Finding nice things to write about Steven Gerrard isn't a challenge. Answering the unanswered questions remains the big issue with this Liverpool legend.
I'm not talking about the reasons behind his departure – Liverpool have their side of the story, Gerrard's allies will have his side. But he's too decent a guy to openly encourage
criticism of the club he has been a massive part of for so many years.
There are two questions that still need analysis in my view: First, should Gerrard have left Liverpool at some point in his career? My answer is yes, and it's not with the benefit of
hindsight.
Forget Captain America and Superman, no fictional superhero comes close to what the real thing achieved in Istanbul in 2005. Gerrard's performance was from the most excitable, over-dramatic comic book of all time.
It ranks as one of the very best individual performances in a football match the world has ever seen, if not the very best. What makes it even more remarkable is that Gerard went
through that Champions League-winning season feeling unwanted by Liverpool, unsure about the direction in which the club was going, and with his family witnessing disgusting abuse towards him from Liverpool fans.
Gerrard was able to rise above that to guarantee a place in Liverpool, and football, history. That in itself is a measure of the man, and it is why the time was right straight after that Champions League victory for Gerrard to leave Anfield.
In 2004 Gerrard had been linked with a move to Chelsea, whose new manager at the time, Jose Mourinho, spoke highly and openly about the Liverpool captain.
Gerrard saw the speculation and told Liverpool he wished to stay but that he also wanted guarantees that the squad would be strengthened as they struggled to compete for the title.
Throughout the 2004-05 season, while Gerrard was ripping up trees across Europe, Liverpool failed to put a new contract on the table for him, yet Rafa Benitez was in his ear telling him to sign a new deal.
Rafa had already told Gerrard privately that the club did not have a lot of money to spend in the transfer market, so the captain wanted to know how Liverpool planned to compete with players like Josemi, Djimi Traore and Salif Diao in their
ranks.
And then the moment that for me should have sealed Gerrard's departure: February 27, 2005, when Cardiff hosted the League Cup final.
FA Cup win would be wonderful send off for Steven Gerrard Liverpool led from the first minute, Gerrard's own goal levelled it with just over 10 minutes to go, and Chelsea went on to win in extra-time.
Gerrard's mum was in the stands, and around her some Liverpool fans were calling the captain a 'traitor' and calling his wife a 'slag' and a 'slut' and accusing him of only being interested in money.
According to those fans, Gerrard had scored the own goal because he wanted to join Chelsea. His mum was distraught, and so was Gerrard.
Still this colossus played his heart out for the club and the fans, and that special night in Istanbul came just a few months after the Chelsea defeat in Cardiff.
After the Champions League final Gerrard told the club he was ready to sign for five years at Liverpool. Even then nobody at Anfield seemed in a hurry to sort out Gerrard's new deal.
Barcelona, Roma, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Chelsea had all shown serious interest in signing Gerrard. He wasn't short of options at home or abroad. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard breaks silence on Anfield exit.
His stunning effort and quality had been the key factor in winning the Champions League, but they were miles off winning the Premier League title he craved. Gerrard could work miracles in certain matches, but not over a 38-game season.
He felt badly treated by the club, he had been abused by a pocket of fans, and the surplus of mediocre signings showed the club's ambition did not match his.
He'd proved anything that needed proving in Istanbul. The summer of 2005 was the time for Gerrard to seek a new challenge. I admire his loyalty of course, but in my view it was misplaced, and that's when he should have left.
And now, less than a year after quitting England to focus on Liverpool, the club have not matched Gerrard's loyalty by making it so easy for him to leave.
Second, was he better than Frank Lampard? Again my answer is yes, and that has been confirmed for me by the lack of class Lampard has shown towards Chelsea Football Club and its fans this season.
A simple text from a Chelsea-supporting friend of mine on New Year's Day read: 'Happy New Year! Lampard – what a w*****!'
Lampard is a Premier League legend, and while the record books will mark his contribution to Chelsea's incredible years of success with him sparkling in their midfield, that legend status among the Stamford Bridge faithful is in danger of being revoked.
To go to their title rivals is bad enough. To choose to stay there for the whole season is a slap in the face to the Chelsea fans. It's something I do not believe Gerrard would do to the Liverpool fans.
In terms of their ability on the pitch, Lampard shows class at getting into the box from midfield and scoring goals. Gerrard has so much more and he has been class at virtually
everything he has done.
Gerrard is a born leader as well, a classic captain. He's made a team shine despite being surrounded by mediocrity, Lampard only ever did it with quality players around him.
If England had played three in midfield – Carrick behind Gerrard and Lampard – they could have played together. But even our foreign coaches seemed obsessed with 4-4-2.
In the World Cup in 2006, Sven Goran Eriksson told Gerrard to hold back while Lampard went forward. What kind of coach thinks telling a player like Gerrard in his prime to play within himself is a good idea?
People will have different views on whether Gerrard should have left Liverpool, and whether he was better than Lampard. Let the debate rage on.
All I know is that I will miss Steven Gerrard, the Premier League will miss him. And I believe Liverpool will lack leadership and quality when a man regarded by many as their greatest ever player has departed.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2898415/Steven-Gerrard-s-heroics-assured-legendary-status-Anfield-Liverpool-responded-shabbily-captain-s-loyalty.html
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