Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Andoni Iraola during Liverpool vs Spurs
Photo by Steven Halliwell/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Liverpool loan report: How every player is getting on away from Anfield with one player really catching the eye
Liverpool loan report: How every player is getting on away from Anfield with one player really catching the eye
Jeremie Frimpong handed new setback at Liverpool after difficult international break
Jeremie Frimpong handed new setback at Liverpool after difficult international break
Stewart Downing says who was better during his time at Liverpool - Steven Gerrard or Luis Suarez
Stewart Downing says who was better during his time at Liverpool - Steven Gerrard or Luis Suarez
Why Liverpool fans should be watching Real Madrid very closely until the January transfer window opens
Why Liverpool fans should be watching Real Madrid very closely until the January transfer window opens
Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
Photo by Stefan Koops/EYE4IMAGES/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by Stefan Koops/EYE4IMAGES/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Liverpool four-grid
Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
READ MORE: Steven Gerrard says Liverpool let a striker go who could’ve been as good as Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez
“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.”