Steven Gerrard: ‘I’m definitely feeling it – I’ve aged about two years in six months’

Liverpool legend says his first taste of coaching in the club’s academy has been challenging but has done nothing to stop him wanting a long career as a manager

It took Steven Gerrard five months to accept the end of his time at LA Galaxy was also the conclusion of his 19-year career as a professional footballer. The void will never be filled completely but the addiction continues and must be satisfied. That is why, despite feeling he has aged considerably during six months in charge of Liverpool Under-18s, nothing has doused his ambition to descend into “the madness” of top-level management.

The cravings clearly remain in the 37-year-old as he laments the absence of training from his Christmas Day routine. “I actually miss it,” he says, sipping an orange juice on a miserable December day at Liverpool’s academy in Kirkby. “It only used to be an hour and I only like Christmas Eve anyway. The rest is too long. I’d hate it if there was no football now for a few weeks.” What is also clear is that Gerrard’s appointment as under-18s manager came without privileges. The job is not about Liverpool indulging their illustrious former captain but, with Jürgen Klopp’s instruction, ensuring he has the best possible grounding before returning to the spotlight as a manager, wherever that may be. It has been a challenging, rewarding introduction.

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/dec/25/steven-gerrard-liverpool-academy-coach-manager-aged-two-years