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‘I have to be careful’ – Gerrard makes Klopp, Liverpool claim and regrets major low in Anfield career

Steven Gerrard has urged Liverpool fans to soak up every minute of Jurgen Klopp’s time as manager before his expected departure in 2024.

Klopp has performed wonders for the Reds since taking over in 2015. He lost his first three finals but now has five major trophies to his name at Anfield. What’s more, that tally could reach eight at the end of this season.

Indeed, Liverpool have already won the Carabao Cup this term and are after the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

Gerrard never played under Klopp, but Klopp has insisted in the past that he would have loved the 41-year-old in his team.

And, looking from afar at the work the German has done at Liverpool, Gerrard warned fans not to take the current times for granted.

The Aston Villa boss told The Overlap: “Every time I’ve met Jurgen Klopp, I’ve seen him walking his dog, and it’s always open arms and it’s real.

“I know I’m in the same league and competing, I have to be careful what I say.

“But Liverpool fans should enjoy Jurgen Klopp because he’s going to be one in a million, he’s that good.”

Gerrard left Anfield for LA Galaxy at the end of the 2014/15 season after narrowly missing out on the Premier League title with his boyhood club.

Brendan Rodgers had Liverpool fighting with Manchester City all the way, until a damaging 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in April 2014.

And a slip from Gerrard allowed Chelsea to open the scoring. From there, the Reds also collapsed from 3-0 up against Crystal Palace as their title hopes diminished.

But for Gerrard, his costly moment stands out as one of the lowest in his Liverpool career.

Liverpool slip proved costly

“It still pains me and as you say it is a bruise,” the former midfielder said. “It was a learning experience, it is something that I always will take responsibility for. That’s the moment I look back on and think ‘If only I’d got that right, it would be so much better’.

“It definitely flashes back, I think the reason why I always say that moment [as his lowest point] is because I don’t want people to think I’m ignoring it. Unfortunately it happened to me at a real cruel time from a personal point of view.

“It definitely had an effect on me mentally for some time – I don’t know whether it was months or years – still to this day it doesn’t feel great. Time wise maybe that affect my decision to go to America.

“I think being in Liverpool, when you’re in that routine, sometimes you’ve got to break free.

“I still wanted to enjoy my football, I still felt I had a few years left and I felt like the best thing for me, my family and the ending was to just go and reset. It wasn’t off the back of that but probably where I was at, I’d say it had an influence.”

Gerrard forging new career

Since retiring though, Gerrard has flourished in management.

He moved back to Liverpool and held talks with Klopp about taking up a management career. He subsequently took charge of Liverpool’s Under-18s, before getting the Rangers job.

And he led the Gers to a long-awaited league Scottish Premiership title, therefore attracting attention from elsewhere.

There was talk that succeeding Klopp may be his first Premier League manager’s job.

While moving back to Anfield in that role is still a possibility, he decided to cut his teeth with Villa instead.

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