Steven Gerrard has to find a way to surmount the glaring language barrier at Al Ettifaq between himself and his players following the emergence of a recent training video.
Gerrard was confirmed as manager of the Saudi Arabian side on the 4th of July, 2023 and he faces difficulty regarding communication.
It looks like the divergence in language is really an issue with players seemingly misconstruing what they are being asked to do in a simple training exercise.
The former Rangers boss’ weighty accent will be a new tongue for some of the team members and he might be searching for a solution to this challenge.
A video shared via Twitter appears to show Gerrard finding it difficult to communicate with his players as they tried to get acquainted with the instructions being delivered to them.
Steven Gerrard was fully immersed in the training activity as he begins to fine-tune preparations ahead of the 2023/24 season.
A video captured Steven Gerrard language barrier at Al Ettifaq
The 43-year-old was seen motivating his players during the brief video shared on Twitter.
In the video, Gerrard was seen placing a ball on his feet and shouting to a player that was not captured in the clip.
He said: “You want it?. The Englishman is then met with silence as it becomes obvious his message hasn’t been understood.
The former Aston Villa gaffer then repeated the same question saying: “Tell me then, tell me then”.
His question was met with a moment of silence, utter confusion and Steven Gerrard afterwards picked the ball off the floor.
Another Al Ettifaq player comes into picture during the training session and stands right there before dashing away after Gerrard shouted: “Go orange ball, orange ball”.
The Anfield great then turns back to the initial player he was dishing the instruction to and he appeared angry with what occurred as he pointed and said: “No communication”.
Other players of Al Ettifaq were seen running around carrying out several fitness and ball- playing training in Gulf state.
Al Ettifaq interested in signing Jordan Henderson
Steven Gerrard will be hoping that the Dammam based club can acquire Jordan Henderson, after they signified their interest in signing the Englishman this summer.
Henderson reportedly met with the hierarchy of Liverpool at the club’s training base in Merseyside on the 14th of February, 2023 to discuss his future amid speculations of a possible move away from Anfield.
Al Ettifaq finished 7th in the Saudi Pro League last season, with 37 points from 30 matches played.
They currently parade names like Naim Sliti of Tunisia, Robin Quaison of Sweden, Amin Younes of Germany amongst many others.
Steven Gerrard was dismissed by Aston Villa on the 20th of November, 2022 following a run of bad results but he has been handed the tough job of leading Al Ettifaq to success.
