Brendan Rodgers believes that Steven Gerrard can prolong his playing career if he switches to play as a central defender as the years go on.
Gerrard is already 33-years old and you can see that his game has changed from the player we knew in 2005 that made dynamic box-to-box runs. Now the Liverpool captain is playing a more deeper and calmer game in the heart of Liverpool’s midfield. Eventually switching Gerrard into to defence may just be the answer to many more playing days at Anfield according to Rodgers.
The Liverpool boss told BBC Sport: “I look at Steven and I think he can play as a number two centre-half later in his career,” The 40-year-old manager explained.
“You play against teams where they’ve got one up [front] and I think he can play as a right-sided centre-half.
“[He could] build the game from behind.
“How he passes the ball is as good as anyone in the world, short and long.
“So it’s a possibility that he could go on, but it will all be determined by fitness.
“He is 34 at the end of this season, and I look at his fitness and I look at how he is playing and he is as fit as he has ever been. He is looking after himself.
“That player he was 10 years ago, dynamic and making those long bursting runs, of course that goes out of your game.
“Like you see with Ryan Giggs, you adapt and change.”
It would be great to see Gerrard playing up until he is 40 like Ryan Giggs but only if he is 100% fit and on top of his game at Liverpool. Gerrard has given us many fantastic years at the club and he will go down as a Liverpool legend, but if there comes a point when there are other players that are actually playing better than Gerrard, then Rodgers should consider playing them against Gerrard for the sake of the progress of the team.
To play as a holding midfielder one also needs to be able to tackle and press hard. Good vision and ability to read play is not enough IMO.
Sadly we’ve seen this season that Gerrard “cheats” a little bit in his defensive work, jogging along and defending zones but doesnt press hard enough or try to win the ball as much as he used to.
Its a big decision for Rodgers – does he have the guts to bench Gerrard when Allen is back? If he sticks with Gerrard in the holding position I hope he leaves out Lucas, against Stoke it was pretty obvious that he was asked to do something he could not do. Might as well play with 10 men!