Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers believes the only difference between his Premiership superstars and Wimbledon was a one-man masterclass from Steven Gerrard.
Gerrard’s double strike – either side of Adebayo Akinfenwa’s goal for Dons – was the difference in a memorable FA Cup third round tie at The Cherry Red Records Stadium.
And Rogers was full of praise for the performance of Neil Ardley’s League Two side – though more fulsome in his tributes to Gerrard.
“Steven was outstanding in the game, a brilliant individual performance from him and a real catalyst for us but credit to Wimbledon, who never gave up and kept us fighting all the way,” said Rogers.
“Steven might be getting older, but he’ll always have that world class talent.
“His intelligence and football brain is second to none. You could see his cleverness, his brightness, his creativity. He was outstanding.
“He scored two, and if he was a real selfish player, he might have stayed on the ball and got his hat-trick, instead of trying to create chances for other people.”
“Steven was outstanding in the game, a brilliant individual performance from him and a real catalyst for us but credit to Wimbledon, who never gave up and kept us fighting all the way.” – Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers
This was a Cup tie in the best traditions of the competition, traditions that have recently seemed hard to maintain.
Wimbledon were never outclassed and the match was competitive throughout, even if Liverpool’s class gave them an obvious edge in a repeat of the famous 1988 Cup Final, won by the Crazy Gang.
And manager Ardley believes Gerrard, who announced he will retire from Liverpool at the end of this season last week, was the difference.
“We were outdone by a world-class player,” he said. “The headlines were written for him after the week he’s just had.
“He obviously wants to go out at Liverpool on a high, still playing brilliantly like did against us.
“I’m sure there will be a very emotional last game for him at Anfield in the future and he deserves it. It’s very rare to have a player who spends that amount of time at one club.
“Our players have still done us proud, but there’s that element of disappointment in me at the moment.
“Ultimately, at this level world class players make a difference and Gerrard certainly did.”
