Following Sunday’s intense Merseyside derby which finished 2-2, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard criticised rivals Everton for playing long-ball football in a style “similar to stoke”.
The England midfielder has now told the Liverpool Echo that he went “too far” and admitted he made the comments whilst fuming from the decision to disallow Luis Suarez’s last minute goal that would have clinched all three points for the red half of Liverpool.
Gerrard’s comments, such as “there was only one team who came to play football and that was us,” and “Everton are not better than us,” had a hint of frustration and jealousy behind them, as the Blues edged out their opponents in terms of possession, chance creation, total shots and shots on target during Sunday’s close encounter, not to mention the six point gap in the Premier League between 5th place Everton and 12th place Liverpool.
The England captain has now attempted to revoke his negative comments made after Sunday’s fiery derby in an effort to end the media slanging match between the Mersey rivals, initially fuelled by David Moyes’ comments branding Luis Suarez as a serial diver in the build-up to the 2-2 draw.
“Just to clarify I’ve watched the game again, and I’ve seen some of Everton’s matches this season, and what I said in relation to their style of play went too far,” said Gerrard.
“I was frustrated by the disallowed goal from Luis when I spoke and also some of the things that have been said about Luis in recent weeks which haven’t been fair in my opinion.
“It wasn’t my intention to disrespect Everton or Stoke for that matter and I certainly didn’t intend any disrespect to their manager or players.
“My main issue was with the goal that wasn’t given and that Liverpool did not get the three points I felt we deserved in what was a fantastic derby match” he added.
Everton Captain Phil Jagielka told reporters that he laughed off his England team-mate’s bitter comments.
“It does make you chuckle, but if Stevie is saying things like that, there must be a reason behind it - that must be that we are doing something well” he said.
The strong centre-back did admit however that the comments were unfair to some of Everton’s creative players.
“It's a little bit disrespectful to players like Bainesy, Ossie [Leon Osman] and Kevin [Mirallas] who are players who do create a lot of chances for us” added Jagielka.
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