Liverpool star Gerrard thought was ‘s***’ helped Reds to Champions League final

Former Liverpool midfielder Jermaine Pennant has claimed Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher called Alvaro Arbeloa "s***" when he first arrived at the club.

Arbeloa joined the Reds from Deportivo in 2007 in a deal worth just over £2million. He went on to make 98 appearances under Rafa Benitez, including as a substitute in the Champions League final against AC Milan the same year.

The Spaniard ended up being warmly-regarded by Liverpool fans, although two stars weren't quite so convinced when Arbeloa first arrived at Melwood. According to former star Jermaine Pennant, Gerrard and Carragher slagged off the new arrival straight away.

"I can’t recall who we bought for £15m, but Alvaro Arbeloa was slagged off by Gerrard and Carragher," Pennant told Lord Ping when asked about another signing who was written off by the pair on day one.

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"'He’s s*** lad’, they would say."

And Arbeloa wasn't the only one who got the treatment from Gerrard and Carragher. Pennant claims the duo weren't initially huge fans of Dirk Kuyt either, although some fine form in front of goal soon put pay to that.

"Initially, Dirk Kuyt didn’t win Gerrard and Carragher over, either," he said. "But then he started scoring goals and they warmed to him. He was a bit rusty at first, his touch wasn’t great and they were like, ‘what the f***?’"

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Pennant then went on to talk about his own introduction to Liverpool. "I think I was fine on my first day and game," he said. "We played Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League and I got MOTM. That Chelsea goal against Peter Cech didn’t hurt either, and Ashley Cole my friend!"

The 40-year-old played with a vast array of top quality stars over the course of his career, including Thierry Henry, Michael Owen and Fernando Torres. He finished by touching on the trio.

"With Torres, you looked at him and you didn’t see flair and skill. He was about raw pace, strength and he could finish.

"Those are all the attributes you really need, and he was so quick. Not quicker than Henry though, he was so quick. I played with Michael Owen at Stoke City but I think his hamstrings had gone by then."

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