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Would A Shake-Up of the Coaching Staff Make A Difference?

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SO it’s another week and another defeat; its’ the same old story for the Reds in the league.  It’s becoming highly frustrating being a Liverpool fan.  One week, we’re on a high after a late FA Cup semi-final win over our City rivals, the next we’re creating chance after chance against West Brom and losing, courtesy of perhaps the only decent chance they had.  What Peter Odemwingie managed to do for Hodgson’s men is pretty much a lesson to every one of our players that have shot high and wide numerous times this season: take your bloody chances!

There comes a point when the excuses that are put out each week are not enough.  We’re well aware that we are dominating games and creating 15, 20, 30 chances, week after week, but that is not consolation, and after a near full league season, we’re lying in 8th, breaking all kinds of records for mediocrity.

While it would be fairly obvious to trot out the ‘Kenny out’ vs. ‘Give Kenny time’ debate that has become all too (painfully) familiar since the turn of the year, I was interested to take a look at our coaching staff this week.

Other than Steve Clarke, there seems to be a number of staff working at the club – in key positions, no less – that are either unknown or have not had a particularly glittering career when it comes to success at previous clubs.  Like I said, Steve Clarke is a known quantity from his time at Chelsea.  Many point to him as a key ingredient in the success the London club had under Jose Mourinho and the current Madrid manager has only good things to say about Clarke, and it’s hard to argue with that because his CV is full of successes and shows contributions to league titles, cups and creating a successful legacy at Chelsea.  It’s even harder to argue with his ability when you consider that he helped turn out leaky defence in to a solid, hard-working unit.  The Liverpool defence is (or, at least, until recent weeks) one of the best in the country and it has Clarke’s stamp all over it.

Unfortunately, it seems that his influence hasn’t spread further.  This isn’t surprising though, as while Clarke is listed as a ‘First Team Coach’ on the official LFC site, he will specialize in certain areas, and the defensive side of the game is undoubtedly the Scot’s forte.  But when you look at the likes of Kevin Keen and John Achterberg things become slightly more concerning.

Now, I do not doubt for a second that both Keen and Achterberg are highly qualified and very experienced.  But having qualifications and having experience do not always equate to success or ability.  I mean, the likes of Steve Bruce, Mick McCarthy and Paul Ince have all managed at the highest level and have years of experience between them but would you want to hire them on to your coaching team?  I know I certainly wouldn’t.

A glance at Keen’s record shows that he spent the majority of his career coaching at West Ham, taking over as caretaker manager several times.  The image he presents is one of an affable chap, who works well with the players and is entirely non-confrontational.  However, he was never a part of a successful coaching team and the highlights of his career in coaching appear to be taking temporary charge of the Hammers during managerial change.  I’m sure you’ll agree that is in sharp contrast to Clarke above.
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The contrast is even sharper when you compare Keen to previous Liverpool First Team coaches/assistants over the past decade, such as Pako Ayesteran, Paco Herrera, Patrice Bergues, Xavi Valero, Jose Ochotorena, etc. who would regularly have large inputs in to the way the players trained and the team were set up.  If you look at the impact the departure of Ayesteran and Bergues, in particular had on the club you can clearly see the importance of these men at the time.  If Steve Clarke was to depart, we would surely feel his absence but if the likes of Keen were to move on, would we even notice?

On to John Achterberg and, following a decent career at Tranmere he entered in to a career in coaching.  From retiring back in 2009, the Dutchman was coaching at the Reds’ academy until last summer when he was appointed as First Team goalkeeping coach.  Maybe I was trying to repress my concerns on this until now or maybe I just didn’t realize but should one of the biggest clubs in European and World football really be appointing an untried and untested coach to head a very important part of their coaching staff?

I remember back in the 90’s and early 00’s how Roy Evans (and then Gerard Houllier) persevered for so long with Joe Corrigan and how much of a change we saw in both Brad Friedel and Dave James once they left and went on to work with top-class goalkeeping coaches.  That is not to say that Achterberg is not good at his job but the massive dip in Pepe Reina’s performances aren’t just because he’s become a poor ‘keeper in the last 9 months.  Look back over Reina’s career and see just how great a goalie he was whilst Xavi Valero and Jose Ochotorena were at the club and you’ll notice a vast contrast.  The difference between John, Xavi and Jose?  The latter two had both coached at the highest level for both Valencia and Spain before they arrived at Liverpool.  Sure, it probably helped that they were both Spanish but a good coach speaks the universal footballing language.

