Steven Gerrard ‘should never have played’ against Chelsea when Liverpool lost 2014 Premier League
Reds captain reveals in the build-up to the key Prem battle four years ago his body was so broken he required an injection and tons of painkillers to make starting XI
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STEVEN GERRARD admits he "should never have played" against Chelsea in April 2014 – the match when his infamous slip essentially cost Liverpool the Premier League title.
Liverpool needed to win that key clash at Anfield against Jose Mourinho’s side to move a step closer to a first league title since 1990.
However, the Reds captain crucially lost his footing in defence in first-half stoppage-time. Chelsea striker Demba Ba took advantage of that uncharacteristic error to race through on goal to score in a 2-0 win.
Grateful Man City, who had a game in hand, went on to become league champions, leaving Gerrard feeling devastated.
And in a new documentary charting his highs and lows as a Liverpool talisman, Gerrard says his body was so broken he had to have an injection and several painkillers just to make the starting XI.
Gerrard said: “Forty-eight hours before this huge game against Chelsea, I was panicking, thinking I wouldn’t be available.
“I couldn’t get in and out of my car. I was so stiff, sore and painful in my back.
“I had basically been like a pin cushion that season to get out and play in the amount of games that I did.
“Patch me up. Do whatever is needed. How can you get me pain-free? What do I need to do to get pain free? Because I need to play in this game. I have to play in this game, no matter what.
“Realistically with what I had at the time I shouldn’t have played. I shouldn’t have played.
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“But the way I am, it’s everything to get out there. So I had an epidural in my back and took tons and tons of painkillers. That’s what happened in the build-up to that game.”
His wife Alex, watching from the Anfield stands, says he was a “broken man”. She added: “He didn’t speak and there was nothing I could say to make it better, you cannot.”
Gerrard remained haunted for years by that slip. When he eventually ended his 26-year Liverpool association to move to LA Galaxy, he admits he brought the demons with him to the US.
Gerrard said: “I just felt it was time to come out, not just of the club but the city. Go and have a break from it all.
“My brain was still frying from what happened, trying to find answers and reasons. And there was no none. There was none.”
The film chronicles the historic achievement of winning the 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan, when Liverpool came from 3-0 down at half-time to win on penalties.
The relief was palpable, particularly because he was worried he would end up as a Liverpool captain without winning major silverware. “This weight of responsibility and pressure that lifted off me (after Istanbul) was frightening,” he says. “I don’t think anyone on this planet has ever felt what I felt when that happened.”
Yet even though Liverpool were newly-crowned champions of Europe, Gerrard felt angry and unwanted by the boss Rafa Benitez and wanted to move to Prem rivals Chelsea.
Though he eventually stayed at Liverpool and signed a long-term deal, his agent Struan Marshall says his client, who was labelled Judas and a traitor, received threats during the most conflicted time of his career.
Marshall said: “It brought to life how people feel about their football club and people made it clear how they felt.
“Notes posted up on the gate at the end of the road. Phone calls. Text messages. ‘You are not going. F*** off – you’re one of us. You better not f****** go.’
“Direct threats made. I’ve been around him enough in Liverpool to realise what a bizarre hotbed of pressure that is to be him in that city.
“I wouldn’t change places with him. He has held the Champions League trophy above his head – I’d love to do that – but I wouldn’t change places with him.
“And that’s what I thought as I sat with him and watched his shirt being burned on the TV screen.”
Gerrard, now the Rangers boss, remains philosophical about a career which saw him become a legend in the city of his birth.
The 38-year-old said: “It’s the best thing which could happen to a Liverpool kid, being that local boy and everyone looking to you.
“I achieved things I didn’t dream of achieving. I had nights and experiences that I didn’t think would ever happen to me.
“I have also had some incredible cruel setbacks along the way as well and I didn’t think I would have to live with the feelings of them moving forward.
“But I think it’s part of me, it’s part of the game. Football is not about turning up and playing, it’s about dealing with everything that comes with it.”
Make Us Dream is available on Prime Video from November 23.