgen Klopp.’”
Determined to be sure, he sprinted outside barefoot: “I had to run alongside him to check it was him.” It was indeed the former Liverpool manager, accompanied by his wife Ulla. Russell described the encounter as unforgettable: “We just had this lovely 10 minute conversation. It’s so rare that you get to meet someone and genuinely tell them… what they mean to you.”
He added: “It was like meeting God and saying, ‘Thanks God for putting me on Earth.’ And then it turns out God knows who you are and gives you a hug. And then God’s wife also knows who you are and says, ‘Do you want my shoes?’”
With the concrete scorching hot, Russell laughed about hopping from one foot to the other as Ulla offered him her footwear. He politely refused, stepping into the shade while continuing to chat with Klopp, who even waved to Russell’s family watching from the balcony. “It was the greatest and he was everything you’d expect,” he said.
Russell said he was relieved he pushed past his impostor syndrome: “You’ve got to break through that and say, ‘I’m going to run after my hero’. And I’m so glad that I did. He’s the greatest.”
The only reasons I’m leaving the door ajar for a Jurgen return is:
He admitted recently that there a chance he’d come back to Liverpool at some point.
He comes off to me as someone with a major competitive drive that would miss the comradarie of the locker room and the thrill of victory.
I have no doubt that he was wiped out by the end of 2024. But after a few months where he was relatively quiet, he’s launched himself back into the public sphere on social media, commercials, podcasts, etc. He looks rejuvenated. He took up that job for Red Bull, but I’m not sure he’s the kind of guy who would enjoy the vantage point of a corporate board room over the touchline on a match day.
I think, eventually, he will get bored and will have the itch to return. My best guess remains that that he’ll supplant Nagelsmann for Die Mannschaft after the 2026 World Cup. But if that doesn’t happen for whatever reason, I do anticipate he’ll take up management somewhere.
Maybe in Spain at RM or Barca if their current manager gets the sack.
Maybe at PSG if Enrique leaves.
Maybe at Bayern if Kompany departs (possibly to take over for Guardiola), though I’d be very surprised based on his rivalry with Bayern.
Maybe he takes over the USMNT if Poch departs after the World Cup to take back on club management.
Or, maybe at Liverpool if that job opens up again. It would be curious to see if he could work under Edwards, though.
Don’t go back. I love Jurgen, but I don’t want him back and I doubt he would take it again anyway. If and when Slot departs, we need a new man to write new stories and build his own legend.
If we go back to him, we are indicating to everyone (including ourselves) that we can only succeed with him around (or the team he leaves us). That’s a bad bad precedent to set.
