One of the many pleasures I get from following Liverpool is the rare occasion you see the long career of one of the best players to pull on the shirt of your club. When (like me) you follow the club for over a quarter of a century you will see some greats. I caught a lot of the Liverpool careers of greats like Barnes, Rush, Nicol, Grobbelaar, McMahon. Some foreign players came in and went and yes they were great, I’ll admit I was choking back tears when Fernando Torres handed in a transfer request, it taught me a lesson never to get too attached to players. When people ask me who my favourite player is now I actually struggle to answer. I did of course see Luis Suarez but I was always wise enough to know that that would maybe not last a long time, 3 and a half years wasn’t bad I suppose.
It’s hard to explain why but there is something different about a home grown player as such, I’m not a scouser, I feel like one sometimes, I love this club, I love Liverpool as a city, I love its people, there’s something brutally honest with them, in the nicest way meant possible I think with scousers:
“What you see is what you get.”
You know where you stand, they are honest, there’s no bullshit and they are welcoming people, they are good people. When you think you see the same trait in a footballer it makes it different, I’m not saying foreign players don’t get it. I loved Sami Hyypia maybe more than any player, Didi Hamann, even Erik Meijer got it, Rafa Benitez got it nailed on the fucking head, love that guy, Gerard Houllier too.
But there are 3 players who were here the majority of their careers (or all their career in the case of one) and rose tinted specs or not there was something different about Jamie Carragher, Robbie Fowler and the man I consider the greatest player I have ever seen for Liverpool, Mr Steven Gerrard.
Carragher was someone I didn’t really rate in his early days, what do I know?, he certainly wasn’t as naturally gifted as the others but he made up for it with a heart the size of Anfield and a commitment I have never seen before. Robbie wasn’t a Liverpool fan growing up but it was schoolboy stuff with him, he was the guy who scored all the goals. Gerrard through and through was Liverpool personified, he was the guy that grew up on the terraces and he lived my dreams. I wasn’t good enough to play for Liverpool, he was who I wanted to be.
I first noticed Gerrard in a home match with Celta Vigo in the Uefa cup in the 1998-9 season, Vigo were a good team, they knocked it around well, they were a much better team than us, in fairness Gerard Houllier had only taken over and we were undergoing a bit of a rebuilding project. It was the second leg of the third round, they beat us 3-1 in Spain and it could have been 6 or 7. The second leg we were never going to turn around, Paul Ince, Steve McManaman, Vegard Heggem and someone else were all suspended (Jamie Redknapp) maybe. I think it was the first time Robbie Fowler captained Liverpool but little did we know there was a future Liverpool captain lining up that night. We lost 1-0 on the night, but this spotty kid with a daft haircut had impressed, he got stuck in, he pressed well, he knocked it around and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought we had a player on our hands here. He reminded me of Ray Houghton on the right, worked hard, got stuck in, Ray was brilliant at that. Gerrard ended up a much better player than that, no shame in it for Houghton, he would probably admit it too. I thought we had a player who would have a solid career, I certainly didn’t foresee just how good he would be.
Gerrard hardly played that 1998/99 season, we had Jamie Redknapp and Paul Ince in the middle, he was young and he was learning his trade, he was 18, he had time on his side. Gerrard’s two first Mersey derbies got him noticed and for entirely different reasons. In April of 1999 Liverpool defeated Everton for the first time in 5 years (yes you read that right), it was 3-2, Everton were fucking shit, absolute shit for those 5 years but for some reason they always got one over us. Liverpool won 3-2, in fairness they were shit but we weren’t much better, we had a shit defence that leaked like an old bucket but late on Steven Gerrard’s two late goal line clearances were the difference between winning and losing. He may not have scored but it was lovely to see this kid have his first moment in the spotlight and what a moment it was for him.
A few months later it was a new season, too many players came and went for me to list all of them. Paul Ince left and Didi Hamann came in but Hamann lasted only half an hour on his debut before getting injured and with Jamie Redknapp soon to get injured too it meant an opening though I have always believed that Houllier had seen enough in Gerrard to give him more of a run.
As mentioned Gerrard had two noticeable Mersey derby’s early in his career. Gerrard still had a lot to learn and it showed when a clearly pissed off Gerrard launched himself into a disgraceful tackle on Everton’s Kevin Campbell which lead to a straight red card in a 1-0 defeat at Anfield in September 1999. It was obvious Gerrard had simply not gotten over not starting that game but he had let himself down, he would more than make up for it. It was all a learning process.
