My thoughts on the gerrard debate - Will he go/ won't he go saga
Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 2:43 pmNot aiming to be controversial here.
Reading through the "gerrard going to madrid for 37m" thread has got me thinking. I for one would love Stevie to stay, but the reality is that he is a winner, and anyone who thinks that he can achieve his goals at Liverpool over the next few years is living a dream. However nobody should really be surprised. When Benitez sat down with Gerrard at the start of the season there was no way that he would have convinced him that we were going to challenge for the title. What he did say was that he was going to bring 2-3 world class players in. Well in Alonso and Morientes he's certainly done that.
But back to the present. To me, recently, Gerrard has been a liability at least in terms of team spirit, i.e there is none when he is playing (ok he was carrying an injury on Saturday). That isn't a sign of a good captain. A player who places himself on a pedestal so high that I'm surprised he hasn't got altitude sickness is not a man we need "in charge", so to speak.
This chip he's got on his shoulder seems to have grown so large that it's enveloped his whole brain. Gerrard lives and breathes Gerrard...and that's not a good thing.
I think what's WORSE is the fact that everybody is pandering his every whim, pussyfooting around him, placing so much emphasis on him that he's starting to BELIEVE his own hype.
The way I see it, these threads such as "Oh God, that result was ****** - Gerrard's NEVER going to stay" is pretty much the epitome of what is going wrong with this club. These threads, these comments imply that Gerrard IS the team, that every last thing we do is for his benefit, that every bad result is going to bear down badly on HIS reason for staying.
It shouldn't BE like that. If he doesn't want to stay then he should go. We shouldn't allow him to grind us down to this - this utter terror at the idea that he might leave. We shouldn't play every game for him, hope for good results just to make him stay.
It's like buying a kid a present just to shut it up. It promotes a certain kind of behaviour and Im seeing that behaviour week in, week out with Gerrard.
He's NOT the club. He's NOT bigger than the club and if he thinks that he is then he should be allowed to leave. This club has lost great players in the past such as Keegan, Dalglish, Rush, Owen, but has rebuilt and moved on. Should Gerrard go in the summer (and I believe he probably will even if we finish 4th) then we'll use the money to reshape the side.
Unfortunately, despite signing a contract extension at the start of the season (which means nothing these days) the only way I can say that he will definitely stay is if we win the Champions League this season. Harsh I know, but that's football.
Reading through the "gerrard going to madrid for 37m" thread has got me thinking. I for one would love Stevie to stay, but the reality is that he is a winner, and anyone who thinks that he can achieve his goals at Liverpool over the next few years is living a dream. However nobody should really be surprised. When Benitez sat down with Gerrard at the start of the season there was no way that he would have convinced him that we were going to challenge for the title. What he did say was that he was going to bring 2-3 world class players in. Well in Alonso and Morientes he's certainly done that.
But back to the present. To me, recently, Gerrard has been a liability at least in terms of team spirit, i.e there is none when he is playing (ok he was carrying an injury on Saturday). That isn't a sign of a good captain. A player who places himself on a pedestal so high that I'm surprised he hasn't got altitude sickness is not a man we need "in charge", so to speak.
This chip he's got on his shoulder seems to have grown so large that it's enveloped his whole brain. Gerrard lives and breathes Gerrard...and that's not a good thing.
I think what's WORSE is the fact that everybody is pandering his every whim, pussyfooting around him, placing so much emphasis on him that he's starting to BELIEVE his own hype.
The way I see it, these threads such as "Oh God, that result was ****** - Gerrard's NEVER going to stay" is pretty much the epitome of what is going wrong with this club. These threads, these comments imply that Gerrard IS the team, that every last thing we do is for his benefit, that every bad result is going to bear down badly on HIS reason for staying.
It shouldn't BE like that. If he doesn't want to stay then he should go. We shouldn't allow him to grind us down to this - this utter terror at the idea that he might leave. We shouldn't play every game for him, hope for good results just to make him stay.
It's like buying a kid a present just to shut it up. It promotes a certain kind of behaviour and Im seeing that behaviour week in, week out with Gerrard.
He's NOT the club. He's NOT bigger than the club and if he thinks that he is then he should be allowed to leave. This club has lost great players in the past such as Keegan, Dalglish, Rush, Owen, but has rebuilt and moved on. Should Gerrard go in the summer (and I believe he probably will even if we finish 4th) then we'll use the money to reshape the side.
Unfortunately, despite signing a contract extension at the start of the season (which means nothing these days) the only way I can say that he will definitely stay is if we win the Champions League this season. Harsh I know, but that's football.
I cant believe what im reading here. It seems the jurys out -and hes guilty as charged! Not for me -Hes the best midfielder in the premiership and our best since graeme souness,and money couldnt buy him in my eyes. St mike,you say its like buying a kid a present to shut him up