Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard is relieved. After everything he has lived wearing Liverpool’s number 8 and captaining the Reds in one of the best UCL Final ever, the current manager to Rangers has also had some downs throughout his Liverpool career.
In an interview with the BBC, Stevie G – as he’s affectionately called by Liverpool fans, spoke out on his relief of watching Liverpool winning the long-awaited Premier League trophy, and also made compliments to his former Liverpool teammate, Luis Suarez.
The Liverpool legend said that he knew right away that Suarez would become a top player at Liverpool, only for his aggressive stance, and his fearless style of playing football.
“Many strikers we used to sign, would show some respect for the likes of Jamie Carragher, but he (Suarez) didn’t respect anyone in training. In a good sense. He went against his teammates, fought them, raised his elbows and I thought: ‘This is not what you normally see in training’. You usually see a lot of respect, but Suarez would crush anyone and put any defense on the wall, ”he said.
Suarez made his way out of Liverpool after a magical season wearing the Red kit, as the Uruguayan helped the Reds in an unbelievable Premier League campaign, but that unfortunately ended in a tragic way, back in 2014.
Still that same year, Stevie G had experienced some moments of an absolute nightmare. In a decisive match against Chelsea in the Premier League, the Reds needed a simple win at Anfield in order to stay a win away from the trophy, but the former captain ended up slipping in an easy ball in the middle, allowing Chelsea’s Demba Ba to power and drive a low effort past Simon Mignolet at the end of the first half.
On that occasion, Chelsea’s manager was Portuguese Jose Mourinho, and obviously, he parked the bus in the second half, as Liverpool couldn’t score and ended up handing over the trophy to Man City.
Speaking about that, Gerrard had this to say:
“First and foremost, for me, it was fantastic to bury a few demons from 2014 it was certainly a big relief. Being a Liverpool fan and a former player, I’ve known the big, long wait.”
“It was fantastic for everyone connected to the club but it was mixed emotions in many ways because of my own experiences, being a fan and ex-player and a lot of my family are Liverpool fans as well.
Of course, it was special for him, and also for Liverpool fans all over the world, as a 30-year wait for a domestic silverware is painful. I’m pretty sure that Jordan Henderson and Jurgen Klopp lifted that trophy thinking about Stevie as well.