Steven Gerrard has admitted that one gesture which proves his enduring love for Liverpool has led to moans from some of his players at Al-Ettifaq.
The 44-year-old has been in charge of the Saudi Pro League outfit for nearly 16 months and currently has them in a respectable mid-table position in the current season.
The former Reds captain and his goalkeeping coach John Achterberg briefly joined The Redmen TV for a charity live stream for Zoe’s Place on Wednesday when he said that the ex-Anfield duo continue to keep an eye on the fortunes of the Merseyside club.
Gerrard schedules training around Liverpool games
In fact, Gerrard even declared that he schedules Al-Ettifaq training around Liverpool matches, with some of the late-night sessions eliciting protests from a few players.
The Huyton native said: “John and I have got more than one eye on it. We put all our schedule around the Liverpool games. The players are onto me now; we’ve been training at 9 or 10 at night!”
Gerrard forever a Liverpool fan at heart
It’s evident that, no matter where Gerrard’s managerial career might take him, his love for his boyhood club will never diminish, and he apparently has no issues with irking some of his players to keep following the fortunes of his beloved Reds!
He’s currently based in the Saudi Arabian city of Dammam, which is two hours ahead of British summer time but doesn’t observe daylight savings.
Often touted as a future manager at Liverpool, particularly when he was thriving at Rangers, the 44-year-old was overlooked for the job when it became available earlier this year, but the smooth transition from Jurgen Klopp to Arne Slot indicates that the Anfield hierarchy made the right appointment.
Gerrard’s previous stint as a Premier League boss with Aston Villa ended in tears, but hopefully his work with Al-Ettifaq will be the first step towards a redemption arc which’ll see him back in his native country.
One thing is for certain – he’ll be guaranteed a raucous welcome whenever he comes back to L4, irrespective of what capacity it might be in.