I can also recall Valero coaching our strikers and in a very revealing interview with Fernando Torres back in 2009 he stated how much the Spanish goalkeeping coach helped with his finishing by using statistical analysis of how ‘keepers are more likely to react, depending on certain situations and even going as far as to provide detailed analyses of upcoming goalkeeping opposition, learning their strengths and weaknesses and at which times they were most vulnerable.  These are the kinds of things you can’t learn purely via coaching courses and they are certainly some things that we could truly benefit from at the moment.

So with Achterberg seemingly on his way in the summer, should Xavi Valero be the first man back in?  I would certainly hope so, but whoever replaces the Dutchman needs to be able to prove his track-record, rather than just show off his coaching badges and I think that goes for anybody that is brought on to the coaching staff over the summer.

Another change I believe is necessary is that the backroom team needs to grow vastly if we’re to see any benefits next season.  Whether Kenny is in charge in the new season or not, the coaching team needs to be expanded.  There were those that complained of the amount of coaches, fitness coaches, analysts, strategists, doctors, etc. that Rafa Benitez had but they all had a very specific role and they were expected to perform that as a cog in the machine.  No matter the amount, they all knew their job and they were all there to make sure that the team performances were at their optimum.

What we have under Kenny, as far as I can tell, is a very small coaching team who seem to just… coach.  And I think, in that respect, that feeds back in to the concerns many of us had when Kenny was clear frontrunner for the full-time job – the fact that he had been out of the game so long meant he was out of touch with the modern ways of running a club.  You can’t just have a bunch of men carrying round cones and net-bags full of footballs any more while the players run up and down the pitch or play five-a-side.  I’m not suggesting that’s how our training sessions look these days but what I’m saying is that you need a large backroom staff with specific roles and duties, all there solely for the betterment of the team and when I check out our staff profiles and look back over their careers, I’m struck by the lack of numbers and provable success and experience we currently have.

We’ve had a number of issues this season, not least of all an inability to score.  But there have been times when we’ve struggled and the changes and tactical advice coming from manager or coaches has been minimal, at best.  There was a point during Rafa Benitez reign when Liverpool were struck with a similar problem and our strikers were having problems finding the back of the net.  His response to this was to invite Ian Rush back to the club, in an advisory capacity and before too long, things began to improve.  So perhaps, with hind-sight, this could have been a short-term answer.  In the long term, though, over the summer months, an overhaul of the coaching staff will more-than-likely be necessary and no matter who is at the helm, the first acquisition desperately needs to be somebody, anybody that can show our players how to put the ball in to the back of the net.

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I'm a 32 year old Liverpool fan, living in the heart of the City Centre. I've supported the club since the day I was born and have been writing articles for L4L for over 3 years, writing close over 350 articles in that time. My favorite player of the past generation is Sami Hyypia.

I am the current editor for L4L, with my day job being in R&D for the NHS.

17 comments

  • NEIL says:

    Nice to see someone on the ball,for a change after so many turnips being wide of the mark.Great article!

  • Dave says:

    terrible article. utterly terrible. If you don’t understand what Kevin Keen is done in the game then go follow a new sport because you are clueless. You clearly have no idea about the roles of coaches or the work they do either.

  • berty says:

    I agree, the coaching staff are ok, but they need to be excellent if Liverpool are to get back to the top

    • Shaun says:

      Let’s be honest! I love Kenny, but the look of him in today’s world makes me sick! Says all the wrong things and makes excuses for his players! I respect the Steve’s but lets be honest, teams come into Anfield and there is no FEAR! LFC needs to replace both Steve’s because their job is to get the mid’s and fwd’s to play well and they were HORRIBLE! I suggest getting Phil Thompson or Sami Hyppia as DEF coach and either Barnes, Fowler as the offensive minded coaches! I honestly was hoping for Roberto Martinez as a coach, as I think he’d get the best out of the LFC players where Daglish can’t…Reasons you ask??? Henderson on the game sheet every single week when I watch Maxi, Kuyt and at times Bellamy on the bench to start the game! We need to have that cutting edge and this managerial team is not getting these over priced shi*e heads to attack with a bit of sense, pass with a bit of sense and not be as sloppy!

  • Bekim says:

    Who brought them to the club exactly. Was it KD or who. And if Clarke was that good surely Mourino would have taken him to Inter or RM. All problems at LFC r Comolli’s fault the coaches staff but have absolutely nothing to do with the mngr KD. Sack everybody at the club but give KD as long as he wants cos boy o boy we r progressing with him as a mngr. The quicker Liverpool fans wake up the better. The only way with KD is down and the quicker we get new mngr the better. Bring back señor Benitez. To all the proper Lfc fans who will atack me now I AM LIVERPOOL FAN WITH ALL MY HEART. ALL MY FAMILY R LIVERPOOL FANS TOO.

    • Matt Castellian says:

      You had me worried there Bekim! Until I read the the last few lines. Good to know some of us have still got a sense of humour eh!

