| STEVEN GERRARD PROFILE
by Paul Natton Date of Birth - 30/05/80
Nationality - English
Position - Midfield
Squad Number - 8
Cost - Nothing
Club Hons (Lpool) - League Cup 2001,2003: UEFA Cup 2001: FA Cup 2001, 2006: European Super Cup 2001, 2005: Champions League 2005:
Intnl Hons - England Caps
Other Clubs - None |
Despite an enviable (and almost complete) set of winner’s medals, Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain, remains a figure that divides Liverpool fans, albeit less so these days. The boyhood Red’s dalliances with Chelsea of a couple of years ago, whilst forgiven by most, are not yet forgotten by some. However, there is absolute unanimity amongst Reds of his qualities as a player, with Gerrard rightly lauded as the best we’ve had since the all-too distant days of number eighteen.
The Whiston lad, famously a product of The Academy, has excited fans from his first moments in the team, with an early goal line clearance in the Derby, celebrated with a triumphant clenched fist, cementing his credentials as a fan favourite. Indeed, his all-action style makes it hard for him to be anything else.
His game is based around pace, aggression and a fiercely attacking instinct. However, these qualities are allied to a rare talent that makes him a player without weakness: his tackling, passing, shooting, heading and crossing are all superb, and he has movement and vision to match. This embarrassment of riches has seen Gerrard suffer somewhat, as his ability to play brilliant football in almost any outfield position has seen him shunted around the pitch at both club and international level.
In many ways, the frustrations that made Gerrard consider taking his prodigious talent elsewhere are understandable (if seen in a dispassionate way) as he has never really played in side that truly matched or made the best of his talent. The fact that journalists tend to overplay the one-man team story should not detract from the fact that he is our dominant player. Time and again he has been Liverpool’s match winner, often with goals of the quality that left Fabien Barthez hopelessly forlorn at Old Trafford several years ago as his thirty-yard rocket nearly burst the net.
Even his magnificent PFA Player of the Year Award-winning season, where he was the team’s attacking focus (whether played from the centre or the right), was notable for the way he dominated his teammates in class. Indeed the FA Cup final of 2006 is a case in point: Gerrard won the trophy for Liverpool virtually single-handedly, surpassing even his magnificent exploits in helping the team win the European Cup in Istanbul twelve months previously.
If there is any justice in football, Steven Gerrard will lift the English league title as captain of Liverpool, completing his set of medals and elevating him, without proviso, into the pantheon of greatest ever Reds.
Certainly, if Rafa Benitez can handle Gerrard’s decidedly fragile ego with sufficient subtlety, whilst surrounding him with players of a quality to match his own, then there’s no reason why he can’t fulfil his own stated wishes at the signing of his last contract, and become seen as a legendary figure in the club’s history; one that his children and grandchildren will be forever proud to hear talked about by current and future Reds.
