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The Miracle of Istanbul may never have happened
European football as we know it today wouldn’t have been the same if it wasn’t for that comeback from Liverpool that night against AC Milan in the Champions League. Steven Gerrard wouldn’t have been the same Steven Gerrard no matter what he would have gone on to achieve at Chelsea if he hadn’t been there to lead Liverpool to that historic turnaround.
Six minutes were all he needed to rewrite history. But you’re probably wondering how Steven Gerrard’s departure could have affected that Champions League final since he was slated to leave well after all that.
While the real magnitude of the Gerrard-Chelsea rumours was felt only in the summer of 2005, the tremors began in 2004, once Gerrard realized Abramovich’s and Mourinho’s potential. In fact, he would’ve left too if it hadn’t been for his father’s imploring. So we finally know who the real hero of that night in Istanbul is - Paul Gerrard.
That game served as a watershed moment not only for football, but even for sport, and maybe an even broader field like life, for, it taught us that impossible is nothing. Maybe that explains Gerrard’s subsequent tie-up with Adidas.
John Terry may have saved face
“He wasn’t supposed to be in the first five. John stepped up when he wasn’t supposed to,” lamented a conciliatory Chelsea assistant manager following a deplorably unfortunate penalty shootout at Moscow. John Terry had slipped as he pulled the trigger, his shot managing to pick the right post, alas, with Van der Sar lunging left.
The Blues’ skipper- who had turned in a remarkable performance hitherto to see his team to the brink - came despairingly, painfully close, but in the end, he - and his untimely slip - cost his team a maiden Champions League.
While Chelsea went on to win the Champions League four seasons later, Terry (who played no part in the final) never quite managed to wipe that blemish off his otherwise stellar and speckless Chelsea career. He even admitted seven years on, that that miss still gives him nightmares.
Yet, he could have been saved the misery. John Terry was not Chelsea’s designated number-five penalty taker, but Didier Drogba’s late sending-off disrupted the order. Sending-off or no sending-off, had Gerrard been a part of that Chelsea side, he would, in all likeliness, have taken that penalty. He may well have even buried it.
Regardless, Terry would not have had to step up, Terry would not have had to slip. Even if they did lose that final, it wouldn’t be on him. The burden would’ve been somebody else’s.
While it may be argued that Gerrard’s moving to Chelsea would probably have changed things at the very root; they may not have been in the Champions League final. The course of the game would’ve been entirely different. Butterfly-effect hypothesising aside, John Terry would not be waking up every now and then moaning, regretting and crying.
Gerrard may have won a Premier League title
Gerrard has, time and again stated that he regrets not winning the Premier League title. That wish of his would have been granted if Gerrard had made the switch to Chelsea ten years ago. In fact, it would have been immediate; Chelsea won the 2005-06 title, the very season Gerrard was touted to join the Pensioners.
It would even have completed his collection, for he had won the Champions League in 2004-05, the FA Cup in 2001, the League Cup in 2001 and 2003, the UEFA Cup in 2001, and the UEFA Super Cup in 2003.
‘The icing on the cake’ as Gerrard calls it, would have been laid way back in 2006 when Gerrard was barely 26. He may have had another layer and another layer, hell, he may have even had several other cakes - all with different icings - had he made the switch, for Chelsea have won 12 trophies since (including three Premier League titles and one Champions League), while Liverpool have only a single League Cup to show for all their struggles.
However, he didn't make that switch, and will end his career without the holy grail, a Premier League medal.
Conclusion
In Gerrard's words, his one greatest regret is that “He never led Liverpool to a Premier League title.” Yet, he led them to the very brink, so excruciatingly close that the Kop could almost taste the cup. And then he slipped, Liverpool slipped.
Had Gerrard made the fateful move a decade ago, his wish of winning the Premier League would have been fulfilled, at least in part, and he would have won the Premier League title, albeit without Liverpool.
In a more utopian world, another man may have stepped in, in place of Gerrard, a man certainly not with a larger heart, but perhaps with more grip in his studs. A man who may not have made half-as-good a leader, but who would not slip.
Perhaps then, Liverpool would have won their maiden Premier League. Gerrard's wish of Liverpool winning the Premier League would have been fulfilled, at least in part, and Liverpool would have revelled in their Premier League success, albeit without Gerrard.
Gerrard, for all his fascination with cake analogies, should know better than anyone that you can't have your cake and eat it too. Icing or no icing.
