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| Jurgen Klopp manager of Liverpool during a training session at AXA Training Centre on December 09, 2021 in Kirkby, England. |
Jurgen Klopp has revealed he has sent Steven Gerrard a text message ahead of their highly-anticipated meeting at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
Gerrard returns to the ground where he established himself as one of the best midfielders on the planet in a glorious Liverpool career that spanned from 1998 all the way to 2015, only this time he is part of the opposition.
Klopp's Liverpool take on Gerrard's Aston Villa in what is just the latter's fifth game in charge of the Midlands-based outfit having been handed the reins at Villa Park after Dean Smith's dismissal last month.
The Reds boss has told reporters how he has already made contact with Gerrard before the contest, claiming: "After the last game I sent [Gerrard] a message; 'not bad at all, see ya!'"
It has been an impressive enough start to life as Villa boss, winning three of the four games he has overseen - the only defeat coming against title favourites Manchester City.
Gerrard's most recent outing saw him get one over on his former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, who is currently in the Leicester City hot-seat.
Villa ran out 2-1 winners against the Foxes to resign Rodgers to further misery after his side's dismal start to the season both domestically and in Europe.
Gerrard has never been shy of praising the influence Klopp has had on his management style despite never actually playing under him while at the club.
After the former Reds captain turned down the vacant managerial job at MK Dons back in 2016, Gerrard was instead appointed as the manager of Liverpool's U-18's outfit, a move recommended to him by Klopp.
"The fantastic advice Klopp offered me was, 'Don't go into this as Steven Gerrard, with the name on your back. Go back to the beginning, strip it back," the current Villa boss told the Champions Journal.
"'Get your pitch confidence; get used to tactics, different formations. Try things.
"'Make mistakes, get it horribly, wildly wrong. Experiment! Do all these things away from the cameras.'"
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| Steven Gerrard head coach of Aston Villa in action during a training session at Bodymoor Heath training ground on December 10, 2021 in Birmingham, England. |
Since Gerrard's return to the Premier League, the 41-year-old has revealed there has been plenty of communication between the pair.
"I've been in touch with Klopp. We live in a similar area [in Liverpool] so I bump into him when he walks his dogs.
"He's a great man and coach, Liverpool are very lucky to have him at the helm so long may that continue.
"He sent me a message saying he's looking forward to a big hug on the side-line in December so that's something to look forward to."
Gerrard has gone to great lengths to ensure he will not make this match about him, but he will undoubtedly receive a rapturous reception at a stadium he knows so well come Saturday afternoon.
