Former England manager Fabio Capello has claimed that Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard “made a mistake” during the early years of his career in the dugout by taking roles as the head coach at major clubs.
Following on from a one-year stint in charge of the Reds’ Under-18s between 2017-18, the Anfield legend took his first managerial post with Scottish giants Rangers. The Kop hero enjoyed success at Ibrox, delivering the club’s first Premiership title in 10 years in 2021 as his side went unbeaten in the league.
However, a move south of the border later that year proved an unsuccessful undertaking for Gerrard, as he lasted less than 12 months at Aston Villa. After his struggles at Villa Park, the ex-Three Lions captain moved to Saudi Arabia to take charge of Al-Ettifaq in 2023, before parting company with the club in January.
Now, ex-national team boss Capello has admitted that he feels his former player made a mistake in not staying for longer with Liverpool’s academy in a coaching capacity. Speaking to Flashscore, the Italian felt that the Reds icon would have benefited from working with youngsters for longer before taking a high-profile managerial job.
He explained: “When you start to play, when you finish playing, you have to do something different, you have to prepare something different. You can manage that one team immediately, one team in the first division. (Andrea) Pirlo managed Juventus, Lampard managed Chelsea.
“When I finished playing, for the first five years, I worked with the academy,” Capello continued, as he referred to his own experience during the infancy of his own coaching career at AC Milan. “When you work with the academy, you understand what you have to do, when you speak to the players, when you speak with the youngsters.
(Image: Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)
“It’s, for me, it’s a university. A university where you can understand what you have to do because when you finish playing at the top level like Lampard and Gerrard, you can enter immediately into another job. You have to understand.”
Either way, he believes that Gerrard has what it takes to go on to carve out sustained success in the dugout, adding: “I believe the players, they have to do something before to be a manager.
“I noticed these two fantastic players, two of the best players I managed, and I am sure that in the future they will also be very good head coaches in important clubs. Because they understand the mistake they made at the start.”
Meanwhile, addressing his departure from Al-Ettifaq, Gerrard said: “I want to express my gratitude to the club, the players, the fans, and everyone involved for the opportunity and the support during my time here.
“From the first day I was warmly welcomed and I have enjoyed the chance to work in a new country with a different culture. So overall I have learnt a lot and it’s been a positive experience personally and for my family as well. But football is unpredictable and sometimes things don’t go the way we want.”
