Gerrard admits Owen & Torres were 2 best strikers during his Liverpool career

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has admitted that fellow former Reds stars Michael Owen and Fernando Torres were the two strikers got the very best out of him during his Reds career.

After making his Liverpool debut in 1998, the midfielder, who scored almost 200 goals during his Reds career, quickly built-up a trustworthy partnership with fellow Reds academy graduate Owen, who would often thrive on latching onto one of Gerrard's pinpoint threaded through balls.

By 2007, Gerrard's wait was brought to an end when the Reds secured a deal with Atletico Madrid to sign Torres for a fee of around £20m. The Spaniard enjoyed an outstanding debut season in at Anfield, netting 33 goals in all competitions, with Gerrard's creativeness often proving the architect.

Now, the former Reds skipper has opened up on his experiences of playing alongside Owen and Torres, insisting that those two brought the very best out of him.

"I think it would either be out of Michael Owen and [Fernando] Torres," Gerrard told Sky Sports. "I played with Michael when I was quite young and I would have liked to have played with Michael a bit further on into our careers when we were both in our prime, because we grew up for many years together.

"But I always knew that Michael was on the same page and the same wave length; I didn't have to look where to cross the ball. I didn't used to have to look twice to see if he was running because I knew he was just on the same wave length.

"I had that same connection with Torres when I moved further up and played in a more advanced role as a No.10.

"My role with [Luis] Suarez was different because I was deeper, and I think Suarez had other real big talents around him. He had [Philippe] Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge around him who were capable of creating as well, so there was less onus on myself to create.

"I would say Michael Owen and Torres were the two that got the best out of me as a No.8 midfielder."

Gerrard, of course, will go down as one of the greatest players to have ever worn a Liverpool shirt, with his goals, passion and love for the club never going unnoticed. Despite that, the now-Rangers manager believes that he would not have been able to deliver the goods on such a regular basis had he not had the support of his teammates carrying out other duties within the team.

"From a personal point of view, you need other pieces of the jigsaw around you for you to play well," added Gerrard. "For me to go wandering on a pitch to make things happen in the final third, I had to have players behind me who were very disciplined and could play a second kind of game, not just a game where you are on the attack.

"You need people who are switched on for what could happen on a counter-attack or a what-if moment.

"For me to shine in a Liverpool team, I needed a Owen, or a Torres, or a [Robbie] Fowler, or a Suarez to make special runs or special movements.

"But one thing is for sure, I needed other people behind me as well to be the rock so I could go wandering to make things happen within that team."