‘We were egotistical losers’: The dark side of a Liverpool great’s England career

Steven Gerrard has described former England teammates as “egotistical losers” with bitter Premier League rivalries that made him loathe call-ups during his international career.

Gerrard, who won 114 England caps, believes the intense rivalry between Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea players undermined the “golden generation” in the 2000s until he retired from international duty in 2014.

Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Gerrard describes a culture in the England set-up where he felt disconnected from teammates and bored in hotel rooms while waiting for matches.

“I hated it. I didn’t enjoy it. Hated the rooms,” Gerrard said. “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? There was no social media, didn’t have a DVD player or anything. Channel one to five, or whatever it was.

“I used to get low and down. 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. 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 until I have half an hour dinner, then until the next day. It was like I didn’t feel part of a team. I didn’t feel connected with my teammates with England.”

Gerrard was part of a group of players that reached the quarter-finals of the European Championship in 2004 and the World Cup in 2006, before also reaching the last eight of Euro 2012. But getting further in tournaments was hindered by club rivalries, which was only stamped out when Gareth Southgate became manager in 2016.

“I think we were all egotistical losers,” Gerrard said. “I watch the telly now and I see [Jamie] Carragher sitting next to Paul Scholes on this fan debate and they look like they’ve been best mates for 20 years. And I see Carragher’s relationship with Gary Neville, and they look like they’ve been mates for 20 years.

“Why couldn’t we connect as England teammates back then? And I think it was down to the culture within England. All in our rooms too much. We weren’t friendly or connected. We weren’t a team. We never at any stage became a real good, strong team. I think Gareth Southgate is underrated for how he connected with the England team.

“Bitterness, a little bit of hate, a little bit of hatred, a little bit of like, you know, what we want to do. But when you think about it now, looking back at the age I’m at and having gone through a bit of coaching, it’s a bit immature, but also should there have been more emphasis on the staff to go to us, ‘listen, you need to forget that now’.”

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