Steven Gerrard can understand that Rafael Benitez accepted the Everton job, but says he could never do the same himself.
Former Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez has taken over as Everton manager, after Carlo Ancelotti took the trip to Real Madrid.
Several have reacted to the fact that Benitez thankfully chose to accept to take over Liverpool’s arch-rival, including Everton fans.
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– No wonder
But one of the greatest Liverpool heroes there is, Steven Gerrard, says in an interview with ESPN that he understands why Benitez chose to accept the job, despite having previously trained arch-rivals Liverpool.
“Rafa was not born in the city, he is not red throughout and he never played against Everton for 20 years and fought against them, so I think it is a very different situation than mine,” Gerrard told ESPN.
Gerrard understands that Benitez wanted to return to the Premier League, and says he was not surprised that he accepted the Everton job.
– Rafa is a man of his own and wants to make his own professional decisions, so it is not surprising that he would return to the Premier League in a big club and have the opportunity to compete against all the top teams in the league, so I was not very shocked or surprised to be honest, he says.
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– Was very shocked
Gerrard is currently the coach of the Rangers in Scotland, and the former Liverpool captain has done a good job at the Glasgow club, leading the club to the league title last season.
When Ancelotti surprisingly resigned as Everton coach early this summer, there was naturally a lot of speculation about who would take over the club. One of the names that appeared was Steven Gerrard’s.
However, Gerrard understood nothing of that.
– I was very shocked and surprised that my name was connected to the job. I do not know where it came from, if it was just talk in the newspapers or if there was some truth in it, I’m not sure, he says.
– Training Everton will never be an opportunity for me, he adds.
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Ancelotti tried to get Gerrard
Gerrards Rangers met Real Madrid for a training match on Sunday night, one match that ended in a 2-1 victory for Rangers, and in that connection Gerrard also told that he admires the Italian as a coach.
But Gerrard also revealed that he did not know for a long time that Ancelotti was trying to pick him up when the experienced coach coached AC Milan.
– Liverpool never presented it to me, so they must have kept it a secret. I actually saw the interview Ancelotti did about it and it was very flattering and I became very humble.
But Gerrard believes he had never left Liverpool at that time anyway.
– I was very happy in Liverpool. There was no way any team could pick me up from there at that time. I went into my best years of my career and I was very happy and ready to try to be successful in Liverpool, but when names like Carlo Ancelotti or AC Milan talk about wanting you as a player, it is of course very flattering , he concludes.
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