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The Gerrard era is one of nostalgia

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Gerrard's time as a Liverpool player will be remembered fondly down the years

Gerrard’s time as a Liverpool player will be remembered fondly down the years

I immediately knew that after the win against AFC Wimbledon I wanted to write an article about Gerrard. Indeed, Gerrard is particularly topical right now since it was revealed he’ll be leaving at the end of the season.

However, this post is not about whether or not the club should have done more to keep Gerrard, or whether his time here is done no matter how many goals he scores in the next 6 months. No, there are far too many people arguing about that on Twitter as it is for me to make any significant contribution. This will take a slightly different look at the captain.

Steven Gerrard scored two goals last night in a 2-1 win away to AFC Wimbledon. The first was a wonderfully placed header as he strode into the box unmarked as Manquillo’s cross came in uninterrupted by the Wimbledon defence. After conceding an equaliser once Wimbledon decided to step up their game and actually press us into making mistakes, things got more difficult. But as the League 2 outfit tired, they gave away a free-kick outside the penalty area and Gerrard stepped to a curl a fantastic shot into the top corner that the goalkeeper could only help its way into the net.

Whatever that performance did to influence your opinion of the captain, there can be no denying that Captain Fantastic pulled us out of the muck again. It’s the first time it’s happened for a long time, which brought up a rather large dose of nostalgia for this Liverpool fan.

Aside from his incredible technique, eye for goal, set piece delivery, leadership and overwhelming passion for Liverpool Football Club, one thing that always made Gerrard world class was the fact that he did what he did while often surrounded by average talent. Sure, some of Stevie’s best days were alongside Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano – dubbed the “best midfield in the world” by the Anfield faithful – there were also the times when he would have to put up with the likes of Christian Poulsen, Charlie Adam, Salif Diao and so many others. Invariably, the team would find itself fairing badly against teams aching to scalp the English giant that is Liverpool FC – or sometimes better teams would simply find a way to score against us – and it always fell to the man from Whiston to bail us out.

Simply put, Gerrard was a firefighter constantly running round the pitch trying to put out various dangers that threatened to burn the team down.

All the long range scorchers, headers and chips over the goalkeeper that put teams to the sword, all the vital goals in derby matches.

The goals and assists against some of the best teams in the Champions League that gave us another chance to advance to the next round.

There is no doubt that Liverpool's trophy haul during Gerrard's time was impressive

There is no doubt that Liverpool’s trophy haul during Gerrard’s time was impressive

The goals that helped us turn countless games around that we’d already done our best to screw up.

The opening goal of the 4-1 at Old Trafford. That kiss to the camera.

The goal against Real Madrid in a 4-0 win.

The penalty that knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League quarter finals.

The screamer against Olympiakos.

Both goals against West Ham in the “Gerrard final” that got us to extra time and penalties.

Istanbul.

There are many more that I haven’t mentioned here, but it had been a while since Gerrard had come up with another way to rescue us from humiliation. Then he scored twice against AFC Wimbledon. He’s a different player now, but when that free-kick went in, it didn’t half take me back.

It will be the end of an era when Gerrard finally leaves the club that he’s served to the utmost of his ability for his entire career. What an era it was, huh?

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Drummer, gamer and football fanatic. I love to write about Liverpool and spend most of my time thinking about the mighty Reds. That or Game of Thrones.

3 comments

  • bethrand mathew says:

    Hun?

  • Chan says:

    There are some so call “fans” out there who questions our Captain Fantastic contribution to the team this season and wants him out. Becarefull for what you wished for, it may just come through.

    Its interesting what Stevie have to say after his announcement, 1) that if he was offered a new contract in the summer, he would have sighed it and (2) He made up his mind to leave once he had “THAT” conversation with BR.

    From this 2 points, its clear to see how our beloved club and iconic captain had been mismanaged by FSG and the man they appointed, BR from the very first day. It’s clear to see our team do not have any player that is near to Stevie’s capability and influence and yet had not make it a priority to offer him a new contract. If they had done so, we would still have our captain next summer.

    As for BR, if he had just told Stevie, as suggested in another write up, that he would not play all games just all the IMPORTANT ONE at this stage of his career, again i think we Stevie would have stayed.

    The problems that the egomaniac and trophyless BR had brought to our club is well documented, so i would not repeat it here. This man would not change, his ego overules everything else, the well being of our club is the least of his concerns, his ego must be taken care of first.

    The only thing we could hope for is that John Henry and FSG would come to their senses and realize that they had taken one misstep after another and would finally do the right thing, sack BR, appoints Rafa as the replacement, back him and maybe just, maybe, it would be enough to persuade our Captain to rethink on his decision to leave. What pains Stevie is just not realizing that he would not play every game, he is experience and smart enough to know that. Like us he realize under BR, last seasons fluke apart (ant team with Suarez’s form would challenge) our great club is heading towards a steady decline and this is too painful to watch and be apart off.

    JH, save our club before its too late, sack BR now and appoint Rafa.

  • david says:

    Shameful on LFC. Yes sure we have to face life without stevie G soon one way or the other but this is no way to treat our favourite son, who gave us so many good memories. Brendon must be happy Steven leaving as he would be a realistic replacement with the way things are going. Brendan keeps calling Liverpool a family club, well what kind of family was he brought up to force out his most loyal son. He is already preparing his excuses for the next batch of poor displays by publicly calling on the owners to spend big for a replacement. FSG have to take responsibility too , the owners must be as gullible as s*** or not watching the games to trust Brendan to turn things around. Family ?what family club ?

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