Pat Nevin believes frustration at the scoreline might not be the only reason why Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard boiled over and got himself sent off in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.
The Reds veteran lasted little over 30 seconds as a second half substitute before stamping on Ander Herrera, and based on experience of team-mates losing control during his own playing career, Nevin told Off The Ball that other issues might have been playing on Gerrard's mind, leading him to tip himself over the edge.
"We always think they're automatons, but seeing someone totally out of character, doing something completely mad like that, I look at it and think, hmmm ... something else is going on there and it isn't just a little bit of frustration. There's something bigger amiss. We've all had bad days at work and usually we know how to cope with it. But if something's happening elsewhere, everything just comes on at the same time," said Pat, who gave his take on some of the issues that might have been going through Gerrard's mind as he was introduced onto the pitch.
Gerrard walks past manager Brendan Rodgers (Peter Byrne / PA WIRE)
"In the depths of it, whatever you say about squad rotation, whatever you say about being professionals. When you're dropped, you're dropped and you feel like you're dropped. You're angry, you wonder if it's being done for the best reasons.
"There's anger hammering out of every single area of Steven Gerrard's thoughts there, the anger probably towards his own manager and one of the worst angers in the worlds is the one you can't speak and all those other things like his team losing, losing the battle and being desperate to be involved."
Pat also assessed Manchester United's renewed good form and Juan Mata's glittering contribution in particular.
Plus he told us about the case of mistaken identity on the one occasion that he was sent off during his career.
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