Steven Gerrard. The End of a Golden Era at Liverpool?

Steven Gerrard has been 'Mr. Liverpool' since coming on the scene as a buzz headed 18 year old before becoming a regular in the first time by the time he was 20. What he's achieved at the club since then has been remarkable, not just for the awards themselves (see below) but the manner in which he captured them. His proudest and most iconic moment was his headed goal in Istanbul in 2005 and stating a historic turnaround. Seeing his side 3-0 down and completely outclassed in the opening half against AC Milan Gerrard scored a wonderful header and urged his team on to more. By the end of the enthralling match, Gerrard had helped lead his Liverpool team with a lion heart courage and determination to his 1st and the clubs 5th European Cup victory. What happened that night in Turkey will never be forgotten by any Liverpool, or real football fan that watched it. His dynamic play, technical power and driving will have made him the best English midfielder in the past decade. Praise from players such as Zinedine Zidane speaks for brilliance of Stevie G.

The generous quotes, personal and team awards, although plentiful do not include one important thing, a league winners medal.  Gerrard surely would have had at least a couple of these had he joined Chelsea when Jose Mourinho came calling in 2005.  It looks unlikely at this stage in his career to end with an elusive Premiership Winners medal in his trophy cabinet.  The club, and Gerrard has been looking to get back to winning ways in the domestic game every since the early 1990's.  Gerrard has enjoyed some great success in domestic cup competitons (includung the Gerrard FA final against West Ham in 2005/6) but he longs for the league title for his home town club as do the clubs new owners who have set about making that happen after taking over from the disasters reign of Hicks and Gillett. 

With Brendan Rodgers now at the helm after taking over from King Kenny, Liverpool is in a rebuilding phase.  The squad has been overhauled to suit Rodgers preferred system and style of play (a possession based 4-3-3).  Rodgers demands great work rate, concentration and commitment to the greater good which has seen many comings and goings this summer.  The main ones being the loan move of Any Carroll to West Ham, the sale of Charlie Adam to Stoke, and the freezing out of Jordan Henderson (all players who didn't fit into Rodgers system or plans) and various new technical players arriving at Anfield, including Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini. As the new boys set in, there is a legacy of the old guard that Rodgers looks keen to shake off to show he is the man in control at the club although he was undermined by FSG on the final day of transfer action.  Rodgers, after getting rid of Carroll expected to get the American Clint Dempsey in from Fulham, the Liverpool owners wouldn't bid more than £4 million and instead watched their manager's prime target join cross town London rivals, Spurs, for a meager £6 million.  They also turned down the option of signing Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge on a permanent deal, all this frugal transfer business after FSG had previously let Damien Comolli and Kenny Dalglish splash the following...

Player	Signed	Cost	Came from
Andy Carroll	31 January 2011	35,000,000	Newcastle United
Luis Suarez	31 January 2011	22,700,000	Ajax
Stewart Downing	July 15 2011	20,000,000	Aston Villa
Jordan Henderson	9 June 2011	16,000,000	Sunderland
Charlie Adam	July 2011	7,500,000	Blackpool
Sebastien Coates	30 August 2011	7,000,000	Nacional

Source www.liverweb.org.uk

This reversal in transfer policy looks to mean the New Englander's don't want to splash anymore cash.  Rodgers has spent close to £30 million bringing in talent, but also made £10 million selling, loaning and cutting the wage bill.  What does this mean to Liverpool's captain...

Gerrard's spot in the team looks the most troubled it's been since his full debut.  Even during the summer sagas that previously played out with Gerrard and Chelsea his place in the Liverpool starting XI was never really in question.  Other than suspensions and injuries, Gerrard has been a constant starter from Liverpool, and his passion, ability and leadership has made him, rightly so, the face of Liverpool.  Liverpool's terrible start to the season (including an opening day defeat at Liverpool's old assistant Steve Clark's WBA, and a poor home defeat last time out at Anfield against Arsenal (who hadn't scored in their 2 previous games) has got some fans worried.  More worrying is the lack of cohesion between Gerrard and his teamates so far.  Liverpool's only goals coming from set-pieces against Manchester City (Srktel - from a corner, Suarez - from a free kick).  Gerrard has given the ball away too often and this has directly lead to a couple of goals (one against West Brom and one against Arsenal).  His movement is sporadic and often too direct and reckless for Rodgers system, leaving holes punctured throughout the midfield 3 (similar to what happens to England when Gerrard plays with Lampard).  His roaming, marauding style of play makes him a fans favourite and means he gets the opportunity to shoot plenty and arrive at the edge of the box to create or score.  Now there is a more rigid system based on standardized teamwork rather than individual players showcasing their talent and driving the rest of the team forward he looks lost at times.  Gerrard is a fantastic player, and I don't think Rodgers can drop him without losing the dressing room and the support of the crowd, but I think he would if he could, to suit his system better.  Sahin looked rather off the pace but comfortable in possession in his debut against Arsenal, Allen is the midfield lynchpin who keeps the ball moving, then there's Gerrard.  His long diagonal passes, drifting movement pulled the team out of shape, and although he likes to drive forward he was pretty ineffiecient at linking up with Suarez (misplacing a pass led to Podolski goal) Sterling, or Borini. With Lucas out injured and the Liverpool squad pretty thin Gerrards position is safe for now, but unless he gets to grips with the system quickly or Rodgers adjusts it to get more out of Gerrard (very unlikely) this could see the frustrating end to what has quite simply been a fantastic Liverpool career for Super Stevie G. The lack of quality throughout the squad -Downing looking impotent, Maxi Rodriguez gone, Henderson average, and no new blood to challenge the Captain's place means he's going to play.  Sadly for Stevie, and us Liverpool fans, we need him more than ever and in this system, he just doesn't look like half the player he can be.

