Gerrard, Carragher, Skrtel, Reina, these senior pros were all on the pitch when this happened. These are players who would lock down a game, you might think. Perhaps the appropriate noises weren't made on the sidelines. Losing to a weak side when you're two up is very troubling. Perhaps some of them should be looking into their hearts tonight.
And now to the point I was making with a few people yesterday. As most of you know I've never been one shy away from speaking my mind, even when it's not very popular so here goes. The lack of leadership and a clear mentality on the pitch has been a problem with the club ever since I started following it, bar the last 5 months of the 08/09 season. We are a club that wins cup finals. And that mentality is infused with our DNA at this point. And in a sense highlighted by the players we brought in. And I know that the next two points will not go down well with many but I think we have become an English club through and through. We were moving from it with Rafa Benitez but are back in it again. Players who think they are better than they are because the media says so and players who believe they don't have to work hard to achieve success. After all when you play for Liverpool/England then by default you are amongst the favourites for whatever competition you take part in. Given how important "Scouse not English" is to many people some would have me lynched but those who don't can please convince me that I'm wrong (I hope I am, I truly do).
I'm going to name two games from our season and two games from England's performance in the World Cup and see if they sound familiar.
England 0 - 0 Algeria
15 Shots 11
6 Shots on goal 1
10 Corner kicks 3
vs.
Liverpool 0 - 0 Swansea
18 Shots 9
10 Shots on goal 3
11 Corner kicks 4
Man for man the former team has the advantage. Manager to manager, the former team should have the advantage. The former has the quality on the pitch to do it, the quality on the sidelines to do it. Yet they can't turn their superiority into a win.
The second game:
England 1 - 1 USA
18 Shots 13
8 Shots on goal 4
8 Corner kicks 4
vs.
Liverpool 1 - 1 Norwich
25 Shots 12
15 Shots on goal 10
10 Corner kicks 3
And again. Man for man the former team has the advantage. Manager to manager, the former team should have the advantage. The former has the quality on the pitch to do it, the quality on the sidelines to do it. 3x as many corner kicks. Yet they can't turn their superiority into a win.
Why? Because when those teams stepped onto the pitch one arrogantly assumed victory, the other worked towards it. I am simply quoting the world cup games as it's part of a piece I'm doing for the Euros in the summer when comparing mentality to quality, citing Germany's success and England's failure. We are becoming the England NT of club football. The achievement(s) of the past and our place in the history books has installed a mentality that we can't match on the pitch. Only thing differing us from England is that we can win when it matters in knock-out formation.
And it coincides with what I said after the Bolton game
what's becoming the standard in the English game. You do enough and hope to hit a cup run because that is all your career will ever be. I think it's why we have a very decent shot of winning both the cups, but not a snowball's chance in hell of doing the league.
We raise our games "when it matters" and play like horseshit when it doesn't. And since I didn't offend enough people by claiming that Liverpool are becoming the England of club football here's one for the rest. Steven Gerrard is not a league winning captain.
He is a man that will take the hope, faith and expectations of millions of people with everything on the line and deliver. When you think Steven Gerrard you think of the glory. The quintessential Steven Gerrard moment is
that Olympiakos goal. Against all odds, in the moment of need, when the world thought Liverpool was down and out there he was. Liverpool's talisman. You can watch that goal muted and in your head Andy Gray's voice still rings "To Geeeeerrard ohhhhhhhhhhhhh you beauty!!!! What a hit son! What. A. Hit." You could name any of his unforgettable goals. His goal against the Mancs in the '03 league cup. His spark in the Istanbul comeback. Crushing West Ham's dreams in the '06 cup final. Arguably an even bigger definer of Gerrard's career. With the last shot of the game he saves it for Liverpool.
Gerrard has always been a man of action. He's more concerned with getting the job done than shouting at someone. It's in a sense his biggest quality and his biggest downfall. He is such a dynamic player, on his day absolutely unstoppable. But he still isn't the best candidate for captain. I could go on and on about it but it'd be a waste of time and effort as I would never do it as well as HBHR
has already done.
I have always had a hard time with Gerrard as captain. He is such a fantastic player and his love for the club makes him the understandable candidate but he also has a habit of taking on the responsibility for all the wrong reasons. It's the reason he was infamously subbed off vs. Everton and speaking of infamous that look when Rafa subbed Torres off vs. Birmingham is not the look of a man who will buckle down even more. Now he has all the talent in the world to change the outcome of a game. He
is the best player on the pitch, he
is the one who bails us out of problems and he
is the one who wins matches at the death by individual brilliance. And make no mistake about it, everyone knows it. But he is not a man who will take a step back, assess the situation and adjust. I am convinced beyond all reasonable doubt that if Lucas had played yesterday we would not have lost. When we conceded his reaction, as has so often been, would've been to bring us together, focus more and take on the responsibility and heat of the action to kill the game. We didn't see anything resembling leadership from Gerrard in the last 20 minutes of the game. He wasn't dictating play, organising the midfield or even telling the players to snap the fuck out of it. Concentrate on playing our game and that it's criminal to switch off with nearly a quarter of the game left. And that's my problem with Gerrard as captain. He differentiates between opponents. European night at Anfield? Everton/Manc teams/Chelsea/Arsenal? Important semi or cup final? Expect the very best. Steven Gerrard the human wrecking ball. Bow down and accept defeat and save yourselves the humiliation of trying to stop him. It's impossible as evident by the countless examples of him stepping up when the club needs him to.
Facing West Ham/Birmingham/Blackburn/Reading/Wolves/Wigan/Fulham/Hull/Blackpool/whoever? Pffft I got this! We're Liverpool they don't stand a chance. Bring a top performance against that lot? In your dreams!
We are so reliant on Gerrard when he plays, that everything has to revolve around him or go through him or over the past year or so Suarez. We focus so much on getting the ball to Gerrard that we can easily be stopped if he's taken out or has a bad day. And at times like that, having your key player and the one you feed the ball to constantly who has a tendancy to take all the responsibilty on his shoulders can only work against us. Gerrard is so convinced (can't say I blame him) that he has to be the one to bail us out of trouble that he sees no other option. When there are 5 seconds left of the game and you have one chance you want Gerrard. When you are 3-0 down in the CL final you want Gerrard. When you are playing Everton at home in desperate need of a win after an abysmal league form and need someone to score a hat-trick you want Gerrard.
But again that's what wins trophies not leagues. And it all comes down to this one simple point. When was the last time Liverpool played well in consecutive games that weren't in cup form or against rivals and how likely do you think the current squad is to do so? Because I'm struggling to find any answers that don't further bring out my pessimistic cuntish nature.
