I found the "interview" Rush had with the S*n on another forum, and I am pretty shocked that he actually talked to them:
By STEVEN HOWARD
STEVEN GERRARD leads Liverpool out tomorrow in what could well be his last Merseyside derby.
With a Champions League spot still at stake, it is a meeting with more riding on it than any other in his time at Anfield.
Liverpool legend Ian Rush, scorer of a record 25 goals in the fixture, goes even further.
“It’s the most important game between the clubs since the FA Cup final of 1989,” said Rush, who scored twice in Liverpool’s 3-2 extra-time victory that day.
“And if it proves to be Gerrard’s last Merseyside derby, Liverpool fans will just have to accept it. As Everton proved with Wayne Rooney, no one is bigger than the club.”
Rush will be at Anfield with his two sons to see whether Liverpool can bounce back from the 0-0 draw with Blackburn in midweek that left them trailing Everton by seven points in the chase for fourth place.
It was an appalling display which summed up everything that has been wrong with Liverpool this season.
Rush, who scored 346 times in 658 appearances for the club, said: “It was a performance that is hard to describe.
“Yes, Blackburn were well organised but Everton will be just the same, if not better.
“Liverpool have to produce. If they don’t, Everton will get the draw they need and the Champions League dream will be over. There is going to have to be a massive improvement.”
Chester boss Rush, originally an Everton fan, has nothing but admiration for Goodison manager David Moyes.
He said: “Moyes has done fantastically well and if Everton qualify for the Champions League then he should be Manager of the Year.
“People underestimate just how good he is, especially the way he handled the Rooney situation.
“If anything disappoints me about Everton fans, it’s the way they have treated a player who was once their idol.
“They should actually get down on their knees and thank Rooney for what his transfer fee has done for the club.
“The money has given them the stability they have needed while his departure has made the players he left behind grow up.
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“Personally, I thought they relied on Rooney too much. But now he’s gone, they have all chipped in, worked that much harder and emerged as a proper team.”
Everton received £30million for Rooney and a parallel with his departure to Manchester United can be made with the likely transfer of Gerrard to Chelsea for a similar fee this summer.
Emotions run deep on Merseyside when homegrown sons move on and there were significant rumblings from Koppites after Gerrard’s performance against Chelsea in the Carling Cup final maintained an indifferent run of form.
But Rush, who will earn UEFA’s top coaching badge this summer, is quick to defend a player he knows well.
He said: “Some people said Gerrard’s attitude was not quite right but no one was more determined to beat Chelsea that day than him.
“I would love him to stay — like 90 per cent of Liverpool supporters. But if money talks, it talks.”
Heroes have come and gone in the past — even from a club that ignites passions to the extent Liverpool does.
Rush himself had a brief fling at Juventus in 1986 while Michael Owen headed off for Real Madrid.
Rush, though, spots one difference. He said: “At the moment, Gerrard hasn’t been given permission to speak to anyone. Both Michael and I were. So that makes your mind up for you.
“Steven Gerrard loves to play for Liverpool and if they were winning trophies he would never want to leave.
“OK, the fans may have accepted he’s going but I don’t think Rafael Benitez has. Then again, it’s not in his hands.
“But if he does go, Liverpool — unlike Everton with the Rooney money — WILL spend big. Because Liverpool are a massive club and have expectations.”
If that is the scenario, then Liverpool fans will be hoping for a better return on the Gerrard transfer fee than with the £40m spent since the summer.
Rush, though, defends Kop boss Benitez.
He said: “He has had little luck, especially losing Djibril Cisse so quickly. Of the others, Xabi Alonso is the best of the lot. Prior to getting injured he was fantastic.
“He is also the reason why Benitez would want Gerrard to stay because they play so well together.
“Luis Garcia is another example of how it takes some foreign players time to adapt. There’s no doubt it’s a lot tougher than they have been used to.
“As for Fernando Morientes, he’s a quality player, though the service he got against Blackburn didn’t make him look like one.
“It will be a big test against Everton. Ability-wise, no one questions him and if he can get something against Everton, he can make himself a hero.”
In a season where Liverpool’s progress in the Champions League has glossed over serious cracks in the paintwork, defender Jamie Carragher has somehow managed to enhance his reputation.
Rush said: “However good any foreign signings may be, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher ARE Liverpool.
“It always baffles me how Jamie is not regularly included in the England squad. He’s very much like John Terry — money can’t buy what they give a squad.
“If Gerrard left, there’d be no problem about the captaincy. In fact, it would be the best thing that ever happened to Carragher, the culmination of a life’s ambition.”
Three successive draws in the Merseyside derby at Anfield — the last two goalless — suggests another dour encounter.
“Yeah, they have been pretty boring recently,” said Rush. “This one, though, will be different. Liverpool have to attack and get the result.”