Steven Gerrard: Liverpool are the real deal

Liverpool went on a remarkable run through the Premier League during the 2013-14 season, reaching the top of the table late in the campaign before the trophy slipped away after a few poor results. Heading into the 2014 season, Liverpool captain is adamant that the side can repeat their run and contend for another trophy, saying that their failures will serve as motivation.

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“Definitely yeah, I also believe that now we’re in a much better place now than we were this time last year. And the reason being is because we got the taste and we’ve got the know-how now and we’ve got experience of being in a title race,” Gerrard said when asked if he still believed it was one of the best side he had been involved in.

“And I think the hurt, because we fell short, that we can use that in our favor as a positive going forward, that we don’t want to feel like that again come the end of next season.

“Hopefully we can go one better. I think this is the first time in a long time that I can sit here and tell people and be confident in telling people that we are the real deal and we are title contenders now before a ball is kicked. The reason for that is because of what Brendan (Rodgers) has created here. He has created a group of players that who are all prepared to fight for each other, and they’re all very talented and hopefully there will be a few more names added to that in the coming weeks as well.”

Gerrard did admit that the way the season ended is still raw.

“It is because of how it ended of course. That takes time as well. I think when you play at this level that the margins are so tight, so when you fall short by touching distance of something so big, of course it is going to still be raw and it is going take time to get over it.

“The only way to get over it is to go and try and achieve something this season.

“I think the longer I’ve reflected on it and sort of went through it and analyzed it, the only thing you can look back on is to be proud of your teammates. I think the fans can agree with me that the performance levels from start to finish were incredible.”