Why Steven Gerrard must be managed better for his Club, Country and own good

Steven Gerrard. Captain, colossus and arguably the best player to ever play with the famous Liverbird upon his chest, but as he enters the Twilight stages of his career, it is crucial that he is managed in a way that both prolongs his career for both his club and country.

Some would argue that it would do Gerrard much more good than harm to retire from International football after he captains The Three Lions in Brazil next Summer; but in my opinion he is still the best central midfielder in this country and until that status alters, why should he not captain England in France just under three years from now?

He is no longer that powerful, youthful box-to-box midfielder who had an uncanny knack of arriving on the edge of the opponents’ box at the perfect moment whilst also possessing the technique and guile to steer or crash the ball into the back of the net. But what he still is is an unbelievable professional and a superb footballer with so much still to offer.

The alteration from his previously explosive style was inevitable. At 33 years old, Gerrard simply cannot force his body into performing the same tasks to the same monumental standard as he could a decade ago.

Now often the furthest back of the midfielders in Roy Hodgson’s England set-up, he is currently operating in a similar role in Brendan Rodgers side as a ‘deep-lying playmaker’, using his exquisite armoury of short and long passes to dictate the play.

However, especially in Liverpool’s current set-up of 352, he is struggling alongside his partner Lucas Leiva and this is no coincidence

These heat-maps, courteous of Squawka, from Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal show that Lucas (left) and Gerrard (right) are currently operating in very similar areas of the pitch and this is far from ideal given the pairs lack of mobility.

Covering positions does not get the best out of Gerrard and while him and Lucas continues to operate in similar areas, the greater the chance of the midfield being overrun and the pair being criticized.

For me, this leaves Brendan Rodgers with a couple of options in order to maximise Gerrard’s key strengths and his altered style of play.

A) As many people are suggesting, a powerful and athletic holding midfielder should be purchased to sit almost alongside Gerrard, but this would allow Gerrard to push that bit further forward and reduce defensive responsibilities.

B) Gerrard should be played further forward. If the 352 is to be the formation this could be difficult as the central role behind the strikers would almost certainly have Coutinho’s name rubber stamped on it. However, a more advanced role would allow Gerrard to actively influence the game on a more regular attacking basis.

Against West Brom, Gerrard was given more licence to attack, thus reducing his defensive responsibilities and had arguably his best game for Liverpool this season, as illustrated by the heat map on the right.

Compare this against his heat map against Arsenal shown earlier and you can see a visible difference. Albeit, West Brom are weaker opposition than Arsenal by some distance, despite their shared spoils earlier in the season, this illustrates perfectly just where Gerrard would be best utilised.

Until January, Brendan Rodgers has a headache and a problem. While Daniel Sturridge & Luis Suarez continue to run defenders ragged, he needs to rekindle his captain’s form whilst finding his best midfield partnership.

Gerrard shouldn’t be dropped, he should however be rotated – there is a big difference. As previously mentioned, I still believe Gerrard to be the best English midfielder despite an indifferent start to the current campaign, but in order for this to continue to be the case; his manager must accept that he can no longer play 90 minutes, every game of the season to the best of his ability.

Personally, I’d like to see Steven Gerrard released of his defensive responsibilities where tactical discipline has not always been one of his key strengths and instead allowed to play further up-field with an Allen-Henderson or Lucas-Henderson duo behind the skipper.

Playing an average of 2.5 ‘key passes’ per game, the fourth highest in the league, playing in a more advanced role would allow him to increase this number further to his own and the teams benefit.

Regardless of the decision Rodgers makes, it is crucial that he does not become immune from rotating and resting his skipper in order to prolong his playing career as well as obtaining the maximum performance level at the same time.

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