The Reds are on course to win their first top-flight crown in 30 years and the former midfielder believes it could be a “healing moment” for him
Steven Gerrard believes Liverpool winning the Premier League title would help him get over his famous slip against Chelsea in 2014.
The Reds legend’s mistake at Anfield allowed Demba Ba to go on and score the opening goal of the 2-0 win for the Blues in April of that year.
The moment is remembered as the turning point in the title race, as Manchester City went on to finish two points ahead of Liverpool and claim the Premier League crown.
This season, however, the Reds are in a comfortable position at the top of the table. Jurgen Klopp’s team remain unbeaten after 20 games and sit 13 points ahead of second-placed Leicester.
With Liverpool fans growing confident of winning a first league title in 30 years, legendary midfielder Gerrard hopes they pull it off for his sake as well as the club’s.
“I think about it most days, a Liverpool team winning the league would help how I feel for sure,” he said on The Greatest Game with Jamie Carragher .
“When I analyse it properly, I obviously understand it wasn’t just that moment [that cost Liverpool the title], but still part of me in my head thinks it is.
“People say to me to make me feel better: ‘It was over 28 games’, but I still know behind what you’re saying to me that moment was so big.
“Brendan said recently that Jordan Henderson’s suspension killed us and it did… an own goal that Kolo Toure scored when we were winning at West Brom and drew the game and lost two points. All little things like that during the season, but it wasn’t at that time, that moment against that team, so that’s still behind all those people trying to soften it up for me.
“When Liverpool won the Champions League, I was looking around the fans thinking: ‘They’re all happy again’, it made me feel better again. After Madrid, looking around they were all sad again, but the Champions League last year was a healing moment for me.
“I think winning the league would definitely play a part. And I think also my own personal stuff with Rangers, if I go on to have a successful season, I think that will help as well, because that was a f*cking tough moment, even tougher than what people probably think it was. The only time in a 20-year career I’ve been numb, like my body’s felt numb.”
Gerrard left Liverpool a year later to join LA Galaxy, a few months before Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers at the helm of the Anfield outfit.
And the former midfielder admits he regrets the decision not to extend his stay at the club, even though he was not happy with the contract he was offered.
“I still feel a little bit sorry for Brendan at that time because I think certain people still probably blame him for phasing me out,” he said.
“But I don’t think he phased me out because he offered me another year, so I think he was definitely keen for me to stay around. I was more disappointed above him in terms of the contract offer. All of a sudden I was getting offered a contract on the number of appearances, starts and Premier League goals
“I wouldn’t put any kind of blame in terms of he’s the man phasing me out. I made the decision not to sign to be an extra squad player and that’s a decision I regret because I might have got the back end of Klopp and got the back end of playing, I don’t know, 20 games under the Klopp era.
“He might have gotten rid of me because I didn’t have the legs to play his style.”
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