A Legend of The Game

Yesterday Steven Gerrard announced his retirement from professional football, we all knew this day would come after he left his beloved childhood club of Liverpool for new pastures in the USA to play out the reminder of his career. There was always this hope that many of us had that after his stint in the US, Steven would return to Liverpool in limited capacity to play for the Reds one last time before he bid farewell to the footballing world but as with him, he demands perfection, firstly from himself before others and as he said in his interview with BT Sports, he felt he couldn't give his best all the time on the field and that doesn't sit well with him. He is a perfectionist, we've seen it for ourselves, everything he does, everyone he plays with knows this as well, hence he built such great respect from players world over. 

The tributes that started to pour in for him from current to former players and greats of the game since the announcement speaks volumes about the player he was. One of the worlds greatest midfielders, if not the best. Yes there will be those who will argue this as he did not win a league title in his career but with winning the league, it's down to team work and not one individual, those who know this are the players themselves, and is why they still rated him so highly and voted for him as their choice to make many teams of the year and so on. 

It's not a time to focus on negatives though, its about celebrating what Stevie did for football and what he did for Liverpool Football Club. I count myself as fortunate to witness his career from the time he debuted, till his last game for the club, yes it wasn't the best way to say goodbye but team was in a bit of turmoil at the time. He knew things would change, low and behold, 2 years later and we find ourselves fighting with the best in the land, right back up where we belong. No one will be more prouder about this than Stevie. 

There has been so many highlights in his career, that to select a few would be wrong but ones that do stand out for me personally would be. The goal he scored against Manchester United in the 2000/1 season at Anfield, it left a lot of people with their jaw on the flaw for obvious reason. 

The "oh you beauty! against Olympiakos in 2004/5 Champions League season. I like many sat watching the game, praying for a miracle (which wouldn't be the last time I did so and it delivered). The strike was superb, bottom right corner, giving the keeper no chance, but something that many don't pick up was the lovely cushioned header Neil Mellor provided for Gerrard, regardless he still had to hit it sweetly and boy he did!

THAT match, 3-0 down, starting the second half on the back foot, digging deep to fight for a way back and producing a headed goal not only to ignite the greatest comeback in footballing history but bring back belief that anything is possible. 

The goal that literally killed some people, scoring Liverpool's 3rd in a pulsating FA Cup Final in the dying minutes to send the tie into extra time. It's goal that till this day I don't understand how much force it was hit at to get in from so far out. 

His season with Fernando Torres that saw the pair become one of the most feared in the league, there was nothing they couldn't do. Gerrard brought the best out of Nando and till this day Torres admits that was the best part of his career, playing along side Stevie. 

When Suarez came in, we didn't know what we brought in and while his partnership with Sturridge was making headlines, it was Stevie who played a pivotal behind the scenes role which both will justify to their goal scoring success. 

I don't think Football will ever see a more complete footballer in the near future, while there are current greats, Gerrard brought that unique style that only he can produce. He will be missed, that is for sure, there is mermers of him taking up a role as one of the coaching staff at Liverpool which would be great, but for now we would like to salute the player he was and the legend he has become. 

YNWA Steven Gerrard

#ThanksStevie

While the tears from Saturday have almost dried and the thought of seeing Stevie wear the famous red of Liverpool at Anfield are all but memories now, one can't help but wonder how different life at Liverpool Football Club will be without him. Already the silly season shenanigans have begun with Sterling and his manager causing a media frenzy at the moment but this post isn't about that, it's about Stevie. 

The farewell given to him was nothing short of extraordinary, I've never seen anything like that before in all my years watching the English Premier League. From the short ceremony that was held before the match against Crystal Palace, with the guard of honor formed by both teams to welcome Gerrard onto the pitch for the last time at a ground that was his second home. High fiving the Palace team as he walked out with his 3 daughters was a nice moment and to hear the entire ground in full voice for You'll Never Walk Alone and thereafter singing his song sent a tingling feeling throughout your body. 

The game started off well for LFC and Adam Lallana opened the scoring with a breakaway goal coming of an error by former red Martin Kelly, could have been a late present by the defender for all we know but from there on, it was down hill for the Reds. as Palace struck back to equalise just before half time and there after add 2 more goals to our misery. The team lacked focus and desire, I felt bad it being Gerrard's last home game and it had to be a defeat, for all those years he dug deep to rescue the team, just this one time they couldn't do the same for him. 

In any case, Liverpool went on to lose the game 3-1 but as the final whistle blew it was time for Anfield to say goodbye to its favourite son. Yes, there was Highway, Dalglish, Rush, Barnes and so on but no one can deny that the best from them all was Stevie. In fact the heroes of yesteryear tend to agree with that as well, as Gerrard said once, "I was made for Liverpool and Liverpool was made for me", it was always a perfect fit and his 17 year career bared testament to it. So much so that for the first time ever, no one in the stadium cared about the result of the game that just ended. There was even a banner that read "There best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be".

