Sayonara Stevie; 7 of Gerrard's Best Liverpool Moments
Steven Gerrard will go down as one of the best midfielders the Premiership has seen, that's not even up for debate. You might argue the toss for one of his peers to edge him out in terms of the actual top spot but it's hard to make an argument suggesting that the Liverpool midfielder hasn't been one of the league's most consistent players of the last 15 years.
The fact that he has remained with The Reds throughout his career - until now at least - shows the passion Gerrard has for his hometown club. He's played in a Liverpool jersey for 28 out of his 34 years on the planet and he finally exits Anfield at the end of the Premier League season to see out his career at LA Galaxy. It was an emotional exit for him in front of The Kop as he prepares to cross the Atlantic, but we're going to take a look at some of the fondest memories we have of the Merseyside man - taking pleasure from his service to the Premiership rather than rueing his departure.
The accolades
Gerrard has taken his fair share of personal accolades. The highlights would include PFA Fans and Player's Player of the Year awards and his World XI selections, but the pinnacle has to be the 2005 season in which he took UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and the Ballon d'Or Bronze trophy. It was a big year for Liverpool as a club, and for his own game. Gerrard netted 16 goals in 49 appearances in the 2004/05 season, and that included a pivotal strike in the Champion's League final, which leads us on to....
Captaining Liverpool to a Champion's League Title
It will go down as one of the most riveting Champions League finals ever, with Gerrard's side 3-0 down to the Italians before staging a legendary comeback. They went on to take the victory 3-2 on penalties. Very few sides have ever come back from that kind of deficit, let alone in a game of that caliber and with so much at stake. It was typical of Gerrard's tenacity and never say die attitude; he nodded the team's first goal at 53 minutes to start the comeback. From there it was just a real fairytale. Gerrard said that it was the 'best feeling ever' to lift the trophy. Despite not getting to take his penalty as the job was already done before he had to step up, his performance had already been more than enough. The city appreciated his efforts, bringing back their first Champions League (or equivalent) trophy for twenty years.
A solo FA Cup performance
Football is a team game and no-one is pretending Steven Gerrard could have beaten West Ham on his own on that day in 2006, but he damn well tried. Two goals down and without much spark, Gerrard sent in Djibril Cisse and then bagged a goal of his own to level the scores. Of course The Hammers retaliated and it was left to Gerrard to claw it back once again with a long range scorcher. They two teams battled hard through two tiring halfs of extra time, only for the North West club to usurp the Londoners on penalties - of course Gerrard slotted one of those too to help his team lift the trophy, with his share of that success being bigger than most.
Setting the record as Liverpool captain
Just playing for your childhood team must elicit strong feelings for any professional footballer. Pulling on the captain's armband would be even more overwhelming. Steven Gerrard has managed to do it 472 times, surpassing the likes of Ron Yeats and Emlyn Hughes. "Sometimes I stop on the drive home from Melwood and just sit in the car and tell myself, 'I'm captain of Liverpool football club,'" said Gerrard in his autobiography, and he had always given it his everything; for himself, for his teammates, and for the fans.
It's hard to see his record being surpassed any time soon, especially since it took Gerrard 12 years to amass that many games as captain. It's quite likely he'll hold his record for decades, there aren't many more fitting people to sit at the top of that list.
That Everton hat trick
As a youth growing up in Liverpool as a fan of the Reds, the city's Blues were the enemy. The faction between fans was often just jokes between friends. However, for some it went much deeper. That's why Gerrard described his hat trick against Everton as one of the best moments of his career. "After all the stick I've had from the Bluenoses, that was nice," he revealed. Very few players actually bag three goals in a top flight game, let alone against their biggest rivals. No wonder Gerrard looks back on it fondly, though I expect the region's Toffees don't see it the same way.
A cup treble
The 2000/01 season was memorable for Liverpool as they picked up the domestic FA Cup and League Cup, then added the UEFA Cup to deliver a unique treble achievement. Gerrard was a key feature in the side by this point and added to Liverpool's 5-goal total against Deportivo Alaves in the final. It was a game of epic proportions, just as the season was in its entirety.
That West Ham rocket
Not only one of Gerrard's finest, but one of the finest goals in Premier League history. He's been known for his punishing right foot and an exemplary goal scoring ratio from the midfield. Every now and again, those goals would be spectacular. That touch, that vision and that strike; it was a perfect storm and ended in a perfect goal. Gerrard leaves the only club he's ever know to garner new life experiences and wind down his career in the MLS. He's shown this season that's he's not over the hill yet, and he joins an LA Galaxy team with high expectations from him as they come in as joint betfair favourites for the league next year. It's not just a departure to the knackeryard - Gerrard will still play in an increasingly talented pool of athletes, in front of increasingly knowledgeable fans. He might have chosen to operate outside of what you'll call the 'elite', but it was literally now or never.
