Just a few brief points about our skipper that I think are under reported and often just completely ignored.
1. While I think we can all agree we love Stevie in his advanced role when he’s making runs and pinpoint passes, I think we also need to accept the fact that just because he excels in that role doesn’t mean he should remain there exclusively.
I see him all too often heavily marked to the point that he seems disinterested. The problem here is that while waiting to break down the pitch towards the opponent’s goal, he is far too stationary. Without the defensive responsibilities he was once used to, I think he finds himself wondering just what to do with himself. He is not a natural supporting striker after all, he is one of the best central midfielders in the world being pushed forward due to a lack of quality in forward positions.
With Aquilani I think perhaps we have found the solution to this problem that Rafa has been making the best of. Unlike with Lucas or even Alonso, here our captain will find someone equally willing to lead the charge and do so at a high tempo. I have seen a good bit of our new midfielder in Serie A, and he is nothing if not lightning quick going forward.
This will allow Gerrard to do what he does best. Follow the play, allow the defenders to stretch and over commit themselves and then grab himself a slice of room and slot that laid back pass from touchline into the corner or the roof of the net. When he is not forced to be the centerpiece of the move, he will find many more opportunities to put past the opposition keeper.
It may be hard to imagine, but his goal rate may actually increase.
2. Speaking of increasing his goal rate, does anyone else think we’re insane for having him take our corner kicks? No offense to Steven but they have been poor not just of late but for the past several seasons. This is besides the fact that he is a terrific header of the ball and would serve us far better in the box on set pieces unless he is having a go himself.
Great news for all of us Liverpool Fans. Captain Fantastic, Steven Gerrard has agreed a two year extension to his current contract as reported on the official Liverpool Website. This means that Gerrard will be at Liverpool until 2013 now and I am sure he would even sign after that as he has said he wants to end his career at Liverpool.
This comes as great news in the build up to the big game tomorrow against Fulham. A game we just have to win so that we go top of the table for atleast 24 hours. News like this will surely send out a buzz to the rest of the players in the squad.
It is really no surprise to me that Gerrard has signed a contract extension, especially since Rafa has committed to stay at the club for the next 5 years. There is now a bit of stability in the team as we know who the coach will be and many more players are going to commit their long term plans to Liverpool all because Rafa is staying. Obviously there will be a few players who do not see eye to eye with Rafa and his policies and they may want to leave. But if the manager and captain have committed to stay for the long haul then surely this can only bode well for us and the great future that lies ahead of us.
Tonka sent me this video this morning and I thought I would share it with you. When I first saw it I could not believe it. But then I have watched it over and over again and I think they have played around with the camera here. Gerrard is brilliant but being able to do this is out of this world. I am not saying that it is impossible to do but I do not think Captain Fantastic actually did this. It is just an advert after all. What do you think about this?
As we getting close to the end of the season, it is that time again when people start to talk about who has been the best player this season. Not even being biased, I think there is only one person you can give this award to; our own Steven Gerrard. The bookies have Man United’s Vidic as the front runner with Gerrard second but for me, Gerrard is number 1.
Yes, Vidic has had a great season for United but so too Gerrrard. I guess it is really a toss up between these two and I am sure which ever one of those two players has a Premiership winners medal come the end of the season will be named the PFA Player of the Year.
Gerrard won the award in the 2005-2006 season and it is only fitting for him to win it again. But I am sure Stevie would trade the PFA award for a Premiership medal any day. For me, it would not be fitting for Stevie to end his career without being named the best player in the world at some stage. He is that great a player! But I guess football is not fair at times: Some great players have ended their careers without winning anything.
Do you think Stevie should be named the PFA Player of the Year?
Captain Fantastic has decided to sell his Overfinch Range Rover Vogue. And he has not made this a private sale, instead he has listed his car on Auto Trader in the UK just like any other person who would want to sell their car on the Internet. All along I had thought that Gerrard’s Range Rover was just like any other Range Rover but I should have guessed that this one would have a little extra. And it does! It is customised by English company Overfinch which is one of the most prestigious car customisers there is.
It is thought that the car is being sold for £52,990 this after Gerrard bought it for £61,000 as standard and spent a further £22,000 on getting the Overfinch treatment in February 2008.
If I had a spare £52,990 I think I would by Stevie’s car. You can click here to view the report of the sale on the Auto Trader website and also take some time to browse through the picture gallery of the Range Rover, together with other cars Stevie has owned which include: a Bentley Continental GT, Aston Martin Vanquish, Ferrari F430, Porsche 911 Turbo, Porsche Cayenne Turbo, BMW X5 and a Mercedes CLK 320.
Reports this weekend suggest that Real Madrid may be set to offer us £100million for Gerrard and Alonso in the summer. This comes off the news that Zinedine Zidane is going to become the sporting director at Real Madrid in the summer when Florentino Perez becomes president of Madrid again. Zidane said last week that he believes Gerrard is the best player in the world so it is no surprise that he may want to get Gerrard to Madrid. I can not see Gerrard wanting to leave Liverpool and go play for Madrid. I am not too sure about Alonso. It is no secret that Alonso and Benitez did not see eye-to-eye last summer when Benitez wanted to sell Alonso to fund the purchasing of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa. But for me, Alonso has probably been our best player this season and I hope we do not let him go in the summer.
Of the £100million, it is suggested that £80million will be for Gerrard and £20million for Alonso. That is quite a lot of money and we could do with that kind of cash. But cashing in on two of the players I believe form the spine of our team would be a disaster.
We need to keep these two players if we are to challenge next season. Gerrard has made it clear that he wants to spend the rest of his career at Liverpool. I do not think the same holds for Alonso. I hope Alonso has kissed and made up with Benitez and Alonso decides to spend a couple more years with us.
When a great player like Zinedine Zidane says something football related, you have to take notice. There have been very few players to play the beautiful game who have been better than Zidane. For me personally, Zidane would be in my top 5 of worlds best ever players. Now Zidane has come out and said that he thinks our own Steven Gerrard is the best player in the world right now ahead of Ronaldo and Messi.
I know not a lot of you would agree with this but I for one can see where Zidane is coming from with this statement. Zidane says Gerrard is the ‘engine room’ of our team and that is so true. We rely so much on Gerrard to pull us out of trouble and how many times has he done that for us over the years? The likes of Ronaldo and Messi are brilliant players and have amazing skills and talent but when the chips are down and you need to pick your team up, who would you rather have on your side? Gerrard for me!
Ronaldo and Messi are surrounded by great players at their clubs. I am not saying that Gerrard has bad players around him but out of the three, Gerrard is the one at a disadvantage when it comes to those around him. Gerrard has achieved so much by playing in an ‘average’ team compared to the teams Man United and Barcelona can field.
It would be a real shame if Gerrard ends his career without winning the European or World Player of the Year.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will be out of action for three weeks after a scan revealed a torn hamstring.
Gerrard was replaced after 16 minutes of Wednesday’s FA Cup replay against Everton, which Liverpool lost 1-0. The midfielder will now miss Saturday’s match against Portsmouth, England’s friendly against Spain next week and the visit of Manchester City. Gerrard, 28, also faces a race against time to be fit for the Champions League tie against Real Madrid on 25 February. The absence of Gerrard is a blow to Liverpool’s title credentials having scored 11 goals for them in the league this season.
Liverpool are two points behind champions Manchester United, who have played a game less.
“A scan today has confirmed a tear in the hamstring of Steven’s left leg,” a spokesman told the club’s official website.
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