I actually think in Gerrard's, and Carragher's, case that it goes the other way and he gets unwarranted criticism because he's a local. He is held to a higher standard than anyone else and things are expected of him that never are to others. Particularly in that Hicks and Gillett era where people seemed to expect him to single handedly take them down. Players and staff from abroad tend to easily get welcomed as honorary scousers, Pepe Reina who it turns out is a massive fascist being one, without any real knowledge of who they are as human beings. They come in, say it's a dream move and if they play well will get a lovely song. All of them who've ever had a sniff at moving for better money or a supposed bigger club have ended up doing so- Torres, Suarez, Alonso, Mascherano. Gerrard stayed, fought and practically single handedly kept us competing.
Absolute hyperbole. Nobody expected Gerrard "to single handedly take them [G&H] down". We did expect him and Carragher to speak up.
Instead we got silence... followed by an unbelievably weak and nonsensical attempt at justifying why he didn't, after the fact.
That Reina, did speak up at the time, along with Agger, Sami, Masch speaks volumes... and really only serves to highlight Gerrard's mistake in choosing to stay silent...
Gerrard and Carragher on why they stayed quiet during Gillet & Hicks ownership:
www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=264872.msg8515016#msg8515016 :-
“I totally understand why some of the fans were frustrated we didn’t speak out,” says Gerrard. “When I’m down with England I hear stories about what big players have said at their clubs, but when me and Jamie speak we’re worried people might say, ‘Does he think he’s bigger than Liverpool?’ So it was a horrible situation as I wanted to come out and use my status to help but I was terrified of it backfiring.
“Should I say something? Would it make a difference? Who are we to criticise our bosses? They were the questions I kept asking myself and at times they were on the tip of my tongue. But if I’d wanted to speak to the owners I couldn’t, they were never there. It was a mess.”
Carragher agrees: “Maybe me and Stevie should have come out when we had the power and said something, but we’re from here. We love the club and never like saying anything negative about it."
May 25th 2005 is about as close as anyone gets to winning a trophy single handedly.
"Single handedly winning a trophy" - or 'as close as anyone gets to it'? In winning the European Cup in 2005... absolute revisionist bollocks...
It is the whole journey you need to look at... Gerrard didn't play in a number of Euopean matches that season, and the whole squad deserve the credit for winning that trophy - not just one player "single handedly winning" it. Pongolle, Mellor, Biscan, Garcia, Scott Carson vs Juve, Nunez nullifying the Chelsea flank. Pelligrino coming in for Sami for 12 or so league matches so Sami could be rested for Europe. Smicer! The whole squad and the tactics and preparation of Rafa and his staff too all contributed.
Injuries also ravaged us that year - Gerrard included. Others came in and stepped up - notably Biscan in midfield. Before the spouting of any more revisionist bollocks - go give this a read and look up who played what in the European matches:
www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=293988.msg17181973#msg17181973Gerrard played really well in the 2nd half of that Final, for sure. No arguments there - yet we wouldn't have been near the Final if it weren't for the others listed above; their exploits and contributions. Vladi, Dudek, Traore, Carragher, all did well in the 2nd half of the Final too - as did everyone else in red.
If local lads do get more stick / held to a higher standard it is likely because we expect more from them. If you portray yourself as one of us. then act like it. If you are from here, born and raised, lived here, or simply understand the city, culture, club, values then... then you know what is expected - and that bullshit excuses and actions don't fly.
That so many people who come to Liverpool do get 'it' - both players and managers is fantastic. Yet can they really be held to the same high standards and expectations of players actually from here, born and raised here, who portray themselves as one of us. Of course not - not only is it an unfair comparison, it is also a false equivalency.
My opinion is that so far, Gerrard has gotten off lightly in going to Saudi to be a posterboy for this Saudi sportswashing project, and also in this Henderson transfer fiasco so far.
