The season just ended a few days ago but I am already looking forward to next season. I am not the only one looking forward to the new season but so is Steve Clarke. One of the things Clarke is most looking forward to is working with a fully fit Steven Gerrard next season.
Since Clarke joined Liverpool, Gerrard has only started 6 games due to injury. Gerrard has undergone groin surgery to rectify his groin and our captain says he feels as if he has a new groin and is hoping to be ready for the start of pre-season training.
We really missed a fully fit Gerrard this past season and having him back to full fitness will result in him re-finding his form. A fully fit Gerrard will be as good as signing a new player.
“If he’s speaking encouragingly about it himself then that’s good news for everybody,” first-team coach Clarke told Liverpoolfc.tv. “I’m sure he’ll work hard during the summer, and if he can join us in the first stage of pre-season then that would be great. If not then he’ll join us a little bit later.
“He’s vitally important. Steven hasn’t featured much since I came to the club. He’s been in and out with a niggling problem with his groin, and hopefully the operation has cured it.
“A fit and fully firing Steven Gerrard can only improve the squad.
“He’s certainly one of the most complete footballers of his generation. Over the last 10 or 12 years there have been a number of really top English players and certainly Steven is one of them.
“I’ve only seen little glimpses of him since I came here but he’s a captain who, rather than speaking and motivating, leads by example on the pitch. I am looking forward to seeing him do that next season.”
I would think that Stevie would also be drooling at the possibility of having Aquilani to train.
Aqua who ?
Why the hell would Gerrard be happy to train with yet another lightweight central attacking midfielder who we will have to move Gerrard deeper to accommodate & waste his astounding talent ?
Steven Gerrard isnt just one of the best players of his generation , he is one of the best British players of all time & one of the best to ever play for Liverpool .
It may be 20 years before we see a player even come close to being as good as Gerrard in Britain.
Lothar Matthaus , Andreas Möller or Matthias Sammer don’t come close , Frank Rijkaard doesn’t come close , Enzo Scifo doesnt come close , Roy Keane or even the great Ronnie Whelan don’t come close in fact you have to go back to Souness , Michel Platini & Bryan Robson to find a player even close to being as good as Gerrard .
We need no more Joe Cole Raul Meireles style lightweight attacking options in central midfield we need battlers that can win the ball & give a simple high percentage pass to an attacking player in space like Lucas , Spearing & Lee Cattermolle to FREE GERRARD up to attack along with Saurez & wide men of the proven high standards of Arjen Robben , Stewart Downing & Gareth Bale to destroy every team in the League .
Aqualani my arse ! Joe Cole is equally as useless as Aqualani ,so we dont need him back unbalancing an already horribly unbalanced squad any more than it already is .
Gerrard is 100 times the attacking midfielder Aqualani ever dreamed of being & the reason Rafa failed was he didnt build his side around Gerrard like he needed to , Clarke may have played with & coached a few decent players but once Gerrard retires I have absolutely no doubt in my mind Clarke will say that Gerrard is without doubt the best player he has ever coached .
i agree with you 99% on everything. the only part that i have to disagree with you is the part about waiting 20 years, i think it will be much longer before we or the world gets to see someone of his talent on the pitch once again….and ps: aqualani isnt even worth it to tie stevie’s boots strings!!
What position do ya play Jeven ? Get yer boots polished up coz The King likes players with your way of thinking .
Perhaps I should also have included Emmanuel Petit , Fernando Redondo , Zidane , Rui Costa & Paulo Sosa as other more recent examples of excellent Midfielders but when a man speaks from the heart he can leave the odd big name out .
You are more or less saying Gerrard is up there with Bobby Charlton but I’m a hard man to please & say he hasnt won a World Cup or a top flight English League yet so lets leave Sir Bobby at the top of the heap where he deserves to be .
If Gerrard was a foreign national he would be hailed as the best of all time , he is definitely the most complete midfielder I have seen in my life time , Charlton is the Role Model , Souness & Bryan Robson came damn close to emulating Charlton but none of them have the consistency of technique Gerrard has in his game at the highest of high pressure moments … I dont think there has ever been a player with those capability’s of Gerrards & I cant even imagine how they can be bettered .
Can Gerrard improve ?
Yes .
An he will improve .
Gerrard in around 3 or 4 years will slow his game down & let his clever passing & top quality experience do most of his work .
He has all the match intelligence , ability , natural athleticism & professionalism to be the best midfielder in England up until his 40’s .
The only thing I can fault him on is that he leads too much by example & needs to more often bark orders & bully his team mates into raising their game around him instead of showing them how its done all the time .
Thats where Souness & Robson could be argued to be better players than him , the way they terrified not just their opposition with their almost psychopathic will to win , but also by the way they terrified their team mates into raising their game , Roy Keane would be the most recent example of a midfield general capable of that & once Gerrard improves that side of his game you will be looking at a man all of England will want as their manager once he retires from playing .
But before I leave it at that back to the 20 year time period thing … Its about 20 years since a really gifted silky skilled Londoner called Glenn Hoddle stopped playing & now there is a 19 year old Londoner very similar to Hoddle in physical stature & the silky way he plays the ball around the pitch in the Premier league.
“Who is he !!!?? If he plays like Glenn Hoddle we should sign him & develop him !!! ” I hear you cry
His name is JJ Shelvey & the boy has got a wee bitta something special about his game .
Aye , he’s a good player that Gerrard ,I can see him having a statue next to mine some day .