Carlo Ancelotti Regrets Never Signing Steven Gerrard

New Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti, in an interview with FourFourTwo Magazine, was asked what player he regretted never signing in his career. He responded, "I tried to sign Steven Gerrard from Liverpool but it just wasn’t possible."

Ancelotti managed AC Milan from 2001-2009, which pretty much perfectly coincides with the time frame when former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was one of the greatest midfielders on planet Earth. It stands to reason, then, that though Ancelotti didn't go into further detail, he's referring to roughly that era, when the legendary manager would have been among a whole host of suitors looking to lure Gerrard away from Anfield.

Ancelotti was also on the end of some of that famous Gerrard magic in Istanbul in 2005 when Gerrard led the Reds to a comeback victory against Inter Milan in the Champion's League final.

That seems to be a game that still haunts Ancelotti, and when asked about that fateful night, he said, "I look back at this quite often," he added. "But I don’t think there is anything I could have done differently. It was all about six minutes. We played for 114 minutes, Liverpool played for six minutes. That’s the truth of it. It was a very strange game. You know, I took this Milan team to three Champion's League finals, and 2005 was actually the best we played -- but it was the only one we lost!"

When asked about the assertions that his Milan team were celebrating in the locker room at half-time of that game, which he strongly rebuked, saying, "No, no, this is bullshit. Bullshit! We were very happy because we had played a fantastic first half, but we knew we had another half to play. Even at 3-3 we should have won it in the last minute when Andriy Shevchenko had a chance in front of goal, but Dudek saved it."

One would assume that at 3-3, when Dudek made that breathtaking save, any happiness that the Milan players felt was well and truly gone -- thanks in large part to Steven Gerrard, that one who got away.