Possible limited games behind decision to leave Liverpool, reveals Gerrard

New Delhi: Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard revealed the reason for his decision to leave the club. In an emotional interview for the LiverpoolTV club website, the captain said that he was being told by the manager that there will fewer starts, and that's the main reason to leave Anfield.

Yesterday, the 34-year-old shocked the football world by announcing hie will leave Liverpool at the end of the current English Premier League season. He also confirmed that, he will join a Major League Soccer in United States next summer, although a deal with a club in America has yet to be finalised.

"I think the key conversation or moment was with the manager when he sat me down not so long ago and said it was time to manage my games for me and for the team. I'm bright enough to realise it is the right thing for everyone," Gerrard said.

He also said that it will be a difficult proposition for him to live with the fact that majority of his time at the club will be spent on the sidelines.

"... but when you've been a starter and a mainstay in the team for such a long time, it was a very difficult conversation to have with the manager. I accept it and I'll continue to give everything I've got, whether I'm starting, coming off the bench or whatever, but that was the key conversation that swung me to deciding to come away for a short while," he added.

In a 18-year career with the Reds, Gerrard famously helped the club win the UEFA Champions League in 2005. After trailing by three goals to nil in the first half against AC Milan, he led from the front scoring the first goal in the 54th minute and forcing a penalty shoot-out in Istanbul. In the shoot-out, they won 3-2.

However, he failed to win the league title, which made his rather illustrious career look like an incomplete campaign.