Steven Gerrard reveals the Liverpool striker who 'broke his heart'

Heartbreak can be a cruel old mistress.

We've all sat there at one point or another, donned in five-day old joggers and a curry-stained t-shirt, crying hysterically into the mirror and screaming 'WHY DO WE ALWAYS PUSH THEM AWAY!?'

Just us? Alright, moving swiftly on.

Well, as it happens, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard knows exactly what we're talking about (kinda).

The Rangers boss has revealed that former Reds teammate Fernando Torres broke his heart when he departed Anfield for Chelsea in 2011, and he believes his partnership with the Spaniard helped him play the best football of his career.

"I didn't play with Torres long enough because he went to Chelsea and broke my heart," he told the Robbie Fowler Podcast. "If you asked me who was the best player on a daily basis consistently, [Luis] Suarez was an animal, but my best years were alongside Torres in terms of how I felt. 

"I was really, really gutted [when Torres left]. We're working so hard at this point to try and get as close as we can to close the gap and challenge.

"At Liverpool at the time it always felt like we were taking huge strides and getting close and progressing really well, and then at a really key time and a key moment for the team and the group, a big player gets taken away and it takes time to recover from that.

"My relationship with Torres, I was getting a lot of goals at that time. I was at my peak and felt fantastic."

Torres failed to live up to his £50m price tag having moved to Stamford Bridge, notching just 20 goals in his 110 Premier League appearances for the Blues.

Gerrard went on to add that he doesn't hold a grudge against his former teammate, though he admits he did everything he could to convince the striker to remain on Merseyside.

"I understand everyone's situation is different," he added. "People have dreams and different paths and they're not all local lads who love the club. I appreciate and respect all that, but at the same time it still hurts when someone leaves a club.

"I've told Fernando that. I tried to get him to stay. I told his agent the same. They were both at Melwood but they made a decision and that decision was out of my hands. It hurt a lot."

During his 17 years in the Liverpool senior side, Gerrard played alongside some stellar frontmen including Ballon d'Or winner Michael Owen (yes, really) and Liverpool legend Fowler.

However, Gerrard believes the reason he holds both Torres and Suarez in such high regard is because they arrived at the club when he was nearing the prime of his career, and that he probably didn't fully appreciate playing alongside Owen and Fowler given how young he was during their time at Anfield.

"The reason I always talk about Torres and Suarez is because I felt like I was in my prime at that time," he said. "I played with [Fowler] when I was very young, I was still raw, I was still developing.

"I played with Michael Owen when I was a little bit further along but I still didn't feel I was in my peak years. I was still getting injury niggles and still finding my feet and my profile.

"I bumped into Torres and Suarez at the perfect time. More Torres because I'm in my peak years in those 2006, 2007 and 2008 years when I felt like I could go against anyone on the pitch. It didn't matter who it was. I felt like I could face anyone at that time. I felt like I was at my peak. They're my best memories from how I felt from a personal point of view."

C'mon Stevie, order yourself a lamb bhuna, sit in front of the mirror and just let it all out.