All this talk being generated on various blogs and articles alluding to the fact that Steven Gerrard may be a finished product is nothing short of pure and utter bullshit!
Steven Gerrard will be 31 come next May and if this speculation is coming to bear because of his age then I am sorry to say the speculators are wide off the mark. Let me make a quick comparison. Last Sunday saw the Roma vs Lazio derby in the Serie A in which Roma legendary 34 and-a-half year old captain Francesco Totti scored two goals and was the undisputed hero! Francesco Totti has, in the past 4/5 years, been playing intermittently because of various niggling injuries, but when he has played, he has been the catalyst that made Roma win games they should have lost.
Fine, now let’s take look at this objectively. It’s a fact that he has been an impressive servant throughout the recent Club’s history and on many occasions his heroics have pulled the Club out of quagmires and even often take it to glorious moments. Many have come and gone, managers included, but he remained. Had he gone to Chelsea, he would probably feel satisfied with the titles and silverware he would have won in the interim, but he stayed. More importantly, he has remained loyal during what may be described as the perhaps the most destabilizing times for the Club, which even saw it on the brink of administration. Many promises were made, most of them were broken, but he never abandoned ship.
If he is not the Gerrard that ran lung-bursting runs from post to post, that tackled everything in his vicinity and that was constantly within close proximity of the ball throughout the 90 minutes, then so what? Should we put this all behind us now and say, well, he’s past his time? Or should we now look at him from a different perspective, accept that he is our undisputed champion, and allow him to play the game his maturity allows him to play. If you ask me whether the Club should start thinking about someone to take over, I’d say why not? If anyone is suggesting that he is beyond his prime and we should take him out of the equation, then I say, you must be bloody joking.
Gerrard is what Lampard is to Chelsea, what Scholes is to Man Utd, what Totti is to Roma, what Xavi Hernandez is to Barca, what Del Piero is to Juventus , what Casillas is to Real Madrid, and the list goes on and on. They ARE the team. They are the point of reference which has nothing to do with their form or performance. They are the kind of players that have given their footballing life to their clubs and have become living legends.
It is a fact that Steven Gerrard is not having his best of seasons, and he may also not have been at his best these past few, but even though as fans we have a right to criticize whoever is not performing to the level we would wish and expect, I well and truly feel that although he can never be considered untouchable for the good of the team, it is for this same reason that we have to afford him the time to get himself back to being what he is best at….the team’s true undisputed captain and leader. He had the occasion and opportunity to pack and leave, for more glory, for more money, but he hung on in there and bit the bullet.
So Steven, take your time, we know your heart is in it. Show everyone you still have the passion, and silence your critics!
i really hope that Mr Steven Gerrard will win the premierleague with liverpool football..
he has won everything with this club, only 1 cup is missing.. and it is the most important one..
so it would be great if he could win it there at lfc.. i really hope it would happen.. and to do so we need the help of Mr Henry.. please invest during the summer, and next season we can win it for the club and for this marvellous skipper..
btw sorry for poor english
He needs to get healthy and needs to play in a more attacking position. The problem is that Meireles IS healthy and has been playing very well.
Spot on! The man’s influence will grow and change as he matures, in no way is that a bad thing!
Utterly agree with you, you chose a great picture with Stevie silencing the Napoli fans with his hatrick.
There is no substitution for a great footballing brain , same level or even better than ZeeZoo.
YNWA
Right on. He still has it in him and once he gets surrounded by higher quality players then he can go back to taking more chances. After Alonzo left I felt he became more cautious and played more defensively.
Steven George Gerrard retires and the tears are not going to stop.I cant believe dat liverpool fc fans r talking against him i mean he stuck with d club at even d most difficult tym’s and he needs to be RESPECTED
I agree with you totally, but I am still concerned about his fitness. dear I say look at giggs who retired from international duty to prolong his career and ur has worked. it was while with England that he got the original injury. Nuff said
Remains to be seen to what level SG can continue to influence LFC going forward, but provided that his commitment and attitude is visible then I’m sure he’ll have our backing. He’s been great before and hopefully will be again, time will tell. Fingers crossed!
Well said man!
Yeah, that moron in charge of England does not appreciate him, for my money he does not even deserve him. Gerrard was the ONLY player who played well, he basically ran the show, the rest were garbage reflecting the qualities of the manager.
Should Stevie retire from international football which he won’t as he is truly patriotic , we might just see him at his best yet again. Everything said & done HE IS MR LIVERPOOL FC.
