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s a player, Harry Kewell strutted his stuff on soccer'€™s grandest stages, including a UEFA Champions League final and two World Cups. Yet, he is relishing a new life that takes him to less glamorous destinations like Crewe, Coventry and Colchester.

Since July, the former Liverpool and Australia winger has been Watford'€™s U21 coach. But while Watford has just been promoted to the heights of the Premier League, Harry'€™s youngsters play in the Professional Development League 2 South. They opened the season with a 0-0 draw at Sheffield Wednesday on Monday.

'€œI'€™m loving it [...] I'€™ve fallen in love with coaching straight away,'€ Kewell told ESPN FC. '€œIt'€™s hard work, you have to get your sessions and tactics right but I'€™m absolutely enjoying it. It'€™s a chance to work with a Premier League club, manage the U21s and, yes, they can all play.'€

It'€™s a very different world for the 36-year-old who retired from professional football in April 2014 after a season with Melbourne Heart in the A-League.

After working with junior players through his academy in Australia for a few months, he took his UEFA '€˜B'€™ and '€˜A'€™ licenses earlier this year and was surprised by how naturally he took to coaching.

'€œI did my licenses over the summer in Northern Ireland with people like Francis Jeffers, Shola Ameobi, Robbie Blake,'€ he said. '€œI wanted to see if I had the fire in the belly and when I did my first assessment the fire was definitely there.

'€œWhen I was a player, I didn'€™t think much about being a coach because all I wanted to do was play. But so far I'€™m really enjoying it.'€

Watford are back in England'€™s top flight for the first time since the 2006-07 season, with a rejuvenated squad and seasoned manager in Quique Flores. The former Spain fullback has previously worked at La Liga clubs Atletico Madrid, Valencia and, most recently, Getafe.

The Hornets began the season with an encouraging 2-2 draw with Everton, leading twice in the game at Goodison Park. On Saturday, they play West Bromwich Albion in their first home match at Vicarage Road.

'€œThere'€™s a buzz around the club [...] there'€™s a good core of players from U18 upwards,'€ Kewell said. '€œIt'€™s a great learning curve for me. The manager [Flores] is confident, yet very open. If you have any questions, he'€™ll explain.'€

Kewell should know a thing or two about building on a promising junior career. He made his Premier League debut as a 17-year-old, and, by the age of 19, was a regular in a successful Leeds United side that played in the Champions League.

'€œI know what it takes to play at the highest level but every player is different,'€ he said.

'€œAs coach of the U21s, it'€™s not about reminiscing because some of them don'€™t even remember me as a player. It'€™s more about telling them they have to push themselves to the limit to make the first team.'€

Over the years, Watford'€™s promising young players who became fully fledged superstars include John Barnes, Luther Blissett, Ashley Young and David James.

When quizzed about his own playing days, there is a surprising tinge of regret in Kewell'€™s voice, even though he won four major trophies, including the Champions League and FA Cup with Liverpool.

'€œI enjoyed my career and I played at some great clubs but I didn'€™t do what I could have in my career,'€ he said. '€œBut I'€™m not the only one who suffered injuries. You can'€™t cry over spilt milk.'€

His injury curse forced Kewell off after only 23 minutes of Liverpool'€™s 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan in Istanbul and after 48 minutes of the 2006 FA Cup final against West Ham in Cardiff.

Kewell first visited Watford in the 1999-2000 season when he was at Leeds United, scoring the second goal in a 2-0 victory at Vicarage Road.

The goalkeeper that day was Alec Chamberlain who is now a colleague of Kewell'€™s on the Watford coaching staff. '€œThe one thing that I'€™ve learnt in my career is that 90 to 95 percent of success in football comes down to hard work,'€ he said.

For a man who is arguably Australia'€™s most naturally gifted player of all-time, Kewell speaks a lot about hard work. So don'€™t expect him to be taking any short cuts when he'€™s putting out the cones for his U21 side at Watford on the cold and wet winter mornings ahead.
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Jason Dasey is senior editor of ESPN FC, Indonesia'€™s most popular English language soccer website with a new SE Asia edition and a daily Indonesian language TV show on NET. Twitter: @JasonDasey