    • chan says:

      Bekim, real Liverpool fans only care for the club and not any individual in particular. They are KD fans not LFC fans period.

      • Bekim says:

        Chan I put that in my comment cos I’m fed up with people saying go and support Chelsea,MC or whatever other club. I love my club more than any individual and I couldn’t care less if we had a mngr with no connections to the club at all but made us competitive.

        • Chan says:

          Yes Bekim, i know what you mean. I had been a LFC fan since the 80’s and frankly if LFC were to cease to exist one day (really possible under KD)i would lose total interest in football. This is the only club i love and nothing could change that, certainly not the buffon KD and certainly not those bigger buffons fans of his.

          People forget that 2 of our most successful managers in recent times, Houllier and Rafa have not much connection to the club prior to their appointment. What does Souness, Evans and KD have in common? Playing legends but utter failures as managers.

          What kind of connection the great Shanks have with LFC prior to him being our manager? He was our greatest manager of all time.

          Many are overuled by emotions and easily forgets that the most important things is the well being of the club. I can’t blame those KD brigade. They are just following the examples of their plastic King, who places the well being of LFC at the bottom. His ego rules nowadays.

  • Mckay says:

    If anyone does not agree wt the writer, i want to say they should go over d article again. Sometimes i wonder what the whole coaching staff is doing to make changes when the same thing they practise is not workin. If the coaching staff cannot solve the problems of goalscoring, and excellent keeping performance from our goalkeepers, then we need better ones. I feel someone like Ray Wilkins can come in and do a better job as well.

  • Mckay says:

    Of all the coaching staff, we’ve got at LFC, there is none that is capable of assuring us this striking force will bang in 70goals in a season in all competition. Teams that are fighting for the Top cannot do without scoring. If Cisse of NUFC, and Jelavic of Efc, that came in January has more goals between them than the whole of Lfc strikers that started the season in August. Then there is much to worry about from all quaters.

  • M. says:

    Exactly the problem I thought, but couldn’t articulate so perfectly. Not only in Football, in other sports as well over the last 2 decades there had been massive changes in back room staff. Even in early 90s in team sports like cricket or hockey, there were hardly any back room coaching staff, apart from the head coach & team doctor. Now ECB has a 7 man back room staff, specialist individuals for batting, spin & fast bowling, keeping, fielding & a number of fitness people. Similarly Australlian or Dutch Hockey team has at least 5-6 back room staff. From long ago, US team sports franchises use multiple support staff; even for a 5 man team like Basketball, there is Heac Coach, defense, ofence coaches & under them there are deputies for blocking, man/zone marking, passing, shooting, free throws etc.

    I was never in favor of KD, he is our hero, a club leagend. When the club was in crisis, he came as a messiah, but we have stressed him too much. Countless times we have seen LFC being out classed in second half, restricted & hunted in counter attacks by weaker teams. I believe KD is not comfortable with a large back room support team, because, he doesn’t know, how to proper use them. By this time, I am convinced that Hodgeson was a better manager than KD & it’s only being “KK” that has kept KD in job. I don’t think changing or increasing support team ‘ll have any impact on our performance, as long as the man on hot seat is competent enough to utilize them.

    I don’t want KD to be sacked, bu expect that he steps down with dignity & we bring a top class young Manager (someone like AVB, Deschamps, De Bore or even Rafa back) who can reorganize his support team.

  • chan says:

    This article highlight how much KD is out of touch with the modern game, something we all knew all along except the clown himself and his fans.

    KD is quick to blame lack of luck when something does not go well, well lady luck does not put these people there but KD. THe different approach between Rafa and KD highlights the gulf between a well qualified modern manager and a has been.

    For those who expect KD to recognize his own inability and step down with dignity, well that won’t happen, this man has no dignity to begin with.

    Sack him, bring back Rafa or any other well qualified coach and see us improve.

    Keep KD and only doom awaits us.

  • Does the 2 best and well known European team Barca , RealMadrid managers have not done their job good enough after the defeat against 1as asst manager and 2 of not so well known manager will be sacked ? of course not the facts of defeat are the same of that’s of Lfc not scoring enough goals also miss penalties the solution perhaps be the same but for Liverpool we can say it’s a bit too much the problems come from the pivot whereis a bit unbalance fragile only is to strengthen the midfield with players of high qualities Dalglish have to use differents technique to attack with counter attack which are using to beat Liverpool staff are here to find solutions to win not to try till towin

  • Shibashis says:

    Beautifully thought out and balanced article, one of the better ones I have read recently.
    The article merits some deliberation. Agree with the points made, we certainly are lying behind the modern game, no question on that.

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