Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Stewart Downing did not have one of the most memorable Liverpool careers of the 21st century, but he still played with some top players at Anfield.
The left winger joined at a transitional time for the Reds in 2011, and though he only managed seven goals in 91 appearances for the Reds, he is a big part of the reason Luis Suarez won a trophy at Liverpool, having been named man of the match in the 2012 League Cup final.
Steven Gerrard was the man who hoisted that trophy aloft at Wembley, and having seen both the former Liverpool captain and Suarez up close across two seasons, Downing has now named which of the legendary pair was better.
Andoni Iraola during Liverpool vs Spurs
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Downing picks Gerrard over Suarez
Although Downing left before Suarez’s real explosion in the 2013/14 season, he still witnessed the Uruguayan’s ascent to stardom the season before, when he plundered 30 goals.
Already into his 30s, Gerrard was perhaps not the player he once was at that point either, but according to Downing, the Scouser still takes the title of the best he ever played with during a 19-year career which took in six different clubs and 35 caps with England.
“I think Steven Gerrard would have to be the best all-round player,” Downing told the Pickd Sports podcast. “I’d played with him at England when he was in his pomp, the box-to-box, what you saw in those elite years in the Premier League, and he was unbelievable. He had everything.
“Then I played with him at the back end of his career when he was sort of a sitting midfielder and still ran games by spraying it everywhere. I even saw stuff when he was struggling with big injuries, how he came back from them and still performed and dragged teams. He was unbelievable. The best probably all-round player I played with.”
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“Luis Suarez, I only got him for two seasons and then he just went to another level, but you could see that coming from the first day he came in. His mentality, how he was. He was just a bit raw then and obviously a bit mad at times but then he settled down and became the player he was. But that wasn’t a fluke, you could see that coming.
“But as an all-round player and how much I played with him at England and Liverpool, I think it’d have to be Steven Gerrard.”
Downing details Liverpool scouting job
As well as playing for two seasons at Liverpool, Downing is currently back working for the club as a global talent scout. Re-joining behind the scenes in 2025, the 42-year-old has explained what his current job entails and how it all came about.
“The job I’m in now, I’m scouting for Liverpool at the minute,” he said. “Don’t ask me any questions on it, because I won’t be allowed to say! But basically I’m scouting the youth from 16 to 21s, it’s called a global talent scout for a posher name if you like, which I really, really love.
“At the start I was coaching for Middlesbrough U16s, I wanted to stay on there full-time but it got a bit messy, so I stepped away from that. I was doing lots of media work for Sky and I was really enjoying that, something else I didn’t plan. Then got a call from Leeds to go in there for six months because I knew Andrew Taylor and they needed someone to be assistant coach for the U23s. I thought that’d be good for me, I live literally five minutes from the training ground, so I thought I’ll do that for six months.
“They wanted me to go back, but it’s a difficult age group the U23s. They’re a difficult group to manage. I just thought this is not for me, it’s not giving me the buzz I thought it would give me.
“I stepped away and then Liverpool ended up calling me through different avenues of people I knew and I’d done a few visits coaching there, and they said there’s a job here, the scouting has come up, what do you think?
“I’m one of them who will try anything and they said look if you don’t like it, give it six months, a year and give us a shout and you can leave or we’ll find something else, but I’ve loved it.
“Obviously speaking to all people behind the scenes at Liverpool, it’s very hard not to learn because of the experience they’ve had,” Downing added. “Julian Ward, Michael Edwards, all these big figures in the game who deal with big people and big transfers. So, it was a massive learning curve for me and just a real eye-opener to watching youth players and what you look for and what is scouting. I’ve been doing that for about 18 months now and it’s been first-class.”
Photo by Helios de la Rubia/Real Madrid via Getty Images
Photo by Helios de la Rubia/Real Madrid via Getty Images
Kevin Schade
Photo by Roy Lazet/Soccrates/Getty Images
Photo by Roy Lazet/Soccrates/Getty Images