In surprising praise for his former rival, Steven Gerrard claimed that one Manchester United legend would now be the best in his position in the Premier League.
Gerrard has say on Man United rivalry
Gerrard's Premier League title never quite arrived. Whether it was down to the sudden emergence of a beach ball in front of Pepe Reina or his own disastrous slip against Chelsea many years later is something that many at Anfield will still be thinking about, but it's also worth considering the strength of Liverpool's rivals in this era.
This was Man United at their very best. For large parts of this era, they were unstoppable under Sir Alex Ferguson - winning 13 Premier League titles in total. Even Champions League miracle men at Anfield couldn't stand in the Red Devils' way and Gerrard has now had his say as to why those at Old Trafford had the edge and the part he played in the rivalry between Man United and Liverpool.
"It was a huge, very important game of football that meant the world to me and everything to me in that moment. In my first early Manchester United games, we were tortured, playing against Any Cole, York, Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Keane. That team come to Anfield and would be a level above the team that I first broke into, so a lot of hurt and a lot of pain in the early things."
The rivalry was often so fierce that it arguably came to the detriment of England's Golden Generation. Both camps failed to put their egos aside for the benefit of the Three Lions and ultimately failed as a result.
Now, years later, the respect is finally there in full and Gerrard has even gone as far as to say that one Man United legend would be the "best" in his position these days.
Gerrard: Scholes would be the "best" if he played now
Handing surprising praise to his old rival, Gerrard said that Paul Scholes would be the "best midfielder" in the Premier League nowadays with the technical aspects of his game standing out.
The Liverpool legend told Rio Ferdinand: "I think Scholesy if he played now would hands down be the best midfielder in the Premier League. That’s a fact."
Scholes in the Premier League Stats
Appearances 499
Goals 107
Assists 61
Title Wins 11
For so long, there has been a debate around who takes top spot between Frank Lampard, Gerrard and Scholes - a midfield three which somehow never worked for England - but Gerrard seems to believe that it would be the former United man in top spot if all three played in the modern game.
paul-scholes-man-utd
It's some of the highest praise that Scholes could have received, given the talent in the Premier League these days. Gerrard even put him above Manchester City's Rodri in what should please those at Old Trafford. And to say that Ruben Amorim could do with a player of Scholes' calibre now would be an understatement.