Gerrard began to establish himself that season, he played 29 league games but was at a stage of his life all teenagers go through. It was rumoured in his late teens Gerrard’s height grew as much as 3 inches in one year. Gerrard often struggled to play consecutive games, I am sure a lot of the games above probably involved sub appearances and rests in between, growing pains meant Gerrard often struggled with lower back and hamstring injuries, it would take a long time and a lot of rehab to get over.
Liverpool slowly but surely eased Gerrard in to the team, game time gradually increased and almost a year to the day of his debut Gerrard scored his first goal in a 4-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday. There were other noticeable performances, Gerrard’s assist for Titi Camara in a 1-0 win over Arsenal was the type of defence splitting pass that would become his trademark, Gerrard certainly made his mark on the game before being withdrawn through injury in the first half. The season ended trophyless but slowly and surely Gerrard was growing into a fine player, so much so that Gerrard made his England debut at the end of the season and was in the euro 2000 squad, Gerrard’s only appearance was a fine display in a 1-0 win over Germany. Liverpool and England would reap the benefit of his brilliance for more than a decade.
The 2000-01 season was the real breakthrough for Gerrard, paired with the experienced Hamann he was further nurtured by the astute signing of veteran Gary McAllister and with the unlucky Jamie Redknapp set to miss the whole season injured it was an opening Gerrard grabbed with both hands. Gerard Houllier was working his magic, for those too young or that just don’t remember Houllier was a fucking good manager, he carefully built up his vision and team and was a very well respected coach at this point. Houllier cleverly added to a squad that was back in Europe and the squad coped well with the physical demands of what turned out to be a 63 game season (compared to the 43 of the previous season). Houllier made steady progress at Liverpool and there was no telling how far this would have gone had it not been for a health scare in November 2001 that perhaps derailed the progress.
The 2000-01 season became fondly remembered as the treble season, Gerrard played his part playing several roles in the team. Gerrard would run himself into the ground at right back, make dangerous runs from the heart of the midfield and possess a blistering shot from long range, he even filled in at left back during one win at Aston Villa having earlier scored a fine goal in a 3-0 win.
Gerrard over time often struggled in games with Manchester united, some games passed him by, I guess it happened to the best of them but that season Gerrard was phenomenal in both wins over Manchester United, he matched and bettered Roy Keane at Old Trafford which was no easy task (believe me Keane was a fucking great player). Liverpool won that match 1-0, it was their first win over United in 5 years and their first away to united in 10. In March of the same season Gerrard scored in a 2-0 win over United at Anfield with a superb 35 yard shot that flew into the top corner, a spectacular goal that two keepers wouldn’t have saved. He was that damn good, we had a player on our hands. That season Gerrard scored 10 times in 51 games and this included a goal in a 5-4 win over Alaves which helped Liverpool win the Uefa cup.
Gerrard was also in the team when Liverpool won the Fa Cup and League cup against Arsenal and Birmingham respectively and although he struggled against Patrick Vieira in the FA cup final against Arsenal there was no doubt Gerrard played his part in a hugely successful season. He was deservedly awarded PFA young player of the year, the PFA fans player of the year and would also be named in the premier leagues team of the year for the first time, his name would be in that time a further 7 times.
The following two seasons were not as spectacular for Gerrard, he was still playing well but the goals dried up somewhat, Gerrard scored only 4 times in the 2001-2 season and there were still some rough edges to his game, notably a disgraceful tackle which resulted in a red card during a home defeat against Aston Villa. Gerrard played 5 less games that season and injuries continued to bother him at times. It was easy to forget he was still only 21, he appeared in a variety of rolls and was in a more defensive roll at this time forming a deadly partnership with Didi Hamann, it was worth noting that Liverpool had one of the best defences in the business at this point, something Gerrard had a big hand in. Gerrard also began to play for England more regularly and scored in the famous 5-1 win in Germany in qualifying for the 2002 world cup, sadly though after he left the field injured in our last home game of the season, Gerrard would miss the world cup.
The 2002-3 was a slow burner for Gerrard, his parent’s marriage split up and maybe this translated into club form, despite Liverpool leading the league comfortably after 11 games the season petered out. Gerard Houllier had, less than a year prior, suffered a health scare and maybe he just wasn’t the same manager anymore, suddenly the progress halted, Liverpool didn’t win a league game between early November and mid-January, having started the season among favourites for the league they would eventually finish 5th, not even making it out of their Champions league group. As I mentioned above Gerrard’s parents marriage was splitting up, maybe this affected Gerrard who claimed in one of his books his father actually confronted Houllier at Melwood at one point to give Gerrard some leeway after a poor spell. Gerrard also recalled a dismal display by him during a must win game in Basel in the champions league.
