Steven Gerrard ends his Premier League career this weekend as he plays his final match for Liverpool away at Stoke City.
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The midfielder has rightly been celebrated for his glorious career, but despite being one of the most decorated Englishmen of his generation,
Gerrard leaves Anfield with one regret.
He never won the Premier League.
The England international went close of course, in 2009 and in 2014, but ultimately, that winner’s medal never came.
In this feature, we profile the ten best-ever Premier League players who never won the title.
Fernando Torres
Fernando Torres had seven attempts to win the Premier League title—with both Liverpool and Chelsea—but never managed it.
Of course, there were other successes—notably the Champions League title in 2012—but he never lifted the EPL crown.
It’s remarkable that a player who cost so much money, and who scored so many goals in the top flight—24 goals in his first campaign at Liverpool—never found himself atop the mountain.
Paul Gascoigne
Gascoigne enjoyed his best years before the Premier League began, before then moving to Lazio and Serie A, and then Glasgow Rangers and Scotland.
Indeed, he only featured for four campaigns in England after returning from Scotland—for Everton and Middlesbrough—but was unable to lift the EPL title.
It’s intriguing to imagine what Gazza might have been had he been born ten or 15 years later and enjoyed an (injury-free) prime once the EPL had been truly established.
Luis Suarez
In his three and a half seasons at Anfield, Luis Suarez came close to the Premier League title, but unfortunately, Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip against Chelsea ultimately meant the Uruguayan superstar missed out.
Despite the controversies that had gone before, Suarez was outstanding last season, managing a remarkable 31 goals in 33 appearances.
He, of course, left for Barcelona at the end of the season, and it remains to be seen if the forward (and all of his gnashing talent) will ever return to the top flight.
Javier Mascherano
Mascherano—in a slightly modified role—has risen to the top of the game with Barcelona, where he has won three La Liga titles and one Champions League (with another final on the way).
However, at Liverpool, despite being part of a magnificent midfield alongside Alonso and Gerrard, he never managed to win the Premier League.
Would it have been possible had both Masch and Alonso remained at Liverpool to flank Gerrard beyond 2010?
Jamie Carragher
Like Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher’s years of splendid service at Anfield were not rewarded with a Premier League title.
When ‘Carra’ looks back on his 17 campaigns at Liverpool, there will doubtless be a sense of pride at the Champions League glory of 2005 and the various domestic honours, the absence of an EPL title leaves a gaping hole.
It remains to be seen to what extent—if any—Carragher and Gerrard’s failure to lift the Premier League crown will affect their long-term legacies.
Gianfranco Zola
Despite missing out on the club’s golden era under Roman Abramovich, Gianfranco Zola remains one of the club’s all-time greats.
Even though millions of pounds of talent were poured into the team from 2003 onwards, did any of the subsequent recruits ever quite recapture Zola’s magic?
He won the Serie A title with Diego Maradona and Napoli in 1990, but was unable to win the Premier League title during his seven years at Stamford Bridge, despite bagging 80 EPL goals.
Marcel Desailly
A World Cup winner with France, and a Champions League winner with AC Milan, but Marcel Desailly’s time with Chelsea didn’t coincide with the club’s recent golden era.
He did overlap Roman Abramovich, but just for one season—the death throes of Claudio Ranieri’s reign—before leaving for the Middle East.
The defender did (indirectly) play his own role in Chelsea’s later title triumphs, due to the profound influence he had on a young John Terry.
Xabi Alonso
It’s no surprise that so many of the players on this list featured for Liverpool under Rafael Bentiez.
‘Rafa’, of course, came close to winning the title with the Reds, but was thwarted by a truly exceptional Manchester United side.
Alonso won the Champions League in 2005, but that was as good as it got.
He left for Real Madrid, where he would go on to win the Liga BBVA title and the Champions League, as well as two European Championships and a World Cup title.
Ruud Gullit
Ruud Gullit arrived at Stamford Bridge towards the end of his career, and was converted into an effective—and incredibly classy—sweeper by Glenn Hoddle.
The Dutchman eventually replaced Hoddle in the hotseat and represented the Pensioners as player-manager, winning the FA Cup in 1997.
However, despite lifting the Serie A crown, several Champions League titles, the Eredivisie and the European Championship, he never managed to lift England’s top prize.
Steven Gerrard
Sadly, while Steven Gerrard was obviously central to the Champions League victory of 2005 and the FA Cup triumph over West Ham United a year later, he never won a Premier League title.
Of course, he came close—both in 2009 in tandem with Fernando Torres, and five years later with Luis Suarez, Danny Sturridge and Raheem Sterling in electric form.
However, while the other Liverpool legends who sit alongside Gerrard in the club’s pantheon of greats have almost all won the EPL title, Gerrard never managed it.
His Liverpool career was, in some ways, compromised by a succession of complacent coaches and his EPL failure is—sadly—a blemish on a glistening career.