Ex-England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson claims Steven Gerrard was as good a right-back as Man Utd legend Gary Neville

Former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson has claimed Steven Gerrard is as good a right-back as Gary Neville.

Gerrard, 42, is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of the Premier League era.

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In 710 games for Liverpool he scored 186 goals and provided 154 assists. He also had a successful international career representing England with a total of 114 caps.

But Eriksson has now claimed he could have been just as effective had he played in defence.

Speaking to The Times, the ex-England manager said: “Gerrard was very calm when he was a player but he was very smart on the pitch.

“He was an all-rounder, tactically he was extremely good. He could play anywhere in midfield and he could play right back.

“He played one half [there] in a friendly and he was amazing. He was probably as good as Gary Neville at right-back but it was a waste to use him at right-back.”

Neville, 47, is also considered one of the Premier League’s top exports with 600 appearances for Manchester United.

Both players belonged to England’s ‘golden generation’ of the 2000s, along with the likes of Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney.

Many fans believed that the team could win either the European Championship or the World Cup, but they were eliminated from each competition before the final stages.

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During Eriksson’s five-year tenure as England manager, the Three Lions failed at both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups AND Euro 2004.

The Swede was sacked by the FA in 2006 and was appointed Manchester City manager the following year.