Liverpool needed to win away to Basel to qualify for the next phase of the champions league, the game passed Gerrard by and at half time Liverpool trailed 3-0, Gerrard recalled walking into the changing room, Houllier pointed at him and immediately told him to hit the showers, Gerrard was aware that this was Houllier’s way of saying “you’re shit, first things first, your off”, it was one of them displays there’s no point in even defending, the evidence only added up in the second half when Liverpool subsequently fought back to draw the match 3-3 but it was not enough, at least Gerrard could console himself years later as it wasn’t the last time we came from 3 down at half time in the champions league. Gerrard had a slightly better performance that night.
The season was not without its success, Gerrard scored in the final of the league cup as Liverpool beat Manchester United 2-0 and off the field Gerrard and his partner Alex became parents for the first time. In the latter part of the season Gerrard scored in wins over Spurs, Leeds and Charlton but a silly red card in the final match of the season at Chelsea was nothing to be proud of, that said Gerrard scored 3 more goals than the previous season and it was clear come the end of the season he was progressing nicely.
The following season, Gerrard took his game to a new level , he was good but he was about to get even better, to be fair the rest of the Liverpool team had regressed, some players weren’t as good anymore, signings like El Hadgi Diouf, Bruno Cheyrou and Salif Diao were big disappointments but one or two were still about and two incidents that season helped take Gerrard to a new level, Didi Hamann had been injured and didn’t play until November and it wasn’t until then that Gerrard scored his first goal of the season having played in a defensive role up to now. Hamann’s return allowed Gerrard to push further forward and this was where Gerrard excelled. Injury problems behind him, Gerrard exerted his influence and perhaps the biggest change came a month prior to Hamann’s return.
Gerard Houllier got a few things wrong towards the end of his Liverpool tenure, again maybe his health had shaken him up, but one thing he got spot on was to name Gerrard captain, it can’t have been easy, Sami Hyypia had been club captain and was a fine servant but after a poor start to the season Houllier felt Hyypia would benefit from having the responsibility of captain taken off him and felt it was time for Gerrard to assume the role. Steven thrived on this responsibility, he had had a good start to the season but it was as if a turbo boost button had been pushed as Gerrard’s form to the end of the season was sensational. It proved an excellent decision as Hyypia also seemed to improve and was still a mainstay in defence for several years after this decision which he took with superb professionalism.
Gerrard also signed a new 4 year contract and was instrumental in helping Liverpool seal 4th spot which was enough to help Liverpool qualify for next seasons Champions league although it wasn’t enough to save Gerard Houllier’s job as he was sacked just after the season ended. There were some reasons why we weren’t that impressive that season, injuries being one but a change was perhaps needed, Liverpool didn’t finish 4th convincingly, they were in fact 30 points behind champions Arsenal, it was just a best of the rest scenario.
Gerrard travelled to Euro 2004 with England in somewhat of a limbo, Houllier had been good for Liverpool and Gerrard but things had changed, despite having a long term contract Gerrard began to think of what may lie away from Anfield, for most of the summer he was linked with Chelsea who were spending money like no tomorrow, they would win the league easily that season. Gerrard in the end decided that at least one more season at Anfield was the best thing to do, despite his undoubted disappointment in Houllier’s departure Gerrard claimed in his autobiography to be delighted at the appointment of Valencia manager Rafa Benitez, the Spaniards teams impressed Gerrard in recent seasons and although he clearly didn’t have as close a relationship with Benitez, the appointment again only succeeded in taking Gerrard to a new level. He remained captain, he remained at the club and the only change was Gerrard now taking the number 8 shirt as opposed to number 17 he had worn for most of his Liverpool career (he had also worn 28 for those keeping score).
Gerrard was coming into his peak years, he was just 24 but had already amassed some 250 games and 28 goals, he was an England international and although he had time on his side he knew there were only so many rebuilding projects he could go through at Anfield, Chelsea were ready made, they had 100s of millions to spend how they wished, Liverpool were not ready to challenge for the league, the top 4 would be a big enough ask but they at least were in the champions league but how long could they keep their prized asset? There was indeed no guarantee this rebuilding project would be successful and if it did, it would take time. The whole of the 2004-5 season we wondered how long more we would see Gerrard at this club.