It's no secret that Liverpool FC conduct themselves in a certain fashion, "the Liverpool way" they call it. One of the main things is there is no player bigger than the club and while I am a firm believer of it, on Saturday things changed. There was someone bigger than the club and as much as he would deny it, Stevie was held in higher regards than the dropped 3 points, people were celebrating as if we had won, but in reality they were celebrating the career of one of the greatest football players of all time. That for me showed respect to a man that gave his all to make the people who support this great club happy. As a mark of respect, every team member came out wearing the new kit with Gerrard on the back which was a nice touch. A gitting tribute to a legend of the game.

Thank you Steven Gerrard, Thank Oh you beauty, Thanks for the memories, till we meet again, You'll Never Walk Alone.

Gerrard

Rumours were rife for the previous 2 weeks, "will he sign?", " Contract negotiations have broken down", "He wants more playing time", "He's off to the MLS" but then the inevitable happened. Following Liverpool's 2-2 draw against Leicester, the club called for a press conference on the Friday morning to make an announcement, by then everyone had knew the reasoning. 

It's almost like a bad dream you never want to come true but the reality is, it was happening. The blue eyed boy from the Red half of Merseyside was calling it quits on his career as a player for Liverpool. Emotions overwhelmed at that time, silly might say but Gerrard was not just a player to me and I'm sure many share the same feelings. He is an inspiration, a role model, someone you look to for motivation. A couple years ago after his testimonial game I wrote a piece on why he is so important to me in: Not just a name, so in this post I'm not going to divulge into what kind of player and person he is but rather reasons to why he is leaving.

After the announcement I sat there wondering why? but it made sense to me. I remember when Thierry Henry left Arsenal for Barcelona, many said it was for money, others said it was for trophies Arsenal could not win but following his move to the Catalans, he spoke out in an interview saying that one of the main reasons for him leaving Arsenal was that the youngsters could shine. With him there, he was always the focus of attention and play generally revolved around him, he knew the talent Wenger had and felt his time was up and it was their time to shine. So the Walcott's and Fabregas's rose to fame in his absence. 

Henry, a very close friend with Gerrard, as documented many a time would agree that Stevie is doing the something similar. When I play FIFA15 I have trouble deciding my midfield, we have got some excellent youngsters waiting in the wing but with Gerrard there, his name would always be first on the team list. Allen, Henderson, Markovic, Can, Lucas, to name a few, all are young, full of energy and ready to give it there all. Yes they might not have that gift Gerrard has of an all round player but if given freedom, you never know what you might end up discovering about one of them. Already Henderson has stepped up in leaps and bounds which saw him take the vice captain role in the team and I'm almost certain he will be Liverpool's new captain come the start of the 2015/2016 season. 

The press greeted the announcement in mixed views, many questioned why Liverpool were letting him go, even old team mate Jamie Carragher brought it up that the club should have tried harder to persuade him to stay. I think Stevie had his mind pretty much made up though. He knows he is old, turning 35 in the summer, he hasn't got the pace and energy that he had 10 years ago. He made mention about this in the emotional interview he had with LFC TV. So it was only fair to others that the manager treated his age and performance with the best interest of the club. He was told that he would be rested more, that means no guaranteed place in the starting 11. After 26 years with the club, and starting almost all of the games this would be a shock to any player and as he made mention in an interview, he isn't ready to be a squad player.

Fans of the opposition sides, especially those from Manchester questioned his "legendary" status, saying that a real legend would end his career at the club. For me thats nonsense, Gerrard has nothing more to prove to anyone, let alone the fans of his club. We know what he did for us in those years of service. He made us smile, he made us cry, he made us jump from our seats with joy. His passion flowed with us and it's that connection he had with the fans that made him unlike no other player. You can't compare Stevie to anyone, not Scholes, not Lampard, not Giggs or Henry, he is his own legend and if you ask those players they would agree. 

The outpouring show of emotions from fans via the various social media streams was there for the world to see but players who had the chance to play alongside the talismanic captain also gave their appreciation to the great player. It was quite touching to see the players send their tributes via twitter, none more so touching than the message from Xabi Alonso which I'm sure left no Liverpool fan with a dry eye. He was a players player, a fans player and a managers player as every manger who worked with him only spoke in praise. 

Being his last season at Anfield, he is still missing one medal from his collection, the Premiership, there's still 6 months to do it but it doesn't look likely... then again at half time in Istanbul, no one could ever imagine Liverpool lifting that trophy at the end but one man didn't give up and that man was Gerrard. He said he wants to end his career at the club on a high and he has every right to do so, we're still in contention for the FA Cup, in the semi finals of the League Cup and have the Europa League to fight for as well, so here's hoping we win some silverware for Stevie, our  hero, Mr Liverpool, Captain Fantastic, Legend.

You'll Never Walk Alone