Steven Gerrard has said that he wouldn’t be able to speak to Liverpool’s owners if they had indulged in the financial wrongdoing of which the Manchester City hierarchy have been found guilty.
The Etihad Stadium outfit have been deemed culpable by an independent commission of 114 breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations, with the club expected to be handed a severe punishment befitting of their crimes (The Athletic).
Reds supporters made their anger at the situation quite clear during the teams’ clash at Anfield on Sunday, in which the home side went down to a 3-0 defeat, all of the goals coming after the controversial dismissal of Ryan Gravenberch.
What has Gerrard said about Man City charges?
Speaking on the Overlap Daily on Monday, Gerrard – captain of the Liverpool team which lost out to Man City by two points in the 2013/14 Premier League title race – stated that he would be ashamed of the Anfield hierarchy if they had done what their Manchester counterparts have.
The 46-year-old said: “I spoke to a few people high up yesterday [Sunday] at Liverpool and I couldn’t help but say to them: ‘If this was us, I don’t think I could speak to you face to face.’
“That’s what I said to him: ‘I don’t think I can speak to you face to face’. It was a high-up official; I won’t say who it was.
“If this was Liverpool and the [2005] Champions League final – the best night of my life – or the FA Cup final in 2006, I wasn’t good enough at the time to win a league or whatever. What I would say is if this was Liverpool and they tainted or tarnished those memories, I couldn’t speak to those owners ever again. I couldn’t.”
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Gerrard won his silverware at Liverpool fairly
Gerrard could very easily have had a Premier League winner’s medal in 2014 if it weren’t for a Man City team which, while gaining more points on the pitch across that season, had been assembled with some underhanded financial practices.
That still feels like an unjust gap on the midfielder’s CV, but at least he can hold his head high in the knowledge that the trophies he won at Liverpool were earned without recourse to off-field cheating.
Enzo Maresca’s side might’ve claimed all three points on Sunday, but the general feeling throughout football circles is that it was a hollow victory which could ultimately count for nothing if they’re hit with a heavy punishment in terms of points deductions or relegation.
Also, even if Man City somehow win any appeal against the guilty verdict or whatever sanction is eventually handed down to them, the reputation of their owners will never be repaired, and the club’s name has been dragged through the mud.
Thankfully, the conscience of Gerrard and Liverpool is clear, and both he and the Reds have still had plenty of success in the 21st century.