Talisman?
The writer explained what he was talking about with the following paragraph,
“There are numerous examples of successful teams who have had this suggestion aimed at them, the Maradona inspired Argentina of 1986 and the modern-day Liverpool, inspired by Steven Gerrard.”
Whilst that was an interesting read and a worthwhile debate, it was actually one of the comments on the blog from a reader that caught my eye. He said,
“This is one of the biggest myths going, Liverpool actually perform better without Gerrard. Statistics show that over their last 150 Premier League games, Liverpool have won 55 per cent with Gerrard as a starter but of the games without him that figure is 61 per cent.”
I know Stevie G is pretty universally loved at Anfield but I wonder if other Liverpool fans think there is any truth in what this person said. Could it be that Liverpool are actually better without the man regarded by everyone else as their talisman?
Fear
Certainly at Arsenal when Thierry Henry left the club the fear that their main man had gone soon disappeared as other players seemed to come out from beneath the shadow that Henry had apparently created.
It is no secret that Gerrard has not been himself this season so far and although that could be mainly down to injury and the absence of Torres, there does appear to have been a significant drop in form.
Guilty
As an outsider I have been guilty, along with many others, of saying that Liverpool can only function with Gerrard and Torres in the team. I have long regarded Gerrard as being the catalyst for everything good that they do and believed that when he plays well, Liverpool do and when he doesn’t, the team doesn’t.
I am, of course, aware that I do not watch Liverpool play every week and fans who do so often have a different opinion to those who look on from afar. I wonder if this one person saying that Liverpool are not better with him in the team is a lone voice or whether other Liverpool supporters can see what he means.
Exist
Often, teams have not been a ‘one man team’ because such a thing doesn’t actually exist. What they do, however, is rely too much on one player. For example, the Arsenal of Thierry Henry usually looked to get the ball to him as quickly and as often as possible for obvious reasons. What that meant was that Henry was the star of the show but perhaps others in the team didn’t show all they could do because they were simply looking to give him the ball.
Maybe one could also cite the case of Wayne Rooney at Manchester United. Is it a coincidence that his best ever season is coming after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo?
Huge
The twenty-nine year old England midfielder, who has seventy-seven international caps and has a huge part to play in England’s World Cup bid in the Summer, has been with Liverpool for twelve years. After making his debut at the age of eighteen and playing thirteen games that season, he hasn’t played less than thirty-one times in any of the eleven seasons since then.
During his time in the team Liverpool have won the Champions League, the UEFA Cup, the FA Cup twice and the Carling Cup twice. He has been the England player of the year, the PFA fans player of the year, the PFA player of the year and has been selected in the Premier League team of the year for each of the last six seasons.
Talent
He has produced the goods in the big games for his club and this is proved by his man of the match awards in the Champions League final of 2005 and the FA Cup final of 2006. There is absolutely no doubting his pedigree and talent.
Despite all of that I still wonder if the failure to win the Premier League title throughout those years is totally despite Gerrard’s best efforts, or whether the temptation to play the game entirely through him has sometimes had a negative effect on the team’s effectiveness.
I would welcome your views.
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
