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LIVERPOOL − Steven Gerrard ended his three-year stint at Rangers when he completed his move to Aston Villa this week after breaking Celtic’s near decade-long dominance by wrestling the championship from them last season.
As the title success put Steven on the map, it was thought that it wouldn’t be long before English clubs would take an interest in the Liverpool legend and entice him back.
It wasn’t long after Villa sacked Dean Smith that Steven was appointed the new boss and despite the success he’s garnered of late, Steven won’t be joining the Premier League club on his own – he will be bringing his secret weapon with him to Villa Park.
Viewed as the “brains” behind Steven’s success, Michael Beale’s work on the training pitch has largely gone unnoticed by fans, who only saw the results inside Ibrox, according to a report by liverpool.com.
Michael has spent years building his reputation as a fine coach, including spells in the Liverpool youth setup earlier in the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) tenure.
The former professional footballer, who was forced to retire at 21, has earned high praise from people who have worked with or under him.
Former Rangers striker Peter Lovenkrands, who observed Michael while working as reserve team manager for the Rangers, said that “what he does with the players on the pitch is phenomenal.
“He’s so on the ball. He’s so good at what he does. The players love it. His preparation for each game is fantastic to watch, and (Steven) Gerrard is very lucky to have him.”
When describing Michael’s contributions to the club, former Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty described him as “the brains behind it all”.
In many ways, Michael to Steven is what Carlos Queiroz was to Sir Alex Ferguson in the 2000s.
As the first team coach from 2004-2008, Carlos played a huge role in United’s re-emergence in England after the barren years of the mid ‘00s when Arsenal and Chelsea were the best teams in the country.
It seems Steven is more than happy to hand over the daily training sessions to Michael, stating: “What I’ll never do is try to do someone else’s job when they are better than me at doing it. It would take me 15-20 years to become as good as Michael Beale as an on-pitch coach, delivering sessions on a daily basis, so I let Mick be Mick because he’s the expert.”
As Jurgen Klopp is due to step down at the end of the 2023/24 season, many have speculated that Steven taking the Villa job is his audition for the Liverpool position and most have assumed that Steven would become Jurgen’s successor.
Many believed that it was never going to happen when Steven was coach of Rangers because the leap was just too big and the gulf in quality was just too vast.
As far as the Fenway Sports Group was concerned, the owners of Liverpool were never going to make a purely sentimental appointment − how Steven does at Villa will go a long way in deciding whether he’s capable of managing the club he served as a player.
But it may not be just Steven who is auditioning for a future Liverpool role: the same could be said for Michael.
Should things go well in the Midlands and if the Liverpool job offer comes his way, Steven could take Michael with him to Anfield.
On the other hand, Liverpool could just take advantage and swoop in to sign Michael without Steven and install him as first-team coach since Michael’s star is rising just as much as Steven’s. – Agencies, November 14, 2021