Gerrard scored twice in a Champions league qualifier against Austrian side Graz AK which meant Liverpool were into the group stages but Gerrard missed much of this having suffered a broken foot in a match at Old Trafford against Manchester United in September 2004 and he missed two months of the season. Our injury worries effected a side that was still trying to adapt to a new manager, new record signing Djibril Cisse was among them, Cisse had long been lined up by previous manager Gerard Houllier but by the time he signed for us Houllier had been sacked, with Cisse trying to adapt to new surroundings the last thing he needed was an injury and he suffered a horrific broken leg in October. Luis Garcia and Xabi Alonso had signed and settled in well but the team was in transition and by the time Gerrard came back the top 4 wasn’t a formality and neither was progress in Europe.
Liverpool’s last group game was against Olympiakos at Anfield, the complexities of the group meant if Liverpool won 1-0 they would go through but a win
by one goal with both teams scoring such as 2-1, 3-2 or 4-3 wouldn’t be enough, but a win by 2 goals of more would be enough to make the champions league last 16. Olympiakos lead 1-0 at half time, Liverpool needed at least 3 goals and that was without Olympiakos scoring again. It can’t be stressed enough just how important this game was to us, if we didn’t make it through it would cost money, and of course a certain night in 2005 wouldn’t have happened and maybe Gerrard was going to leave, literally everything was on the line in the second half .WIN OR BUST
In the 86th minute Liverpool were pushing like hell, it was now 2-1 to us, the Kop roared us on, we threw absolutely everything at Olympiakos, with time running Gerrard with his distinctive number 8 and captains armband had his arms in the air some 25 yards from goal. He could hit them from that range, all he needed was the pass and sure enough when Neil Mellor headed the ball back in his direction Gerrard unleashed the most perfect half volley you will ever see, the keeper was never near it, as soon as he hit it was going one place only. He literally could not have struck that ball better it flew with increasing power, it had unwavering accuracy and when the net rippled the ground absolutely exploded with joy, sky sports Andy Gray famously lost his mind (a former Everton player no less) :
“oohhhhhhhhhhh you beauty! What a hit son! WHAT A HIT”
He couldn’t have put it better, the win put Liverpool into the last 16, our season had a purpose and it was all thanks to Steven Gerrard, I distinctly remember that night after the game, I went in to the toilet for a long overdue piss but I remember making a promise to myself that if the man on the back of my home jersey and the captain of my club decided to ever leave Liverpool I would never hold it against him, he had proved himself despite the transfer speculation, Steven Gerrard was a red.
There was to be heartbreak, having scored in both league cup semi-final wins over Watford, Gerrard lead Liverpool to the final against Chelsea, Liverpool lead the match almost all the way through until Gerrard tragically headed the ball into his own net and Liverpool would go on to lose 3-2. I was devastated, it was easy to suspect that maybe the lure of Chelsea was distracting him. 4th place was never a guarantee, Everton beat us to that despite Gerrard scoring in a 2-1 win over them in the league but there was one last chance to salvage the season, the rockiest road in the toughest conditions with a clapped out banger of a car but fuck it, we can do this.
The most remarkable Champions league campaign saw Liverpool coast past Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16, but the quarter final saw Liverpool win 2-1 at Anfield against Juventus and despite an injury to Gerrard meaning he missed the away leg, Liverpool hung on with a defensive masterclass that put us in the semi-final following a 0-0 draw. Chelsea awaited in the semi-final, they had beaten us 3 times that season, they had just won the league which they had dominated, this was the end of the road surely.
A 0-0 first leg draw away from home left the tie on a knife edge. Gerrard was poor in the first leg although what I didn’t know what he was actually suffering from a very painful abscess in his mouth. The second leg…. and Anfield was absolutely rocking, we needed Gerrard that night and although he played well he maybe wasn’t the best on the night but it was his wonderful flicked ball over the top that released striker Milan Baros, Chelsea keeper Petr Cech raced from his line and Baros got there first before being clattered by Cech, a stonewall penalty and red card would surely have been the case had Luis Garcia not taken advantage of the situation by prodding the ball over the line to make Jose Mourinho cry for the rest of his bastard life. Liverpool had the lead after just 4 minutes and for the rest of the night they somehow repelled everything thrown at them to win 1-0 and qualify for the champions league final, with 4th in the league almost gone it was the only way we would stay in the competition next season, we had to win it and we had a chance!
The build up to the final was exciting, we surely couldn’t could we?, I always smile thinking back to the eve of the final, Gerrard was interviewed in front of 4 shiny European cups, god knows when he was interviewed but it aired the night before the final, he was asked what he thought looking at the cups and with a glint in his eye and a smile he said
“We want to win the 5th one!”
