Micah Richards has played with some all-time greats for club and country, and he says one Liverpool player was of a different level.
Liverpool’s cohort of English players isn’t what it once was.
After Trent Alexander-Arnold’s Real Madrid move, Joe Gomez and Curtis Jones are the only experienced England internationals in the squad.
How much longer should Liverpool persevere with Curtis Jones?
Surely there are better options out there in the market…
That wasn’t the case back when Richards was kicking about. During the mid 2000s, he played with arguably the best of the lot.
Micah Richards says Steven Gerrard was England’s clear best player in training
It should come as no surprise to hear Steven Gerrard’s name come up in the conversation. He was a cut above during his prime years at Anfield.
Richards gets annoyed at people overlooking Gerrard, who he sees as the best midfielder to do it in the Premier League.
While discussing the Liverpool legend’s career on The Rest Is Football, Richards explains just how noticeably superior Gerrard was.
He says: “He’s the best. All round defending, attacking, passing, scoring goals, crosses, pass everything. He was a complete midfielder without doubt. And all these people who say, ‘Oh, he’s never won a Premier League.’ Yeah. But look at some of the teams he played in.
“He won the Champions League, dragged them through that. He’s just phenomenal, unbelievable. Playing against him and playing with him, played with him for England as well. In training, he was the best by far. There’s always levels, and he was just above Rio Ferdinand and JT. They could see they was a different level.”
Richards played with Gerrard in the mid 2000s when he was at the peak of his powers, and even all-time greats like Rio Ferdinand and John Terry could see how special the Scouser was.
Micah Richards recalls humorous interaction with Steven Gerrard
Recalling his first-ever interaction with Gerrard, Richards explained how he played with the midfielder’s boots.
He said on an earlier episode of the podcast: ““I always took my own boots. So I had two pairs – a mould and a stud. I look in my bag and as I’m going down I realise it’s four left feet. So then I go in the corridor and I see Steven Gerrard – it’s the first time I’ve met him properly.
- READ MORE: Steven Gerrard shares whether he’s still backing Arne Slot at Liverpool after dismal Burnley draw
“I said, ‘Stevie, you can’t borrow us a pair of boots can you?’ Luckily we were a similar size. He gives me his boots, we go train – it’s the best training session I’ve ever had. So I said to Steven Gerrard afterwards, ‘can I have the boots?’ – he said ‘f*** off!’.”
Who is the bigger Liverpool legend, Salah or Gerrard?
One thing fans loved about Gerrard was that he said it how it is. When Liverpool were in the pits, he was the leader, accepting responsibility and acting as the face and voice of the club.
That no-nonsense attitude was what his teammates got as well, by the sounds of it.
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