It was always expected that whether now or later Steven Gerrard would enter coaching. With the midfielder leaving the LA Galaxy it had been reported that he would return to Liverpool to work under Jurgen Klopp, most likely as a player-coach. MK Dons wasn’t a destination many predicted.
Of course, Milton Keynes probably won’t be Gerrard’s new home, but by all accounts the League One club were in talks with the 36-year-old over the possibility of him becoming their new manager. He turned down the job, with friend and former teammate Jamie Carragher all but confirming his decision. "I don’t think that’s going to happen now going there," he said. "I just don’t think he fancies it."
The fact that Gerrard would even consider dropping down a level or two to make his first move in management was somewhat refreshing, though. MK Dons’ approach was audacious, but while they ultimately failed in luring the former England captain to the club they inadvertently raised a compelling point of discussion over the route many top players take into management.
Former players, particularly British players, seem to believe they have the right to start their management careers at the top level, where they ended their playing career. Look at Ryan Giggs. He was counting on one day taking over at Manchester United, with the Old Trafford club grooming the former winger for a role he was wholly unprepared for. Being a club legend does not make up for coaching experience.
Giggs is now among one of the first names to be linked with any Premier League or Championship job going, or soon to be going, only just missing out on the vacancy at Swansea City last month. Rather than hoping for a top-flight opportunity, though, Giggs should look to learn his trade at a lower level first. It will serve him well in the future.
There’s a strong case to be made that this collective reluctance to drop down the ladder to enter management is holding back the English game. The FA were keen to set an example for England’s young coaches by dismissing Sam Allardyce for his role in a bribery scandal, but by replacing him with Gareth Southgate set another, less admirable, precedent.
Southgate is one of those former players who has gone in at the top rung of management. He was Middlesbrough manager for a few years, but having suffered relegation there Southgate isn’t being appointed England boss on that basis. He will get the job simply because he’s the one who stuck around longest, managing the under-21s and filling in as interim boss for four matches.
What does that say to the likes of Eddie Howe, who as a less-than-renowned player started at the bottom of management and climbed all the way to the top? The Bournemouth boss did the groundwork but English soccer doesn’t seem to value that. Instead it has rewarded a relative novice with the country’s top job.
Of course, that’s not entirely their own fault. Soccer finds it difficult to keep its best minds from the grips of television. England’s last great team played at Euro 96, but with the exception of Southgate not one of the side that famously lost in the semifinals is currently a manager. Plenty have tried their hand at it, but almost all have moved into television having quickly found themselves on the coaching scrapheap.
It’s not like this in other countries. Take Netherlands, for instance, who produce so many top coaches by pushing retired players, regardless of their stature, through a lengthy apprenticeship. Ruud Van Nistelrooy is a youth coach at Feyenoord, working with the club’s under-17 and 19 teams. His wage at that level will be modest, but the former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker recognizes how he must serve his time at the bottom before he can ever stand a chance at the top. Why is it so different in England?
This could be a consequence of the Premier League and English soccer’s wealth. Is the motivation from former players there when they can comfortably retire from the game, topping up their healthy bank balances with the odd television appearance? What’s the incentive?
There are exceptions, with Pep Guardiola the most obvious counterpoint to the argument that former players should enter coaching at a lower level. But even he served his apprentice as manager of the Barcelona B side that prepared him for taking over for real at the Camp Nou. Maybe one day English soccer and its former players will recognize that the way they currently do things isn’t working.
Sportsnet’s Soccer Central podcast (featuring James Sharman, Thomas Dobby, Brendan Dunlop and John Molinaro) takes an in-depth look at the beautiful game and offers timely and thoughtful analysis on the sport’s biggest issues.
