Gerrard: "I used to try to copy Zidane when I was playing in the street"

When he was kicking a ball about on the streets of Liverpool as a kid, Steven Gerrard would imagine himself as the world's best player at that time - Zinedine Zidane. In a promotional video produced by LA Galaxy's media department, Gerrard answered questions put to him by a member of the club's youth team as he drove around the city. He was in no doubt about who had the biggest influence on him back when he was just a teenage player: "When I was a kid growing up, do you know a player called Zinedine Zidane? Well when I was a kid he was the best player in the world so I used to always try to copy him in the street when I was playing and practicing", Gerrard said, before adding with a straight face, "He was the best back then but it’s Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo... and Robbie Keane, they’re the best three in the world at this moment," .

The former Liverpool captain says there is just one thing he doesn't miss about home: “I miss my family and my friends, but I don’t miss the weather. It’s really cold, it’s freezing, it snows, it’s icy, there’s a lot of wind... the weather’s horrible so I don’t miss the weather, just family and friends”.

Gerrard's former club take on the defending Premier League championsat Anfield on Saturday, and his young co-pilot mentioned the possibility of leaving Galaxy to join Leicester, the 36-year-old spurted out: "Leicester! Don’t go to Leicester, they’re crap!! Why don’t you go to Liverpool? Or Barcelona or Real Madrid? Don’t you want to stay at Galaxy and be the new Robbie Keane?".