Still unbeaten: Ex-Liverpool player is ‘exceeding expectations’ in first senior managerial role | OneFootball

A number of Liverpool players from the Rafael Benitez era at Anfield have now gone into management, with varying degrees of success among those who’ve followed the Spaniard into the dugout.

Xabi Alonso is perhaps the standout after his undefeated domestic double-winning exploits with Bayer Leverkusen last season, while Dirk Kuyt won promotion to the Belgian top flight with Beerschot this year, although Steven Gerrard has come in for strong condemnation in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ettifaq.

Another player from the 2007 Champions League final squad who’s now a head coach is Craig Bellamy, who’s currently in his first senior managerial role in charge of Wales.

The 45-year-old has had an excellent start to his reign, guiding his native country to promotion to the top tier of the UEFA Nations League after six games unbeaten, with their place in League A secured after a 4-1 thrashing of Iceland on Tuesday night.

Bellamy ‘exceeding expectations’ as Wales manager

Speaking from the Cardiff City Stadium after that game, Sky Sports reporter Geraint Hughes offered his take on the ex-Liverpool striker’s tenure with Wales so far.

He said: “It could not have gone better – his words, not mine. Six matches, three wins, three draws, and also promotion to League A of the Nations League. That’s just a part of the journey he’s on and, by the admission of those in the FAW, he’s exceeding the expectations that were set, which were high.

“His ultimate role is to get Wales to qualify for the World Cup in 2026, but it’s evident that there’s an identity of a style of play that’s exciting. He takes risks at times but that brings in the crowd, and it’s not the players who’ve bought in but also the crowd.”

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

“It’s what comes next that’s just as important. It’s a great start, a really good start, but it’s what happens now. Bellamy has said that he’ll go away and look at these matches, detail by detail by detail, and look at the areas where he can make Wales better.

“He was hired by the FAW chief executive and the board with one goal in mind – to qualify Wales for the World Cup in 2026 and, when they get there, not to go out in the group stage but to go into the knockout stages and make a splash on the global stage.

“That’s what his job is now…They have to be there; that’s what he was hired for, but at the moment in Wales, things are looking very, very rosy.”

World Cup qualification well within reach for Bellamy

Having worked as Vincent Kompany’s assisant at both Anderlecht and Burnley, Bellamy had a brief period as acting head coach at Turf Moor after the Belgian’s departure in May, but he took the Wales job a few days later and it’s unquestionably proving to be the right decision.

His results in the Nations League have not only secured promotion to the top tier of that competition, but also seen then ranked among the second seeds for the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, in which topping the group earns an automatic passage to the finals and second ensures a play-off berth.

It was probably hard to envisage him becoming a manager when, during his first stint as a Liverpool player, he had an infamous run-in with John Arne Riise prior to a Champions League clash against Barcelona in 2007.

However, Bellamy could hardly have wished for a better start to his Wales tenure after taking over from Rob Page; and if he can get his country to the World Cup in just over 18 months’ time, he’ll no doubt be in demand among numerous clubs and nations who are on the lookout for a new head coach.