Steven Gerrard admits he still misses playing football “every day,” with no rush to get back into management after his shock departure from the job at Al-Ettifaq.
Gerrard quit his position as manager of Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq at the end of January, with it later reported that frustrations over squad-building led to his resignation.
The 44-year-old was back at Anfield a month-and-a-half later to play for Liverpool Legends in their latest charity clash against Chelsea.
And speaking on That Peter Crouch Podcast, Gerrard revealed that he has no imminent plans to return to coaching as he is enjoying “just being free away from stress.”
“I don’t want to be back in work mate, no. I’ve just come out,” he said.
“I’m happy with waking up and being free, doing the family stuff, just being free away from stress.
“I will go in at some point, but when it’s round the clock, I’ve been doing it 18, 19 months in terms of the last job, I just want to be free.
“I want to play a round of golf, I want to go down the boozer and have a couple of beers, I want to do normal things that you can’t do when you’re coaching.
“So I’m all good.”
As Gerrard continued, he admitted his sadness at no longer being a player, as coaching does not “fill the void” for him.
“Obviously the main priority is the cause that we do it for, the foundations,” he said of his work with the Liverpool Legends.
“The next big draw is to get in the dressing room with the lads, run it back,
“Obviously you can’t run as fast and you can’t think as fast, and the intensity is not the same, but to have a game of footy with your ex-teammates is the big draw for me.
“I’ve just travelled seven hours to do this and that’s why I come back, to play at Anfield, full house, see the lads, have a game of footy, great craic.”
Gerrard added: “I love it you know, I miss it every day. I speak to Carra a lot about it and he goes, ‘I’m made up, I hated the last few years’. I miss it every day, every single day.
“I would love to go back and run it all back again. I love it, love it.
“To be honest, you go ‘coaching and management, it’ll fill the void and blah blah’. It doesn’t, it’s not the same.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great job to still be around, but in terms of the buzz of playing, I didn’t appreciate it enough.”
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