Miereles Rates Gerrard As The Best In World

New Liverpool signing Raul
Meireles is looking forward to
forming a fruitful partnership
with captain Steven Gerrard, a
player he rates as one of the
top three midfielders in Europe.
The former Porto star moved to
Anfield just days before the close
of the August transfer window
after manager Roy Hodgson
spent £10.7million of the
proceeds of Javier Mascherano's
sale to Barcelona.
He has only played twice with
Gerrard, and knows their on-field
relationship can only improve,
telling LFC Weekly: "For a long
time, I have said that Gerrard is
one of the top three midfielders
in the European game. Along
with Michael Essien of Chelsea
and Andres Iniesta of Barcelona.
Now I am his team-mate. I think
we can combine well together."
Meireles said he understands
Gerrard's passion in playing for
his hometown club as he felt the
same at Porto prior to his move.
"I can sympathise with people
like Steven Gerrard and Jamie
Carragher because, like me, they
are players who have played for
the major club in their city," he
added.
"That brings pressures that are
difficult to deal with because
when things go wrong, the local
players sometimes feel the
frustrations of the supporters a
lot more."