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ESPN staff 9y

LA Galaxy star Steven Gerrard: Winning is in my DNA

LA Galaxy star Steven Gerrard says that he joined Major League Soccer to finish his career on a high and win more trophies.

Gerrard, 35, left Liverpool this summer and joined Galaxy in early July. Since then, the team have risen up the Western Conference in Major League Soccer and are a point behind leaders Vancouver Whitecaps, with a playoffs spot in mind at the end of next month.

And the midfielder -- who made 710 appearances for Liverpool and picked up 114 caps for England -- is not ready to give up his hunt for trophies just yet.

"I've come here to win and finish my career on a high," he told The Guardian. "The MLS is a fantastic league and it's growing all the time. The lads here are really professional and fit.

"The away games are different. You're either faced with long travel, humidity, heat or altitude. It's nice to be in Beverly Hills and LA, but if you watch me play, you'll see I want to win as much as ever. That's not going to change. It's in my DNA."

Gerrard has only been playing in America for a few months, but is already enjoying the fact that he is not in the spotlight as much.

"It's more relaxed here," he said. "The intensity is less. People come for a day out with the family -- it's more of a festival atmosphere. The Premier League is aggressive.

"In England, you feel the pressure rolling down from the terraces. You feel like you have to impress the manager every day, to impress tons of people every time you perform. After 17 years in that pressure cooker, America's a great change."

The former Liverpool skipper admits that he does miss England, though, and playing in the Premier League.

"The first time [he missed it] was when Liverpool were at Stoke for the first game of the [Premier League] season," he added. "I watch every game, and I do wish I was 25 again and captain, and leading them out in front of our supporters.

"I loved playing in the Premier League and the Champions League. We've got the best league in the world, so you are going to miss it -- especially when you've spent a lifetime at your home town club."

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