I remember Jamie Rednapp also getting injured in yet another meaningless match for England, he was never the same thereafter.
We must ALL get behind him as he has single handedly got behind the team on so many occasions.
YNWA
Utter pish he still had the same influence,hes just had some niggling injuries,we won 3-1 against man u,he was non exsitent,he had surgery and will be out for a month and when he does finally come back from injury,it’ll take him at least another 2 weeks to match fit.lay of him he’s been carrying Liverpool for so long and it’s about time somebody else needs to step up and help him,personally I believe Carroll,suarez,mereiles and a few quality signing we be back to our best with king kenny at the helm
Utter pish he still had the same influence,hes just had some niggling injuries,we won 3-1 against man u,he was non exsitent,he had surgery and will be out for a month and when he does finally come back from injury,it’ll take him at least another 2 weeks to match fit.lay of him he’s been carrying Liverpool for so long and it’s about time somebody else needs to step up and help him,personally I believe Carroll,suarez,mereiles and a few quality signing we be back to our best with king kenny at the helm.
Anyone who has a clue can’t fault Gerrard with England. Has he accomplished what he would like for the national team? No. Has he been the route through which all England glory flows? hell no. Has he done that which was asked of him? Yes. What would his critics have of him?
Steven gerrard is Liverpool and if he wasn’t playing well,he would admit it,he’s had nigglling injuries for a couple of years,why does everybody always kick Liverpool when there down,I believe in stevie g and once we get everbody fit and firing and with a few more signings we will be back to our best with kenny at the helm,also with meireles,Carroll,suarez we do have enough going foward,cmon Liverpool
I’m sorry, but to say Gerrard has a footballing brain equal to or better than Zizou is rose-tinted glasses syndrome at best and utter delusion at worst. Don’t get me wrong, Gerrard is probably one of the most complete players the world has ever known and is one of the all-time greats, but Zinedine Zidane was in another class altogether. He was often several minutes ahead of the game thinking-wise.
Is Gerrard a spent force? Who knows. The current trend seems to indicate he may well have burnt himself out carrying us for so long and then missing out on the Premier League by an incorrect offside flag and a 92nd minute goal against Stoke may have put his head into the wrong place. All we know for sure is that he is our player, our captain, our heartbeat and we should stay behind him.
Wake up and stop the sentimentality towards Gerrard. He is past it and at 150 grand a week he should be sold in the summer.
Hey Kenny, knew you would show up on this subject! From what I read and as far as I am concerned yours is the cry of a lone wolf. You have every right to express your views, which I respect but don’t agree with. You say he should be sold, but he won’t. I do suggest you come to terms with it mate!
Damn right
@DavePerry1972
TSP
The comment was made by Zinedine Zidane himself who I think might just know a tad more than yourself!
good piece of writing… some nice comparisons (absolutely spot on) which reflect what I had in mind over the yrs… I’m least worried, this cud well be a blessing in disguise – let SteV take his time getting bak… wat matters most is he returns fully fit n ready to fire on all cylinders for the next season… Hope the king does’nt take a risk hurrying up with his recuperation… YNWA !!
‘true undisputed captain and leader’
Tonio, I’m not sure if I’d agree with most of what you’re saying here.
True, he’s been a loyal servant, if you discount the shenanigans that went on at the time of the almost Chelsea move. He’s certainly well-paid enough to deserve that loyalty.
But, as I said, discounting that, he’s not the undisputed captain and leader, that should probably be Carra, who is better able to marshall a defence than Gerrard can a midfield.
There was a time, not so long ago when Gerard was trying to make the central midfield/playmaker berth his own and when the hollywood passes didn’t come off, he would lose the rag and start flying into tackles, give the ball away, (I can think of one backpass to Thierry Henry leading to a goal and one or two stamping incidents) and generally start to resemble Rooney in a quite alarming way.
I will admit that these incidents lessened in frequency once Rafa arrived, with Alonso in tow and started playing him in a more offensive role, leaving the midfield string-pulling duties to the ever more capable – barring one bad season – Alonso.
What I will say is this, quality reinforcements will go a long way towards prolonging his career – he does view it as a career by the way, he was also happy to add being in some adverts to his career – a quality creative midfielder should see him quite happy in the hole behind two or one striker for another season or few, fitness providing.
