LFC’s throw-in coach Thomas Grønnemark will leave Anfield after this season. The 47-year-old Dane was brought in by manager Jürgen Klopp in 2018 to improve the throw-ins of the English top club. After five seasons, the collaboration comes to an end.
Liverpool says goodbye to throw-in coach
The football world was amazed five years ago when Grønnemark started at Liverpool. The Dane had already worked on the throw-ins at various clubs in his own country, but in the conservative English football world people initially mainly laughed at Grønnemark’s job. Throw in, how hard can it be? However, it soon became clear that his work had an effect. Liverpool were smarter with throw-ins and kept the ball in the team more often by clever positioning.
In a video message, Grønnemark explains why he is leaving Liverpool. The Dane has been at the club less often than he would like in recent years. “As a result, the level of the throw-ins has gone from great to good. To get great again, I would have to come by four or five times in a season. However, Liverpool also wanted to do things differently. They want to try to arrange the throw-in training internally. For me that’s the second best solution, because I can’t deliver the results I would like in the current way,” he revealed.
However, after his departure from Liverpool, Grønnemark is not standing still. The coach writes on Twitter that he has already been contacted by 25 other clubs since his arrival at Liverpool.
Solskjaer puts forward ‘future Manchester United manager’
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer expects Michael Carrick to become manager of Manchester United one day. The now 41-year-old Englishman already got that chance after Solskjaer’s dismissal, but turned the offer down.
Carrick was on Solskjaer’s staff, who was fired for disappointing results. “I love him as a person, but even though he never said a word about it. The day I got fired I went to him: I’m gone, they want you to take over. I told him I wanted it, but after ten days Michael came to me: I don’t want this. I took that as a compliment because I had the utmost respect for him,” Solskjaer told The Athletic. “In the interview I gave after my firing, I got emotional when I talked about Michael. We don’t spend much time together, but it was pure respect for him.”
Carrick is now at the helm of Middlesbrough, the number four in the Championship. “Michael is a man of values and principles, a family man. He has had Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho as managers and played with the best players in the world. I can’t imagine him not being manager of Manchester United one day,” he added.
Carrick was a player at Old Trafford from 2006 to 2018. He has 34 caps for England to his name.
