Brendan Rodgers and Steven Gerrard came head-to-head for the first time in the Premier League this weekend.
With the two men and Rafa Benitez, there is a strong Anfield contingent amongst the Premier League managers today.
The match provided the former Liverpool captain and manager an opportunity to reminisce about their time at Anfield with each other and to share a few compliments.
The 48-year-old said: “He is the epitome of a top player, someone who consistently played at the very highest level for so many years and he was great for me when I was at Liverpool, a good man and he captained the team immaculately in his time.
“It doesn’t surprise me that he’s made that step, going into management, and I’m pretty sure that Steven, obviously we don’t have that much contact now because it’s very busy … but I can see the similar mindset that he has taken into his coaching and his management career”.
There are only seven years between the two men and they were very nearly the duo that Jurgen Klopp and Jordan Henderson proved to be, the first to win the Premier League for our club.
It’s good to see that the former boss has a lot of respect for his former captain and that they still have a positive relationship today.
You can watch some of Rodgers’ compliments about Gerrard courtesy of Sky Sports (via @footballdaily):
🗣"He is the epitome of a top player."
Brendan Rodgers's very much looking forward to meeting with Steven Gerrard again pic.twitter.com/XIoIdXxKi8
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) December 5, 2021
🗣"It doesn't surprise me he's made that step to management. I can see that similar mindset taking that into his coaching and management career.
Brendan Rodgers always knew Steven Gerrard had the potential to become a successful manager pic.twitter.com/yVSYwukvNG
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) December 5, 2021