Raul Meireles eager to play alongside Steven Gerrard
Raul Meireles, the new singing by Liverpool this season believes that he can make a great partnership with the club captain Steven Gerrard in the midfield for the reds this season.
The former Proto midfielder made his way to Anfield on a transfer worth 10.7 million pounds just before the close of the transfer window. Manager Roy Hodgson knew that despite his best efforts Javier Mascherano was destined to
move out of the club in the summer, so he decide to strengthen the midfield by bringing in Meireles. Mascherano had been unhappy at the club for a while and ever since the Spaniard Rafael Benitez left the club, the Argentine captain had been voicing his desire
to move out of the club. Manager Hodgson tried his best to convince Javier to stay but he had his mind made up. 4 days before the close of the transfer window Mascherano refused to play for Liverpool in the all important match against Manchester City and later
he was sold to Barcelona.
Meireles has so far played twice with Gerrard in the midfield, one of those appearances for him were from the bench against Birmingham where he was able to play for just 14 minutes. He said that given proper time, he and Gerrard
can form a fruitful partnership in middle of the park and can really help the team go a long way this season.
Team boss Roy Hodgson says that Meireles can be a real asset for the team, but admitted that till now he has not decided on which position is best for the Portuguese international. So far he has been played in the more advanced
midfield position that is normally occupied by Steven Gerrard.
Meireles said that he knows it will take him time to adjust to the English game, and it is quite different from the Portuguese league. He added that the English Premier League is much more quick and physical, so as he gets more
games he will be able to understand the game and get better and more comfortable.
The mideifler said that he has been watching Gerrard play for a while and he has been one of his idols, so it will be an honour for him to play alongside him and compliment the captain in every possible way he can. Meireles added
that he knows he has a long way to go before he can come anywhere close to the standards of Gerrard but he will do his best to get close.
"For a long time, I have said that Gerrard is one of the top three midfielders in the European game," said the 27-year-old.
"Along with Michael Essien of Chelsea and Andres Iniesta of Barcelona, he has been the most difficult opponent I have faced over the years.
"Now I am his team-mate. I think we can combine well together."
Meireles said that there is something similar between him and the Liverpool captain, which is the love for his boyhood club. He went on to say that before making the move to Liverpool, he had been playing for Porto that is the
club he has supported as a boy and always wanted to play for them. However he admits that Portugal’s league is not the biggest in the world and to achieve bigger things in his career he had to make the move.
"I can sympathise with people like Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher because, like me, they are players who have played for the major club in their city," he told LFC Weekly.
"That brings pressures that are difficult to deal with because when things go wrong, the local players sometimes feel the frustrations of the supporters a lot more."
Liverpool has not had the best start to the new season; the Reds have won just one game so far that was 1-0 against West Brom. The 2 trips to Manchester have not been memorable for them as they lost to Manchester City 3-0 earlier,
and last week lost 3-2 to Manchester United. Liverpool has now 5 points from 5 games, and have lost 10 from a possible 15 points.
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