‘Playing for Liverpool were the best days of my life – but I HATED being in the England squad’

England’s senior squad went through a number of frustrating tournaments this century and one of the national team’s biggest stars has opened up on his own issues during that period

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has admitted he hated being part of the England squad during his playing career and praised former team-mate Gareth Southgate for the culture change he later instilled as manager.

Gerrard won 114 senior caps for the Three Lions, playing in front of Southgate on several occasions, but things were different then to how they are now.

Gerrard’s first cap arrived in May 2000, with his first tournament appearance coming weeks later at that summer’s European Championships. He was still part of the England set-up by the time the 2014 World Cup rolled around, wearing the captain’s armband in defeats against Italy and Uruguay, but insists his international career didn’t hold a candle to the highs experienced at his boyhood club.

During an appearance on the Rio Ferdinand Presents Podcast, he was asked if he enjoyed his time in the England camp. He said: “I hated it. I didn’t enjoy it. Hated the rooms. In my early days, I’d have days where I was down, like low down. Like I’m in this room for seven hours, what am I going to do?”

Actually playing for England wasn’t the issue for Gerrard though, he added: “I used to love the games. I used to love playing for England. Really proud. I used to enjoy the training sessions but it was 90 minutes a day,” he said.

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“And then I was just on my own in London or in… Romania or wherever. And I was thinking, I’m in this room from now till I have half an hour dinner, then till the next day. It was like I didn’t feel part of a team. I didn’t feel connected with my teammates with England.

“I didn’t feel that with Liverpool. They were the best days of my life. When I used to go abroad to Liverpool or I used to go to an away game with Liverpool, I felt part of a team. I felt like the staff looked over me, like I felt special. I felt like I couldn’t wait to get there. With England, I just wanted the games and the training sessions and then to be away.”

Gerrard spent almost his entire career with Liverpool, only leaving for a brief stint at LA Galaxy during his twilight years. He played more than 700 games for the Reds, winning the Champions League in 2005 and reaching the final of the same competition two years after that.

At international level, he captained England at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups and at Euro 2012. The national side never got further than the quarter-finals of a major tournament during his time in the side, but reached new heights under Southgate with a pair of Euros finals.

“I think Gareth Southgate is underrated for how he connected with the England team,” Gerrard added. “Because for me, the talent was there. The players were there. The level of games we were all playing at was there to go and do better than what we did.

“I think we had a little bit of bad luck with the penalties or whatever. We have to take responsibility, but I’ve got a big frustration when I look back at England that we never did better. I think it’s a combination of different things, but one of the big things for me was we weren’t a team. We were a group of individuals with talent and it never works like that.”

Listen to the full Rio Meets Steven Gerrard interview on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

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