John Heitinga will hope he can boast a better record at Anfield as a coach than he did a player as he embarks on his new adventure with Liverpool .
The former defender is the latest addition to Arne Slot’s coaching staff to have been confirmed as he becomes an assistant coach. He joins Sipke Hulshoff , Ruben Peeters , Aaron Briggs and Fabian Otte as the Reds’ new-look backroom staff grows.
Heitinga is of course already a familiar name to football fans on Merseyside. The 40-year-old spent nearly five years as a player across Stanley Park with Everton after joining the club in 2009.
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For a defender who spent a good portion of his career in the Premier League , including a short spell at Fulham, Heitinga didn’t actually play against Liverpool that often. He featured only seven times against the Reds during his playing days, with five of those coming at Everton.
He never tasted victory at Anfield, though he was in the side for the Toffees for a derby day victory that FSG in particular would rather forget.
Goals from Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta saw Everton record a comfortable 2-0 win at Goodison Park back in October 2010. It was FSG’s first match as owners after wrestling control from Tom Hicks and George Gillett, with John Henry and Tom Werner having made the late decision to attend the game after completing their buyout just a couple of days before.
They probably wish they’d made their way back to Boston, with the game typical of what was Liverpool at their lowest ebb. Roy Hodgson was in charge at the time, and he was plumbing new depths with the Reds.
Defeat at Goodison left Liverpool second from bottom in the Premier League table, having picked up just six points from their first eight games. Things wouldn’t get much better under Hodgson, with the former England manager eventually paying the price as he was sacked a few months later after winning just seven of his 20 league games in charge.
Heitinga can certainly claim to have played his part in Hodgson’s downfall at Liverpool. He played 72 minutes of that derby day win for Everton, helping to keep Fernando Torres quiet alongside Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin.
It was the only time he would taste victory against the Reds during his playing career, having lost four of his seven meetings. Now on the other side of Stanley Park, he’ll be hoping to taste victory a lot more often with Liverpool.
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