Steven Gerrard

According to several Scouse journalists, He rejected Bayern last year.

I think he was an excellent footballer, but I don't think Bayern wanted him last year, he isn't good enough for them.
 
Yep, there was a time when he would have been more than good enough for Bayern, but we're well past that now.
 
Had a read at that article where he supposedly said he rejected Bayern. He doesnt mention Bayern at all, he said "a Champions League club". So i dont know what the fecks going on with this rubbish. There's posts at the end of the article aswell - some of it proper RAWK shizzleness...

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...in-Steven-Gerrard-rejected-Bayern-Munich.html

Ahead of his testimonial against Olympiakos on Saturday, Gerrard revealed how he could empathise with Luis Suárez’s dilemma in the midst of serious interest in his services, having been pursued by another top European side a year ago. Gerrard did not name the club, but it was Bayern Munich.
Having turned down virtually every European superpower during his 15 years on Merseyside, Gerrard has the weight to offer Suárez advice to take a similar course – for one more season at least.

Gerrard says if Suárez leaves, he is concerned Liverpool’s absence from the Champions League could become permanent as those above get richer and consolidate their superiority.

“I had a chance to move last year to a Champions League club. There was no temptation,” said Gerrard, who has also famously turned down Chelsea, as well as Real Madrid, Inter Milan and numerous others.

“I have been through that enough before. That is the message for Luis. I am hoping from a biased point of view that he gives us another year and shows us the form he did last season. Maybe it will be time for him to go next year or the year after. I don’t think it is the right time for him to go just yet.

“A traditional club like Liverpool still has a value, that’s the reason why I have stuck around for so long. It is more important to win a couple of trophies and achieve something that is a lot more difficult than go down the easy road and move to a club where it becomes easier.”
The plea for “one more year” is ominous enough for Liverpool, grim recognition if they do not make it back this season the ambition will become increasingly challenging.

“That is my main worry, yes, and I think that is the main worry of every Liverpool fan,” he said. “It is no different for me being a player. The only thing that may be different is that I can do something about it on the pitch. I am sure all proper, genuine Liverpool fans have the same worries and concerns that it becomes permanent and we can’t bridge that gap. But we have to keep fighting and I believe, I have confidence from the last six months of last season, that we can prove people wrong and break into it. Certain things have to happen to help us do that and one of those is the main subject on everyone’s lips: Luis Suárez.

“You lose him, you take steps backwards to try and achieve top four. If you keep him and add to him it gives you an awful lot better chance.
“The club has a responsibility to try and attract top players to make all our jobs easier but I know that it is happening and they are trying their best to do that. There is not much they can do but keep trying and what you have to accept is there are other big clubs out there as well who have a lot more money and sometimes there is nothing you can do.”

Gerrard has managed to end Jamie Carragher’s retirement, for one afternoon at least, and Robbie Fowler will also feature in a fixture expected to raise more than £1 million for Merseyside charities.

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A Rawkish post at the end of that article:

"To all those slagging off Stevie G, I say this:

Gerrard is well qualified to talk about loyalty because no matter what, the fact is that he never left LFC!

As for honours in the game, there can be no greater honour than that CL medal won in Istanbul. That game is one that every football player would have wanted to have been involved in. It was the very essence of courage and valour. It encapsulated the spirit of the great battles of The 300 at Thermopylae, Agincourt, Waterloo, El Alamein and D-Day, all in one.

This battle was led by no other than Steven the Lion Heart on the battle field and will resonate in the history of football as its greatest moment.
So my Lords, Ladies and gentlemen, that Istanbul CL medal is the mother of all medals and is worth more than all those EPL medals bought by MU and Chelsea. Gerrard therefore holds the ultimate honour and only LFC could give it!"

:lol::wenger:
 
Still remember watching him live back in 08/09 when he was still physically strong and it remains the best performance I've seen in person, his intelligence on the ball and the way he could dictate a game in an AM role was top quality. He might not have been a brilliant CM in comparison to European players but had he played in front of midfield of Alonso/Mascherano for longer and with wingers of Ronaldo/Giggs class, he'd have won a PL title quite easily and still be labelled as the heartbeat - he's that good of a player.

Different class to Lampard for me, just unfortunate he was never in the right team in terms of quality and not utilised in an optimum position tactically often enough.
 
KM said:
According to several Scouse journalists, He rejected Bayern last year.

I think he was an excellent footballer, but I don't think Bayern wanted him last year, he isn't good enough for them.
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I'm sticking to my earlier post last night:

Red Hand Devil said:
Yeah heard that on Talksport earlier. The journo, who was on to talk about tomorrows back pages, said that no-one in the press knew anything of this story & that it was incredible it never came out.

