Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed that the one question he would ask anyone in sport would be to ask Sir Alex Ferguson if he really thought the midfielder was average.
Ferguson had been linked with a move for Gerrard in the early 2000’s, as unlikely as that may have been, but in his most recent autobiography, Fergie described the player often described as Liverpool’s best ever player as average.
And, in the Daily Mail, Gerrard is quoted as answering the following question –
If you could ask one question to a sportsman/sportswoman?
I’d ask Alex Ferguson, ‘Do you really think that I am average?’ (In Ferguson’s autobiography, he said Gerrard was not a ‘top, top player’, despite earlier trying to sign him.)
Gerrard’s career in England would ultimately end in a manner justifying Ferguson’s comments; with the player’s slip in a game against Chelsea catastrophically ruining his team’s chances of a first title in a generation. His subsequent performance, snatching at chances and trying desperately to be the hero, undermined Liverpool’s chances of a comeback.
This followed stories of him bragging in the town of Liverpool that his team would be the champions; his final season was dogged by abject failure as he was marginalised from the first team and saw his Anfield career end in a 6-1 defeat at Stoke City.
Huge fanfare – encouraged by Gerrard – was made over his last game at Anfield, which, typically, ended in forgettable defeat by Crystal Palace.
Gerrard moved to LA Galaxy but it is clear that even in semi-retirement, the success of Manchester United which dogged his career still haunts him.