My year that year was similar to Liverpool, it had its moments but it was a tough slog, I was in a car crash where I was blamed when it wasn’t my fault thanks to an ignorant fuckwit arsehole dickhead of a policeman who deserved to have his truncheon shove royally up his arse, I was working two part time jobs listening to people whinging all day, and every spare minute was taking up with a football team where again I had to listen to excessive whinging as well as travelling to see my partner (now my wife) who lived 115 miles away. Liverpool’s season was poor but this would make up for it for both of us.
If you ever anyone doubted Gerrard’s commitment then the doubts were blown out of the water on the magical night of May 25th 2005, we all know what happened. 3-0 down at half time Gerrard headed Liverpool’s first goal of the night to give a glimmer of hope and just minutes later he had won a penalty from which Xabi Alonso eventually scored to make it 3-3. A defensive midfielder in the first half, an attacking midfielder in the second half and finally a right back in extra time, Gerrard left absolutely everything on the pitch and his herculean effort somehow got the game to penalties and Liverpool were European cup champions for the 5th time.
I’d rather not go into detail about Gerrard’s transfer request that summer, it happened, so what, confusions reigned and calmness prevailed in a mental 24 hours where Gerrard finally put pen to paper on a new 4 year deal, Gerrard was here to stay. It was a slow enough start to the season, Liverpool had not been in the top 4 the previous season so had to go through extra preliminary rounds to make the Champions league group stages, Gerrard also scored his first hat-trick against TNS. It was another slow league start to the season, we won only two of the first 8 games but then came another change. Didi Hamann, Xabi Alonso and new signing Momo Sissoko were all central midfielders, they were accomplished, they were different to Gerrard who was better going forward.
Rafa Benitez instead decided to use Gerrard on the right wing, in midfield it tightened things up as the trio of Hamann, Alonso and Sissoko were more defensive minded and disciplined, they allowed Gerrard to bomb forward and supply the attackers and get in the mix himself. Gerrard at times didn’t hide his displeasure at being out of position but his running and his brilliance meant once more his game was taken up another level. Gerrard had never scored more than 13 in a season, he would finish this season on 23. Gerrard’s first game on the right wing was a 2-0 win over West Ham at Anfield in the league, it was the first of 10 consecutive league wins during which time we conceded just one goal.
It was a masterstroke Benitez was never given enough credit for, we were more dangerous going forward and rock solid at the back. There was a brief drop in form when Liverpool failed to win 4 matches in a row between January and February but in Liverpool’s last 14 games they would drop only 5 points to finish 3rd improving their points tally by 24 points over the previous campaign. Gerrard blotted his copy book with another red card in a match against Everton but it was a rare blemish on a fabulous season, he was voted Uefa club footballer of the year, PFA players player of the year, player of the month in April and he was also named in the premier leagues team of the year and for the second time in what would be 3 years he was in the Uefa team of the year. The best was saved for last as Gerrard yet again put in an incredible performance against West Ham in the Fa cup final, Gerrard scored twice including a last minute equalizer and he also scored in the resulting shoot out as Liverpool won the Fa cup. It was every bit as good as his AC Milan performance.
Liverpool trailed in the match by 2 goals to nil and also 3-2, first Gerrard sprayed an inviting cross for Djibril Cisse to score, then early in the second half he rifled home a stunning equalizer. The game was heading for defeat when West Ham scored to make it 3-2, but out of absolutely nothing a cramp ridden Gerrard received the ball 35 yards from goal. There is not one person in world football I would rather have had get this ball, not even Pele, there must have been 15 bodies in the way yet with absolute laser like precision Gerrard hit this volley and it curled, dipped and swerved into the bottom corner, I went absolutely ballistic when that goal went in. It was nothing short of incredible.
The 2006-7 season was expected to be even more successful but perhaps a summer’s world cup with England took its toll, given Gerrard had spent the summer playing for England in 2004 and 2006 it was easily forgotten that Liverpool’s previous campaign began in July 2005, so Gerrard had played 3 seasons of non stop football with another to come. It was a slow start to the season, Gerrard didn’t score a league goal until the end of November but from then on Gerrard again began to show his brilliance even if his goal tally for the season slipped to 11. Gerrard again lead Liverpool to the European cup final but the reds suffered a narrow defeat to AC Milan.
Gerrard took a well earned break over the summer, a first clean break in the summer he had in 4 years, Gerrard married his long time partner Alex, they had since become parents again and in 2007-8 he was back to his best, a more attacking role in the team saw Gerrard form a lethal partnership with new signing Fernando Torres. The hope was that Liverpool would finally challenge for the league, cup success was nothing to be sniffed at but it was 17 years since Liverpool won the title, all went well early on when Liverpool went top for the first time in 5 years but although we would lose only 4 league games all season we ended up finishing 4th but with an impressive haul of 76 points, the standard of the league at the time was very high, had this Liverpool team been around last season they would have won the league by a mile.
