The 5 greatest captains in the Premier League era

#2 Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard always led by example on the field

Steven Gerrard never won the Premier League as the captain of Liverpool and compared to some others, his trophy haul seems relatively modest – just three major honours during his time as the leader.

But he undoubtedly belongs high on this list not because of his abilities to force higher standards out of his teammates, but because somehow, he had the ability to single-handedly drag his side to victory against all odds.

Witness his performance in the 2005 Champions League final – a final that Liverpool probably would never have reached had it not been for Gerrard.

He inspired a comeback in the group stages in a pivotal game against Olympiakos, scoring the final goal in a 3-1 victory after his side went 1-0 down and looked doomed.

The final has of course gone down in football history – Liverpool looking dead and buried, 3-0 down at half-time before a Gerrard-inspired comeback – he scored the first goal – saw them roar back to make the game 3-3 before winning a penalty shoot-out.

That performance alone would land him on this list, but it wasn’t the only time Gerrard pulled a miracle out of the bag.

There was also the FA Cup Final in 2006 – Liverpool trailed West Ham twice, once at 2-1 and once at 3-2 before equalisers from Gerrard – the last one a 35-yard volley during injury time – took them to another victorious penalty shoot-out.

So Gerrard might’ve only won three major trophies as captain, but without him on the pitch, two of those wins probably would’ve been impossible.

Which makes him a truly great captain – nobody else led by example quite so well.