Steven Gerrard was perfect Jurgen Klopp replacement as Saudi Arabia gamble backfires completely

Steven Gerrard's decision to take his coaching career to Saudi Arabia has seemingly backfired after the legend was .

Having guided Rangers to their first Scottish Premiership title in a decade back in 2021, managerial stock was at an all-time high. Gerrard's side went unbeaten in the Premiership, which led to him eventually taking up the Aston Villa job in November 2021, replacing Dean Smith.

Villa finished 14th that season, but struggled during the following campaign, which led to Gerrard being sacked and replaced by Unai Emery in October 2022. But it didn't take Gerrard long to find a new job.

After taking a few months out from the game, Gerrard decided to join the revolution in July 2023, taking up the Al-Ettifaq job. However, that decision seems to have royally backfired. Recently, Gerrard side were booed off the pitch after losing 2-0 to Al-Qadsiah.

Al-Ettifaq currently sit 11th in the Saudi Pro League table. While they won their opening three games of the season, they have not won once in their last four league games, drawing once and losing three times.

At one point, it looked like a real possibility Gerrard could return home to Anfield to take over from Jurgen Klopp, especially after they had both inked new five-year deals with Rangers and Liverpool on the same day back in December 2019, leaving fans thinking there could be a succession plan in place on Merseyside.

As things happen, Gerrard looks to have seriously damaged his coaching career in Saudi. While you can be sure his pockets certainly aren't short of money, it is difficult to see how the 44-year-old could ever become Liverpool boss in the future, especially not with how Arne Slot is performing as Reds boss.

Liverpool.com says: "Gerrard will always be a Liverpool legend, but it would be understandable if some Reds supporters had lost respect for their ex-captain for choosing to move to Saudi Arabia, a country with questionable human rights records. Equally, it is hard to see where his coaching career goes from here either, especially if things at Al-Ettifaq doesn't pan out."