Legends on legends - Liverpool

Sometimes, the numbers do the talking. 710 games, 186 goals, 114 caps for England, Champions League, two FA Cups, three League Cups, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup... as Liverpool’s official website states, ‘few men will ever match the legacy forged by Steven Gerrard at Liverpool FC’.

The only player in Liverpool’s history to feature in the club's all-time top five for both appearances and goals, ‘Stevie G’ came through the youth system at Anfield to lead the Reds to European glory, the ‘miracle of Istanbul’, when they came from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan on penalties in 2005, the highlight of a 17-year career in front of The Kop.

He was named UEFA Club Footballer of the Year after landing that Champions League trophy in 2005 and finished third in both the ballon D’or and BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year voting. The complete midfielder, Gerrard scored in an FA Cup Final, a League Cup Final, a UEFA Cup Final and a UEFA Champions League Final, winning on each occasion.

On the international front, Gerrard won his first England cap in 2000 and remains fourth on the Three Lions’ all-time cap list with 114, his final appearance in 2014. He captained his country 38 times and played in six major tournaments (World Cup 2006, 2010, 2014; Euro 2000, 2004, 2012).

Gerrard spent the final years of his career at LA Galaxy, where he hooked up with Robbie Keane in 2015, before turning to coaching and management. Initially appointed manager of Liverpool’s Under-18 side, Gerrard switched Merseyside for Scotland and the top job at Glasgow Rangers, where it looks like he’s heading towards ending Celtic’s run of nine titles on the trot.

Jermaine Jenas broke into Forest's first team aged 17 in 2001 and a year later, moved to Newcastle United. He joined Spurs in 2005 and stayed until 2013, making over 200 appearances in all competitions before ending his playing days at QPR, where a knee injury forced him to call time on his career in 2016. JJ spent the best part of 15 years up against Gerrard in the midfield battlegrounds and six years as his England team-mate.

JJ on Stevie G

“He was a complete nightmare to play against. You know what it was? I always found when you played on ‘his patch’, Anfield, he took it personally. If you were going to Anfield and played against ‘his’ Liverpool team, he always made it quite clear that you were on his patch. Maybe there would be a big challenge early. I remember going there with Newcastle and Graeme Souness (then Newcastle manager) had spoken about Sven-Goran Eriksson’s choices in midfield, I was playing well at the time and he was pushing me to be starting for England. We played Liverpool at Anfield and within five minutes, Stevie’s smashed the life out of me. It was a good tackle, he won the ball, but he properly went through me. I flew up in the air, landed, and there was a smile, no bad blood between us, and that was it. He’s certainly one of, if not the toughest I played against, purely and simply because he had everything. If you wanted to sit deep and pass from distance, he could do that. If it was a scrap in the middle of the park, second balls, he was brilliant at that. And of course, anything around the 18-yard box, he was lethal. He’s probably the best I played against in that area.”