Steven Gerrard’s captaincy

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So this started as a reply to Jerry on the previous thread but became so long I decided to turn in it into an article. Jerry and I were discussing the merits of Hendo and Gerrard’s captaincies. Jerry had just asked if Stevie’s captaincy had been more similar to Hendo’s, what would the outcome of 09/10 and 13/14 be? We pick up from my response…

Likely the same. Our problems in 09/10 came when either Stevie or Torres weren’t playing – if they didn’t play, we didn’t score. He can’t make N’gog and Voronin better players and bear in mind, it was often a teenage Lucas being subbed on for Stevie. Hardly capable of filling those boots and led to Lucas being much maligned by the fans for a fair while.

13/14, Stevie can’t stop Lovren, Sakho and Moreno from being mental. He can’t make Mignolet a better goalkeeper. We weren’t good enough ultimately.

I’ll concede I’m a bit over protective of Stevie but he single-handedly kept the club relevant in a time where we could easily have gone the way of Leeds. We’re pointing out two seasons we could have won the league, there were far more in his time where we wouldn’t have finished top half of the table if not for his exploits. I shudder to think of the depths the club could have reached if Stevie had decided to go and win the trophies his talent deserved elsewhere.

Stevie could have tripled his net worth and trophy haul by leaving but instead, he propped up a giant of a club, almost on his own at times and without Stevie doing that, Liverpool would not have been the same attractive proposition that FSG saw when taking over the club, Stevie had kept the brand strong and that was all important to them.

The rest is history but I truly believe cometh the hour, cometh the man in Stevie’s situation. Liverpool have had scores of world class players pass through their doors over the years but Stevie is regarded by many as the best ever. Unfortunate for him that his time coincided with the club’s leanest times in the post war era but it was written in the stars for the club that such a player would come along when they needed him most.

To that end, I won’t hear a word against Stevie, if there was ever a time in Liverpool’s history where a player WAS bigger than the club it was then but the player in question used that power to support the club in its hour of need, to the detriment of what he could have achieved in his career if he’d moved elsewhere.

That’s why I’d love to see him come back and get that elusive PL winners medal as manager, to complete his medal collection. It would complete the fairytale.

Anyway, this started off as a reply to Jerry on the previous thread but got so long I decided to turn it into an article to keep us going during the painstaking wait I know you’ll all be feeling until Scotland’s next match. Walk on!