Related Quotes
"Stevie is the best young player in England. He's a great talent. He has proved that in the games he has played for us. No-one is stopping him. There's a lot of talk about his injuries but if he gets his rest he's so powerful out there on the pitch. He's virtually unstoppable."
Gerard Houllier in May 2001
"He for me is brilliant and is as good as Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira in my mind. He needs to play central midfield on a regular basis and if he does do that Liverpool have a real chance of winning the title. Without him Liverpool have a disadvantage as he is the one outstanding player. All the others have a good consistency level and perform well but Gerrard is the one that makes them tick."
Jan Molby on Steven Gerrard in June 2003
"One of the things Gerard recently reminded me of is that during that first meeting I told him he wouldn't have to worry about finding a world class midfielder.
I told him there was a young player in our youth team who would be world class within two years. We all know how good Steven Gerrard is now!"
Peter Robinson May 2001
"Gerrard is so powerful and strong, he gives the ball so well, he can attack, he can defend and he can score. He is a really key man for England and a big, big loss for them.
I'm a big fan of his. I really like him as a player and I think he can be one of the best players, a truly fantastic player."
Patrick Vieira May 2002
"You could see very quickly he was something special and he had talent. I first saw him at an Academy game where I was supposed to see other players and that's where I spotted him and asked him to come with us. He was too young at the time but I decided to have him here. He was different class.
Houllier on Gerrard in May 2001
"The manager has always said that I would captain Liverpool Football Club one day but it was a bit of a shock yesterday when Gerard told me I was to be captain from now on. I have to say I'm absolutely thrilled. I was captain of my school side and I used to go along to Anfield to watch the team and I always looked up to people like John Barnes who captained the team during the 90s. I used to watch Barnes with the captains armband and dream that one day it would be me captaining the team I love.
- I want to blossom into a world class player, something I'm not yet - and hopefully captaining Liverpool will help me achieve that ambition. -
I'd just like to say that I'm delighted to be captain of Liverpool Football Club and I'm thrilled to be representing the fans on the pitch. Hopefully I can lift a trophy this season to say thanks for all the support from fans everywhere."
Gerrard takes over the captaincy from Sami Hyypia on October 15th 2003
"Steven has leadership qualities which I spotted early in his career. He needed time to mature, and now at 23 I think he is ready. There has been a maturity in his game and his personality. I have decided to move the armband to Steven and he will lead the side tonight and in the future.
But I have considered a number of issues. Firstly, I think Stevie has certain leadership qualities which I spotted very early in his career. When he was young, all he needed was time to mature. Now he is 23 and he is ready. There has been a maturing in his game and his personality."
Houllier announces his decision to make Gerrard captain
"I’ve known him since we were 11 when we started together at the Liverpool academy. I used to be a foot taller than him but he towers over me now. He has suffered some growing pains as a result but he has played over 40 games this season and deservedly been voted PFA Young Player of the Year."
Owen in 2001 on Stevie G
"It means the world for me to play for this club. I would sign for the rest of my career if Liverpool want me to."
Steven Gerrard
"Nobby Stiles once told me that he thought Steven Gerrard was the nearest thing to Duncan Edwards and that is a tremendous compliment for a player. His all-action displays constantly put pressure on the opposition and he must be the best midfielder in the world at present."
Tommy Smith in February 2004
"Gerrard has become the most influential player in England, bar none. To me, Gerrard is Keane; he is now where Keane was when Roy came to us in 1994. I've watched him quite a lot, and everywhere the ball is, he seems to be there.
He's got that unbelievable engine, desire, determination. Anyone would take Gerrard.
Not that Vieira lacks anything, but I think that Gerrard does more for his team than Vieira does. Vieira has done that job for Arsenal for two or three years. But you can see Gerrard rising and rising."
Alex Ferguson in May 2004
"The arrival of Morientes does not mean the departure of Steven Gerrard. I have said many times that I do not want to sell Gerrard, it is that simple. Sometimes people talk, talk, talk but really we do not want to sell, and I have talked to Steven and he knows exactly the situation."
Rafa in January 2005
"We are preparing a special weightlifting plan for Gerrard's shoulders because we want him to lift a lot of trophies for Liverpool in the next few years! I am not in favour of selling him and we are building a great team around him because we want him to be the skipper who wins the most titles in Liverpool's history."
Rafa about Stevie G in June 2005
"I renew my deal with Liverpool in four or five years and when I do I would like Stevie to be my next coach, assistant manager and maybe even the next manager after me. He can even have the chief scout position if he wants it."
Rafa on 04.07.2005 about Stevie G
"I just feel the club deserve the next five to ten years of my career and I don't want to give them years to any other club, I want to give them to Liverpool."
Gerrard on 06.07.2005
"I've gone on record about this before and I'll say it again, Steven Gerrard is possibly the finest midfielder player ever to play for Liverpool Football Club.
