Suarez: Gerrard inspires me

By FOX Sports Staff

Gerrard has been the heartbeat of the Liverpool midfield ever since he broke into the team in 1998, and the one-club man has gone on to make over 400 appearances for the Reds, winning the Champions League, FA Cup (2), League Cup (3) and Uefa Cup in the process.

At 32 years of age, Gerrard may be in the twilight of his career, but the box-to-box midfielder has still shown on a regular basis that he is more than capable of performing at the very top level.

And Liverpool's chief striker Suarez, whom Gerrard recently described as the best forward he had ever played with, claims the England international serves as a source of motivation for him.

"Gerrard is such a good player and what he said about me I will never forget," Suarez told the Daily Mail.

"I get goose pimples when I heard he said that. It's unbelievable.

"He has such a good record over many years in the English game and is a great example to all the players here, especially to me.

"We all respect him. He has won almost everything and if anything goes wrong on the pitch he never tells the players off.

"He just speaks to them afterwards and when he speaks to them you can take it as a fact that he is right. He is just trying to help people.

"Steven has also said things to me in private that I will never forget, about things that have happened and things that I can do here.

"These are conversations that players have. People don't hear them but they are so important. 

"They make a difference to a person like me, to my career and my life.

"The ones we had are private but say everything about him. 

"Steven has given me motivation to carry on and do well with what he has said. He has helped me hugely."

Liverpool made a wretched start to the season but have seen their form pick up in recent times, and Suarez claims that the Reds would be much further up the table if they could remain consistent throughout.

"Sometimes we play well, as good as being in the top four of the Premier League," Suarez added. 

:Then other times we don't play anywhere near as well.

"It's just one of those things with football. As a player I just want to win every match but sometimes we just don't play well enough.

"Every player feels differently about playing football. We are all different people. I am the type who wants to win all the time. I hate to lose.

"What I can say is the younger players here are very good and the good thing is that many of them are home grown. 

"That means they have a passion for the club. I am sure they are doing the best they can."

The Uruguayan international also revealed that he was encouraged by the amount of progress he felt the Reds had made from the previous season.

"This year we are playing well against lower teams and are winning," Suarez reflected.

"Last year we were not winning those types of games.

"We are hoping we can do better against the big teams. If we do, we have a chance. We have to become stronger in our minds.

"Look at the Manchester United game. The second half at United was actually very good. We were better than them.

"In that moment, mentally we were very good and this is the way we should play every week. We actually left the stadium happy, even though we lost."

The 26-year-old also outlined his intention to lead Liverpool to a top four finish this season and expressed his belief that Brendan Rodgers could lead the Reds to the title in the future.

"We would like to qualify for the Champions League if possible," Suarez declared. 

"If we are able to do that the title will be something for the future.

"The culture of the manager here is good. The players like the way he makes us play and once the players become more mature they will be able to win the championship."

Liverpool will take on defending champions Manchester City in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium this weekend.