Dirk Kuyt explains how Steven Gerrard reacted to being dropped by Liverpool

Posted by

All legends have their day, and then they have to step aside to let the next generation make their own waves at the club.

Liverpool hero Steven Gerrard – as great as he was – is also included, but he didn’t want to make a splash, according to Dirk Kuyt.

The former Dutch international forward played for the Reds between 2006 and 2012, before Gerrard left the club in 2015.

And the Scouser’s reaction to getting phased out of the team is something that has stuck with Kuyt. “The most special moment took place when, just at the club, I saw a list of sixteen names hanging in the dressing room for the game selection,he told De Telegraaf (via Sport Witness).

Gerrard was not among them. If that had happened to me at Feyenoord, I would have gone mad. Gerrard turned around, said nothing, [and] went home. He showed the only mentality needed to get the most out of a team.

In the Netherlands, players always want to blame everything and everyone if they don’t play. Gerrard just accepted it. He didn’t want to let the team suffer.

I have never forgotten that. Everyone should propagate that mentality to achieve the maximum together.

Dirk isn’t the first player ever to comment on Gerrard’s professionalism, and seeing him succeed as a manager in Scotland only further shows that.

As a fan, seeing Stevie getting phased out was incredibly difficult to watch so fair play to the man for being able to keep his cool in a situation like that.

It’s a shame that Gerrard had to find out he didn’t make the squad in such a way though – you’d have to hope the manager would give him a heads-up.

Not that it should happen every week, but Gerrard is a legend of the club and had played pretty much every game in a decade – surely a quick phone-call would have been in order.

More Stories Kuyt Liverpool