When most of his teammates played like they were already on summer vacation, Steven Gerrard was there. Carrying the team. Just like he had been for the past 17 years.
——
It was 2005. 3AM. My roommate was watching the European Cup final between Liverpool and AC Milan. I had gone to sleep much earlier, but groggily woke up at half-time and asked him what the score was.
“AC Milan 3, Liverpool 0,” he said sadly.
I nodded, and went back to sleep. “Luckily I’m not watching this humiliation,” I thought to myself.
I awoke the next morning to news of Liverpool’s greatest European triumph. They had come back in the second-half to level the score 3 – 3. And won the game in a penalty shootout.
The catalyst? Their captain. A player named Steven Gerrard.
There have been four captains of the English national team since David Beckham retired from international football.
Wayne Rooney (the current one) has captained England ten times. Rio Ferdinand captained England seven times. John Terry led them 34 times, but he was twice stripped of the captaincy for allegations of racial abuse and sleeping with a teammate’s girlfriend(!). The only stand-out from that group? Steven Gerrard, captain of Liverpool and a 40-time captain of England.
Gerrard’s club statistics are impressive:
- 708 Appearances
- 186 Goals
- Two FA Cups
- Three League Cups
- Two UEFA Super Cups
- One UEFA Cup
- One Champions League (a.k.a. European Cup)
His England statistics aren’t too bad either:
- 114 Appearances
- 21 Goals
But he is missing a few things. Critics rightfully point out that Gerrard never won any titles with England.
And sadly, almost tragically — he never won the English Premier League with Liverpool either.
The closest he came was last season, when Liverpool seemed destined to finally win the league after 24 years: top of the league table with three games to go. But in the crucial game against Chelsea, Gerrard slipped, allowing Chelsea’s forward Demba Ba to run in behind him and score. Liverpool lost that game, and the title slipped out of Gerrard’s hands. They finished just two points behind the eventual champions.
It was a story right out of Hollywood. Except in Hollywood, maybe they would have let him win.
♦◊♦
The first time I watched Steven Gerrard play, I complained: “Why’s the manager throwing in kids?” He didn’t seem to do anything particularly well.
That was back in 1999. Over the next two decades I watched him grow into a variety of positions — central midfield, right back, right wing, attacking midfielder, and finally in the later stages — back to central midfield.
At his peak, Gerrard was widely recognized as one of the best “box-to-box” midfielders in the world. He could defend, head, tackle, beat defenders with trickery, strength and pace, and produce 70-yard passes that zinged through the air and landed precisely on a teammate’s foot.
He had a penchant for the dramatic too. Often coming to the rescue of Liverpool by scoring late goals in big games. A clutch scorer, if a “soccer” player could ever be described as clutch.
♦◊♦
Perhaps it was the heartbreak of coming so close last year, but Liverpool have been awful this year.
Last season they scored 101 goals. But Luis Suarez left for Barcelona in the off-season. Next-in-line forward Daniel Sturridge was always injured. This season, Liverpool scored 52 goals. Their top scorer? A midfielder. Steven Gerrard with nine.
I tuned in on Sunday night to watch their final game of the season. Hoping to see a grand send-off for the captain.
But Liverpool started horribly. It was 1 – 0 to Stoke City within twenty five minutes. Stoke are a strong team at home, but are nowhere near Liverpool in terms of international players or wages. It was getting embarrassing.
I switched off the TV and went to sleep.
Partly out of faith.
♦◊♦
I awoke to news that Liverpool had lost 6 – 1 in Gerrard’s final game.
At first, I couldn’t believe the scoreline. Then I felt anger. Disgust.
And then I thought about the captain.
I thought about the burden of being the best player on a mediocre team for the best part of fifteen years. I thought about all the opportunities he had to move to more successful clubs: Real Madrid and Chelsea wanted him. The arch-enemy Manchester United did too. They would have paid record money for him, and he would have won so much more.
“I have said in the past that at his peak he was the best in the world.
I know the club tried twice but he wouldn’t leave Liverpool. Not many players turn down Real Madrid but I think that tells you a lot about the loyalty of the man.” — French World Cup Winner Zinedine Zidane
I thought about his loyalty. Whether being born on Merseyside and playing for his hometown club his whole career eventually turned into a curse — that doomed him to never achieving greater success.
I thought about how much I hated losing, even as an amateur sports enthusiast, and how much worse the captain would have felt. He would have wanted to win that last game. For the fans. And for him.
Then I looked at who scored the only goal for Liverpool.
“Gerrard”.
On the day of the club’s heaviest defeat for 52 years. When most of his teammates played like they were already on summer vacation. When fans all over the world switched off their TV sets and stopped watching because it was too painful. He was there. Carrying the team. Just like he had been for the past 17 years.
And then I felt respect.
Steven Gerrard played his last game with Liverpool FC on 24th May. He moves to the USA and starts playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy in July 2015.
Photo Credit: “Torres, Kuyt, Gerrard” by GrandukeDJ