Former Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic has expressed sympathy for Steven Gerrard, suggesting that the Liverpool legend deserved to win at least one Premier League title.
Gerrard came through the ranks at Liverpool and spent most of his professional career at the Merseyside club but failed to win a league title during his 17 years at Anfield.
Most notably, he came close to winning the EPL title with the Reds in the 2013-14 campaign but fell short as Manchester City pipped them to the summit by two points after the final game of the campaign. Their capitulation began after the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in Matchweek 36.
During that match at Anfield, Gerrard made a costly error as he slipped, leading to Demba Ba racing through on goal and put the Blues in front. Willian then doubled Chelsea’s lead late on, putting the Merseysiders in a precarious situation in the title race. A 3-3 draw against Crystal Palace in the next match completely ruled out the Reds’ chances of winning the title.
Matic, who played the full 90 minutes of that match, felt ‘sorry’ that Gerrard didn’t have a Premier League title in his trophy cabinet during a recent interview.
“My son recently asked me, ‘Dad, what was Gerrard like?’ I said he was one of the hardest players to play against, along with Yaya Toure,” he told FourFourTwo. “Amazing players. He asked if I’d seen him slip – I said I was there and told him to look at who the first player to approach Demba Ba to celebrate was. Me!
“I was happy that we won the game, but I felt a bit sorry for Gerrard. He deserved to win at least one Premier League. Maybe he could have gone to another club and won five – he was good enough. [Jose] Mourinho told us before that game, 'Listen guys, we don’t want to be clowns at their party, we need to destroy the party.”
During his time at Liverpool, Gerrard won nine trophies, including the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup.
When Gerrard admitted not regretting turning down Chelsea to stay at Liverpool
Back in 2005, Gerrard was close to joining Chelsea from Liverpool after he handed in a transfer request at his childhood club. It came just weeks after he had led the Reds to Champions League glory, with the club also confirming a parting of ways was on the cards. Gerrard also issued a statement of his own, saying it was the hardest decision he’s ever had to make.
However, in a surprise turn of events, both parties agreed to continue working together barely 24 hours later. Liverpool apologized for misconstruing how Gerrard had wanted contract talks to be undertaken.
Speaking on The Greatest Game podcast in 2020, he told Jamie Carragher:
“I don’t have any regrets about not going to Chelsea. None! No regrets over it at all. I can take my lad to the games now. I can be at Liverpool. I was invited back to the academy to coach. That’s the relationship I want with Liverpool.”
In an exclusive interview with TNT Sports in December, Gerrard further revealed he was tempted to join Chelsea after a phone call from Jose Mourinho in 2004.