Arne Slot has named Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard in his all-time Champions League XI, ahead of Andres Iniesta and Zinedine Zidane.
Although he never won the Premier League, Gerrard dragged Liverpool to incredible success against the odds in the Champions League.
The former England international notched 21 goals and 14 assists in 73 competition appearances — as well as a further 9g/4a in 14 qualifiers — winning the 2005 final against AC Milan and finishing runner-up to the same opponent two years later.
That came at a time when Liverpool’s team was a far cry from the star-studded unit Slot has inherited from Jurgen Klopp and Gerrard has long been hailed as the catalyst and reason behind their success under Rafa Benitez.
In fact, many Liverpool fans hold Gerrard among the club’s greatest-ever players, alongside the likes of Kenny Dalglish and Mohamed Salah.
Asked to pick his all-time Champions League XI for Amazon Prime, Slot outlined his reasoning behind picking Gerrard over the likes of Iniesta and Zidane.
“If you would have asked me this a year ago I would have probably said Iniesta, but I think now I’m going to go for Steven Gerrard, being Liverpool manager!” said Slot (via This is Anfield).
“Why he might deserve to be in my team is that the other ones, like Iniesta, like Zidane, they played with incredible teammates, and of course, Steven Gerrard played with good to really good teammates, but I don’t think he played with the same level of players.
“Then still being so special for the club, lifting the trophy once, playing so long for this club, he meant so much for it.”
Arne Slot picks four current Liverpool players in UCL XI
Virgil van Dijk has won it all with Liverpool. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Whether it’s bias, fear of enraging his new fans or simply being wowed by the players he’s inherited, Slot picked no fewer than four current Liverpool players for his combined XI.
Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson is between the sticks,…
Author : CJ
Publish date : 2024-10-12 22:27:02
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Publish date : 2024-10-12 22:45:05
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