He didnt say it was bullshit, but i'd say Gerrard is bullshittin on the eve of his testimonial just to get himself more media coverage & for the scouse fans to wank themselves over Stevie-Me's loyalty & brilliance for the club. Arise Sir Gerrard & take a bow....
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Gerrard, in his prime, was a tour de force. A talent so good that many would have had him at Old Trafford in a heartbeat, which is saying something as we often scoff at the talents over at Anfield. I also think the notion that he couldn't play in a midfield two is quite pretentious and utterly bizarre. He fecked us over many times from that central midfield role and made our deficiencies in that area of the field all the more palpable. Gerrard proved last summer at the Euros that he's still a top-class player capable of producing on the big stage when he practically carried a pretty ordinary England side out of their group.

I join in with the "kisses the badge on his chest" chant with gusto whenever we play that shower, but I'm also a lover of football, and to me, Gerrard embodies football as much as Scholes or Giggs do. An altogether fabulous footballer who definitely deserved more honours but will rightfully go down in Anfield folklore anyway.
 
He's not as effective as he was a few years ago, but he still offers us plenty in an attacking sense. He was quite pivotal in our change to a counter-attacking style towards the end of last season and he managed to bag 9 assists and 10 goals in the league, so he's still a very important player for us.

It was Tony Barrett who said Bayern had made an offer. Probably the most reliable LFC related journo.
 
Dumbstar said:
Arguably second best player for LFC behind Dalglish. That during our barren years too.
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Yes, how desperately unfortunate that his peak years happened to cruelly coincide with that quarter of a century otherwise known as the barren years. So close, yet so far away.
 
nahealai said:
Gerrard, in his prime, was a tour de force. A talent so good that many would have had him at Old Trafford in a heartbeat, which is saying something as we often scoff at the talents over at Anfield. I also think the notion that he couldn't play in a midfield two is quite pretentious and utterly bizarre. He fecked us over many times from that central midfield role and made our deficiencies in that area of the field all the more palpable. Gerrard proved last summer at the Euros that he's still a top-class player capable of producing on the big stage when he practically carried a pretty ordinary England side out of their group.

I join in with the "kisses the badge on his chest" chant with gusto whenever we play that shower, but I'm also a lover of football, and to me, Gerrard embodies football as much as Scholes or Giggs do. An altogether fabulous footballer who definitely deserved more honours but will rightfully go down in Anfield folklore anyway.
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Agreed, an absolutely fantastic player in his prime. He didn't have the technical passing ability of some of today's top players like Xavi or Pirlo but was a driving force from midfield, an excellent goalscorer, a hard worker and was better on the ball than most people gave him credit for. Some of his long passes for example could be very good and he was very good at picking out a player with them. He probably was a tad overrated in his prime but more in the same way the likes of Lampard, Rooney and many other Englishman have been at one point or another. Didn't stop him from being a world class talent.

He was good in a midfield two and better than people gave him credit for but I definitely think his best position was in an attacking mid role when they pushed him further forward. Having others behind him meant he could advance forward a lot more often and when he dropped back to pick up the ball in midfield he could turn midfield into attack in an instant. Very much like Rooney as an attacking midfielder in that regard although Rooney's lacked the consistency when we played him there.

Don't really understand the people who think he should have left either. Sure, he could've won more in his career but he's still won a lot of honours, lifted a Champions League, and will go down as one of the greatest ever players at a massive club. That alone is worth more than a number of honours. He might have won more trophies had he gone to Real Madrid or Chelsea but he'd have just been another major signing in their history and to be a legend for his boyhood club is probably worth a lot more than that.
 
Cheesy said:
Agreed, an absolutely fantastic player in his prime. He didn't have the technical passing ability of some of today's top players like Xavi or Pirlo but was a driving force from midfield, an excellent goalscorer, a hard worker and was better on the ball than most people gave him credit for. Some of his long passes for example could be very good and he was very good at picking out a player with them. He probably was a tad overrated in his prime but more in the same way the likes of Lampard, Rooney and many other Englishman have been at one point or another. Didn't stop him from being a world class talent.

He was good in a midfield two and better than people gave him credit for but I definitely think his best position was in an attacking mid role when they pushed him further forward. Having others behind him meant he could advance forward a lot more often and when he dropped back to pick up the ball in midfield he could turn midfield into attack in an instant. Very much like Rooney as an attacking midfielder in that regard although Rooney's lacked the consistency when we played him there.

Don't really understand the people who think he should have left either. Sure, he could've won more in his career but he's still won a lot of honours, lifted a Champions League, and will go down as one of the greatest ever players at a massive club. That alone is worth more than a number of honours. He might have won more trophies had he gone to Real Madrid or Chelsea but he'd have just been another major signing in their history and to be a legend for his boyhood club is probably worth a lot more than that.
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No question Gerrard is a very good player but isn't winning trophies and playing with/against the worlds best what it is all about? Sure it can be admired he is a one-man-club but it would be worth so much more if the chosen club and won a few league titles and been more successful.
 
