Former England and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has described St George's Park as "boring".

Gerrard says the Football Association's £105m national football centre needs to be more player friendly.

The 35-year-old also says that his slip against Chelsea, as Liverpool missed out on the 2013-14 Premier League title "kills" him, in a BT Sport interview.

And he admits being left out against Real Madrid in last season's Champions League hastened his Liverpool exit.

The 330-acre St George's Park site in Burton, Staffordshire, opened in 2012 as a base for all 24 England teams at various levels. It includes a replica of the Wembley surface and an altitude chamber to mimic a variety of playing conditions.

But in an interview with Rio Ferdinand for a BT Sport programme, Gerrard said he thinks the complex needs a golf course to help overcome the "shyness" in the England squad.

"It's an unbelievable site but they need to be a bit more realistic around it," he said. "They need to make it a little bit friendlier for the players.

"It's a top place to train and prepare but away from training pitch and the games, it can be boring. We need to create that atmosphere where England players are desperate to get away and do well."

"When you get to England, you want to have your lunch and go to bed and keep away from everyone because there's a shyness. There needs to be an England atmosphere when you turn up and you know each other, you want to be with each other."

Gerrard was left on the bench for Liverpool's Champions League match at Real Madrid last season

Gerrard announced he was leaving Liverpool after 17 years in January to join MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy.

But he has revealed it was during a 1-0 defeat by Real Madrid in November that Gerrard made his mind up about leaving Liverpool.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers chose to start with Gerrard on the bench for the match at the Bernabeu.

Gerrard said: "When I was told I wasn't playing for the sake of the team, because of my relationship with Brendan, I took it and I accepted it.
"But I sat on that bench devastated because I wanted to play. It pushed me into making a decision to move on and try something different."

In 2014 Liverpool were top of the Premier League with three games to go when they hosted second-placed Chelsea at Anfield.

But a slip by Gerrard allowed Demba Ba to score Chelsea's first goal and Jose Mourinho's side went on to win 2-0 as Liverpool's title challenge fell apart.

Gerrard has criticised Liverpool's tactics in the game and said they "lost their way" and went "gung-ho instead of being controlled" - but refused to blame Rodgers.

He said: "The inexperience showed from myself having not been in many title races and the inexperience of the team.

"The slip happened at a bad time, it was cruel for me personally.

"I'm not scared of any criticism or cruelty. I understand it and the impact it had it kills me, don't get me wrong. Inside it kills me and it will do for a long time. I think to myself: 'If I'd have got that league, it would have been the icing on the cake.'

"That one moment will always hurt me until the day I go because I'd have achieved every dream with Liverpool. It hurts."