While many of Steven Gerrard’s former teammates would likely pick him as the best player they shared a pitch with, who does Gerrard himself choose?
During his career at Liverpool and with England, Gerrard partnered with a number of elite midfielders. He spent the most time on the field with Dietmar Hamann and also lined up alongside players like Lucas Leiva and Danny Murphy at club level.
Internationally, Gerrard was often paired with Frank Lampard amid ongoing debates about their compatibility, and he also played alongside stars like David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Michael Carrick. Joe Cole, who featured with Gerrard for both Liverpool and England in more advanced roles, was another player Gerrard held in high regard.
However, when it came to naming the best midfielder he ever played with, Gerrard chose someone slightly lower on the list in terms of appearances together—Xabi Alonso. The duo shared the field 165 times at Liverpool, famously winning the Champions League in the 2004-05 season.
In a 2015 column for the Daily Mail, Gerrard praised Alonso lavishly, recalling their first training session together and criticizing then-manager Rafa Benitez for later selling the Spaniard to Real Madrid.
“From our very first training session in August 2004, it was obvious Alonso was pure class,” Gerrard wrote. “Rafa Benitez made a brilliant move bringing him in, but selling him five years later was a huge mistake.”
Gerrard went further, calling Alonso “by some distance, the best central midfielder I ever played alongside.”
Alonso added an FA Cup to his Liverpool achievements before departing for Madrid in 2009. Gerrard lamented the decision, describing the £30 million fee as a bargain considering Alonso’s later successes with Madrid, Bayern Munich, and the Spanish national team.
“It was a disastrous decision to let Alonso go,” Gerrard added. “He could easily have stayed at Liverpool for another six or seven years.”
Reflecting on his playing days, Gerrard said he often thought more about the world-class talents Liverpool lost—like Alonso, Fernando Torres, and Luis Suarez—than the poor signings the club made over the years.
After over 500 Premier League appearances, Gerrard went on to play briefly in Major League Soccer with LA Galaxy before moving into management, leading Liverpool’s youth teams, Rangers, Aston Villa, and Al-Ettifaq.