Exclusive Ian Rush Interview: Liverpool Legend Talks Sturridge, Juve, Fans, More

Having won 18 trophies and netted 346 goals for the club, it's little wonder that Ian Rush is viewed as one of the biggest Liverpool legends of all time.

So, when the opportunity came up to interview the former striker, it was a chance we snaffled as quickly as Rush himself would have done in his pomp, like a classic side-footed finish to find the far corner of the net.

Even now, 17 years after the Welshman finished representing the Red shirt, he is still spoken about in revered terms by many, hailed as the best and most natural out-and-out striker the club has ever seen and still has his name sung out on the Kop most weeks.

Such continued long-term support, which transcends generations of supporters, is not lost on Rush, who remains in the employ of Liverpool on an ambassadorial level.

"It's a great feeling when the people sing your name," he said. "I was lucky to play for the club for 15 years and score a lot of goals, and I'm very proud to be associated with Liverpool Football Club. It's great to see the younger generation as well, people who probably didn't even see me play, so when they still sing your name it makes you very proud."

Rush had a front-row seat to such lingering and unwavering support when he travelled on the club's preseason tour of Australia and Asia.

"I think the support is incredible, when you consider probably the lack of success that the team has had on the pitch. I expected it in Thailand and Indonesia—they've always been mad, passionate supporters—but I think when we went to Melbourne (Australia) it took it to a different level.

"There were 96,000 people there all in Liverpool shirts and singing songs, and to me it was like going to a European final. It just goes to show how big the club still is worldwide, and it was incredible to be there."

The lack of success that Rush refers to is relative, of course.

When he played, Liverpool were at their peak: dominating England and Europe with some of the finest players, the finest team and the finest managers in the game—he won two European Cups with the Reds and no less than five First Division titles. He also picked up a total of 11 domestic cups and shields in his time as a Liverpool player.

Rush played in the club's last league title triumph, in '89-90, so the lack of championships since then certainly infers a reduction of success—yet since the turn of the century, Liverpool have still won 11 pieces of silverware.

Not too many other clubs would cite such a haul as a lack of success—but the standards and expectations at Anfield are higher on account of the relentless march to trophy after trophy by the likes of Rush, who counts Jan Molby and John Barnes amongst the best players he played with.

The best, of course, was Kenny Dalglish, something Rush freely admits, but he also cites Juventus team-mate Michael Laudrup as being right up there.

His time in Italy, where he spent only the '87-88 season, is often viewed by outsiders as a failure, a mistake and a blot on an otherwise immaculate career.

Rush himself sees the time rather differently.

"I only have good memories of being there," he said. "People forget I scored 14 goals—I think that made me second-highest scorer there—and they think that because I didn't get 30 it made me a failure. But I learnt a lot about life over there; I went to Juventus as a boy and I came back a man.

"Contrary to what people believe, it was probably the best decision I did make."

So why the quick return? Home called, of course.

"I would have stayed out there, only for Dalglish and Liverpool wanted me to come back," he said.

As the conversation drifts back to the present day and the current Liverpool team, it's easy to hear that Rush believes there is talent in place. Club captain Steven Gerrard and forward Luis Suarez certainly come in for praise, with Rush believing they are good enough to have gotten into the great Liverpool teams of yesteryear.

"Last year, Suarez and Gareth Bale were far and away the best players in the league, and Suarez scored more goals than I thought he would do," he said. "I think if Daniel Sturridge says fit, though, he'll be the main goalscorer.

"But as when I was the main goalscorer, getting maybe 30 goals, Dalglish would also get 20 and you need that. If Sturridge can get maybe 20-25, then you're looking for Suarez to get maybe 15 or 20."

That duo has recently been paired together once more after the Uruguayan's suspension following the formation switch by Brendan Rodgers to a 3-5-2, a system utilised by Roy Evans around the time Rush was ending his Anfield career.

"If you've got the players to do it, it can work well," he said. "The most important players become the wide full-backs and Glen Johnson is the perfect player to play that system. He can get up and down and, attacking-wise, it allows Jose Enrique to get forward more."

And with Liverpool second at present, how long can it last? Does the formerly mustachioed poacher genuinely believe the Reds are capable of a top-four place—or more?

"This is the most open league ever. There's maybe five or six teams who can win it this year and I put Liverpool in that category as well, because anyone can beat anyone. If we have our strongest team out, if we have Suarez, Sturridge, Gerrard and Philippe Coutinho, we've got a team there that can score goals.

"We've had a good start to the season. We've got to go to Newcastle and not lose," he said of the Saturday match. "If we win, we'll start thinking about the top four and we need European football again at Liverpool."

With that in mind and one eye on the future, the obvious way to end the chat is to ask Rush: Exactly who could become the next top Liverpool striker to follow in his own footsteps?

Looking at the current crop of youngsters, Rush is eager to pick out two forwards—without wanting to put too much pressure on them or have great expectations of immediate fireworks.

"Jerome Sinclair and Harry Wilson are the two that excite me," he said. "Sinclair can score goals; he's strong. They're definitely two for the future."

Sinclair and Wilson, the future of Liverpool, perhaps. Suarez and Sturridge, the present. And Rush, the glorious past.

Remaining in the present, the Reds are fully focused on getting back into the Champions League with a top-four finish, something their great start—and the goals of Sturridge—have aided enormously with.

Sturridge has made a great start, netting 19 goals in his first 25 games as a Liverpool player, but he's a million miles away from the consistency and longevity that Rush displayed to net close to 350.

And yet, if the Reds' modern-day striker scores the goals to get the club back into the big time, back to challenging at the top end of the Premier League on a regular basis, then Rush himself would doubtless be as delighted as every one of the fans in the Kop, or in bars or homes as far around the world as Australia.

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