We are all dreading the day Steven Gerrard retires from football. He’s been a legend of the club and will be hugely missed by everyone associated with the beautiful game. With his quarter-back precision passing and superb set-piece delivery, it will be hard to find a player of his quality, especially as he has been described by the great Zinedine Zidane as being: “the best midfield player in the world”. Harder, however, to find a born leader?
With the skipper having an indent on his bicep from 10 years of service as captain, taking over from Sami Hyppia at the premature age of 23, he was still learning to mature as both a player and a man. Despite this, Liverpool have never looked back at arguably one of the most important and best decisions they have made to date. This only adds to the ever increasing pressure of modern football and finding the perfect replacement which is a monumental task; but who will be able to replace him?
Do we have a new captain within our ranks? Below are a select few I feel would be suitable for the post:
Jordan Henderson: the £16 million signing has single handedly won over the majority of Liverpool fans this season. A regular in Rodgers’ side from the outset, starting every Premier League game this season, providing 6 assists and scoring 1 goal. With graduating from the England U21 set up after Euro 2013, he relinquished the captaincy, showing that he has significant leadership qualities to add to his ever improving game; especially at international level. Showing signs that he could rally the Reds in years to come.
Mamadou Sakho: the French international was brought in during the summer transfer window by Brendan. He had a shaky start to his Anfield career, but he has easily become one of our top centre-backs in only a few months with his raw strength, aerial dominance and collectiveness on the ball. From his parent club PSG, his loyalty before their billionaire investment was rewarded with the armband and became their youngest ever captain at 17 years of age. Surely he is a contender once Gerrard has retired? Similar to Sami Hyppia, once he’s truly settled in he’ll be one of the most consistent performers week-in week-out and could even lead the side.
Daniel Agger: the aptly nicknamed “Great Dane” has been a fan favourite of many Liverpool fans since signing for £6 million in January 2006. His YNWA tattoo across his right knuckles shows his desire and passion for our club, combined with his superb footballing ability to play out from the back and defend successfully. He fits perfectly into the Brendan Rodgers’ passing philosophy, showing how the manager values his experience. This faith in his ability was rewarded with him becoming the vice-captain at the start of the season and could possibly lead to full honours in the foreseeable future.
Luis Suarez: what can we say? A striking sensation, with endless desire and determination, whilst also a head-liner. However, his mesmerising partnership with Daniel Sturridge and impressive 22 goals in 17 league games already this season (despite missing the first 5) has been a revelation to say the least. Fused with his newly found charisma after the ‘Ivanovic incident’ we have seen him become skipper in the absence of Gerrard and Agger. A criticism, however, is that he’s not at the heart of the play as Stevie has been for countless years and dare I say through current form, the superpowers of world football will be splashing their cash at him.
Andre Wisdom: an academy talent who, along with Raheem Sterling and Jordan Ibe, has been an academy graduate that’s played a number of senior games under Rodgers, including starting against Manchester United. This season he has gone off to Derby County to gain some much needed game time in order to smooth those jagged edges. Despite these minor flaws, he has recently captained the England U21s including the last game of the Under 21 European Championships in 2013, aged only 19. Surely he is a diamond in the rough for leadership status?
Jordan Rossiter: a colossal outsider at this stage with him only being a mere 16 years of age. He was made captain of the U18s aged 15, but has been a regular in Alex Inglethorpe’s U21s side in recent months displaying midfield dominance in every match. This has led to him being selected for first team duties for a number of Premier League games and training with them week on week. A local Liverpudlian, footballing talent. Once he has established himself at the club and becomes a starter in the first XI, could he follow in Stevie’s or Carra’s footsteps? . . .perhaps?
These are just a number of contenders that should be in with a shout once Gerrard unfortunately has to hang up his boots. With his impending retirement from international football (after the Brazil 2014 World Cup), Liverpool fans can only fear and imagine how long it will be before he leaves the Anfield pitch for the last time. Personally, I hope he carries on for many seasons to come. His legendary presence can only serve to enhance and mould the maturity of our young team as they develop into the future. But, both he and Brendan have to realise that there may be games where he is dropped, because of a poor performance or tactical change, which would benefit the overall performance of the squad.
In the current day, however, we don’t have to worry about this situation too much. Ultimately, everybody related to Liverpool Football Club has this thought stored away quietly at the back of their mind; so let’s enjoy it while we can!
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