A Newcastle fan, watching Kevin Keegan go to the away dugout at St James’ Park with Manchester City, once remarked: “It was like seeing someone else in bed with wor lass.”
Anfield will always carry a torch for Steven Gerrard, the man who most Liverpool supporters assume will be their next manager.
However, the stadium and their intended behaved with the propriety a Victorian maiden aunt would have approved of. They did not rush into each other’s arms.
No sooner had the Kop chorused his name than the whole of Anfield launched into a chant of “Liverpool” which is precisely what they had done when Kenny Dalglish returned as manager with Blackburn.
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They only properly sang: “Steve Gerrard, Gerrard, he’ll pass the ball 40 yards. He’s big and he’s f***ing hard” at the final whistle when Liverpool had won.
Gerrard, too, kept his distance. There was a wave to the Kop when he emerged on to the pitch but his warmest applause was reserved for those who had made the journey from Birmingham.
This was precisely as it should have been. One of the reasons Tottenham did not approach Gerrard during the long summer that saw them end up with the patently unsuitable figure of Nuno Espirito Santo is that their chairman, Daniel Levy, assumed he would use the club as a stepping stone to Anfield.
Gerrard’s conduct here proved otherwise. Steven Gerrard is not auditioning for Jurgen Klopp’s job. He is in charge of the biggest club in Britain’s second city. Aston Villa is nobody’s stepping stone.
He returned to Merseyside with a game plan and it was not the kind of heroic cavalry charge he so often led while captain of Liverpool.
“It was not the right thing to pick a team that was too ambitious and too bold,” he said. “I know more than most that you have to get through the first half-hour here; when the crowd are at their best, the energy levels are really high and they are pressing you ferociously.
“We got to half time level but then the question was could we get to 60-70 minutes? By then we wanted Liverpool to become more nervous, take more risks and we could throw on some more creative players.”
But for a questionable penalty for Tyrone Mings’s clumsy challenge on Mohamed Salah and the decision not to award one when Alisson Becker tangled with Danny Ings, it might have worked.
As the teams prepared to go out into the winter wind and rain that swept across Anfield, Klopp wondered if his Brazilian keeper would be warm enough wearing only a green shirt.
His fears were well founded because, frankly, Alisson was not overly tested. Outside the Main Stand there are black blocks commemorating the greats who built Liverpool. One of them is Gerrard’s, adorned with the commentary of his scorching goal against Olympiakos that propelled Liverpool towards their epic Champions League final in Istanbul.
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There was nothing of the sort from the team he managed. When asked about Aston Villa’s threat, Virgil van Dijk remarked: “They did not create massive chances.” Jordan Henderson was blunter: “Not a sniff,” he said.
One day Gerrard may manage these men. However, by 2024 when Klopp’s contract expires, they will be 33 and 34. Salah and Sadio Mane will both be 32.
Gerrard carries the kind of reputation Graeme Souness wore before he succeeded Dalglish in 1991. A great Liverpool midfielder, who had proved himself at Glasgow Rangers but who inherited an ageing team.
As Gerrard might discover, management is as much about timing as any of the 120 goals he scored for Liverpool.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3EPZaOE
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