Gerrard : Madrid snub led to exit

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed that he knew his time at the club was over when he was overlooked for the game at the Bernabeu.

Gerrard was named as a substitute in an important game against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu which the Reds lost 1-0 and failed to qualify for the knockout rounds of the competition. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers’ team selection was questioned by many including former England striker Gary Lineker. Rodgers had named a rather weak side against Madrid in order to concentrate on the league. Gerrard was brought in with just 20 minutes to go but failed to make a mark on the game.

In an interview with Rio Ferdinand on BT Sport , the 35-year-old said: “This was round about the time when I was doing a lot of thinking about what’s next for me because I’d had a couple of initial chats with Brendan saying to me, ‘ I’m going to start managing your games and I have to look after you and I want you to be fresh and I don’t want you to be playing three games in a week because you may be tired’ and stuff like that.

“But this situation was a bit unique because it was Real Madrid and I wanted to play.

“I sat on that bench devastated because I wanted to play, so it is one of those situations. It sort of pushed me into making a decision to move on and try something different.”

The two also talked about Gerrard’s infamous slip against Chelsea which potentially costed Liverpool a first league title in 24 years. Gerrard said :
“The slip happened at a bad time, it was cruel for me personally.”

He also added. “There’s not a day that doesn’t go by that I don’t think about what if that didn’t happen.

“Would things have been different? Would it have turned out different? Maybe it might have, I don’t know.”

Gerrard will now ply his trade in the US with MLS side LA Galaxy.