Steven Gerrard destroys Michael Owen in Man United dig as Aston Villa boss opens up on Liverpool return and receives praise from Jurgen Klopp

Steven Gerrard aimed a hilarious dig at Michael Owen when the former Liverpool and Manchester United striker asked what it’s like being back at Anfield.

Gerrard returned to the club where he spent his entire English career for the first time as a manager on Saturday, seeing his Aston Villa side fall 1-0 to Jurgen Klopp’s men.

The former Reds captain received a warm welcome from the crowd, with his reputation intact as one of the club’s all-time greats.

Making his debut in 1998, Gerrard followed a fellow academy graduate through the doors at Anfield in the shape of Owen.

But, unlike Gerrard, goalscoring hero Owen later tarnished his standing at the club and with fans forever with a move to rivals Manchester United in 2009.

Since retiring in 2013, Owen has taken up a career in punditry, and was in the studio as Gerrard was interviewed live by another former Red, Robbie Fowler.

And Gerrard couldn’t resist a brutal takedown when Owen asked him about how the former midfielder felt about his Liverpool return.

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When it was Owen’s turn to ask a question, he said: “I must admit I hated going back to play against Liverpool, what were your emotions like going back today and how did you feel about taking a team to your home?”

And in a role reversal of their playing days, Owen had instead gifted Gerrard an open goal, with the Villa manager’s reply as quick as it was funny.

“If I’d played for Man U, I’d hate coming back too,” he said.

Brutal!

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Gerrard then went onto answer the question seriously, saying he’s a Liverpool fan, but his priorities were elsewhere.

“It is what it is, I’m on a journey,” Gerrard explained. “I’m privileged and honoured to take this position, it’s a fantastic club. 

“It’s still early days, we’re still trying to evolve the team and improve and get a lot of information across to the players. 

“I’ll always be a Liverpool fan, that’s a fact but my priorities are obviously Aston Villa and trying to improve this team and move us up the table.”

Despite the laughter, Gerrard was left disappointed on the day, feeling his Villa side could have got something for a game where Liverpool dominated but struggled to cut through, only doing so from the penalty spot.

“Ultimately we’ve lost it on the back of a penalty,” Gerrard said. “We believe it’s soft, we believe it’s a foul on Tyrone Mings first. 

“But if you look at the whole game over the course of the 90 minutes Liverpool obviously looked the better team from penalty box to penalty box.

“We’ve got two games, Norwich and Burnley, we’ve got to be looking to take maximum points in those games, if we do we’ll be in the top half. 

“When we took the job the team were in 15th and that’s not good enough for Aston Villa, so we certainly want to finish in the top half and strive to push as high as we can.”

Rival manager Jurgen Klopp was asked about Gerrard’s start to life as a manager in the Premier League, and sounded impressed, but was surprised to see so many old faces.

“Obviously he’s a good coach and has really good staff around,” Klopp said.

“It’s really strange when you meet before the game and a lot of the coaching staff you know from your own club, that’s strange, but they do what they do and everything’s OK.”

Asked what was said between him and Gerrard, who left the club in 2015 four months before the German’s arrival but was brought back as an under-18 coach two years later, Klopp added: “He said ‘Congratulations’ and I said ‘Thank you’.

“Nothing will come between him and me but in the end we are focused. You can be best friends with someone and want to beat them.

“It is the same with me and David Wagner [Klopp’s best friend and best man at his wedding who managed Huddersfield against him in the Premier League].

“There is one person it was not easy for and that is Stevie. They fought really hard for a result.”

It was not the celebration many expected at Anfield, with Gerrard keeping his emotions in check throughout the game, although he was clearly grateful to the Liverpool faithful for his warm welcome back to his former home.

His Villa team may have been booed as they left the tunnel but a roar went up when Gerrard emerged behind them. The Reds legend offered a little wave to the Kop, and it took just eight minutes for the Kop to break into their ‘Steve Gerrard, Gerrard’ chant, but it was quickly drowned out by shouts of ‘Liverpool, Liverpool’.

He received another rendition at the final whistle but he was in no mood for hanging around to accept the adulation. After a small wave to the Kop singing his name, he applauded the travelling support before heading down the tunnel.

“I understand there will be emotion around it for me and my family, but I tried to focus on Aston Villa and make sure that was the priority,” said Gerrard.

“I was very respectful and thankful for the reception I got, which was only natural because of the years of my life I gave to this is club.”

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By: Connor Andrews
Title: Steven Gerrard destroys Michael Owen in Man United dig as Aston Villa boss opens up on Liverpool return and receives praise from Jurgen Klopp
Sourced From: talksport.com/football/1000796/steven-gerrard-michael-owen-liverpool-return-man-utd-aston-villa/
Published Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2021 19:28:40 +0000