FORMER England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has claimed that Steven Gerrard was just as good a right-back as Gary Neville.
Gerrard, 42, is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of the Premier League era.
In 710 games for Liverpool he scored 186 goals and assisted 154. He also enjoyed a successful international career representing England with a total of 114 caps.
But, Eriksson has now claimed that he could have been just as effective had he played in defence.
When speaking to The Times, the ex-England boss said: “Gerrard was very quiet when he was a player, but he was very clever on the pitch.
“He was an all-round player, tactically he was extremely good. He could play anywhere in the midfield, and he could play right back.
Read More in Football
“He played one half [there] in a friendly and he was incredible. Probably he was as good as Gary Neville as a right back, but it was a waste to put him at right back.”
Neville, 47, is also considered one of the Premier League’s best having made 600 appearances for Manchester United.
Both players were part of England’s ‘golden generation’ of the 2000’s along with the likes of Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney.
Many fans believed the squad were capable of winning either the Euros or the World Cup, but they crashed out of every competition before the final stages.
Most read in Football
FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS – BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS
During Eriksson’s five-year reign as England manager, the Three Lions were knocked out of both the 2002 and the 2006 World Cup AND Euro 2004.
The Swede was sacked by the FA in 2006 and was named Manchester City manager the following year.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
