When the dust settles on Steven Gerrard’s career and with the benefit of time and hindsight the debates rumble on about where in the upper echelons of Liverpool greats he sits surely one thing will be beyond argument – Gerrard has surely given us more stunning ‘moments’ than anyone else in the club’s history. The sheer number of breathtaking goals, crosses and last ditch tackles is remarkable. Trying to pick a favourite or two is virtually impossible. Still, we have to try, and it’s not too much of a chore to think back through some of those stunning moments, some of which already feel like a different lifetime ago!
My choice comes from late in one of my favourite seasons for obvious reasons – March 2001 and a home game against the reigning champions Manchester United. By this time it was over 2 years since Gerrard’s debut. The spindly boy with the fuzzy hair had already transformed before our eyes into a burgeoning crew cutted powerhouse. He had already racked up 80 odd appearances and there would have been many more but for all those growing pain enforced rests. He was already established in the England midfield and had appeared (briefly) at Euro 2000. Everyone knew by this time that he was destined for the very top. My choice in fact isn’t a moment, it’s a performance consisting of 88 minutes of swagger, power and dominance that showed just exactly how good this kid was.
United came to town on a high. They were just a couple of wins away for winning a 3rd successive title and had won three and drawn one of their last 4 trips to Anfield. They had been at their arrogant best for most of the season (bar a glorious blip to a Danny Murphy inspired Liverpool at Old Trafford in December). Their midfield that day was Giggs, Butt, Keane and Beckham with Scholes on the bench. None of that bothered the force of nature that was a young Stevie.
Liverpool were aggressive from the off. It was claimed many times that Houllier was a defensive manager but at times when we were let off the leash and played the game at a ferocious pace we could blow teams away. After a few near misses the defining moment of the game came. A Barthez goal kick was badly mishit, just about making it to the halfway line. A knockdown fell to Robbie Fowler who squared the ball into the path of Gerrard. Bursting ahead of United’s not too shabby midfield Gerrard bore down on the Anfield Road goal. The crowd behind the goal rose as one in expectation. From 25 yards out he pulled the trigger and sent a bullet of a shot arrowing over Barthez and into the top left hand corner. The jubilant celebrations were the first of many we’d see from United over the years. He hadn’t yet patented the camera kiss but the celebrations were long and loud as you’d expect.
He wasn’t finished bossing the game yet. Before half time he picked up the ball in the right flank and dinked in a lovely ball for Fowler that had Gary Neville sprawled on his arse (take a moment to cherish that image). Fowler’s first touch was perfect, the second deadly and Liverpool were two up with Fowler eyeballing the United fans for my second favourite celebration of his in front of the away fans at Anfield – you can’t beat a bit of grass eating as Rigobert Song will testify.
In 45 minutes a Gerrard inspired Liverpool had taken the game to United and given them a real beating. The second half continued in similar fashion and not even a red card for Danny Murphy could stem the flow. The irrepressible Gerrard set up Heskey late on with a 40 yard pass (the song lyrics were as accurate as his passing) with which he hit the post. The win was just the start of our glorious run in that Spring that brought Derby delight, Champions League qualification and those amazing cup finals. For me it was also the game that Gerrard did more than announce himself on the biggest stage; he’d already done that…it was a game that demonstrated without question that Gerrard was going to the very top and was destined to be a bona fide Liverpool legend.
Farewell Stevie, God how we’ll miss you.
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