Marching said:
No question Gerrard is a very good player but isn't winning trophies and playing with/against the worlds best what it is all about? Sure it can be admired he is a one-man-club but it would be worth so much more if the chosen club and won a few league titles and been more successful.
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2 champions league finals, one of them he won in, a few semi finals. I'd say he might be happy with that. He has achieved more than what most players get to and he did it playing for a club he loves.
 
Thisistheone said:
He's been an amazing player, come on. Better than Lampard ever was. Swap them around, do you think Gerrard wouldn't have won as much (or more) if he'd spent his career in that Chelsea side? And Lampard would have done as well in an inferior Liverpool side?
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Hard to say really. I'd agree that Lampard thrived with Chelsea's service. Whose crosses was he getting onto the end of with those late runs into the box at Liverpool?

I'm not saying Gerrard's been a poor footballer, far from it, but I am saying that people tend to overestimate his actual ability based on his big games. He defines 'big game player'. It's not a bad thing, but if you're looking for week to week performances over the big flashes in the pan (which I am, (Valencia>Nani for example)) then I'd have Lampard. Adapted his game a bit better than Gerrard for me too. Plays deeper now when needed to, and still scores loads of goals.

Ask yourself who was better in the following fields:
Work rate
Dynamism
Energy
Leadership
Physicality

Gerrard ticks every box doesn't he? Yet they've been roughly on a par with each other for 10 years. Do you really think Gerrard's footballing ability is miles ahead of Lampard's too? If so there never really was much of a debate. The fact that there was should suggest that Lampard made up for those non-footballing qualities elsewhere.
 
Stobzilla said:
2 champions league finals, one of them he won in, a few semi finals. I'd say he might be happy with that. He has achieved more than what most players get to and he did it playing for a club he loves.
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I'd suggest that semi finals (like 2 Community Shields) really don't add anything to a players career. Sure he will make a big deal out of playing for his hometown club but I think secretly, deep down he will have regrets. But I'm sure his healthy bank balance will help him get over it. It would have been interesting to have seen him test himself a little harder to play for the big clubs around Europe.
 
No point being bitter about him - Gerrard in his prime was a fantastic player. To be fair to him, he's still one of Liverpool's best players despite his age. He'll go into a infamous group of fantastic players that didn't win a PL medal.
 
Gerrard > Lampard shouldn't even be a debate. That's no slight on Lampard who has had the better career, but Gerrard was always the better footballer.

Agree with Marching that it would have been good to see him at a bigger club. I don't like the way Benitez lost faith in him as a centre mid because his potential was limitless there - he could do everything.
 
Theon said:
Gerrard > Lampard shouldn't even be a debate. That's no slight on Lampard who has had the better career, but Gerrard was always the better footballer.

Agree with Marching that it would have been good to see him at a bigger club. I don't like the way Benitez lost faith in him as a centre mid because his potential was limitless there - he could do everything.
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It is a debate. At their peaks I'd have taken Lampard any day of the week. He's scored >30% more goals than Gerrard at Chelsea alone and never caused any problems tactically like Gerrard did. You could even argue that the Gerrard/Lampard midfield dilemma was far more down to Gerrard's lack of positional discipline and technical ability than it ever was Lampards.
 
Been to the game ,really enjoyable and well deserved for the player.

Some decent comments on here, fair play.
 
Pexbo said:
It is a debate. At their peaks I'd have taken Lampard any day of the week. He's scored >30% more goals than Gerrard at Chelsea alone and never caused any problems tactically like Gerrard did. You could even argue that the Gerrard/Lampard midfield dilemma was far more down to Gerrard's lack of positional discipline and technical ability than it ever was Lampards.
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I wouldn't say Gerrard did cause Liverpool any tactical problems. It was a more a case of him being so good that he could be played in positions that we had sparse options in. In 05/06 he was put on the right wing and bagged 23 goals. In every other season before 08/09 he was played predominantly at CM. His stint in the hole then came in 08/09 and he excelled there too. I don't think you can call having a player like him around a 'problem' and if it is, it's one that every manager would love to have.

I also feel that the Gerrard/Lampard dilemma is often overplayed; they didn't even play that much together from what I remember. People forget the fact that Gerrard was often shoehorned into wider areas for England whereas as Lampard was consistently played at CM. Perhaps you could say Gerrard was a victim of his own versatility.
 
It would have been interesting had Jose signed Gerrard in 2005 or whenever it was. And how Lampard's career would have been affected.
 
