Steven Gerrard

[Kenneth]

He doesn't have to like Rafa or want to be friends with him. He's entitled to an opinion on people he's spent time with in person. People don't need to be so touchy about it.

[Vermilion]

That's true Kenneth, but sometimes in these books it feels like people aren't even being honest, adding stuff for effect, self gratification, or just plain old controversy.

Also lets be honest, these things are rarely done to tell fans a story, or fill in facts, it's about squeezing every last penny out of being a footballer, past or present.

[Kenneth]

I can't really explain what drives people to write these books to be honest. Especially when they're as minted as people like him.

[Chazza]

And the extracts are taken from the Mail.

[Buzzo]

He doesn't have to like Rafa or want to be friends with him. He's entitled to an opinion on people he's spent time with in person. People don't need to be so touchy about it.

It's Gerrard who is touchy about it though, he clearly cannot fathom why Rafa did not reach out to him. Gerrard wanted to feel 'loved' by Rafa, but that just wasn't how Rafa dealt with him. The irony being that this approach drove Gerrard to want to impress him, which in turn brought about his best performances. The fact that he was being managed seems to escape Gerrard who openly admits to preferring the open 'love in' style of management from Rodgers and Hodgson, a style of management that won him **** all!

I think Stevie needs to be loved, and as a manager of a football club, that is not going to be possible. I'd suggest its a game that's not just for him.

Carragher has way more of the attributes required to succeed in management.

[frank the tank]

I wonder would Gerrard swap his European cup winners medal for a few Brendan Rodgers / Gerard Houllier / roy Hodgson style interviews on sky about how ****in lucky we are to have Gerrard and how ****in great he is....

I always thought Gerrard was an amazing player....real roy of the rovers stuff.....and I have never seen a performance like he gave in the CL final - played immense, scored one, won a penalty and played in about 4 positions that night.

But he always comes across as a right knob. Suppose it's to be expected when you have a whole city sucking you off for the best part of 20years....

[G]

Three players stand out in my time at Liverpool. They all speak Spanish. Each of them unleashes a wave of emotion in me and in every Liverpool supporter: Fernando Torres. Xabi Alonso. Luis Suarez.

It was clear Alonso was royalty after our first training session together in August 2004, and Rafa Benitez, who had been so clever to buy him in the first place, was equally stupid to sell him to Real Madrid five years later. He was, by some distance, the best central midfielder I ever played alongside.

It was a disastrous decision to sell Alonso, and especially for just £30million — which looks a snip now when you reflect on all he has achieved subsequently, both at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and with Spain, winning the Euros and the World Cup. I blame Rafa entirely for the loss of Alonso. He could still have been playing for Liverpool six or seven years after he left in 2009.

I think more about the special players we lost — Alonso, Torres and Suarez — than the terrible signings with which we got lumbered.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz3leps94pW

[Shaggy]

Is he for real re Alonso? He wanted to go to Real. No one called Ferguson stupid for selling Ronaldo. And also, like **** he'd still be here. We sell our best players, it's what we do. As if someone of Xabi's level would still be here. We were lucky to have him for five or six years in the first place.

[Kenneth]

We obviously know Alonso better than Stevie.

[G]

This one's a beauty.

Once my playing career is over in America I want to explore various aspects of management. I would love to spend some time with a few top managers. How could you not learn a lot if you had a chance to talk in detail about management to Mourinho, Wenger, Hodgson and Rodgers?

[Liverpool]

Does he blame Rafa for signing him as well.

[Shaggy]

Haha - you're as deluded as Gerrard if you think Alonso would still be here now if he hadn't been forced to sign for Real Madrid in 2009.

[Fierce]

Ouch

[McDermotX]

Is he for real re Alonso? He wanted to go to Real. No one called Ferguson stupid for selling Ronaldo. And also, like **** he'd still be here. We sell our best players, it's what we do. As if someone of Xabi's level would still be here. We were lucky to have him for five or six years in the first place.

We obviously know Alonso better than Stevie.

I suspect not, but then it wouldn't surprise me if players don't always know that ins and outs of a colleague's private lives and career.

I mean, I know the people I've worked with for longer than Gerrard knew Alonso, but I've no real ideas of how their careers are managed, or what way they handle their interactions with their superiors and other colleagues.

I am very grateful to Liverpool fans, they were very warm during my five years," he said. "It will be really difficult to match their appreciation.
"I really enjoyed those five years. But a few months ago I took that decision as I thought it was the right moment to find a fresh challenge, to look for a new club.
"That's when Real Madrid came along. Luckily a deal has been done and I'm very happy. It is a personal challenge I felt is necessary for my football career."
The transfer was one of the most protracted deals of the summer but Alonso claims he always believed he would be at the Bernabeu before the start of the season.
"I didn't have all the cards in my hand but I was confident," he said. "A while back I became determined to leave.
"The end result was what I wished for, here I am and I am very happy."
Reports suggest Alonso's relationship with Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez disintegrated after he professed his desire to leave.
However, Alonso insists he has nothing but respect for his former manager.
"I have repeated over and over again that the relationship was a professional one, of mutual respect, a normal one between coach and player," he said.
"I respect him and thank him for the opportunity he gave me. The goodbyes were quite brief, everything happened very quickly and I didn't have time to say goodbye properly.
"I want to return to say goodbye to my team-mates and Rafa. As everything was very quick I hardly had time so as soon as I can I will say goodbye as I should have done."

We can hypothesise on rumour and story about the season previous, but I've always thought people wilfully ignored Alonso's desire to move back to Spain......and he was hardly ****ing slumming it going back to Spain with a young family.

[Chazza]

Erm surely it was Rafa's fault that Alonso left? Gareth Barry and all that.