Still irreplaceable at the heart of the Reds’ midfield

THIS season, for the first time in an age, Steven Gerrard has been taking some flack.

Our Captain Marvel, who will wear England’s armband in Brazil, who has won countless games virtually on his own, dragging lesser mortals along with him, the most complete midfielder that the Premier League has ever seen, the very definition of a ‘top, top’ player (thanks to Fergie’s petty barb somewhat backfiring) has been guilty of a few sub par performances this season.

The critics were particularly vociferous during a run of 4 straight wins, starting with Norwich and ending with Cardiff, where the Reds, without their skipper, and indeed Daniel Sturridge, amassed a whopping 17 goals for. Many were raving about the mobility of a midfield three of Lucas, Henderson and Allen, and an improved ability to press the ball and win it back quicker. Some confidently voicing that the Skipper had been holding the team back, and should be benched.

Then followed two defeats to Man City and Chelsea and those same people have since quietened down.

Losing two big games on the bounce, all be it to the two strongest squads in the league and with the Reds having a spate of injuries, seemed to knock the wind out of the team. The Reds went from top at Christmas to 5th at New Year. It is to great credit to the team that the lads picked themselves up and ground out a deserved win against a Hull team that has often been hard to break down this season, and had just come off a 6-0 win.

Those two losses against key rivals taught us many things. Others have analysed the losses in detail, and I don’t intend to here. However one thing that we really did need, and missed, in those two games was Steven Gerrard’s big game mentality.

We played well against Man City, but when key moments arrived and chances came,  too many of our players weren’t able to take them. Their first touch turning heavy, the timing of their tackle a fraction of a second too late or rushing a shot when well placed. The top players make decisive impacts in the big games against big players.

Strangely this was the basis of the criticism Ferguson labelled at Gerrard. That he apparently ‘never got a kick’ when playing against Keane and Scholes. While so often it wasn’t that Gerrard was just outnumbered 2 to 1, but more like 10 to 1, as United’s whole team was often superior to Liverpool’s. Still Steven won his fair share of contests. And Steven stood up countless times in the biggest games – in key semi-finals and finals. Gerrard has scored in the finals of all major club competitions.

Furthermore, having Steven Gerrard on the pitch adds belief to the team. It isn’t just his immense quality on the ball, his passing range or shooting ability. His game intelligence, picking the ‘right’ pass and making the ‘right’ decision when on the ball, helps the team progress as well. I’ll grant you that Steven doesn’t press the ball, given his age, as well as Joe Allen, but he is superior to Allen in every other conceivable way.

I wrote an article recently asking who would step up to help fill the gap created by the injuries to Gerrard and Sturridge. Allen was certainly the player who came into the side in Gerrard absence, and I was certainly glad he had improved displays, being diligent without the ball and tidy with it. However when he gets into the final third, he still panics and rushes his decision. It happened against City when he was well placed to take a touch and shoot, but woefully mis-controlled an easy pass that he would have controlled without any problem if he had been in his own half.

It showed on other occasions when he eschewed the through pass, the type Gerrard would have played, to make a more conservative pass out wide and pass on that creative responsibility. And, despite his clear effort in the gym to bulk up, he is still to easily out-muscled off the ball and simply can’t win a header in midfield. I don’t wish to criticise the boy further, only to state that in my opinion he is nowhere near the level of a fit Stevie G.

Besides, it wasn’t truly Allen who filled the gap Gerrard left. The inspiration for those performances and results were primarily due to Luis Suarez being even more fantastic. He was aided though by a couple of younger players who have truly grown in the last month or so.

Firstly, the excellent form of Jordan Henderson, who played with greater freedom, taking responsibility to drive the team forward and often barking orders to those around him. And secondly the brilliant young Sterling, who after looking a little rusty in his first game back, turned into the his old irrepressible self, that we hadn’t seen since early last season.

It was Henderson and Sterling’s performances, along with Suarez of course, that helped us most during that run of 4 wins and 17 goals. But against the superior players of City and Chelsea the young guns did their best but fell tantalizingly short, leaving Suarez somewhat isolated and unable to bear the burden of winning those two games on his own.

Allen is now injured, so Steven will slot straight back into the team, one would imagine. And, in my opinion, the team will be much the better for it.

You can catch more from me on my own blog: http://taintlessred.blogspot.co.uk/