Should Gerrard get a spot back in the team…?
Brendan Rodgers during today’s FA Cup semi-final press conference suggested that his captain Steven Gerrard will be brought back into the side following his suspension…
We face Aston Villa on Sunday of course, hoping to win and progress to the final, which would conveniently land on Gerrard’s birthday, and be his final ever game to the club.
Our 34-year-old skipper has missed the last three games following the foolish red-card he picked up Manchester United, having been on the pitch for just 34 seconds of the second-half.
In his absence, Lucas, Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen have formed a midfield trio, but it looks as though one of them might be making way for the talisman.
“He’s definitely ready [to come back]. He’s a special footballer, Wembley is somewhere he knows very well,” Rodgers said today, reported by the Echo.
“He’s a special player, he still is. He’s been in his time a big player who scores big goals in big moments. He knows Wembley very well, and he’s someone who has got a special quality.”
Rodgers is not wrong to mention Gerrard’s FA Cup pedigree… The 2006 victory is dubbed ‘The Gerrard final’, and the midfielder won it 2001 under Gerard Houllier, too.
If he is to come back into the side, he could either take Lucas’s place as the anchoring midfielder, or Joe Allen’s in a slightly more advanced position. There’s little or nor chance Henderson will be dropped, although there’s also the chance that Gerrard could be accommodated in the front three, as he has been at points already this season.