Steven Gerrard once slaughtered Michael Owen over his ties to Manchester United - but his comment never changed the latter's opinion of the legendary Liverpool captain.
Gerrard and Owen played together for club and country, but due to Owen representing Man United, there are very differing views of the England legends on Merseyside.
The matter came up in conversation 12 years on when Gerrard returned to Anfield as Aston Villa boss in December 2021, with Owen covering the game as a pundit for DAZN. And he wasn't about to let his former team-mate live it down.
Owen asked: "[I'm] just wondering - we've all played, we've all gone back to Anfield in different guises. I must admit I hated going back to play against Liverpool. What were your emotions like going back today? How does it feel taking a team to your home?"
As he was finishing his question, a grin came over Gerrard's face as he readied a savage answer. He quipped in response: "If I played for Man U, I'd hate coming back too!"
Despite the playful dig, the pair's relationship appears unaffected. Owen still rates Gerrard highly, especially in the age-old debate over who is superior among him, Paul Scholes, and Frank Lampard.
On The Greatest Game podcast with Jamie Carragher, he explained his admiration for him. He told Carragher: "If you watch Scholesy in training, your tongue is hanging out.
"He can give you the eyes, you can think he's heading it that way and he'll almost do a reverse spinner off the other side of his head. He can drop a ball on a sixpence. He is just total and utter genius.
"But there's that and there's the actual practicalities of playing on a big pitch where you need size, strength, substance, running ability, all these things. And if you play one v one, you against you, Stevie against any of the names that you've played, I think he would eat them for dinner.
"Someone like Scholesy obviously had different attributes. I mean, unbelievable the way he changed his game from being a bombing midfielder scoring to a quarterback. Total genius.
"Frank Lampard, who can question his goal scoring and how he got every ounce out of his ability? But to me, Stevie's on a different level than anything I've seen or played with and as you've said, I'm not blowing smoke up my a***, I've played with some great Man United players, Liverpool players, Real Madrid, England.
"Put it this way. If I'm saying tomorrow rewind the clock, you're going into battle now, you're playing in the Champions League final, who's your first pick? I'd have Steven Gerrard as my first pick out of anyone."
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