At the time it wasn’t uncommon to see 3 teams from England in the final 4 of the champions league. Liverpool were regulars in that, it showed what you
were really up against in the league.
Gerrard still stood out, he was just one goal short of his best total ever in a season in two less games, his partnership with Fernando Torres yielded 54 goals, 21 of which went to Gerrard. The team didn’t win anything but 4th place in a hugely competitive league wasn’t a bad achievement, we would kill for that now. Liverpool again reached the latter stages of the champions league, Gerrard was on the scoresheet in crucial games with Porto, Marseilles, Inter Milan and Arsenal. Gerrard also penned a new contract prior to the season.
The 2008-9 season once again saw Gerrard excel as Liverpool had their strongest league challenge in many years, all season long Gerrard turned in marvellous performances. In Liverpool’s first home game of the season, predictably Gerrard was the match winner in the 94th minute. After a brief injury, Gerrard returned in fine style with an absolutely stupendous goal against Marseilles and in Liverpool’s next champions league game Gerrard rattled in his 100th goal for the club and predictably it was another screamer. Liverpool easily marched through the group stage with Gerrard scoring 5 times and in the premier league the reds lost only two games all season and were able to maintain a healthy position most of the campaign.
Liverpool ended the year in top spot with Gerrard scoring twice in a 5-1 win at Newcastle, although the Liverpool captain was involved in a city centre fracas with a DJ in a nightclub it didn’t seem to affect him on the pitch. At the time the standard of the league was very high as Manchester United pulled away it was Liverpool who faltered slightly and it seemed like it would only be a battle for second position but Gerrard and Liverpool brilliantly hauled themselves back into contention winning 10 of their last 11 games and drawing one to blow the title race open.
In one glorious week Liverpool crushed Real Madrid 4-0 at Anfield in the champions league with Gerrard scoring twice and the following Saturday Gerrard lead Liverpool to a thumping 4-1 win at Old Trafford against Manchester United with Gerrard scoring a penalty and also winning a free kick in a goalscoring position that lead to both a red card for Man United defender Nemanja Vidic and a Liverpool goal from Fabio Aurelio. 8 days later, Liverpool destroyed Aston Villa 5-0 at Anfield with Gerrard scoring a hat-trick which included 2 penalties to leave Liverpool just one point off top.
Liverpool confirmed their progression under Benitez and Gerrard finishing second on 86 points with United just about holding us off at the end and Liverpool again having another solid champions league run in reaching the quarter final before a narrow defeat to Chelsea.
Circumstances off the pitch then ruined all the progress made in the previous few years, Liverpool were then unfortunately owned by the money hungry duo of Tom Hicks and George Gillett and within months Liverpool plummeted down the league and the following season (despite a reasonable start) Liverpool never looked like winning the league and exited the champions league group stage with a game to spare. Off the field money was not spent on the squad and departures like Xabi Alonso greatly hurt the club whos money was being swallowed up by careless and greedy owners, not even Gerrard could turn this around, the off field shenanigans no doubt manifested in disaster on the field. Liverpool could only finish 7th and despite reaching a Europa league semi final, Rafa Benitez was sacked.
The twos relationship was never pally pally, Benitez often came across as cold but Gerrard always praised the work Benitez did often declaring him the best coach he played for. Gerrard scored over 100 goals during Benitez’s tenure in under 300 games, he became a more rounded player and won many accolades including a further PFA fans player of the year in 2009 and in the same year he was also named the FWA footballer of the year.
Gerrard appeared happy with the appointment of Roy Hodgson as manager but to everyone else Liverpool’s decision to replace Benitez with Hodgson would be the equivalent of dumping Nicole Scherzinger to go out with Gail Platt. Gerrard must surely have looked elsewhere, entering his 30th year he still had many admirers, Jose Mourinho claimed to have tried to sign him not just for Chelsea, but also for Inter Milan and Real Madrid. In 2010 the club was a mess, nobody could have blamed Gerrard one bit had he left, he owed us nothing at this stage but to his credit he stayed on as Liverpool hurtled into near administration by October 2010. The club scarily dropped into the relegation zone and were just hours and days from administration when George Gillett and Tom Hicks were finally ousted from the club. The season though was already a write off, Gerrard still turned in some magic most noticeably a hat-trick against Napoli in the Europa league AFTER starting on the bench.
