Jurgen Klopp told Steven Gerrard he makes “tonnes of mistakes every day” during a pep talk at the start of the Aston Villa manager’s coaching career.
Gerrard became a coach at Liverpool’s academy in January 2017 and spent 18 months working under Klopp.
The German was regarded as one of the best managers in Europe after winning two Bundesliga titles at Dortmund and his reputation has since enhanced after lifting five trophies at Anfield.
The current Liverpool boss told Gerrard he’s prone to making the odd blunder and encouraged him to try new ideas with the club’s youngsters.
“I was open with Jurgen, he was open with me,” Gerrard told Gary Neville on The Overlap. “I said to him ‘go on, what do you see from ex players that have been in the game?’ and he said he sees so many players who’ve had good careers and automatically think they can go into the coaching side and they’ll be a success.
“For me the key is going back to the beginning, taking your team at a level where there’s no careers and making mistakes. He said he makes tonnes of mistakes every day – I said it doesn’t look like it.
“But he said taking the U18 team here, don’t take the U23s because I give and take players. Take your own team, play your own way, your own system, try things, it doesn’t matter. I think that 18 months gave me the confidence that I could take a job like Rangers, I probably took that too soon.”
Gerrard’s managerial career has gone from strength to strength since then. He guided Rangers to the Scottish Premiership title last campaign – the club’s first in a decade – and was appointed Villa manager in November, succeeding Dean Smith.
The former England skipper has continued to impress since moving to Birmingham. Villa were just two points above the relegation zone when Gerrard was appointed but are now 11 points clear of danger, despite losing four consecutive matches.
The 41-year-old has also managed to attract some big-name players, including Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne. He’s been tipped to take over from Klopp at Liverpool when the German calls time on his Anfield career.
“I always got a feeling he [Klopp] was open arms, excited to have me in,” added Gerrard. “I felt uncomfortable going back to Melwood. I’d been to America and when you’ve been away for a certain amount of time you feel like you don’t belong there, although you do.
“Every time I’ve seen Jurgen Klopp whether it be anywhere, I see him walking his dog, and it’s open arms and it’s real. Liverpool fans should enjoy Jurgen Klopp, I think he’s one in a million, he’s that good.”
On his future plans, Gerrard said: “I haven’t got a plan beyond here. My plan is make Aston Villa, making the owners proud. I don’t think there is any point in having a plan because in this game you don’t know how long a plan is going to last.”
