Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes his ex-club should have done more to keep Steven Gerrard.
Gerrard, 34, will leave the Reds when his current deal expires next summer, despite being offered a new contract.
“Steven is not someone who would be comfortable just sitting on the bench and, in that sense, he has made the right decision,” Carragher said.
Gerrard’s best Premier League goals
“Still, I cannot help feeling Liverpool’s hierarchy should have done more to ensure he remained at Anfield.”
Gerrard joined Liverpool aged nine and has gone on to win the Champions League, Uefa Cup, two FA Cups, three League Cups, one Community Shield and two Uefa Super Cups during his time at the club.
But Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has rested him on several occasions this season when he has started with his captain on the bench.
Gerrard says he will not join a team that will line up against the Merseysiders and the midfielder has been linked to a move to Major League Soccer in the United States.
Carragher, speaking in his column for the Daily Mail, believes Gerrard could have been tempted to stay at Liverpool by being made to feel more “wanted” and being given a coaching role along with his playing responsibilities.
“Over the next 12 months Steven could have been given a role on the staff to combine with his playing duties,” the 36-year-old said.
“It would have been like work experience, with him shadowing Brendan Rodgers, looking at how the academy is run – all the different aspects of the club.
“At the end of the year, it might have been that Steven wasn’t at the right level to be a coach or he could have decided that coaching wasn’t for him.
“But I look at what is happening with Ryan Giggs at Manchester United now and I am dismayed that Liverpool are letting that experience leave.”
Source: BBC