FFS
Zidane: "Is he the best in the world? He might not get the attention of (Lionel) Messi and Ronaldo but yes, I think he just might be.If you don't have a player like Steven Gerrard, who is the engine room, it can affect the whole team. When we were winning league titles and European Cups at Real, I always said Claude Makelele was our most important player. There is no way myself, (Luis) Figo or Raul would have been able to do what we did without Claude and the same goes for Liverpool and Gerrard. He has great passing ability, can tackle and scores goals, but most importantly he gives the players around him confidence and belief. You can't learn that -- players like him are just born with that presence."
Zidane again: "Alex Ferguson is obviously one of the most successful coaches the game has ever had. But I did find his comments about Steven Gerrard very strange. To say he is not a top player is wrong. For two or three years, Steven Gerrard was the best midfield player in the world.
Messi: “Personally, I think Gerrard is England’s greatest ever player."
Ronaldinho: "Cristiano is a great player. But Steven Gerrard is, for me, one of the very best in the world. For the job he performs, for me, he is one of the greatest."
Henry: "I find it a disgrace that he didn’t win European Footballer of the Year in 2005 after Istanbul. For me, he is one of the best ever. Whenever you play Liverpool you know you have to get him out of the game. If not, it’s all over for you. “He’s a midfielder and if you look at all the important goals he’s scored - well I can’t even think of a striker in the world who has scored as many important goals, never mind a midfielder. How many times has he done it in the dying seconds of a game? I am trying to think of a striker now who does it - there aren’t any. Think about it."
Totti: "I'd put Gerrard in the top three, not just in England but in the world because he's a complete player."
Bryan Robson: "For me Gerrard can do everything and that's the reason I'd say he was the best of the three if I had to split them ahead of Scholes and Lampard in that order. They are all top professionals and each brought different attributes and strengths but Gerrard can tackle, defend, score goals, head it, make a telling precision pass, dictate the tempo and is a powerful runner. He has a bit more to his game."
Pele: "The fans, they look only for forwards, always a forward," Pele told Sky Sports News. "Somebody who scores. "Sometimes you have a player like Gerrard. "For me, for the last five years Gerrard has been the best player in the world. "He is a midfielder, he plays very good. People didn't mention Gerrard, now they mention Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Messi because they are forwards."