The season began to improve when Hodgson was sacked and replaced with club legend Kenny Dalglish, the King may have been out of the game a long time but the end of the season was strong as Liverpool rose from 14th to 5th in a matter of months. The progress was so stunning Dalglish was named full time manager and having scored almost as many points as any team in the league following his return, the glory days would hopefully return.
Gerrard however only played a bit part, from March on he didn’t play at all due to a groin injury and was limited to 8 goals in 24 games but Liverpool had made progress, 10 wins from 14 made the table look more respectable and although Fernando Torres had left the club, Liverpool pulled off a masterstroke by signing Luis Suarez and there was no reason to expect anything other than good things going into 2011-2.
Gerrard didn’t play for much of the early part of the season, he claimed to have rejected a move to Bayern Munich, up until Christmas Gerrard hardly played due to groin, hamstring and ankle problems but at times still conjured up magic such as a hat-trick in the Mersey derby win over Everton at Anfield but despite victory in the league cup final (where Gerrard missed a penalty in the shoot out) it was poor end to the season. The club won just 5 of the last 19 games in the league and despite reaching the FA cup final Kenny Dalglish was sacked. Gerrard’s injuries had been worse than ever, now 32 years old it was thought he had missed the boat in terms of winning the league. The injuries restricted his 2011-12 campaign to 18 league games.
Once more the club was in revolution as Brendan Rodgers got the job after Dalglish’s dismissal and brought in a possession attacking based tactic which enabled Gerrard to play well and link up with Luis Suarez, fitness wise Gerrard got over his injury bug, the 36 league games he had played in that season was the joint highest of his career. With a new manager, once more time was needed to get things right. Liverpool didn’t win any of their opening 5 games before losing only once in their next 11 games. Gerrard continued in attacking role and although the years were catching up on him there was no doubt he was still a quality player, during the season he made his 600th appearance against Newcastle. Liverpool were heading in the right direction and lost only one of the last 12 games.
From Christmas on things improved with two excellent signings in Phillippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge and the style of football was pleasing to say the least, Norwich and Swansea left Anfield beaten heavily by 5 goals to nil and we went one better at Newcastle. We finished 7th in the league even though we had won just 3 of the opening 14 games and this had ruined any chance of us doing well but it was clear we were going the right way about it and little did we know that just one year later Gerrard would get his best chance to get the one trophy he so much wanted and deserved but a cruel twist of fate awaited.
The season began well, Gerrard was now the experienced midfield man with a more withdrawn defensive role with the younger legs of Jordan Henderson doing all the running. Liverpool began the season with 3 straight wins and no goals conceded and stayed in the mix for much of the season. At Christmas, Liverpool were top, the attacking threat of Gerrard replaced with the goals of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez. Gerrard still managed to get into double figures but this was usually due to goals from the penalty spot.
Gerrard in a defensive role was seen by many as a quarter back, he was able to spray the ball quickly and launch it long, sometimes he could be criticized for the constant effort of a Hollywood pass that did often run out of play but many a time when it came off it was a reminder that Gerrard was still one hell of a player, Fulham away, bloody hell that assist took the piss. Liverpool didn’t have a great defensive record but going forward they were nothing short of spectacular and few would deny this was one of Liverpool’s finest attacking teams of all time. There were many high scoring wins, Gerrard played his part in a 4-0 home win over Everton, opening the scoring with a crushing close range header, Arsenal arrived at Anfield top of the league, within 19 whirlwind minutes they were 4-0 down en route to a 5-1 win for us. Spurs lost 5-0 and 4-0 to the mighty reds who also put 6 past Cardiff.
In a match at Old Trafford against Manchester United, Gerrard scored two penalties to give Liverpool a 2-0 lead, he was denied a hat-trick when another spot kick hit the post, Liverpool would go on to win the match 3-0, it could have been 6. Earlier in the season Gerrard scored his 100th league goal in a 2-2 draw against Newcastle, not a bad for a midfielder, late on in the season, the skipper stood up to the plate with two big penalties in a win over West Ham. With just 5 games of the season left Liverpool were right in the mix and all the talk was this was finally going to Liverpool’s and Gerrard’s title.
