The former captain traps a brutal judgment over the time of the national team.
- Steven Gerrard says the England players were “selfish losers” in “Rio Ferdinand Presents”.
- He says he hated the national team collections, felt in isolation and down, and that the players never became a real team.
- England stopped at quarterfinals in his time, as he describes the Liverpool years as the best days of his life.
“I think we were all selfish losers,” said former Liverpool player Gerrard in the podcast “Rio Ferdinand Presents,” according to The Athletic.
Former England and Liverpool
Gerrard played 114 international matches and was captain in 38 of them. He participated in six major tournaments, but England never got further than the quarterfinals during his national team career.
The 45-year-old describes that he felt isolated at national team meetings.
– I hated it. I didn’t cost myself. Hated the rooms, he says.
– I used to be down and depressed. I was in the room for seven hours, what should I do? There was no social media, we didn’t have a DVD player or anything. Only channel 1 to 5 on the TV.
Gerrard thinks the problem was that the players never became a real team together.
– We were never associated. Everyone was too much in their rooms. We were not friendly or connected. We weren’t a team, he says.
He compares to his career in Liverpool, where he felt special and wanted.
– It was the best days of my life. With England I just wanted the matches and workouts, so I just wanted to go home.
