Saturday 7 February 2015 09:31, UK
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard says he wish he had met manager Brendan Rodgers in the prime of his career.
Gerrard, speaking exclusively to Sky Sports ahead of Saturday evening’s Merseyside derby, said he would have loved to have started working with Rodgers far earlier in his career.
Rodgers arrived on Merseyside in the summer of 2012 to take over from previous manager Kenny Dalglish in the Anfield dugout.
And Gerrard, who leaves the club at the end of the season to join Major League Soccer franchise the Los Angeles Galaxy, thinks he would have won the one major trophy to have so far eluded him at Liverpool - the Premier League - had the duo teamed up sooner.
He will deliver here at this club eventually
'I wish I'd met him in my prime'
“For me, I just wish I had met him when I was coming into my prime, maybe 25 or 26 years of age,” he told Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp.
“I wish I’d had five, six, seven years with him as I believe I’d have a couple of medals that I sorely miss, which are Premier League medals.”
First title since 1990?
The midfielder also believes Rodgers, who has failed to win any silverware in his two-and-a-half seasons at Liverpool, will eventually bring an end to the club’s long wait for a top-flight title.
“I believe he will deliver here at this club eventually, the players love him, his work, it is fresh and new every single day,” Gerrard added. “I skip into training and am enjoying it.
“I want to make the most of it until it ends, but I cannot speak highly enough of him as a guy, and also on the training pitch.
“He does not miss a session and he makes it enjoyable every single day.”
Redknapp reminisces
Meanwhile, Redknapp has spoken about interviewing his former Liverpool team-mate.
“I got the chance to interview Steven Gerrard ahead of his final game against Everton and it was interesting to go to the training ground and have a chat with him about different Merseyside derby memories,” said the Sky pundit.
“I played in two derbies with him while I was at Liverpool. In the first, he came on as a sub, played right-back, cleared two shots off the line, nearly scored and nearly gave away a penalty for handball right at the end - all in about 15 minutes!
“My dad was at the game and he said: ‘Cor, who’s your right back?’ I said: ‘Wait until you see him play in midfield!’
“Then, in the second derby we played together - my first as captain - he got sent off for an assault on Kevin Campbell!
“He’s really looking forward to this one on Saturday, though, because this is the big one for him, this is the game he enjoys the most.
“It’s going to be an emotional game for him. He said he’ll get a lot of stick off the Everton fans but they’re knowledgeable, they know their football and the reason they give him grief is that they know he’s such a good player and they try to get under his skin. The only thing is it hasn’t worked – he’s scored 10 goals in 32 games.”
Watch Jamie Redknapp's interview with Steven Gerrard as part of Saturday Night Football, ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Everton, and the extended version of the interview on demand and the iPad. Coverage starts on Sky Sports 1 at 4:45pm.