Club

• FA Cup (2): 2000–01, 2005–06
• League Cup (3): 2000–01, 2002–03, 2011–12
• FA Community Shield (2): 2001, 2006
• UEFA Champions League (1): 2004–05
• UEFA Cup (1): 2000–01
• UEFA Super Cup (2): 2001, 2005

Individual

• FWA Footballer of the Year (1): 2009
• PFA Players' Player of the Year (1): 2006
• PFA Young Player of the Year (1): 2001
• PFA Fans' Player of the Year (2): 2001, 2009
• PFA Team of the Year (7): 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Premier League Player of the Month Award (5): March 2001, March 2003, December 2004, April 2006, March 2009
• Liverpool Top Goalscorer (3): 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09
• Ballon d'Or Bronze Award (1): 2005
• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (1): 2005
• UEFA Champions League Final Man of the Match (1): 2005
• UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament (1): 2012
• UEFA Team of the Year (3): 2005, 2006, 2007
• FIFA/FIFPro World XI (3): 2007, 2008, 2009
• FA Cup Final Man of the Match (1): 2006
• Goal of the Season (1): 2006
• England Player of the Year (1): 2007
• Member of the Order of the British Empire: 2007
• Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University: 2008
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award – 3rd Place: 2005

Source - Wikipedia

Arse-an-all

It ended 4-0 at the San Siro but the Gooners got out of Italy lightly considering their performance, and they were dangerously close to the kind of collapse that saw them hammered 8-2 by Manchester United at the start of the season. Although the Rossoneri didn't bang that many past Wojciech Szczesny in the Arsenal goal this time they could have with Kevin Prince Boateng, Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all conspiring to miss easier opportunities than the chances they did take. The big issue with this game wasn't just that Arsenal were beaten by a better team, because they were, but the consummate ease in which the Italian side turned them over. Milan haven't been in great form themselves of late, they came into this game on the back of one Serie A win in four attempts, they again weren't at their best on Wednesday night, but didn't need to be anywhere near it.  

AC have been criticised in the Italian media for selling on their playmakers and traditional number 10's leaving them with a lack of creativity. The 'architect' Andrea Pirlo was offloaded to Juventus in the Summer and replaced by the 'carpenter' Mark Van Bommel. They have some attacking firepower with Boateng, Zlatan and Robinho but not a lot in terms of creative support.  Arsenal fans will point to their injuries (like usual) and the fact they weren't at full strength without Jack Whilshere amongst more insignificant others. Whilshere is a talent, that is unquestioned, but the hope and responsibility he is going to face when he comes back to full action is unprecedented for a team as well respected of late as Arsenal.  Wilshere watching in the San Siro with the 5,000 Arsenal away fans will have seen the same huge problems everyone did but know that alone, he cannot fix everything. In Wilshere's breakout season he was playing alongside Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, he will now be slid in next to a stalling and overplayed Aarron Ramsey and a useless and aged Tomas Rosicky. Is he the answer? No, he isn't, in fact he probably just another another player that will be developed at Arsenal before moving on for a nominal fee to bigger and better club.  No matter what Whilshere indicates his allegiances to be with his romantic tweets on the club he will surely have look to move on to better himself and his career, because at the moment he finds himself part of the worst Arsenal team in Arsene Wengers tenure.  

Robin Van Persie has almost single handedly kept Arsenal's season alive with his phenomenal form and unbelievable scoring record, but he too will look for a move in the Summer especially after last night's debacle in Italy where he saw old hero Thierry Henry pulled off the bench at half-time to try and salvage an away goal for the men in yellow.  That didn't work.  Henry replaced the dismal Theo Walcott who has be terribly bad this season.  For Henry it was another goodbye to a club he loves, but this second term has been like getting back with an ex-girlfriend for the New York Red Bulls man.  At first it was great but by the end he couldn't wait to get away again, and in this case the ex-girlfriend (Arsenal) needs him much more than he needs her.

That Henry substitution just added to a game that tactically Wenger got all wrong.  He said before the game he wanted his team to be 'audacious'.  Audacious away from home in the first leg of a knock out Champions League game against Italian opposition???  He really may be losing it. The Arsenal fans will remember back to their wonderful 2-0 win 4 years ago, and compare how far they have fallen off since then.  By the end of the game Wenger admitted they "were never in the game" and "poor", and that was putting it lightly. 

Arsenal are a very average side with big expectations to meet which they probably won't.  Although they currently lay in 4th position in the Premiership if that is still the case at the end of the season it won't be because of Arsenal's superiority it will be due to the lack of consistency from other teams.  Arsenal were once the best team in London, but with the recent rise of Tottenham Hotspur they aren't even the best team in North London. This is arguably one of the worst Premiership seasons in terms of top quality teams and football, we have the big names and the glamour, sure, but there is no sense of the empowered 'invincible's' or the wonderful attacking Manchester United sides of the past reemerging.  The Champions League knock out stages echo this, with the soon to be knocked out Arsenal and a ropey Chelsea squad the only Premiership representatives.

On the night Arsenal lacked leadership, heart, direction and quality and by the end of the game Wenger was slumped in so far back in his chair he almost disappeared, and by the final whistle I bet he wished he had.

 
The comparison between Arsenal's one-sided reports of this game and the game in 2008 tell their own story
2008
2012