Manchester United youngster James Garner, currently on loan at Championship side Watford, has surprised us a little after admitting Steven Gerrard was his idol growing up.
My first thought was does this mean he underestimates the Premier League or does it make him hungrier to win one? When I was a kid all of my idols had Premier League medals, so it must have been strange for Garner, especially when he would have watched the likes of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.
Anyhow, each to their own.
There’s no denying Gerrard was a good player and there are traits to his game, if implemented well enough, that could win United football matches in the future if Garner can develop into a first team player.
Perhaps being from Birkenhead in Merseyside has something to do with his affiliation with Gerrard, but Garner joined United’s academy at the age of eight.
During a Q&A on Watford’s official website, Garner explained that most of his family support Liverpool and he saw a lot of Gerrard when he was growing up.
“I get asked this a lot of time, because of where I grew up. All my family are Liverpool supporters, which is ironic considering I’m at Manchester United, so my idol was probably Steven Gerrard,” Garner said.
“I used to watch all the games with my dad and he was the m Ain player who I used to watch and I wanted to be like him. I used top wear the Predators, just like him, and I still do today.”
I can imagine there’s good camaraderie between Garner and his family over playing for United.
We at Stretty News hope he gives it back — and remembers to inform them we’ve got 20 league titles. More than anyone in England for another few months at least!
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