Alan Shearer has revealed how he used to love playing at Anfield, despite the fact his record away at Liverpool was not the best during his career.
The Premier League’s record goalscorer with 260 goals, the former striker made 31 appearances against the Reds, with 14 of them coming at Anfield.
Shearer never tasted victory away at Liverpool with his best results being three draws at the iconic ground.
His finest hour did come at Anfield though, celebrating winning the Premier League title away at Liverpool, at the expense of Manchester United
While he concedes he rarely ‘came away with anything’ away at Liverpool, Shearer has chosen Anfield as his favourite ground while also lauding Reds supporters.
Shearer
"I always used to love going to Anfield,” he said on the Rest is Football podcast. “I loved the ground. I loved the atmosphere.
“I don't know, maybe I'm wrong but I always felt that you got a bit more respect as a player. If you were a half decent player you got a little bit more respect at Anfield than you did in a lot of grounds.
“They are an incredible football club but very rarely did you come away with anything. But I always enjoyed it because it has a special atmosphere.”
Shearer nearly came close to completing an unlikely move to Liverpool and being able to call Anfield his home at the back-end of his career in the 2003/04 season
Phil Thompson
"He was a tried and trusted superstar, one of the great players in the game and a man whose stature could give everyone a lift - on and off the pitch. His name was Alan Shearer.
"Of course, Alan was still a god at Newcastle, but he had not signed his new contract.
"Gerard (Houllier) came to me and said: 'Do you fancy Alan Shearer?' I said 'Of course!' although I felt there was little or no chance of securing his services because of his ties to the North East.
"Gerard felt he could be another Gary McAllister for us, a great pro who could spark things with his approach, attitude and quality. It would also have revived the Alan Shearer/Michael Owen partnership that had been so successful for England in the past. The boss said that he had this feeling that
“Alan would come to Anfield. "Contact was made, although Newcastle were obviously not keen to let him go. We said we would like to be kept informed, aware that it would be a major coup to capture someone of Shearer's stature.
“We also knew that it would be a massive negotiation, but early indications were that he would come. Nothing happened over a period of 10 days and then all of a sudden the Geordie hero got the contract at St James' Park that he had wanted.
"That had been my only fear, that his advisers might have used Liverpool's interest to force Newcastle's hand, but Alan Shearer is as honest and down to earth as they come and Gerard was convinced that his interest in joining us was genuine.
"The boss had been in talks with Bobby Robson about a possible deal and we know that Shearer didn't use us. In the end it was his sheer love of all things Geordie that kept him in the North East."
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