Attacking Central Midfielder
114 Goals
476 Appearances (as of 3/16/09)
Signed as a youth product from the academy in 1997 for free
BACKGROUND BEFORE LFC
Before joining up with the first team, Steven Gerrard was dazzling and controlling matches for the reserves. As a boy, he played with Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher, and David Thompson in a youth team that won the Youth Cup in 1996. Gerrard, though, was not a major factor in that team and was struggling with back problems and growing pains. Much was expected of Gerrard when fit, though, and before he played any senior games for the club, he was famously known for nutmegging Liverpool star Paul Ince in training. As an 18 year old, this was no mean feat, and the managers were beginning to take notice of Gerrard’s quality. In the beginning of the 1998-1999 season, Gerrard was given a run-out against Blackburn and never looked back. He was being touted as a future England star and a future worldwide star by the likes of Hamann, Redknapp, Phil Thompson, and Michael Owen. How right they were!
SIGNING FOR, AND SETTLING INTO, LFC
Once Gerrard had signed professional forms for Liverpool, his boyhood club, he immediately began making an impact on the reserves and forcing his way into the first team set-up. His health was finally looking stable, although the club were reluctant to force it too quickly. He had a fantastic first impression on the supporters, who instantly realized that Gerrard, like Owen a few years prior, was a different class of player and that we had something special on our hands. The following season, though, would prove to be Gerrard’s rite of passage. He scored his first goal for the club in a mazy, spectacular dribbling run against Sheffield Wednesday and earned plaudits from people all throughout England. By the beginning of his second full season, 2000-2001, Gerrard was ALREADY an England international. He had a few brilliant moments in that season, including a goal in the UEFA Cup Final, but the ultimate impact was his versatility, excellent range of passing, and tough tackling. Steven Gerrard was now fully up and running and a legend was born.
STYLE OF PLAY
Of all players in Premiership history (remembering that this means from 1992-1993 onwards), Steven Gerrard is perhaps the league’s best ever COMPLETE midfielder. He has absolutely everything. Tackling? Check. Passing Accuracy? Check. Decision Making? CHECK. Goals? DOUBLE CHECK. Tempo control? Check. Positioning? Check. Making others around him better? Check. Winning matches? Check. Ball control? Check. Fitness levels and pace? Check.
He really does have everything in his arsenal, but what Gerrard is best known for at the club is one thing that is not on that list: LEADERSHIP. He leads by example on the pitch, marauding forward, tracking back, winning matches at the death, pulling us out of the mire, picking up players who have had a rough outing, and of course, making the players around him believe in the cause. Gerrard has made a decidedly average Liverpool squad much, much better over the years. Gerrard’s all-action style has turned him into the world’s best players, and we are truly grateful to have our Captain Fantastic!
BEST MOMENTS
An entire website could be dedicated to Steven Gerrard’s best moments, so many apologies for what is a much abbreviated list. Let’s start then with the honor that Gerrard has that no other player I’ve ever heard of in England has… scoring in every major cup final at club level… all of which led to wins. He scored in the Champions League Final against AC Milan in 2005 with a header that resurrected our belief. Gerrard scored a double against West Ham in the FA Cup Final in 2006, one of which is considered one of the best five goals ever scored in an FA Cup Final. In 2001, Stevie G scored Liverpool’s second in our dramatic 5-4 UEFA Cup Final victory over Alaves. Two years later, in 2003, Gerrard’s deflected strike helped Liverpool to a 2-0 League Cup Final victory over Manchester United. He has also scored in the World Cup, the EUROS, the World Club Championships, and in countless Champions League and Premiership games. He has had an unbelievable career.
I think, though, that ANY Liverpool supporter would say that the best moment of Gerrard’s was lifting the European Cup against AC Milan in 2005 in the Champions League Final. Down 0-3, Gerrard’s header gave us hope to make it 1-3, and the rest is history from there. He was an absolute animal in the second half and beyond in that match, and lifting the trophy was just rewards for a season where he brought a relatively poor side into the cup final in the world’s greatest club competition. If that wouldn’t make him a hero, or even a demi-god, I don’t know what would!
You could point to many other special Gerrard moments, as well, though. Spectacular goals from distance against Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Everton, Manchester United, West Ham, Arsenal and Portsmouth. Last minute classics against Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, the penalty against Arsenal, Inter Milan, Olympiakos, etc. Then, of course, you could take a look at his loyalty despite being totally understood when he wanted to win something when his current side were doing jack diddly to prove to him that it was possible. His loyalty has been justified now, and Liverpool have many trophies and at least NOW the potential to win the Premiership title.
TOUGH TIMES
Gerrard has had a few moments he’d rather forget. For the most part, he has led a relatively squeeky clean image. But there have been about 2-3 moments with the law or with the public that have gone “tits up” for him. (Where did that phrase come from, anyhow?!?) This year he had that unfortunate fracas at the nightclub. In 2001-2002, he was getting in trouble for drinking after matches and making a bit of a scene. And then of course, there were the two consecutive summers where he was dabbling with the idea of going to Chelsea, which would have made him a total villain in the eyes of the Kopites. He has also had some injury woes, but that’s all part and parcel of his style of play. Overall, Gerrard’s good moments have FAR outshadowed these darker moments.
2008-2009 SEASON VERDICT
Despite a few injuries, Gerrard has probably had one of his most influential seasons. Over the past two seasons, Gerrard has made up for what was a pretty poor 2006-2007 season for him. He has scored loads of goals, often times when nobody else looked like doing it, and his penalties have been superb. He has helped us with offensive production when we’ve looked short in that department in other areas of the pitch, and naturally he has been an excellent leader on the field. Gerrard’s part in our “doubles” over both Manchester United and Chelsea have also been nothing to sneeze at! Though he only scored in the away match at United, he had kept the heads up in the dressing room and gave us all the belief that our club was good enough. He has been the ultimate captain ths season.
LFC CAREER VERDICT
In a poll taken a few years ago, Steven Gerrard was voted the club’s second most “Kop-rocking” player in our 100+ year history. He beat out the likes of Ian Rush, John Barnes, Kevin Keegan, Billy Liddell, Robbie Fowler, Alan Hansen, and many others. Only Kenny Dalglish was voted ahead of him, and that speaks for his influence at the club… and the thing is, nobody from past generations disagrees with it or says that it is an “era bias.” Gerrard’s impact has been unbelievable, and he’s helped this sub-par generation of Liverpool sides to trophies despite having players that NEVER would have cut it in the Paisley, Dalglish or Shankly teams. Liverpool born, Liverpool supported, and Liverpool bred, Gerrard’s “blood certainly runs red.” (nice rhyme, eh?) He is a product of the city, and that love affair between him and the supporters has only added to what is a marvellous career with us thus far.
More than anything, though, his performances have merited his status as a Liverpool legend. He’s won every major cup competition, scoring in each of them, and has scored big goals against all of our major rivals. Gerrard is the club’s all-time leading goalscorer in Europe, he has been the captain for over 5 years in our best run of results in almost 20 seasons, and his last-minute strikes have made him someone to rely on when the chips are down. And it isn’t just goals. He hooked up Michael Owen, Danny Murphy, Milan Baros, and most recently Fernando Torres on so many occasions. In 2007-2008, Gerrard had a season where he had 20+ goals AND 20+ assists. That speaks volumes to the type of player, and man, that Steven Gerrard is. And to think that he’s not even 30 yet….