Corrections: ‘Steven Gerrard may be a finished product’, urk, think you meant to say ‘Steven Gerrard may be finished’, ‘the speculators are wide off the mark’ should read ‘the speculation is wide of the mark’, unless the club is about to be sold again. ;-)
Gerrard’s cosy situation at Liverpool where he gets paid 150 grand a week while sitting on his ass injured or being invisible out on the pitch will be a detrimental factor in signing players on reasonable wages this summer as potential signings will demand inflated wages because their agents will say that Gerrard’s 150 grand a week for such a limited output means that the players they represent should get similar wages and this will leave NESV no choice but to go for cheaper wages for poorer quality players. As we have seen with West Ham, premier league opponents do not fear Gerrard anymore, they know from his history that he is a liability to Liverpool defensively and he does not have the legs to get up and down the pitch anymore. Just as happened in January, anymoney NESV spend in the summer will only come from player sales and a reduction in the ridiculous wage bill which coincidentally Gerrard’s 7.8 million a year is a significant chunk of. Liverpool would still possibly fool the likes of Madrid to pay 15 million this summer but beyond that point his transfer value would drop to 5 million or less. Gerrard’s game is based on pace substantially and his legs are gone now. He does not have a controlled passing game like Alonso.
By the way, comparisons with players in Serie A are spurious, due to the slower nature of the games there, also the decline of Italian football in recent years means only the top teams have the balance of youth, quality and experience, ie, Inter, Milan. Lazio have not been a top team since the days of Gascoigne and Signori
Wasn’t that long ago he scored that hat trick against Napoli, who are an impressive team in their own right. Came close with two distance shots against Man Utd recently. And I remember towards the end of last season, against Burnley I think, two thirty yard bullets into the back of the net. He hasn’t lost it, he has had injuries, fatigue and no doubt loads of stress. I see him coming back with full gusto in the near future.
Steven Gerrard is MR. LIVERPOOL and he must never be let go of until he lifts the premier league
There is only on stevie g ..and that belongs to liverpool…who ever questioned his passion he must be a friend of the scums ( i won’t even call their names)..have u lost your memories?..u were trailing napoli on your own turf if it wasn’t for the captain marvel’s presence..Seveie G…captain fantastic..the prince.
couldn’t agree more, sheer up stevie
YNWA
He scored a hattrick against Napoli in the Europa mickeymouse League because Napoli are rubbish and because the owner John Henry was in the directors box. How many goals has Gerrard scored in the Premier League this season? Liverpool have no hope of winning the Premier League while Gerrard remains in the team and the fans blind loyalty to the local boy whose talent is fading fast will leave to an even longer time without No.19. If he is so committed to Liverpool why did he go off to play in a meaningless friendly against France?
Kenny you are absolutely amazing
@kenny
it seems pointless to debate with you, but we get it. you don’t like gerrard, however you’re the only one.
Dennis, as i said, Kenny is absolutely amazing!
He does have some points though and is well able to argue them unlike your Totti comparison against Lazio, and Gerrard the undisputed captain and leader
@ Damo. So you are in agreement that the Club should sell Gerrard, Carra and Reina? What was wrong with my comparison with Totti. The comparison was made comparing the influence the both have in the club and their age! Where did I go wrong in that. And yes, you might have noticed from the comments receive that Gerrard is still regarding as captain (which he is and will not be deposed anytime soon) and leader, because ALL Liverpool players look up to him.
At least now its the cry of two lone wolves. And then the two of you make an awesome couple.
So the fans supporting Gerrard are saying that Dalglish’s comments that noone is bigger than the club applies to everyone else but not Gerrard. Where do the fans think that money on new players is going to come from this summer without selling the likes of Reina,Skrtel,Aquilani,Gerrard and Ngog? The remaining dross in the squad would raise no more than 1 million for each player. In january NESV’s transfer dealings were virtually equal when taking into account the saving on wages. NESV spent 300 million to buy the club, quite rightly they will want to pay that back to the lending institutions as quickly as possible, so the days of Liverpool managers frittering away money like Houllier,Benitez and Hodgson will not be tolerated by NESV and quite rightly so. Supporters of primadonna hasbeens like Gerrard should ask themselves is it the player or the club that you support? To get the best out of Andy Carroll and Suarez Liverpool need to play wingers next season, so in that scenario where do fans see Lucas,Meireles and Gerrard fitting into 2 slots in central midfield? Do Liverpool play without any ballwinner? Does Gerrard replace Lucas as the ballwinner and if so do we see more ridiculous tackling like he did in the FA Cup?
@ Damo & @ Kenny. As I always say, I respect your views but dont have to agree with them. No need to add further.
