Made 21 apps, now a coach: LFC's £4.5m nightmare could be his nation's secret weapon – opinion

Liverpool have had many gamers come and go through the years, and plenty of can be remembered for his or her excellent contributions to the staff while others are recalled for being full flops.

As of late, the Reds not often get it unsuitable on the subject of their recruitment technique and scouting for the reason that arrival of Jurgen Klopp in 2015, which has led them to success in a number of competitions, together with a first-ever Premier League title in 2020.

Nonetheless, it hasn’t all the time been this manner, and Liverpool went via a interval of horrendous switch disasters which left them struggling to get pleasure from dominance in any competitors between 2010 and 2015.

One participant who was signed throughout this period was Christian Poulsen, a Danish defensive midfielder who accomplished a £4.5m transfer to Anfield in 2010 while Roy Hodgson was supervisor on the membership, and it’s secure to say that he didn’t make a huge impact within the staff.

Poulsen was coming to the latter phases of his profession when he joined Hodgson’s squad at 30 years of age and had seen his most profitable days tallying up 162 appearances for Schalke 04 and 60 video games for Juventus earlier than shifting to Merseyside.

At Liverpool, the 92-cap Denmark worldwide made simply 21 appearances, averaging 70 minutes per sport. Regardless of signing a three-year contract to exchange Javier Mascherano, he made a swift exit only one yr later, joining French aspect Evian on a free switch after Hodgson most popular Jay Spearing within the midfield engine room.

As with many gamers who go away the intense lights and well-known European nights at Anfield, Poulsen didn’t handle to reignite his profession following his exit in 2011, going from Evian to Ajax and eventually to Copenhagen earlier than hanging up his boots in 2016.

Nonetheless, the previous Liverpool nightmare might now be the key weapon to success for Denmark within the World Cup this November, as Poulsen has cast a soccer profession past his taking part in days and channelled his expertise into teaching.

The 42-year-old was appointed as his nationwide staff’s assistant supervisor in September 2021 after increase a portfolio of expertise as a trainee coach at Ajax between 2018 and 2019, later promoted to the Amsterdam membership’s assistant supervisor for 2 years between 2019 and 2021.

Poulsen was right-hand man for former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag throughout 93 games within the Netherlands, so he has constructed up loads of managerial and training expertise which might develop into invaluable to Denmark over the event in Qatar subsequent month.

Though the previous midfielder’s profession at Liverpool on the pitch was somewhat unsuccessful, is obvious that Poulsen now intends to make a reputation for himself on the sideline, and it is going to be fascinating to see simply how properly he will get on within the coming weeks and months forward together with his nationwide staff.

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