Aqua is a good player, and in an alternate universe he could have ended up being an important player for us, BUT Gerrard is, without a doubt, by a country mile, obvious to a blind man wearing a bag on his head - The best player to wear a Liverpool shirt since we stopped winning titles. I am not sure how you can even argue against that.
I don't think anyone is arguing that but, at the risk of a shitstorm of hate, so what?
Yes he is a phenomenal player, on his day an absolute force of nature that can not be stopped but he's not been that player for nearly 2 years now. In the last 2 seasons he has scored in 6 games and started a whopping 2 games since March. Don't get me wrong I love all of his goals against the Mancs, they still bring a smile to my face when I look back but in all honesty can you tell me when was the last time you looked at your next 5 figures and thought "We have Stevie, we can beat anyone!"?
I, for one can't. I mean I know he can still do it, but I still don't feel confident that he will. And to highlight how dodgy Gerrard's appearances have been. Daniel Agger, shut out by Roy Hodgson, notorious for his chronic injuries will, if he plays against City tomorrow, have featured in more Liverpool games than Gerrard since we played Arsenal in the season opener last season. But as has been thrown about every time it's brought up that Agger should be made captain the argument is that you can't have a captain who never plays. I'm not saying Gerrard should be stripped of the captain's armband because he's always injured, but I think there are others who have done well who deserve the captaincy and more importantly can do that role week in week out.
The fact is (or at least is becoming) that Gerrard hasn't been reliable for nearly 2 years, he's still several moves ahead in his head, but as the unstoppable force that dragged us to a European Cup final he's not. But saying that Aquilani shouldn't have been kept because we had Gerrard is nonsense. He was homesick, he wasn't rated by the management team, he had delusions of granduer that upset the dressing room or whatever. They are legitimite reasons for why we let him go, but saying we did because we have Gerrard is a bit like the logic that Lucas was shit as a midfielder because he wasn't Xabi Alonso.