'Why Kenny surprised me'

The first-team coach has been with the Reds for just over four months having joined the club from West Ham United in early July.

Keen admits he is relishing his role, but reveals he felt a tinge of nerves when coming face-to-face with Dalglish due to the manager's illustrious reputation in world football.

"It's been brilliant working with Kenny," he told Liverpoolfc.tv. "You come in with this idea of Kenny being this hero.

"I grew up in the '70s when Liverpool really, really took on the world and were the best club side in world football. Kenny was the star of that team.

"So you come in with these ideas of him being a superstar, but in fact he's just a gentleman. A really, really good man who desperately wants Liverpool to do well."

Keen believes he and Dalglish, as well as fellow first-team coach Steve Clarke, all share similar philosophies and beliefs about the way football should be played and the importance of players enjoying their daily training sessions.

Watch the video here »

He said: "This is my 10^th year coaching, and my philosophy has always been that training has got to be fun and enjoyable.

"I always enjoyed certain types of training more than others, and I think the fun element is a massive part of training every day, week in week out. 

"Even though the game has become more professional, everything is on the telly and everything has got to be spot on, I still think the fun and enjoyment element has got to be there. I think Kenny is very important in that role.

"He is a fantastic leader of Liverpool Football Club, a really good manager. All of those little aspects in terms of man management, making sure you have a little bit of fun when the time is right, Kenny is fantastic at that."

During an in-depth discussion with Liverpoolfc.tv at Melwood, Keen also lifted the lid on his role within the club, Liverpool's training methods, as well as explaining why Steve Clarke is the most meticulous coach he's ever encountered...

Kevin, you've been at Liverpool for four months now. How are you finding it?

I'm loving it - really enjoying it. The support from all the staff around the place has been great for me, and the players have taken to me quite well. Things are going quiet well - on the football pitch perhaps we could have had a couple more wins, but I am really enjoying it, pleased to be here and enjoying the Liverpool experience.

Talk us through a typical day for you at Melwood...

I normally come in between eight and half eight in the morning. Kenny, Steve and I will talk about the training and sort out what we want to do, whether it's team work towards a game at the weekend, or just a bit of hard work with different ideas on different days. We'll then take the training session and any little bits afterwards, such as shooting with certain players certain people like Jordan (Henderson), Stewart Downing, Andy Carroll, Jay (Spearing) and people like that.

After training, we'll often come in, sit down, have a cup of tea and talk about the week ahead, the opponents we're playing and how we're going to play against them. We'll maybe look at some videos too and things like that.

That's a typical day. It's not like it used to be for players when they'd turn up 10 minutes before training, train and then go home. It's a long day!

Does your role cover any specific areas of training?

Steve and I dovetail - we both do defence and attack. There is no real priority. I think at this moment in time I have lent a little bit more to attacking, but there's no set area. We work together and cover all aspects.

So are the contents of each training session decided upon each morning?

At the start of the week we've got a good idea of how we're going to work the week. On a Monday, we'll build up to different days to do different sessions. Then, in the morning, we'll just clarify exactly what we're going to do.

Do the training sessions change game-to-game or is there a set plan that's followed?

I think there is pretty much a regular plan in terms of 'Monday we might do this, Tuesday we'll do this...' But it will have a little tweak every week depending on who we're playing against. For example, maybe the defensive work might be a little bit different, or maybe we'll not do any defensive work if we want to concentrate more on something that happened the previous weekend. So little tweaks come into place depending who we're playing against, how we played the previous weekend and things we need to work on.

We often see photographs and footage of the players smiling in training. How important is it they enjoy sessions?

Different coaches will have different views on enjoyment in training and fun - but I am a massive believer in players enjoying training and it being fun. You grow up playing football on the park and having fun. The reason you played was because it was fun. You had a good work out, you ran about and enjoyed it. 