He is so influential. I'd definitely put him in the same bracket as Graeme Souness. Everyone knows how great a player Graeme was and it just goes to show how highly I rate Gerrard. They are different types of players with different strengths. Stevie can get up and down the pitch, whereas Graeme couldn't! But, seriously, I'd put them on a par in terms of greatness.
Gerrard has virtually carried Liverpool for the past two years and it's so important for the club that he stays. Any club would want him in their side and will be a sad day if does ever decides to leave because as well as being such a great player he's also a true Scouser and a Liverpudlian through and through."
Terry McDermott in March 2005
Did Liverpool get a bit carried away with their Mickey Mouse treble in 2001 and can you remember the last time Liverpool won the title? (from a United fan)
"We won the big one last year for you, didn't we? Is it 5-2 now? I won't be here by the time United have won five! And we've won the league 18 times. So that's 5-2, 18-15. Next."
Gerrard answers readers' questions in 4-4-2 magazine in October 2005
During the penalty shootout, you knew you'd be taking the fifth penalty if Andriy Shevchenko scored. How were you feeling? Were you a bit disappointed not to have scored the final winner?
"I was absolutely s***ting my pants. Terrified. I was very, very nervous, the most nervous I've been on a football pitch. But if someone had offered me a chance to scrub my name off and not take it, I would have told them that I still wanted to take it. I was glad when Dudek saved it though. A few people asked me if I was disappointed not to have scored the winner but I didn't want all the glory and I wouldn't change anything from that night."
Gerrard answers readers' questions in 4-4-2 magazine in October 2005
"When the news came through on the TV, I nearly choked on my cornflakes."
Jamie Carragher, overjoyed at the news of Steven Gerrard's transfer U-turn
As an attacking central midfielder. To be honest, I am playing everywhere at the moment - and as I said, I don't mind. I'm just waiting for the call to go in goal now!
I suppose I could look at thing selfishly and sulk or I can be a team player and try and do a good job for everyone involved. It's a great honour to be involved in the starting eleven for Liverpool and England - and that gives me great confidence."
Gerrard asked in December 2005 what he considers to be his best position
"I slept with the cup in my hotel room. I did not want it out of my sight. When I woke up and someone took it away, I felt I had lost a part of me."
Skipper Steven Gerrard on the significance of the Champions League trophy
"The cup ended up with Stevie G in his room. His girlfriend wasn't here, so he had the cup in his bed instead."
Smicer on Gerrard's treasured possession from Istanbul
"The boss asked me if I wanted to take a penalty, I said I did and he put me on fifth. I thought "Thanks a lot, pal - my a*** was going, I was all over the place!"
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who was spared penalty duties thanks to Jerzy Dudek's save from Andriy Shevchenko
When I saw fans burning an old No 17 shirt by the Shankly Gates, it did my head in. Show some respect. Don't you know how this is tearing me apart?... ‘Steven, don‘t go,’ Dad begged. ‘But, dad, look at the TV, fans are burning my shirt at Anfield. The club aren't stopping them, Liverpool don't want me any more.’... I stared at the rolling news through flowing tears. I was suffocated by stress. My energy had gone, lost during all those frustrating trips in and out of Benítez‘ office. My head was banging. I was eating paracetamol like Smarties... It was the lowest point of my career. I broke down. Panic breakdown, complete mess... Could I hand in that Liverpool armband? Could I look the father I adore in the eye again? Could I really put on a Chelsea shirt and face Liverpool in front of the Kop?... No. No. No. I couldn‘t jump over the edge of the cliff. I could see the great possibilities of Chelsea, but my heart wouldn't let me leave Liverpool. Finally, my mind was made up. I‘d walked through the storm. At eleven p.m., I called Struan. ‘Tell Rick I want to sign, ’ I told him. ‘I want to stay. ’ Struan contacted Rick. ‘Is that offer still available?’ ‘Yes‘.‘Stevie will sign it.’ Thank God it was over. My heart stopped racing and I relaxed. I put the paracetamol away. I awoke on the morning of Wednesday 6 July with a smile on my face for the first time in weeks.
Steven Gerrard reveals his anguish as he considered leaving Anfield for Chelsea
"He is the most important player that Liverpool have and could be the most important player England has. In my opinion he is the most complete midfield player in Europe. If you look at attacking midfield players with Zidane and Ronaldinho and if you look at defensive midfield players like Makelele, creative midfield players with the passing of Beckham. He can do it all. For me he is the most complete midfield player in the world."
John Barnes on Steven Gerrard
"There is nothing that this lad cannot do. He can run, he can pass, he can cross and, boy, he can shoot. He's such a clever player, with an instinctive understanding of the game.
When you get to know him, he's bright and humorous and he lives for the game. He's a thoroughly good professional. On the pitch, he provokes chances. He's aggressive, wins the ball, and creates forward movement by working hard and forcing the issue by driving at defenders at speed. He's a hell of a player, one of the best in the world."