In consecutive weeks, Liverpool beat title rivals Manchester city and Norwich by 3 goals to 2 meaning we needed just 7 points from 3 games to win the title. The home match with Chelsea should have been a crowning glory with Chelsea concentrating on an upcoming European semi-final, they stuck out a second string team but Liverpool just couldn’t break them down. The cruellest thing I have possibly ever seen in world football happened just before half time, the clock ticked towards half time, Gerrard received the ball and infamously at the worst possible moment he slipped and Chelsea’s Demba Ba ran through to score, Liverpool didn’t recover and went on to lose 2-0. Chelsea withstood attack after attack, every time the ball came to Gerrard within 30 yards of goal I was convinced this was the moment, but there was to be no justice, no goal and no title. It will always be said and perhaps rightly so that Liverpool lost the title that day because of Gerrard’s mistake, however if it wasn’t for him we never would have been in that position, his one big chance though was gone. If you’re to be asked the question:
“pick one player in your team that will cost you” then the last player you would pick would be Gerrard. It wasn’t fair.
The following season Gerrard’s Liverpool career should have had a fitting end, if it did we would have won the Champions league and the league and he would have been centre stage, but the cruel football world didn’t let it be, Gerrard retired from international football after several stints as England captain, they exited the world cup in the group stage and his international career was over after 14 years, 21 goals and 114 caps.
Liverpool’s season spluttered, they exited the champions league group stages despite a wonderful strike from Gerrard in a match against Basel at Anfield that was a must win, Liverpool could only draw 1-1 and exited from (Real Madrid aside) what was not exactly a difficult group. New years day 2015, Gerrard scored two penalties in a 2-2 draw at home to Leicester and sadly later on that day it was announced he would leave Liverpool at the end of the season when his contract expired, just a few days later Gerrard scored twice more as Liverpool began their Fa cup trek with a 2-1 win over the AFC Wimbledon and in the following round he made his 700th appearance in a match against Bolton Wanderers. Liverpool’s first half of the season was poor but as things improved the top 4 was looking a possibility as Gerrard prepared to return from injury.
The season was starting to go well and it was noticed that the FA cup final happened to be on Gerrard’s birthday, what a send off that could have been, once more though the cruelty of the game dealt a bad hand although in truth Gerrard could hardly blame anyone but himself when after appearing as a substitute in a match against Manchester United he was sent off after less than a minute, from then on Liverpool never looked like getting in the top 4 whilst in a Fa cup semi-final Liverpool produced a limp display to lose 2-1 to Aston Villa.
It that was bad, then Gerrard’s last two games at Liverpool were again undeserving, amidst a wave of emotion we could only lose 3-1 at home to Crystal Palace in his last match at Anfield and although Gerrard ultimately scored the 186th goal in his 710th and last game for us, Liverpool were subjected to the worst loss of Gerrard’s glittering career as they were destroyed 6-1 at Stoke City. The last year of Gerrard’s Liverpool career simply wasn’t fair, he deserved better.
Gerrard wound down his career in the United States, he was praised for his professionalism, some said that even though it was obviously in the last days of his career he was still staying back after training trying to find an extra edge when others wouldn’t have bothered. I won’t pretend to know much about his career in America, Gerrard according to Wikipedia scored 5 times in 38 games and left at the expiration of his contract in the 2016, soon after this Gerrard turned down the managerial job at MK Dons, perhaps the role came too soon.
4 days have passed since Gerrard announced that enough was enough, the body called time and Gerrard who was still a fine player brought an end to a wonderful career during which time he won 3 league cups, 2 FA cups, A Uefa Cup and a European cup. Had Gerrard won 5 (never mind one) league titles with Liverpool it wouldn’t have flattered him.
I feel privileged to have seen his career, I have no doubt he could have been at home in any Liverpool team that ever took to the field, it’s a strange thing but even though I never met Gerrard (and probably never will) I feel like I know him somehow, you establish this connection with players, I feel like I saw him grow up. He became a man on and off the pitch yet I could always see the noticeable scouse childish like face whether it was his arms outstretched screaming maniacally at yet another goal or whether it was a cheeky looking smile and gaze at winning another trophy, beneath it was a guy once a child just like me who loved this club just like me, who just like me dreamt of captaining and playing and winning and scoring for Liverpool, he was who I want to be. Even on my wedding day the reverend (despite being a Manchester united fan) told the whole congregation that in marriage I needed to be like Steven Gerrard, really! He put that well didn’t he?
He was a hero, a captain and a wonderful player, I have typed over 8,000 words and I still can’t do him justice.
I saw him develop over time into the greatest Liverpool player I ever saw since I start following in 1990, I saw him carry an inferior team time and again. I will miss everything about him, from all the inspirational moments right down to the little things, even the times I was lucky to see him at Anfield and it was even a pleasure just to see him walk across to take a corner, soaking up the applause and trotting over slowly to the quadrant gently throwing the ball in the air no doubt plotting another assist.
Thank you Steven Gerrard.
