What Role For Our Captain Next Season?

UP until last night, it had been so far, so good at the Euro’s for our Captain Fantastic.

Three assists, three games and he’s been one of the very few stand-out players at the tournament so far.

One thing, from a Liverpool fans’ perspective, is that we’re finally able to listen to the media and the press gushing with respect and praise for our captain, for doing the things we’ve been used to for almost a decade for his country.

But Gerrard’s performances in Ukraine and Poland will inevitably raise some questions, for both the new Liverpool manager and fans alike. Most notably: where does he play next season? His performances in the tournament would seem to make that an easy one to answer – play him where he’s pretty much always played, in the centre of the field. But would he be able to play there 40-50 times a season?

Then again, while his performances for England have been quite impressive, we’ve seen the best of Gerrard for years and many people will tell you that the middle is probably his weakest position. We’ve seen him playing on the right, as a second striker, just behind the forwards and in the centre of midfield – by all accounts, his favoured position. Going back to his late teens, he even had a spell playing at right back!

For years, I wanted him to play on the right. People might argue against this but he scored over 25 goals from that position for us under Rafa Benitez one season and was at his absolute best. Then again, when he played just behind Fernando Torres a few seasons back he was equally devastating, with the former Liverpool striker benefiting far more than most, even if Gerrard himself wasn’t as prolific here, in terms of goals for himself.

There are those that’ll argue until they’re blue in the face that he should always be in the centre of midfield, a position from which he can dominate the game and his own team-mates and his run in the Euro Championships have only served to support these claims but, as good as he was, I’m still not convinced that this is where he’s at his best for us. For England, Gerrard is the best player we’ve got. Hodgson appears – as sad as that is – to be the first England manager that Steven Gerrard has played under that realises the success of the team hinges on Gerrard’s performances. The team must be built around him and, for England, this seemed to have worked.

For Liverpool though, there is another consideration that must be taken in to account: his age. Steven Gerrard could not get through a full season in such a pivotal position; it would negatively affect both his performances and the teams’. In one off games, or tournaments, he can manage his fitness and stamina more easily but over a full season, it’s not that simple.
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A player like Gerrard always needs to be on – or near – the action, so he does have the tendency to follow the ball – something many English players can be accused of. For this reason he will always stray away from the centre if he is without possession for a prolonged period and Hodgson was aware of this, which is why Scott Parker was there to do the dirty work. For Liverpool, Lucas is too good a player to be there simply to mop up after Gerrard whereas, for England, that’s pretty much all Scott Parker is good for and that’s why it works and with both Joe Cole and Alberto Aquilani (possibly also Gylfi Sigurdsson) likely to be added to a list of central midfielders as long as a fully-extended Stretch Armstrong’s arm, it is highly unlikely that Gerrard will play there too often next season.

At the end of the day, Gerrard is an awesome player when he’s at his best; he’s one of the finest players of this, or any generation and that is the player we want – and need – to see most next season. But we also have to look to the future. If our new manager is to build his team around Gerrard, it would be a huge mistake. A player of Steven Gerrard’s ability and style relies heavily on ‘his engine’, as Andy Gray would call it, and not only is his engine starting to wind down toward the end of his career, certain parts aren’t as well-oiled as they used to be so to get the most out of him for what years he does have left, he needs to be managed carefully.

We have seen over the years that great players have switched to new or altered versions of their usual role in order to prolong their careers and get the best out of them and I think that this is something that we will see happen more and more starting next season. I’m not suggesting that Gerrard should be moved to right-back (although, I have always thought he’d make a superb one!) but I think that moving him in to a role where he doesn’t need to cover so much ground and can do the thing we all know he’s one of the best at, scoring and creating goals, would benefit both the club and the player himself. A free role is a nice idea but it generally doesn’t work, so maybe just behind Suarez or as the creative influence behind a front 2, or even as part of a front 3? I’m sure these are all questions which will be asked once everybody arrives back for the first day of pre-season training in July.

One thing I am sure about though is that, given Rodgers penchant for a high-pressure passing game, our captain will be an important factor if this style is to get off the ground, regardless of the role he fills, he will be in an important figure for the team for the next couple of seasons yet.
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