POWER BEHIND THE GLORY
Coach Beale has been instrumental in success at Rangers and plays key role in Gerrard’s team
WITH the Rangers move sealed for Steven Gerrard and Gary McAllister, a chat over a cup of coffee completed the Ibrox dream team.
Michael Beale’s coaching prowess might have gone under the radar as far as many fans were concerned but Gerrard knew any ambitions of ending Celtic’s dominance could depend on luring his innovative skills away from Anfield.
Now after Rangers have become Scottish football’s major force for the first time in a decade, Beale’s contribution to the revolution is slowly becoming public knowledge.
Safe to say wherever Gerrard and McAllister (right) end up next – and the odds are still on Liverpool – then Beale will be with them.
The 40-year-old helped nurture the fledgling careers of Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham during his time at Chelsea, Trent Alexander-Arnold at Anfield and also worked in Brazil with leading club Sao Paulo.
He is hands-on during games and on the training ground.
Gerrard admitted: “What I’ll never do is to try to do someone else’s job when they are better than me doing it.
“It would take me 15 to 20 years to become as good as Michael Beale as an on-pitch coach, delivering sessions on a daily basis, so I let Mick be Mick because he’s the expert.”
And it is why Gerrard arranged a meeting with a startled Beale once he knew he was Glasgow-bound.
Beale had returned for a second spell at Liverpool’s academy following his Brazilian adventure where Gerrard was honing his coaching and managing skills in
charge of the Under-18s. Beale revealed: “We had a friendly relationship but it was limited to a quick hello or a brief exchange of views on players at the academy.
“Then one morning he called me – I didn’t even know his number. He asked if I fancied meeting up for coffee because he wanted to pick my brains on a few things. I’d already heard rumours that he was going to Rangers.
“Just the previous day someone at Liverpool had said Steven was going to ask me to go with him. I’d laughed it off – but now it was happening.”
Gerrard leaves the tactical switches during games to his trusted coaching guru and admits that last Sunday’s 2-1 win against Hibernian at Ibrox was made more difficult through Beale’s absence due to a Covid-19 issue.
But he was back last week directing operations on the training pitch in readiness for today’s Scottish Cup clash with Celtic.
A disciple of futsal, the Brazilian
five-a-side game which enhances close control and technical skills, Beale, whose playing career never got past some youth team games for Charlton, joined Chelsea’s academy as a development coach.
Mason Mount’s father, Tony, has never forgotten Beale’s influence on his son’s career.
Mount Snr said: “Mason had been at Chelsea from the age of six but first met Micky when he was playing for the U-11s.
“Micky was coaching the U-12s and moved him up to his team.
“I come from a football background – I’m an ex-football coach and manager and I was absolutely blown away with Michael. The quality of the coaching sessions was off the scale. Mason loved the training sessions and couldn’t wait to get there.
“When Micky left for Liverpool we were both devastated.
“But we knew he was always destined for big things.”
Beale enjoyed his time at Chelsea, especially under Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti.
He added: “We had so much talent. For instance at one time I had Tammy Abraham and Dominic Solanke in the U-7s side.”
After 10 years it was off to Liverpool.
“I was ready for a new challenge,” he told the Coaches Voice. “During my first period there I had 18 academy boys make their first team debuts. One of them was Trent Alexander-Arnold.
“I remember going to watch the U-14s play Manchester United on my first day at the club. They won 4-1 and at right-back was this kid who stuck out straight away – Trent.
“He was a bit erratic. One minute he couldn’t receive the ball, the next he would twist and turn past two players and hit a wonderful cross.
“He was all energy. I liked him. Every day he got better.”
With Beale’s desire to work in another country and his love for Brazilian football, being the first team coach with Sao Paulo was a natural progression.
He said: “I’d have lots of conversations with the players about their backgrounds. I found out that most of them didn’t just want to play, they needed to play because of the poverty.”
But when nine players were sold to undermine any ambitions of success Beale accepted an invitation to return to Liverpool before answering Gerrard’s call.
He couldn’t be happier. “I’ve found the perfect environment. Steve enables me to coach and share my ideas with him and put them into the team,” he said.
“We are also fortunate to have the wisdom and experience of Gary McAllister.”