Steven Gerrard claimed England player was 'better' than Lionel Messi in year he won second Ballon d'Or

Steven Gerrard could always be relied upon to back up his team-mates on the pitch and he had a knack for singing their praises off it too.

Liverpool legend Gerrard was regarded as one of the finest midfielders in the world throughout his career, during which he led the Reds to FA Cup and Champions League glory.

Despite his ability and impact at one of Europe's biggest clubs, Gerrard was seldom in the mix for the Ballon d'Or and never comes up when people are asked in hindsight about players who were unfairly overlooked.

In the entire history of the Ballon d'Or, France Football has apologised to just one player for the fact that he never won the award.

"Forgive us, Andres," wrote France Football's then-editor Pascal Ferre when Andres Iniesta left Barcelona. "Of all the absences on the list of Ballon d’Or winners, his is particularly painful."

1998 winner Zinedine Zidane also believes Iniesta deserved to win the Ballon d'Or and said that the Spanish international should have been recognised in 2010, the year he won the World Cup and scored in the final just as Zizou did in the year he won the award.

Instead, Iniesta's Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi collected the second of his eight Ballon d'Or trophies that year.

Messi was already considered the best in the world, then, by the time Gerrard hailed England colleague Joe Cole as even better.

West Ham United youth product Cole had just joined Gerrard at Liverpool after leaving Chelsea on a free transfer and the future Rangers and Aston Villa manager was thrilled.

Joe Cole and Roy Hodgson at Liverpool (Image: Getty)

"Messi can do some amazing things, but anything he can do Joe can do as well, if not better," Gerrard told Match of the Day magazine.

"He used to shock us in training by doing footy tricks with a golf ball that most players can't even do with a football. I really fancy Joe for the [player of the year] award this season."

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson lasted a little over a year before he left by mutual consent and was replaced by Kenny Dalglish.

Cole's move to Merseyside didn't work out as planned. After a loan spell at Lille, he left Anfield to rejoin West Ham in 2013.