‘Had everything’ - Former Liverpool man says ex-team mate better than Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne

A debate was held on on Talksport’s The Sports Bar show on Wednesday evening to determine the best midfielder in Premier League history. Many Liverpool fans would likely share Pennant’s point of view, as he chose Steven Gerrard for his pick.

Pennant played alongside Gerrard for three years during his time at Anfield. He joined Liverpool in the summer of 2006 for a fee of around £8 million and left in 2009 to join Real Zaragoza.

To justify his claim, Pennant cited Gerrard’s many strengths as a midfielder, saying: “Gerrard was the complete midfielder. He could defend like a centre-back, he could score goals and finish like a striker, he could ping like Scholes. He had everything to his game.”

Additionally, he praised Gerrard’s record of performing well in an “average” Liverpool team (which, as mentioned, Pennant himself was a part of). This was something he criticised De Bruyne for, stating that he “disappears” in less-than-stellar teams.

He used De Bruyne’s performances in the World Cup as an example. De Bruyne and Belgium both had a rotten tournament, crashing out in the group stage with just four points, with the City star failing to notch up a goal or an assist.

Pennant was asked to name his top four Premier League midfielders in history as part of the interview. He answered with “I’d picked Gerrard, Scholes, KDB and then I might stick in Frank [Lampard] at fourth.”

Despite Pennant’s inclusion of Lampard in the top four, he went on to say he “never rated Lamps”. He added: “He’s a good player, don’t get me wrong, but he just scored goals.”