Liverpool 4 Portsmouth 1

STEVEN GERRARD has spoken about his special bond with Thierry Henry and how he tried to persuade the France forward to join him at Liverpool.

Instead Henry opted to move to Barcelona in the summer after deciding to curtail a glittering career with Arsenal.

Liverpool, however, still managed to secure the signature of a top striker in Fernando Torres.

He took his tally for the season to 14 following his £20m move from Atletico Madrid with a brace against Portsmouth England midfielder Gerrard was keen to get Henry on board after building a relationship with him when they faced each other for club and country.

I sent him a few text messages seeing if he fancied it,'' he said. I would have loved to have seen him in a Liverpool shirt, just like the supporters would have."

Gerrard's heart clearly belongs to Liverpool and he hinted should he ever be offered the manager's job he would be reluctant to refuse.

If I was qualified to do it, there's no way I could turn it down because of my bond with the club and the supporters, '' said the Anfield skipper.

But I think Jamie Carragher's got more chance than me, he maybe loves the game more than me, he studies the game more than me. So maybe he might be a bit more prepared than me.'' Gerrard and Carragher were both impressive as Liverpool returned to winning ways.

Yossi Benayoun opened the scoring with a superb volley and an own goal from Sylvain Distin left Portsmouth facing an uphill battle.

Benjani pulled a goal back but two clinical finishes from Torres sealed their fate.

Benitez said: Torres though is always a threat. Not only that he makes room for our other players.

He has a good mentality and experience. He uses his ability and pace to hurt defenders."

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp was furious at the way his team's six-match winning run away from home came to an end.

Next up are Arsenal on Boxing Day and he said sarcastically: It is a nice, easy game for us after Liverpool. We gave away two terrible goals after getting back into the game."