This is my 10^th year coaching, and my philosophy has always been that training has got to be fun and enjoyable. I always enjoyed certain types of training more than others, and I think the fun element is a massive part of training every day, week in week out. Even though the game has become more professional, everything is on the telly and everything has got to be spot on, I still think the fun and enjoyment element has got to be there.

Presumably Kenny is eager to retain that 'fun element' too?

I think Kenny is very important in that role. He is a fantastic leader of Liverpool Football Club, a really good manager. All of those little aspects in terms of man management, making sure you have a little bit of fun when the time is right, Kenny is fantastic at that.

How have you found working with Kenny?

It's been brilliant. You come in with this idea of Kenny being this hero. I grew up in the '70s when Liverpool really, really took on the world and were the best club side in world football. Kenny was the star of that team. So you come in with these ideas of him being a superstar, but in fact he's just a gentleman. A really, really good man who desperately wants Liverpool to do well.

How does Kenny differ from other managers you've worked with?

There are big differences between personalities and characters. Working with Gianfranco Zola for a couple of years would probably be the nearest to Kenny because he is a world superstar as well. But again, both Kenny and Gianfranco are both really humble, good people who are in love with football and want their teams to do well.

Avram (Grant), Alan Pardew, Alan Curbishley and Glen Roeder are the managers I've worked under, and they all had different ways of doing things. Going back to the enjoyment aspect, some had more enjoyment and fun with players, while others would be quite stern and not take that on board. They all had their different ways, but I think Kenny and Gianfranco have that parallel in my eyes because of their status as global, world stars, and yet they're both passionate about their football, about doing well and they're both winners. They want to win. They're very similar in that respect, maybe due to their upbringings.

Steve Clarke is someone you know well from your West Ham days. How much are you enjoying working with him again?

I love working with Steve. I cheer him up every morning and put and smile on his face!

He is meticulous in his planning - whether it's training, travelling to games or set plays. He is the most organised person I've seen in terms of getting training right. We have similar ideas and philosophies on how the game should be played and how we should defend and attack. It's good and I enjoy working with him.

What are those philosophies?

Steve played at St Mirren but then went to Chelsea at a time when they really started to play some attacking, enjoyable-to-watch football under Glen Hoddle. Similarly, I was at West Ham for the majority of the time, and later went on to Stoke and Wolves, and we had that idea of playing pass-and-move, attacking football - which Kenny talks about all the time and I'm sure Liverpool fans enjoy watching.

I remember watching it at Liverpool in previous times. But there has to be that element of passionately defending and making sure there is an organisation that goes alongside that attacking flair. I think I've summed it up quite well there!

We're currently on an international break. What sort of work are you doing with the players who have remained at Melwood?

We're currently working with about four players, so it's difficult because you can't put sessions on for an hour and 15 minutes revolving around four players. On Wednesday, we had quite a sharp, quick day and concentrated a little bit on Jose's (Enrique) left-back position and working on a few things with him.

On Thursday, we used Rodolfo Borrell's reserve squad to bring the numbers up and that was quite good for Steve and I to be able to see the young lads who are doing well in the reserves. I thought Raheem Sterling trained very well and a couple of goalkeepers did well. It was a good day and we had a good group, otherwise the international weeks can be quite awkward because numbers wise it is difficult to put on sessions.

How closely do you follow players on international duty? Do you ever go and watch any of the games?

Yes. Kenny and Steve are reluctant to go to the England games, so I'm the one who covers them! I'll be going on Saturday to hopefully watch Pepe (Reina), Stewart (Downing) and Glen (Johnson). Hopefully all three of them will be playing. We've also got scouts, we make sure all the games are recorded and immediately afterwards we'll have a report. Injuries are a big concern for us, especially with the games we've got coming up.

So we keep track of them and make sure they're watched. I think it's a big honour to represent your country and certainly in the case of the England versus Spain game, I would have loved to have been given the opportunity to play against the world champions at Wembley - but I didn't quite make it!