Former teammate says Steven Gerrard 'has never liked black people'

Want Backheel Breakfast in your inbox? Sign up for the email version here.

Steven Gerrard has released a biography before, and someone's given him quite a bit of money to do another one now that he's left Liverpool. He apparently had a bit more to say this time around, and his former co-workers aren't too happy.

Rafa Benitez was fairly calm and professional about Gerrard saying he didn't get on with the Spaniard. "I've read the quotes and Gerrard is mistaken," said Benitez. "Due to the respect I have for ‘Stevie' and for the value and appreciation I have for him, and for Liverpool and the supporters, I'm not going to say anything."

But El-Hadji Diouf took a different tone, emphasis mine. "We all saw how he made life difficult for Mario Balotelli at Liverpool," said Diouf. "I warned him. Liverpool isn't a team that accepts black people unless they are English. It's common knowledge. Gerrard has never liked black people. When I was at Liverpool, I showed him I was black, that I wasn't English, but that I'm no pushover. All the time I was there, he never dared looked me in the eye."

Yikes.

Goal of the day

Dimitri Payet's first against Newcastle, though his second wasn't bad either.

In the news

Chelsea's solution to their early struggles? Banning banter. (Telegraph)

Jose Mourinho also got mad at journalists for asking dumb questions and told them to use Google instead. (Mirror)

A rugby referee says soccer refs need to be tougher on dissent. (BBC)

Jack Wilshere could be out for three months with a case of the Jack Wilsheres. (Guardian)

Jamaica is trying to recruit New York Red Bulls star Bradley Wright-Phillips. (MLS)

The Neymar transfer tax evasion case is still going on, and Barca's sporting directors have to submit their defenses. (AS)

You should be reading

Mike Goodman on the Champions League clubs who are IN CRISIS. (Grantland)

Harry Gray on the rise and transformation of Swansea City. (These Football Times)

Ian King on Anthony Martial being a waste of money, then a brilliant signing, in seconds. (Two Hundred Percent)

Monday's games

West Ham trucked Newcastle.

What to watch on Tuesday (all times ET, click for listings)

Champions League: Eight games (2:45 p.m.) - The best game, Juventus vs. Manchester City, is also the least accessible in the United States. It's the only one that hasn't been sublicensed to ESPN. The best easy to watch game is probably Sevilla-Gladbach.

SB Nation presents: The Champions League explained in two minutes