Jamie Redknapp on Steven Gerrard in September 2006
"An excellent player, in my opinion, he is a modern player because he is a player who runs, marks, knows how to pass, cross, score goals and he is a leader on the field for Liverpool. So he is a player that I would like to have in my team."
Brazilian genius Kaka on Steven Gerrard in 2007
"To be honest I knew it was going to be great but after spending five minutes looking at the plans I was just completely blown away by it. It's amazing and the best thing about it, I think, is that it's so different to any other. We will have our own identity stamped all over this stadium and that's how it should be. We are Liverpool Football Club, we expect the best and this will be the best. I've played in some special stadiums but this is something special and it's so important that we are not seen to be copy off another club. The fact that a massive Kop stand will be incorporated into the new stadium is great. As a supporter myself, I know what to look for in a stadium and I'm sure all our fans are going to love it. We all know the level of noise 40,000 Liverpudlians can make at Anfield so I can't even begin to describe what 60,000 plus can do inside the new stadium. It's going to be unbelievable and I can't wait to lead the team out there. The prospect of this was one of the major factors in me signing a long-term deal with the club and I just hope I'm still around when the day comes for us to play our first game in it."
Steven Gerrard on the new Anfield plans presented in the summer of 2007 after the USA takeover
"Towards the end of the game, when they started singing it, I was standing next to Steven Gerrard and I was actually singing it along with them. They had a corner and I was standing next to him and I was just singing. He was just looking at me like I was a weirdo."
The Havant and Waterlooville skipper broke out in song, joining the Kop in a rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone, when playing Liverpool at Anfield.
"I know it sounds hollow talking about dreams and prizes when footballers earn all the money we do, but the things I've got at home, the medals and memorabilia, they mean more to me than extra noughts in my bank account. Lifting the Champions League trophy above my head as the captain of my team, it's something that lives with you forever. People have this image of footballers now, driving flash cars, leading incredible lifestyles, having all that glamour. But there are sacrifices too, big ones through all your young life if you want any chance of making it. Behind the glitz I've had to give a hell of a lot of blood and sweat over the years, some tears as well. When you get that trophy above your head, and you get that feeling in your head, that buzz, that sense of being alive, then it is all worth it, believe me."
"I whispered to Robbie that I could picture perfectly the days I stood on the Kop, and literally got carried 20 or 30 yards as the crowd surged forward when he scored a goal. God it was incredible. I would watch the likes of Ian Rush and Aldo, then as I got older John Barnes, Jamie Redknapp and Robbie, and hope and pray and dream like mad that it would be me one day. I never even bothered dreaming that I would ever be captain - that would be too mad - just that I would set foot out on that pitch, just the once. And d'ya know what, even now, I can't put into words what it feels like to be living that dream."
Gerrard on what it meant to him winning the Champions League and to be Liverpool's captain in April 2007
Even after five years with Rafa, I still feel I want to please him, that I want to impress him in every game I play. The great managers are like that. There are a handful operating on a different level and I am lucky enough to play for two of them, Benitez and Fabio Capello.
'It is when you see what they put in, some of the little things they spot, that you realise how hard they work. Rafa will make a point, and you’ll be thinking, "Has this guy not got a life?" because it seems so minor, but it is what sets him apart.
'I can have a good game – tell you what, I’ll be big-headed, say I’ve had a fantastic game – we’ve won 2-1 in the last minute and I’ve scored both.
'I come back into the dressing-room and I’m buzzing, bouncing off the walls, thinking "I feel good today", that is when Rafa comes up and starts talking about a throw-in when they changed the play and I pressed far too late. He’ll say: "If you want, we’ll go out there and I’ll show you". Or you’ll have a run of 10 games when you’re in form and flying and he’ll pop you a DVD of your recent play and it’s broken up into sections good and bad. And you’re thinking, "Hang on, bad? I didn’t do anything wrong". But you’ll watch it and you’re out of position in one match, or you pressed late or you let a man go at a set-piece. You wonder when the guy sleeps.
'At first when he did things like that, I’d be asking, "Has he not watched my last 150 games for Liverpool?" There is a danger that you think he has it in for you because he pulls you so much.
'When he arrived, he would keep saying to me "Left foot, left foot" or I’d shoot and he would say "hit the target" and I’m thinking, "Look, mate, I’m trying to hit the f***ing target". 'I would say to people "I'm 26 – if he doesn’t think my left foot’s working now, it’s never going to work" but then a few weeks later I scored with my left and he came up with a little smile and said "lucky goal today, left foot and it hit the target" and then the penny dropped. 'Finally, I realised it was the way he helped push you on and as a player you either recognised it or fought it and, with these guys, if you fight it there is only one winner.
Gerrard on Rafa in September 2009