"They key player for us this season has been Steven Gerrard," said the Liverpool boss.
"You have seen him score a lot of goals and he's been the big difference for us. Our foreign players have settled really well but Gerrard is playing at a very good level. You have to remember he was injured for three months last season but now he's a real success.
"He's grown up. Yes, he's growing still but he can also improve. That's the positive thing for me. You can work with him and he can learn and go forward even more.
"If they say the best player in the world is Steven Gerrard then you can say it's true because he's a really good player."