From watching a DVD to living next door

There are players who admire their team-mates, and then there are players who grew up idolising them. For Jonjo Shelvey, sharing a dressing room with Steven Gerrard fell firmly into the second category. Speaking to FourFourTwo, the former Liverpool midfielder described Gerrard as the best player he ever played alongside, and given the career Shelvey has had, that is not a throwaway compliment.

The pair were team-mates at Anfield for three seasons between 2010 and 2013, before Shelvey moved on to Swansea City having made 69 appearances for the club. But the connection went well beyond the training pitch. "When I was at Liverpool, I lived next door to him as well," Shelvey recalled. "And from my bathroom you could actually see into his living room, so I spent a lot of time on the toilet!"

There is something wonderfully grounded about that image. A young lad from Essex, barely into his twenties, sneaking glances at his childhood hero from across the garden fence. Shelvey was candid about just how deep that admiration ran. "I grew up watching a DVD about his career, so I knew everything about him. When I was a kid, I'd watch this DVD the night before my games to inspire me. I wanted to be him, so to play with him was amazing."

What Gerrard was like behind closed doors

For supporters, Gerrard was a colossus, the 2005 Champions League-winning skipper who scored 186 goals in 710 appearances for the club, contributing 145 assists along the way. But what Shelvey's account does is fill in the human detail that the match footage never quite captures.

"He'd give me a lift into training, he was such a normal person, easy to talk to, and anything you needed he'd help you with. I can't speak highly enough about him," Shelvey said. It is a portrait of a captain who took his responsibilities seriously in every sense, not just on the pitch, but in looking out for the younger lads around him. That kind of influence tends to shape careers in ways that only become clear years later.

Shelvey, who now manages Arabian Falcons in Dubai, also touched on what it felt like to eventually face Gerrard as an opponent later in his career. "I enjoyed playing against him as well, as it was the ultimate test. He was the best and had everything: defensively, shooting and passing." High praise from someone who has seen plenty of top-level midfielders up close.

Where Gerrard is now, and what comes next

Gerrard himself left Liverpool in the summer of 2015 and spent two years at LA Galaxy before retiring and moving into coaching and management, taking charge of Rangers, Aston Villa and Al-Ettifaq. He departed the latter in January 2025 and, now 46, has not returned to the dugout since. For the moment, he seems in no rush.

"At the moment I am happy, I am doing TV with TNT. I have signed a new deal," Gerrard said. "I have got some other bits and bobs that I do, some commercial stuff. I became a grandad a year ago. I'm loving being around the family, I get enough time off. My work life balance is great. I've had quite a few offers and chats with teams and stuff but at the moment I am really happy with what I am doing."

There is a settled contentment in those words that feels genuine rather than diplomatic. Whether that changes come the summer, when the managerial carousel inevitably starts spinning again, is another question entirely.