FORMER Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland has remarkably claimed he always “got the better” of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
And the claim has seen him ridiculed by those on social media.
Ireland, 36, spent five seasons in Man City’s first team from 2005 to 2010.
He was named the club’s Player of the Season in 2009 – the first season after the Sky Blues had been taken over by Sheikh Mansour.
But he departed just 12 months later, signing for Aston Villa before going on to feature for Newcastle and Stoke.
Yet despite his lack of pedigree compared to Liverpool icon Gerrard and Chelsea’s all-time top scorer Lampard, he still feels he outperformed them every time they shared the same pitch.
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He said: “There’s a lot of players I played with, names you’d expect to be good but they weren’t.
“I’ve played against huge names and on the day they’ve never really got the better of me, I never played against someone and thought ‘Wow, these are incredible’.
“Steven Gerrard for example, Frank Lampard, every time I played against them I’ve got the better of them.
“Even though they’re incredible players, Paul Scholes, I’ve never had a game where I thought ‘God, I’m out of my depth’, that was never the case.
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“Eden Hazard was incredible to play against, absolutely frightening.
“Playing with, Shaun Wright-Phillips was fantastic, I loved playing with him. Robinho was very very good, Vincent Kompany was good at the time I suppose.”
In response to Ireland’s comments, one fan said: “That Stephen Ireland interview has to be the most deluded and stupidest thing I’ve seen in a long time… Who does the guy think he is 😂.”
Another added: “Nah, he’s on a wind up 😂🤣.”
And a third replied: “So basically Stephen Ireland was one of the best players in Europe.. I must have missed that.”
Ireland scored 30 goals in 305 appearances during his club career and also netted four times in six games for the Irish national team.
He signed for Bolton in 2018 but did not play a game and left by mutual consent, retiring soon after.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
