It’s rare to find a player who is so committed and dedicated to his club as Steven Gerrard. Often known as the face of Liverpool, Stevie always knows how to get the Kop roaring in some way or another, every time he braces the turf with his ‘footballing showpieces’. Gerrard is more than just an Anfield hero; he is a rare and impeccable gem that any team could prosper upon.
Gerrard is definitely what one may describe as one of the kind, in some ways what some may potentially call a ‘one man club’.
But what is it that makes Stevie so special? After all we have been fortunate to embrace a lot of Anfield legends such as Jamie Carraghe, Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish, but Gerrard stands out amongst the lot with his passion, drive and determination guaranteeing him a place alongside club legends when the boots are ready to be hung up once more.
Gerrard began his footballing career at Whiston Juniors before later been scouted in the year of 1987, which marked a great year, not just in the Reds’ books but also for the England national side, who would later on develop this spark into a fireball ready to explode at the opposition, whilst being lucky enough to wear the Captain’s armband.
Stats, stats, stats, it’s what makes Gerrard such a unique speciality. Currently Gerrard has played a club total of 684 games consisting of over 50,000 minutes devoted to non-other than the Kop.
One moment which Liverpool fans and Gerrard himself will most likely never forget, is Istanbul 2005, 3-0 down entering the half time break, heads down from Benitez and a majority of his staff members. However one man believed and that man was Steven Gerrard, praise given, heads lifted and a roaring atmosphere created as Gerrard led his team out onto the turf to proceed with one of football’s most magical games.
Gerrard began the massacre by finding the back of the net in the 54th minute, followed by a second goal in the 56th minute by Xabi Alonso and finished off with a 3rd by Vladimir Smicer. Liverpool went on to win the game via the penalty shootout, and a memory was created for those anxiously waiting at home and those lucky to witness the ‘unthinkable’ take place.
But this is just one of our captain’s most significant memories, alongside a metaphorical cabinet full.
Thinking back to these times, and comparing his current abilities side-by-side, forms an equation that any mathematical genius may even find unsolvable.
The Englishman, who netted a total of 13 goals and also assisted 13 last season, has severely struggled to get off to the mark in this year’s current campaign managing to only score 2 goals and help create a goal with 1 assist, many may question his age but is this right, or should Brendan’s lack of knowledge on Gerrard’s abilities be questioned?
Steven Gerrard is clearly the linchpin for Brendan Rodgers in connecting the wingers and forwards in the fast and dynamic Liverpool attack. Gerrard is selected for the Reds’ starting eleven whenever he is considered ‘fit’ and perhaps he is being played week-in week-out in overdrive mode.
There are a variety of different ways in which Brendan could go about this, such as changing the holding midfielder back to his original role of an attacking midfielder, or perhaps resting him for cup games and using his assets carefully, and almost tailoring the team around him to a certain extent.
Recently there has been a lot of speculation on Gerrard and him not being offered a new deal, however that speculation quickly came to an end and Gerrard looks very likely to put pen to paper in the coming weeks, after all without the infrastructure that Gerrard has helped create there would be very little for new and unexperienced players to learn and develop upon. This 0f course makes it vital that he extends his current deal with the club: experience is key and that’s one major thing that Gerrard has maintained over the years.
To this day Gerrard has racked up a total of 11 major trophies, consisting of the following: Two FA cups, One League cup, One FA Community shield, One UEFA Champions league cup, One UEFA cup and Two UEFA Super cup’s, forming a prolific record and perhaps one that many future talents such as Raheem Sterling and Alberto Moreno aspire to become.
We must remember that all glory days are eventually brought to an end, and as the door gets closer and closer to blocking out the light on his Anfield career, we must back our Captain 100% of the way and give him the support that he needs. He still has many glory days to come and perhaps the dream of lifting the Barclays Premier League trophy is not too far off.
The question is, can Gerrard win the race against time?
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