Football
ESPN staff 7y

Steven Gerrard: I could've won trophies at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp

Steven Gerrard says Liverpool would have won more trophies during his playing days had Jurgen Klopp been the manager.

Gerrard, who never won the Premier League title during his long tenure with Liverpool, suited up for Wednesday's friendly against Sydney FC, and he came away with high praise after playing under Klopp for the first time.

"I was looking around and it was a strange feeling out there," Gerrard told the Liverpool Echo. "I was thinking if Jurgen Klopp had been at the club a bit earlier what might have been.

"There's no doubt about it, if he had been here three or four years I believe I would have been part of him delivering big trophies for this club. It's his aura and the way he is with you -- how he makes you feel.

"I went out there to play in a friendly and I felt like it was the World Cup final. That's what he gives players.

"We're blessed to have him and hopefully we can go from strength to strength over the summer. Everyone is excited."

Last weekend, Klopp secured Liverpool's qualification for the Champions League for the first time since Gerrard joined the LA Galaxy in 2015, and the Anfield legend said the club must take advantage.

"To have Champions League football back is very important for this club," Gerrard added. "Now we have to seize the moment. It can't be like it was a couple of years when we got back into the Champions League but it quickly fizzled out. It can't be like that.

"We're in the qualifying stage but you've got to realise that to get to the latter stages of the competition you are talking about top, top class opposition. Top class individuals and managers. It's important that we keep trying to move forward."

But first, Liverpool have the opportunity to revamp their squad in the summer transfer window, and Gerrard is confident that Klopp can attract some of the world's elite talent.

"If I'm a top player around Europe and Jurgen picks the phone up and I get offered the chance to play for this club, which is moving forward in every single department and has a world class manager leading it, I'd be jumping at that opportunity," he said.

"I want to play for him and I am 37 next week! For me, it's such an exciting project. Not just because we qualified for the Champions League but the whole project.

"The next three, four, five, six years, whatever it turns out to be, are going to be very exciting and players will want to be a part of what Jurgen is doing."

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