@ Kenny. With your argument on NESV not frittering away money they could well have spent Stg 25 million (+/-) on Suarez and kept the balance from the Stg 57 million cashed in from Babel and Torres to start recovering the money you say they alledgedly borrowed from banking institutions. I mean that way they would have already recovered Stg 32 million in a couple of months, no? But they chose to fritter it away on Carroll well knowing it was well above the players real value. Was that well argued Damo?
Where Tonjo do you think NESV got the 300 million to buy Liverpool? Hicks and Gillette used the profits at Liverpool to pay the interest on their loans. What businessman uses his own money to buy a new company? Instead he gets a loan. Newcastle set the price for Andy Carroll, based on the 50 million Chelsea bid for Torres. The transfer dealings in January were as close to cost neutral as one can guess. Did NESV stump up the extra money Blackpool wanted for Adam?
Kenny, are you claiming that NESV knew before going for Suarez that they would sell Torres and buy Carroll in a daring premeditated balancing act and break even? Are you serious? Abramovich and Mansour bought Chelsea and City out of their own money, then did NOT get a loan. Adam was not bought because Blackpool were upping the stakes on a daily basis and wanted to make the most out of it. Also, it was Blackpool’s wish, and understandably so as it makes much more sense financially, that Adam, the motor of the Blackpool team, to help the team stay in the Premier League. Did you take this aspect in your equation? Kenny, I feel your are being more pessimistic and destructive than objective. Damo, am I making more arguable statements now? :-)
Nope, you’re not cutting the mustard at all, where in anything I wrote did you read me say we should sell anyone? I did say that Kenny had a point or two. I disputed that Gerrard is best choice for captain, as would many others. Also what Totti does against a Lazio team that hasn’t been a force since Signori was playing is hardly much to crow about. The foul and sending off against Manure is just the latest chapter in a career dotted by indiscipline, moments of sheer brilliance and even sometimes, brainlessness!
How I hate being a disappointment to you. I promise I do try my best not to.
Tonjo, Spurs had a bid of 10 million accepted for Adam just a few minutes before the transfer window closed but they could not get the paperwork done in time. So if NESV were serious about anything other than costneutral transfer dealings, then 10 million should not have been a problem. Abramovich and Mansour are multi billionaires, John Henry’s personal fortune at the time of purchase was listed as only 500 million after some losses on the stock market.
Kenny I beg to differ. The Adam deal did not go through because Adam wanted to come to Liverpool. The Reds were working up on the deal and even though ‘Arry made his trademark surprise bold move the deal never materialised. Agreed that Henry is no match to Abramovich or Mansour but I just wanted to answer your notion that business do not put any of their money into it.
Finally you did not answer my question: are you claiming that NESV knew before going for Suarez that they would sell Torres and buy Carroll in a daring premeditated balancing act and break even?
The 50 million buyout clause was put in by Purslow into Torres’s contract, so that if champions league football was not obtained Torres would be allowed to leave in the summer of 2011. Torres put in a transfer request after Liverpool had agreed to sign Suarez so instead of doing it in summer 2011 NESV had to leave Torres go in January forcing them to move for Carroll in January rather than summer 2011. Newcastle knew that Liverpool had got 5.9 million for Babel and 50 million for Torres and were paying 22.8 million for Suarez, that is why Newcastle rejected Liverpool’s initial bid for Carroll of 30 million and forced Liverpool to go up to 35 million. This in turn allied to Jovanovich refusing to join Wolfsburg for 6 million took away the money Liverpool had earmarked for Adam. I saw Harry Redknapp on Sky Sports the day after the transfer deadline confirming that Spurs had had a 10 million bid accepted but that he could not get the paperwork signed and sealed in time.
Bottom line for you is that Liverpool lied and Harry told the truth, Kenny?
HK’s paperwork didn’t go through because people at Blackpool wouldn’t sign it – which is the same as saying it was rejected.
As for your claim that a team like Real Madrid would sign Gerrard for 15 mil, wouldn’t that shoot down your main argument that Gerrard is on his last leg? I mean, if Jose Mourinho thinks he’s worth it, shouldn’t you too? You surely don’t spot talent like he does … or do you?
Loading: I suggest you recheck what Redknapp said, Mourinho has always had a fascination with Gerrard, Mourinho knows that the pace in La Liga is walking pace compared to the Premiership so he obviously figures that Gerrard’s lack of legs in the Premiership would not be problematic in the walking pace of La Liga. Plus Mourinho had to sign players like Ozil and Khedira for fees of 15 million or less last summer and money is going to be tight again this summer. Blackpool told Liverpool the fee for Adam, Liverpool did not match it, Spurs did.