There'll always be a section of fans that would have preferred him to see his career out on home turf, but he has his reasons and we just have to thank him for the service he's provided over the years. He'll go down in history. A trustworthy battler, a trusted goal scorer, and one of the most reliable workhorses in the game. He played with passion for a club he loved with a passion. That's rare and it was special. Sayonara, Stevie G.
The fact that he has remained with The Reds throughout his career - until now at least - shows the passion Gerrard has for his hometown club. He's played in a Liverpool jersey for 28 out of his 34 years on the planet and he finally exits Anfield at the end of the Premier League season to see out his career at LA Galaxy. It was an emotional exit for him in front of The Kop as he prepares to cross the Atlantic, but we're going to take a look at some of the fondest memories we have of the Merseyside man - taking pleasure from his service to the Premiership rather than rueing his departure.
The accolades
Gerrard has taken his fair share of personal accolades. The highlights would include PFA Fans and Player's Player of the Year awards and his World XI selections, but the pinnacle has to be the 2005 season in which he took UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and the Ballon d'Or Bronze trophy. It was a big year for Liverpool as a club, and for his own game. Gerrard netted 16 goals in 49 appearances in the 2004/05 season, and that included a pivotal strike in the Champion's League final, which leads us on to....
Captaining Liverpool to a Champion's League Title
It will go down as one of the most riveting Champions League finals ever, with Gerrard's side 3-0 down to the Italians before staging a legendary comeback. They went on to take the victory 3-2 on penalties. Very few sides have ever come back from that kind of deficit, let alone in a game of that caliber and with so much at stake. It was typical of Gerrard's tenacity and never say die attitude; he nodded the team's first goal at 53 minutes to start the comeback. From there it was just a real fairytale. Gerrard said that it was the 'best feeling ever' to lift the trophy. Despite not getting to take his penalty as the job was already done before he had to step up, his performance had already been more than enough. The city appreciated his efforts, bringing back their first Champions League (or equivalent) trophy for twenty years.
A solo FA Cup performance
Football is a team game and no-one is pretending Steven Gerrard could have beaten West Ham on his own on that day in 2006, but he damn well tried. Two goals down and without much spark, Gerrard sent in Djibril Cisse and then bagged a goal of his own to level the scores. Of course The Hammers retaliated and it was left to Gerrard to claw it back once again with a long range scorcher. They two teams battled hard through two tiring halfs of extra time, only for the North West club to usurp the Londoners on penalties - of course Gerrard slotted one of those too to help his team lift the trophy, with his share of that success being bigger than most.
Setting the record as Liverpool captain
Just playing for your childhood team must elicit strong feelings for any professional footballer. Pulling on the captain's armband would be even more overwhelming. Steven Gerrard has managed to do it 472 times, surpassing the likes of Ron Yeats and Emlyn Hughes. "Sometimes I stop on the drive home from Melwood and just sit in the car and tell myself, 'I'm captain of Liverpool football club,'" said Gerrard in his autobiography, and he had always given it his everything; for himself, for his teammates, and for the fans.
It's hard to see his record being surpassed any time soon, especially since it took Gerrard 12 years to amass that many games as captain. It's quite likely he'll hold his record for decades, there aren't many more fitting people to sit at the top of that list.
That Everton hat trick
As a youth growing up in Liverpool as a fan of the Reds, the city's Blues were the enemy. The faction between fans was often just jokes between friends. However, for some it went much deeper. That's why Gerrard described his hat trick against Everton as one of the best moments of his career. "After all the stick I've had from the Bluenoses, that was nice," he revealed. Very few players actually bag three goals in a top flight game, let alone against their biggest rivals. No wonder Gerrard looks back on it fondly, though I expect the region's Toffees don't see it the same way.
A cup treble
The 2000/01 season was memorable for Liverpool as they picked up the domestic FA Cup and League Cup, then added the UEFA Cup to deliver a unique treble achievement. Gerrard was a key feature in the side by this point and added to Liverpool's 5-goal total against Deportivo Alaves in the final. It was a game of epic proportions, just as the season was in its entirety.
That West Ham rocket
Not only one of Gerrard's finest, but one of the finest goals in Premier League history. He's been known for his punishing right foot and an exemplary goal scoring ratio from the midfield. Every now and again, those goals would be spectacular. That touch, that vision and that strike; it was a perfect storm and ended in a perfect goal. Gerrard leaves the only club he's ever know to garner new life experiences and wind down his career in the MLS. He's shown this season that's he's not over the hill yet, and he joins an LA Galaxy team with high expectations from him as they come in as joint betfair favourites for the league next year. It's not just a departure to the knackeryard - Gerrard will still play in an increasingly talented pool of athletes, in front of increasingly knowledgeable fans. He might have chosen to operate outside of what you'll call the 'elite', but it was literally now or never.
There'll always be a section of fans that would have preferred him to see his career out on home turf, but he has his reasons and we just have to thank him for the service he's provided over the years. He'll go down in history. A trustworthy battler, a trusted goal scorer, and one of the most reliable workhorses in the game. He played with passion for a club he loved with a passion. That's rare and it was special. Sayonara, Stevie G.