Tim Sherwood has revealed how a teenage Steven Gerrard immediately caught the attention of England’s senior players when the future Liverpool captain was invited to train with the national team.

Sherwood, who earned three England caps during his own international career, recently reflected on his memories of Gerrard during an appearance on The Sun’s new football entertainment programme, “Greatest Of All Teams”, presented in partnership with Sun Vegas.

The former Tottenham and Blackburn midfielder is one of the hosts of the show alongside StevoTheMadMan. Their latest episode also featured former Premier League striker Dave Kitson, whose discussion about the greatest footballers he had encountered eventually led to a fascinating story about Gerrard.

Kitson was asked to identify the best players he had faced during his professional career. Rather than choosing defenders, he explained that the most outstanding opponents were often midfielders because of the way they could influence matches while carrying the ball through the centre of the pitch.

Among the names he mentioned were Luka Modric and Manchester United legend Paul Scholes. However, it was Gerrard who stood out most strongly in his mind.

Kitson suggested that some players possessed the extraordinary ability to take control of a match almost by themselves. Gerrard, in his view, belonged firmly in that category.

Sherwood was then able to add his own perspective because he had witnessed Gerrard’s qualities at a very early stage of his career. Sherwood made all three of his appearances for England in 1999, a period when Gerrard was still developing with the England Under-21 set-up.

Although Gerrard had not yet established himself as a senior international, he was occasionally brought into the first-team environment to train alongside more experienced footballers. According to Sherwood, it did not take long for the youngster to make an impression.

Sherwood recalled seeing Gerrard arrive at England training and immediately throw himself into challenges. Rather than behaving cautiously around established international stars, the teenager competed with enormous intensity and appeared determined to prove that he belonged.

From only a handful of training sessions, Sherwood said, Gerrard’s personality and footballing mentality were already obvious.

The former England midfielder emphasised that Gerrard’s talent was about much more than his technical skills. His ability to pass, shoot, tackle and control the ball was already apparent, but it was his mentality that made him particularly impressive.

Sherwood described Gerrard as exceptionally driven, with an intense desire to improve and become better than the players around him. That competitive attitude was visible even when he was still a teenager attempting to break into the senior England squad.

One of the qualities Sherwood particularly admired was Gerrard’s refusal to be intimidated by reputation. Whether he was facing an established international or another young player, Gerrard seemed prepared to compete without showing excessive respect or fear.

For Sherwood, that mentality was not necessarily a negative trait. In fact, he considered it one of the most valuable characteristics a footballer could possess.

A player who genuinely believes he can outperform everyone else can develop an extraordinary competitive edge. Gerrard would eventually demonstrate exactly that quality throughout his career.

The Liverpool midfielder went on to become one of the most influential English footballers of his generation. He eventually collected 114 senior England caps and spent the vast majority of his club career at Liverpool, making more than 700 appearances for the Merseyside giants.

During his time at Anfield, Gerrard became synonymous with leadership, long-range shooting, powerful runs from midfield and dramatic goals in important matches. He captained Liverpool for many years and became one of the most respected figures in the club’s modern history.

His performances for England also established him as one of the country’s leading midfielders, despite the fact that his international career never culminated in a major tournament victory.

Sherwood’s story is therefore particularly interesting because it provides an insight into Gerrard before he became a household name. Long before he was lifting trophies at Liverpool or leading England onto the international stage, his competitiveness was already obvious to senior professionals.

The conversation took place as part of “Greatest Of All Teams”, a programme built around an unusual fantasy football concept.

Each episode asks a guest, usually a former professional footballer or football personality, to create an all-time Premier League XI. However, there is an important restriction: the guest cannot simply choose any players they want.

Instead, a random selection of Premier League clubs is generated, and the participant must choose one player from each of those teams. This creates an unpredictable challenge and forces the guest to work with whatever options the game provides.

The teams and players are selected using a computerised randomisation system, meaning participants have little control over the players they are given.

Once the guest has completed their starting XI, the hypothetical side is then placed into a simulated Premier League season. The simulation determines how many points the team would supposedly collect over the campaign.

The points earned by each participant are then added to a leaderboard, allowing different guests to compete against one another throughout the series.

This format creates plenty of opportunities for debate because a guest may be handed a collection of elite players capable of challenging for the title, while another could end up with a squad that appears far less competitive.

That was the challenge facing Dave Kitson during his appearance. The former Reading striker had to decide whether the players available to him could form a team capable of competing at the highest level or whether the resulting XI would struggle towards the bottom of the table.

The programme combines tactical discussion with nostalgia for the Premier League era. It draws heavily on memories of the so-called “Barclaysmen” generation, while also encouraging guests to revisit some of the most memorable players and teams from the competition’s history.

Sherwood and StevoTheMadMan use the format to create a mixture of serious football analysis and light-hearted entertainment. Guests are encouraged to explain why they select particular players, compare different generations and imagine how their fantasy teams would perform over a full season.

For football supporters, the appeal comes from the combination of nostalgia and hypothetical scenarios. Fans can debate whether legendary players from different eras would work together, while also seeing former professionals make difficult choices under the programme’s unusual rules.

In Sherwood’s case, however, the most memorable moment of the episode may have had little to do with the fantasy XI itself.

His recollection of a teenage Gerrard provided a rare glimpse into the mentality of a player who would eventually become an England and Liverpool icon.

According to Sherwood, Gerrard did not need years of senior football to demonstrate his potential. His aggression in training, determination to improve and willingness to challenge established players were visible almost immediately.

That competitive personality would become a defining characteristic of Gerrard’s career. From his breakthrough at Liverpool to his years as captain, he consistently played with the same intensity that Sherwood noticed when he was still a teenager.

The story also helps explain why Gerrard developed into such a formidable midfielder. His technical ability was obvious, but his ambition and desire to compete were equally important.

For Sherwood, witnessing those qualities at such an early stage made it clear that Gerrard was destined for something special. More than two decades later, the former Liverpool captain’s record of 114 England appearances and over 700 club matches confirms just how remarkable that early promise eventually became.