Jürgen Klopp believes Steven Gerrard is destined to manage Liverpool and will find it strange to confront his former club with Aston Villa.
Gerrard returns to Anfield on Saturday for the first time in a competitive fixture since leaving Liverpool in 2015. The Villa manager, who has won three of his opening four matches, has dismissed the idea that his first Premier League job could be a stepping stone back to the club where he made 710 appearances, started his coaching career and enjoys legendary status. But the current occupant of the Liverpool manager’s seat believes there is an inevitability about Gerrard’s future.
“Yes, I think, absolutely,” Klopp said. “The only problem is when is the right moment for that? We saw it with Frank [Lampard] at Chelsea. He [Gerrard] is doing really well but is very young from a manager’s point of view. When is the right moment to take the manager’s job? Not because he’s not able to do it but how long do you want to do it? Is it the last job you want to do? The second job? Those are questions I can’t answer. But yes, I think it will definitely happen – and that is good for everybody.”
Klopp, who has three years remaining on his contract, claims he is unlikely to be involved in appointing his successor and that trophies with Villa were not a prerequisite for Gerrard getting the job.
“It’s not for me to make the decision,” he said. “I don’t know what you have to do before you become Liverpool manager. I know people say you have to win things but I’m not sure about that. It is more important you win things when you are here. You don’t have to win things in the past with all this ‘proven winner’ rubbish. You can win things in the past and never win things again.
“The most important thing for each manager is that the club is in a stable moment, then you have a good chance to improve things. Everything what he did so far looks good and he’s going in absolutely the right direction – but what does that mean? I can’t see a scenario where I will be involved in that decision but who knows what the future brings. We will see.”
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Although Klopp shares Gerrard’s view that there will be no sentiment once Saturday’s game kicks off, he believes the former Liverpool captain will find the occasion unusual. He said: “I had it in a similar way the first time I went back to Mainz and the first time I went with Liverpool back to Dortmund. It’s strange, you pretty much like all the people you meet when you step into the stadium and that’s pretty much not normally the case.
“I remember when we scored for Dortmund at Mainz I forgot all about my story at Mainz and celebrated like a crazy devil. He is allowed to do that as well. I just hope he has no reason for it.
“It just feels strange from the first second when you think about the game until the last second after you have played it and you are at home. That’s the truth, but it doesn’t change the 95 minutes. In this, you have a fight. I actually had a fight with the Mainz bench in another game and my old physio had to hold me back.”
Nat Phillips is facing several weeks out with a fractured cheekbone sustained against Milan on Tuesday but Klopp said Liverpool remained open to a possible move for the defender in January. “I’m very happy that Nat is here but we will not block anything,” he said.
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