Steven Gerrard has retired from professional football.
It’s a day we all knew would come at some point and, since his career went left field and he joined MLS side LA Galaxy, it’s no surprise to anyone.
Some may argue he ‘retired’ when he left Liverpool, but we won’t get into that.
The ex-Liverpool captain now has options – and plenty of them.
MK Dons were interested, but Gerrard quickly moved to turn that down. Management is a big game and he didn’t want to enter it too early. A wise decision.
BT Sport could offer him a full time pundit role. Nice work, granted, but not really befitting of someone with so much knowledge and experience.
Just one real option on the table, then? He should re-join Liverpool, in a coaching capacity, and set about a path that’ll make himself twice the legend he already is.
There is no bigger fan of Jurgen Klopp than me. He can almost do no wrong in my eyes. He’s transformed the club since his arrival and the side, right now, are playing as good as any we’ve seen in recent memory – including even those that Gerrard was himself part of.
Gerrard needs to be taken under Klopp’s wing. Gerrard needs to be a sponge. Extract every ounce of management knowhow from a man who is quite possibly the best manager we’ve had for decades.
Then, nurture Gerrard. Let him learn his trade at youth level. Let him sharpen his teeth and become a manager.
We need to be proactive with this and plan ahead. Let’s not be reactionary. Let’s not be unprepared.
Klopp won’t stick around forever. He likely won’t be a one-club man from now until his retirement. So let’s not only benefit from his management in real time, but also let him offload what he can and produce another man who can be a coaching powerhouse – akin to how he was on the pitch.
Gerrard’s influence reaches every part of our football club. He is known and respected by all. He’s already half way to becoming a hugely pivotal figure outside of playing football.
But he does need time. He does need to learn. He does need to get a feel for managing a football team. It’s something he’s totally alien to, hence why refusing the opportunity to join MK Dons was a shrewd one. Too much, too soon.
Look at how successful a ‘boot room’ model is. We’ve had it in the past. Barcelona more recently execute something similar. Promote from within. Promote people who know.
Whether we’re open to admitting it or not, Liverpool is a club that revolves around expectation. Expectation brings pressure. Not everyone can deal with that. Roy Hodgson couldn’t. It hindered Brendan Rodgers. Steven Gerrard, though, has been there. He’s felt it. He knows. We know he can handle it as a player. It’s possible he could as a manager.
It seems like common sense to me. It seems like something that just HAS to happen. I could be in a minority of one, but to me, this is a massive opportunity that the club can’t miss.
We have someone who can learn, progress and then take over the reins when we need it in two, five or 10 years time.
Gerrard could be Liverpool manager one day. If the club play this right, he should be Liverpool manager one day. Let’s play it right.
