Fowler: Gerrard is LFC's best ever
Steven Gerrard will go down as the greatest Liverpool player of all-time, Robbie Fowler has declared.
Ahead of the 34-year-old's final Anfield appearance before he ends his 17-year association with the Reds, he has been paid the ultimate compliment by another legendary figure.
Fowler was the darling of the Kop when another young Scouser followed in his footsteps, emerging from the Academy to make his debut.
Stevie has since gone on to clock up 708 appearances for the club while winning a string of major honours, many of them as captain.
And such is the magnitude of the midfielder's contribution, Fowler believes he pips Kenny Dalglish to the title of the best to ever pull on the red shirt.
"For me, Stevie is the greatest player Liverpool have ever had," he wrote in the Mirror.
"I don’t think I’m doing any disservice to Kenny Dalglish when I say that. I think the world of Kenny, have spent a lot of time with him and know what a class act he is; and was as a player.
"But I’ve seen at first hand how good Steven Gerrard is. If I had to describe him in one word, it would be immense. He has carried Liverpool single-handedly over the years and won games on his own.
"People always say he’s a complete midfielder, and I know what they mean, but it’s probably more accurate to say he’s the complete player, because over the years he’s played in just about every position on the pitch for Liverpool except goalkeeper. And I’ll bet he’d be good at that.
"He’s excelled in them all. He played quite a few times at right-back when he first got into the side, and one of his early games was the derby against Everton. I scored twice that day, but he cleared one off the line in the last minute to win it for us."
Fowler also recalled coming across the young Gerrard for the first time in training.
He revealed that no senior player was left in any doubt as to the precocious talent and strength of character of the Huyton-born upstart in the aftermath of his introduction to the senior squad.
"I can still recall vividly the first time we got a proper glimpse of the lad from the youth team people at the club had been whispering about for ages," he added.
"I was five years older than him, and probably knew more about him than most of the first-team squad because being one of the youngest in the side, I still had a connection with the younger players.
"We used to have a practice match on a Friday, and some of the younger ressies were asked to make up the numbers. It’s a famous story now, but he snapped into some tackles on Paul Ince, and left him on the floor.
"Incey was going crazy, he was the “Guv’nor” after all. Stevie stood above him and basically told him to stop whining. Classic. The whole squad was in bits.
"The thing was though, it wasn’t all teenage bluster, he quickly gained everyone’s respect. He was absolutely no holds barred in training - so committed and so professional even at that age, and every session was like a full-on game.
"We realised that first day he wasn’t some cocky kid who had no respect, what you saw was what you got with him. Fearless. We realised too that he was a bit special - all the youth coaches had been saying that for ages, but when you’re in the first team you tend to dismiss that sort of talk.
"They were right though. He was something from the very start...even if none of us had any idea then what he would eventually become."