Marching said:
No question Gerrard is a very good player but isn't winning trophies and playing with/against the worlds best what it is all about? Sure it can be admired he is a one-man-club but it would be worth so much more if the chosen club and won a few league titles and been more successful.
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Of course it is, but Gerrard's still been successful in his career. Not as successful as other English midfielders like Giggs, Scholes and Lampard, but he's captained his side to a Champions League win and has a couple of FA Cup and League Cup wins there too. I expect that winning the CL with Liverpool would mean so much more to him than winning 4 or 5 league titles with Chelsea to be honest. It's not like the cases of players like Le Tissier and Shearer who ended up with their boyhood clubs and didn't gain too much success; he has competed with the best and against the best at the very top level. While that's not quite the case anymore, his prime years were spent in the CL, getting to the latter stages most years, and competing for some PL titles too, even if he didn't win one.
 
"If you were looking for the player you would replace Keane with, it would be Gerrard, without question," Ferguson told The Sunday Times. "He has become the most influential player in England, bar none. More than Vieira." "Not that Vieira lacks anything, but I think that Gerrard does more for his team than Vieira does, and has way more to his game." "I've watched him quite a lot. To me, Gerrard is Keane. Everywhere the ball is, he seems to be there. He's got that unbelievable engine, desire, determination. Anyone would love to have Gerrard in their team."
Sir Alex Ferguson, May 2004
 
He deserves all the adulation he receives. A quite magnificent player. Some of the criticism he gets is absolutely ridiculous. Up there in the top 5 players I've ever seen live.
 
Red Hand Devil said:
A Rawkish post at the end of that article:

"To all those slagging off Stevie G, I say this:

Gerrard is well qualified to talk about loyalty because no matter what, the fact is that he never left LFC!

As for honours in the game, there can be no greater honour than that CL medal won in Istanbul. That game is one that every football player would have wanted to have been involved in. It was the very essence of courage and valour. It encapsulated the spirit of the great battles of The 300 at Thermopylae, Agincourt, Waterloo, El Alamein and D-Day, all in one.

This battle was led by no other than Steven the Lion Heart on the battle field and will resonate in the history of football as its greatest moment.
So my Lords, Ladies and gentlemen, that Istanbul CL medal is the mother of all medals and is worth more than all those EPL medals bought by MU and Chelsea. Gerrard therefore holds the ultimate honour and only LFC could give it!"

:lol::wenger:
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haha..we have our money because of our expertise in marketing and branding of the club, not because of a russian or arab oil tycoon buying the club. it is unbelievable such a football fan is still so dumb about this.

anyway you got to respect steven gerrard. he could have easily left liverpool a few years ago but didn't. you just don't get those things easily these days. gerrard circa 2002-2009 was one of the best midfielders in the world and even united fans would have taken him in a heartbeat. the only thing i regret about him was his backpass (if you know what i mean)
 
Was a top player, but has been on the decline since last year.

It's either day/night on caf these days, nothing in between. :lol:
 
RAWK posters seem obsessed with ancient history( ho ho ho). The constant references to events like the Peloponnesian War and Hannibal's elephants are bizarre.
 
ricky-romeo said:
haha..we have our money because of our expertise in marketing and branding of the club, not because of a russian or arab oil tycoon buying the club. it is unbelievable such a football fan is still so dumb about this.

anyway you got to respect steven gerrard. he could have easily left liverpool a few years ago but didn't. you just don't get those things easily these days. gerrard circa 2002-2009 was one of the best midfielders in the world and even united fans would have taken him in a heartbeat. the only thing i regret about him was his backpass (if you know what i mean)
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Just readin your post man, but i think i know exactly what you mean about the back-pass. That was the back-pass he deliberately played back to Reina, where he knew Drogba would intercept it (he duly scored)... and that cost us the league pretty much?????
 
Red Hand Devil said:
Just readin your post man, but i think i know exactly what you mean about the back-pass. That was the back-pass he deliberately played back to Reina, where he knew Drogba would intercept it (he duly scored)... and that cost us the league pretty much?????
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Do you actually believe he did it on purpose?
 
alastair said:
He deserves all the adulation he receives. A quite magnificent player. Some of the criticism he gets is absolutely ridiculous. Up there in the top 5 players I've ever seen live.
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I know you're but green and in your salad days but I've seen 5 better Arsenal players since Gerrard made his debut.
 
Top class player, among the top 10-15 players in the league from the last 20 years.
 
Although, in my opinion Gerrard are at van Persie's, Vieira and Fabregas' level.
 
Pires? Gerrard has been a magnificent player for Liverpool, he may not quite be the player he once was (only to be expected given his age) but he's still excellent.
 
RORY65 said:
Pires? Gerrard has been a magnificent player for Liverpool, he may not quite be the player he once was (only to be expected given his age) but he's still excellent.
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Pires was not a better player than Gerrard.
 
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