The Renaissance of Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard

Back in 1999, a young Merseyside kid had his first taste of the derby, and with twenty minutes to go, and Liverpool clinging on to their lead, he stretched to make two clearances off the goal line. The kid jumped up, pumped his fist, and soaked in all the adulation. Steven Gerrard had well and truly arrived. Two years later, Gerrard scored a ripper against Manchester United, having eased his way past a few defenders. He could have have retired then, and would have been considered a Kop Legend.

A decade later.

“Past it.”

“Must Retire.”

“Needs to take a long hard look at himself.”

These were some of the anecdotes about Gerrard last season when he was having a torrid time, and was not able to make an impact on the game as he is so used to doing for his beloved Liverpool. Many Liverpool fans felt that a midfield of Lucas Leiva and Gerrard was holding the team back, not giving the attacking line enough freedom to express themselves. Brendan Rodgers has certainly paid heed to that, and has now got Gerrard firing in this new role as the deep lying midfielder who orchestrates the play.

Craig Bellamy had this to say about Gerrard:

What makes him so good? Well, there is nothing he can’t do. He is clever. He sees the game quicker than anyone else. He sees the picture. He can play the ball first time around corners that aren’t even there. He has got intelligence. He has got physical attributes. He can bomb past people. He is quick. He is a powerful, proper athlete. Give him a header, he will score.

And those attributes of Gerrard have shone through as he leads Liverpool into what might prove to be the most glorious phase of his career yet. For someone who has won everything with his boyhood club, the dream of winning the Premier League has still not been realised, and he has only six games left to win, to ensure that the dream becomes reality.

When Brendan Rodgers submitted his 100+ page dossier to John Henry and co. during his interview to become Liverpool manager, working with Gerrard would’ve been top of his priorities. Rodgers has always emphasized how important Gerrard has been to this Liverpool side, as a player and as a mentor to the younger players.

Brendan Rodgers made sure his philosophy didn’t change when he took over at Liverpool. He has made Liverpool play the same kind of positive football that he made Swansea play. What Leon Britton did at Swansea, Gerrard is doing at Liverpool, albeit, with due respect to the Swans, on a much more competitive scale.

There is more to Gerrard than just recycling possession. The Hollywood ball that he used to be so fond of is now almost missing from his repertoire. All there is now, is measured crossfield passes, and accurate through balls.

The Gerrard we see now is very different to the Gerrard that we saw at Istanbul in 2005, or the Gerrard that we saw in Cardiff in the FA Cup final of 2006. We now see a lot more restraint. A lot more picking and choosing of moments to go forward. The robustness is not there anymore, but there is still the swagger in the tackle. But, Gerrard cannot be on a football pitch without impacting the match in his team’s favour. And now, with the likes of Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen around him, he lets them do the ugly work, before spraying the passes across the field.

Gerrard realises that Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez are instrumental to the way Liverpool shape up, and he has let them take the limelight, remaining in the backseat and orchestrating Liverpool’s play. Many a player would have been shackled and would have tried to go against a manager who tried to change his way of playing. Not Steven Gerrard though.

Being the consummate professional that he is, Gerrard has embraced the challenge. The challenge of rediscovering himself under Brendan Rodgers.

For Steven Gerrard, the dream is now very close to reality.