Juninho Bacuna's hot temper once earned him a nine game ban former youth coach Peter Hoekstra has revealed.

Steven Gerrard moved to sign the Curaco international from Huddersfield for an undisclosed fee in the last transfer window.

Hoekstra coached the midfielder all through his youth careeer at Dutch side Groningen.

And although his talent took him far, Bacuna's capacity for rage sometimes landed him in hot water.

Hoekstra told The Athletic: "He could lose his mind though, as he had a temper.

"Sometimes he would play very well as he was concentrated, but at other times, he would do stupid things.

"He once got a nine-game suspension for punching someone’s jaw when he was around 13. Over the years, he learned about it.”

The gifted Curacao international has yet to establish himself as a regular under Steven Gerrard and Hoekstra admits he can be a frustrating talent to harness properly.

He admitted: “He was a technical player, a free spirit.

"That means that sometimes he is fantastic or sometimes you can’t do anything with him. He is still like that — only he is older now.

"He always had a very good shot and was a natural dribbler. He loved the game, so it was more about whether he could concentrate for 90 minutes.

"He played as a striker for a few years but he then moved to an attacking midfielder, and then a controlling midfielder."