‘That one still haunts me’ Steven Gerrard opens up on major Liverpool regret

Liverpool played themselves into title contention during the 2013/14 season under Brendan Rodgers as an attack spearheaded by Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge fired the Reds to the summit of the table late in the campaign.

Manchester City spent just three weeks at the top of the Premier League table but timed their push for the title to perfection, ending gameweeks 37 and 38 top of the pile, having previously moved into first place on the opening weekend, relinquishing that spot the following week.

Liverpool, on the other hand, became title favourites after a run which saw the Reds pick up 14 wins from 16, including 11 straight victories.

Steven Gerrard says Liverpool slip-up still ‘haunts’ him

A 2-0 Anfield defeat by Chelsea in April 2014, though, is widely considered to have been the day Liverpool’s title hopes slipped through their fingers, despite beating Man City 3-2 at Anfield two weeks earlier.

Gerrard’s slip on halfway, which allowed Chelsea striker Demba Ba to race through and score, has since become the subject of a Man City terrace chant adopted by fans of many other clubs and is widely regarded an iconic, unfortunate Premier League moment for the ex-Reds skipper.

Rodgers’ side followed their Blues’ defeat by going three goals up away to Crystal Palace but surrendered their lead by conceding three late goals at Selhurst Park, leaving Suarez in tears and Gerrard palming away television cameras.

Man City eventually won the league by two points, beating Aston Villa emphatically and West Ham United on the final day, closing out the season with one defeat in their last 14 matches, ironically against Gerrard’s Liverpool.

“We should have won a league,” Gerrard said on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast. “Obviously, 2014, again, that one still haunts me. Of course, I say it a lot. But even before that, I think we should have pipped one.

“We should have got one. But for us, we had Fergie and the United team [to compete against], the Class of ’92, that were all top Premier League players. It’s not luck, but we never had that at Liverpool, where seven or eight were at that level.”

Gerrard finished his career at Liverpool without a Premier League title to his name but was instrumental in the Reds’ Champions League triumph of 2005 and did win two FA Cups, as well as three League Cups.

“I never ever felt our Liverpool team was as strong as [Man United]. I always felt like we had to go above and beyond to get a result against you. That’s how it used to feel,” he added.

Joe joined FourFourTwo as senior digital writer in July 2025 after five years covering Leeds United in the Championship and Premier League. Joe’s ‘Mastermind‘ specialist subject is 2000s-era Newcastle United having had a season ticket at St. James’ Park for 10 years before relocating to Leeds and later London. Joe takes a keen interest in youth football, covering PL2, U21 Euros, as well as U20 and U17 World Cups in the past, in addition to hosting the industry-leading football recruitment-focused SCOUTED podcast. He is also one of the lucky few to have ‘hit top bins’ as a contestant on Soccer AM. It wasn’t a shin-roller.