1) He does not want to milk his victories

The former England and Liverpool captain has a taste for the gritty, downbeat side of a footballer’s life. He is more interested in examining the disappointments rather than the achievements of his career. Wary of still “milking” his triumph in the 2005 Champions League final Gerrard was relieved to miss the 10th anniversary celebration of the “Miracle of Istanbul” when Liverpool came from 3-0 down to beat Milan on penalties. Gerrard cheerfully insists that: “The next time you’ll see me at an Istanbul event will probably be in 40 years, when it’s the 50th anniversary. I’ll be nice and old then – 75.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gerrard celebrates with the Champions League trophy in 2005. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

2) He’s not keen on El Hadji Diouf

His three favourite team-mates from his career with Liverpool are all Spanish-speakers: Luis Suárez, Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso. If he ever becomes Liverpool manager his ideal assistant would be Alonso. El Hadji Diouf, described as the least likeable team-mate he has ever had, is unlikely to complete this new fantasy version of the Liverpool Boot Room.

3) But he is a big fan of Luis Suárez

Gerrard’s love of Suárez as a footballer runs so deep he features more often than anyone else in the book. The Uruguay striker’s entries in the index confirm the impact of Suárez. Gerrard and Suárez are also united in a shared belief that, in their absence, the undoubted new “main man” at Liverpool is Philippe Coutinho.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gerrard and Luis Suarez win the Barclays Players of the Month Awards for March 2014. Photograph: LiverpoolFC/Action Images

4) The pain of Hillsborough is still very real

The haunting memories of Hillsborough, where his 10-year-old cousin, Jon-Paul Gilhooley, was the youngest of the 96 Liverpool fans to die in 1989, still upset Gerrard. It is clear these passages, as each new anniversary of the tragedy unfolds at Anfield, cause Gerrard the most pain and distress. He admits he found the one occasion when he was asked to read at an anniversary service almost too much to bear.

5) He’s not afraid to cry

The Liverpool icon is not afraid to admit his tears. The book starts with tears rolling down his face after he has slipped against Chelsea and Liverpool lose their grip on the 2013-14 title race. Near the end Gerrard admits to breaking down on his own after his team-mates honour him with the most touching and poignant of gifts as he prepares to leave Liverpool. These include a beautiful leather-bound book featuring tributes to him written by a wide-range of former rivals, team-mates and managers from Zinedine Zidane to Kenny Dalglish, Suárez to John Aldridge.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A black day for Gerrard after his slip let in Demba Ba and Chelsea fatally damaged Liverpool’s title challenge in 2014. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images

6) He has a sense of humour (even in extreme circumstances …)

He is also not shy when discussing his lacerated penis, with some witty asides, while revealing an eye-watering injury he suffered in January 2014. “The magic of the FA Cup was bloodied on the day my penis was cut and then stitched shut on an unromantic afternoon in Bournemouth.” From the moment of injury, to showing the consequences to his wincing manager and the Liverpool medics, to the chortling reaction of his team-mates, to the moments of being stitched up, Gerrard shows deadpan comic timing – while admitting “my dick was stinging like fuck.”

7) His career could have been cut short

More seriously he was afflicted with terrible injuries in 2011. Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering the battering his body absorbed, his closest friend at the club is Liverpool’s head of physio Chris Morgan. Two nights before the fateful game against Chelsea in April 2014, when his slip allowed Demba Ba to race away and score, Gerrard was riddled with such back pain he could hardly move. But the mysterious infections and injuries he suffered in 2011 were far more serious and his career could have been cut short. Gerrard reveals he needed to seek help from the psychiatrist Steve Peters to haul himself out of depression.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gerrard enjoyed Atlético Madrid’s Champions League win over Chelsea in 2013. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/Guardian

8) He likes Haribo and emoticons

Gerrard has a way of expressing his anguish with texted emoticons. In a revealing chapter about injury he shares some of the late-night texts he swapped with Morgan. Gerrard’s are littered with sad faces. One sad face means he’s “not good”. Two sad faces confirm he’s feeling terrible. The decent grammar and perfect spelling are illuminated by all those sad little yellow faces. When Gerrard is trying to recover from the trauma of The Slip he and Morgan share a bag of Haribos while delighting in Chelsea losing to Atlético Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

9) He can’t stand Martin Atkinson

Gerrard generally avoids putting the literary boot into too many people – although it soon becomes clear Martin Atkinson and Stuart Pearce top the list of those he dislikes most. The referee was in charge of Gerrard’s most infamous club games – The Slip against Chelsea as well as The Stamp, when he rightly sent off Gerrard for stamping on Manchester United’s Ander Herrera just 38 seconds after the Liverpool captain stepped on to the pitch.

Atkinson riles him even more than Pearce, who chose Scott Parker ahead of Gerrard as captain in his only match as England’s caretaker manager. Pearce decided to break the news to Gerrard in a hotel toilet just outside Watford.

But Atkinson keeps popping up throughout the book. After he has stamped on Herrera, Gerrard writes of Atkinson, “I didn’t like the look of his face” as the ref marches towards him – before reaching a definitive decision towards the end of the book. Just before the last match in which Atkinson will referee him, Gerrard says bluntly, “I can’t stand him.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Chelsea manager José Mourinho leads the applause for Gerrard on his final appearance at Stamford Bridge. Photograph: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images

10) He admires José Mourinho

José Mourinho is the manager Gerrard admires above all others in English and European football. Towards the end of the book he is genuinely moved to receive a heart-felt and hand-written letter from a manager who tried to sign him for Chelsea, Internazionale and Real Madrid. John Terry hands Gerrard an envelope.

“It’s for you,” JT said, “from José …”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” JT said, “I wonder what he’s put in that?”

“I turned over the envelope and laughed,” Gerrard writes. “The back had been sealed with Sellotape and signed by Mourinho. “Well, mate,” I said to JT, “he’s obviously signed it because he doesn’t want you to know.”

“My Story” by Steven Gerrard, with Donald McRae, is published by Michael Joseph and out on Thursday.