Mamadou Sakho reveals how classy Steven Gerrard has kept in touch with him

Once a captain, always a captain.

It seems that Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard can't help himself from offering words of encouragement to the Reds squad, even though he's currently plying his trade on the other side of the Atlantic. Mamadou Sakho has revealed that Stevie G has kept in touch with the team on which he built his legacy and that the midfielder continues to send text messages of inspiration to his former teammates with one text in particular standing out for the Frenchman who was handed the captain's armband for Liverpool's Europa League opener last month. Sakho told L'Equipe: "Steven is an example. Also, he often sends me small text messages like after my first match of the season at Bordeaux, in the Europa League, with the captain armband. "He texted me to congratulate me, he said: ‘Continue to fight like that, I’m proud of you.’ "It’s always nice to receive such a message from a great player." Sakho had struggled for playing time at the start of the season before being given his starting place in a back three alongside Martin Skrtel and Emre Can but his spell on the sidelines is something that irked the centre-back. "Let’s say that during the short period when I was not playing, I was like a little caged lion who was not fed for a while." We look forward to seeing how well the new Liverpool manager feeds Mr Sakho. If it's Jurgen Klopp, there'll be plenty of munch available while we don't think Carlo Ancelotti is the kind of fella to leave any food go spare.