- Steven Gerrard was heartbroken when Xabi Alonso left
- Fernando Torres’ move to Chelsea also hurt the Reds legend
- Believes the exits stopped them from winning silverware
Steven Gerrard was a part of the Liverpool first team for seventeen years, and he has seen some of the best players come and go at the club. The legendary midfielder has now opened up about the two transfers that left him heartbroken at Anfield.
The former midfielder was on The Overlap’s Stick To Football podcast this week, joining Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville, and co. The Englishman was asked to name the two exits that left him heartbroken at the club, and he was quick to name Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres.
Gerrard said that the Liverpool sides were building well, but as soon as they got close to challenging for the Premier League title, a big player left the club, and they were unable to push for the top. He named Alonso’s move to Real Madrid and Torres’ transfer to Chelsea as the key setbacks and said:
“I thought that was heartbreaking [when Alonso left] as well and also the Torres one as well because you think to yourself we’ve put so much in to try and close the gap. It felt like we were getting closer and then you take one of them big, yeah, big signings out. It can set you back a long time, especially when you’ve played with them and you think they’re the people that can win games for you.”
Alonso joined Real Madrid for £30 million in 2009, with then-manager Rafa Benitez insisting that the club had to sell him to sign new players. Torres moved to Chelsea for £50 million, with Luis Suarez replacing him at Anfield in 2011.
Jamie Carragher blames Rafa Benitez for Xabi Alonso’s Liverpool exit
Jamie Carragher believes Rafa Benitez’s decision to push for Gareth Barry was a key reason why Xabi Alonso left the club. He claims that the Liverpool side were building the squad well and just needed to add players, and said on the Stick to Football podcast:
“It got a bit messy. So Alonso, I think, wanted to leave at that stage. He wasn’t playing as much. Yeah, Rafa was trying to bring Gareth Barry in. It was almost going to be a bit of a swap. Whatever. It doesn’t happen. Then Alonso was in a magnificent season. We almost win the league. We get close. It feels like a great team. But the reason I sort of I look at Rafa, I think it was almost like he wanted to win this fight with Alonso about staying or going.”
“And I’ve just thought, okay, you’ve had that fight here. We’ve now had an amazing season. Alonso has been fantastic. It’s a bit like you’ve won. You’ve won the fight because the player is playing amazing. Sign a new contract. It’s like, move this team forward. And then it got to the summer. It was almost like, right, we’re going to carry on this fight again.”
Liverpool failed in their bid to sign Gareth Barry, who joined Manchester City from Aston Villa in 2009.
Ultimately, the departures of Alonso and Torres remain the great “what ifs” of the modern Liverpool era. For Gerrard, these weren’t just lost teammates, but lost opportunities to cement a dynasty that felt perpetually on the cusp of greatness.
While the club eventually found its way back to the pinnacle of European and domestic football under Jürgen Klopp, the insights from Stick to Football highlight a turbulent period where internal friction and ill-timed sales derailed a Golden Generation.
Carragher’s critique of Benítez’s man-management serves as a reminder that in elite football, the harmony between a manager and his world-class stars is often as vital as the tactics on the pitch. For the Anfield faithful, hearing two of their greatest icons reflect on these exits only confirms what they felt at the time: that with just a little more stability, the trophy cabinet might have been much fuller.
