INTERVIEW: Steven Gerrard on football, family, and future aspirations

Steven Gerrard is one of the most recognisable names in the Roshn Saudi Pro League, known around the world for his illustrious playing career with Liverpool and England.

The former midfielder, famously a one-club man as a player, is considered by many as Liverpool’s best-ever player. A long-time captain of the decorated Premier League club, Gerrard helped his hometown side to a plethora of successes, including a starring role in the 2004-2005 UEFA Champions League title win.

Having transitioned into management, Gerrard is currently overseeing a transformation at Al Ettifaq in the RSL, with the Dammam club sixth in the 2023-24 standings with five rounds remaining.

We caught up with Gerrard to chat not about his debut season in Saudi Arabia, but to get his perspectives on various aspects of his life and career.

Those topics included alternative jobs, advice for young players, his views on leadership and legacy, his favourite footballers of a generation, and why he sometimes views himself as the resident Uber driver in the Gerrard home.

On potential career paths had he not entered into management

"I am very much into sport so I would’ve tried to stay in some sport in some capacity and tried to get a job related to football or maybe related to a different sport. Because growing up all I wanted to do was watch sport on TV, do sport at school, so I’m very sport orientated."

On his advice to young, aspiring footballers

"Dream big, picture a dream and then work as hard as you can every single day to improve, to listen to the right people and every day be extremely motivated and dedicated to reach your dream.

"I think football is about dreams and memories and experiences so my advice to them is set a dream, set a target and then every single day maximize the opportunities to get better to learn and to grow and to improve your skills and reach for the stars."

On the top three players of his generation

"I would pick Zinedine Zidane because he was my hero growing up. In my generation, he was the best midfielder in the world so I’d pick Zinedine Zidane and also the two best players in my generation by far were Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, so they’d be the three I’d pick."

On his personal life, with the focus on family

"When I am not at work or at football, I am very much family orientated. I have 3 daughters and 1 son so I am always taking them to different places, always playing football in the garden with my son or taking him to football.

"So I am probably a taxi or an Uber driver for a lot of the times and also taking them to school, picking them up from school, doing homework and, if I get a small bit of time to myself, I like to spend it with my friends."

On how he wants to be remembered

"I want to be remembered for someone who gave everything in terms of 100 per cent every single day. I was loyal, I was a fighter, I wanted to give all my energy and my efforts for the team that I represented and I was a team player so I want to be remembered for them values."

The full interview with Gerrard can be accessed here: