We were going to entitle this piece ‘Is Gerrard on the Wane?’.
But of course he’s on the wane – he’s 34 for the love of sweet baby Jesus. It’s physically impossible for him to still be the swashbuckling, box to box dynamo, who you’d be just as likely to see making a saving tackle in his own penalty area as hitting the net with a twenty yard screamer at the other end.
Those days are sadly gone. At 34 Gerrard is transformed from a multi-functional marvel to a player who shields the defence and orchestrates attacks. The ideal scenario for all Gerrard lovers would be for him to carry on doing this for another few years.
But, as comparatively serene a position as it may seem, you still need to be damn fit to play as the anchor man. It remains one of the more physical positions in the team.
Gerrard had a lot of injuries as a youth but he’s largely ironed those out of his game in his later years. He doesn’t have weak knees or ankles that will eventually render him immobile. Gerrard’s injury problems were usually muscular and we have seen with the careers of Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand that yoga and specialised fitness programs can offset such problems.
But, even in his prime, Gerrard was never the quickest player and a lack of pace seems to be an increasing issue in his game. That lack of explosiveness off the mark means he’s getting to the ball second a lot more over the last year.
With the legs of Henderson around him Gerrard can still be a positive force in the side. Age won’t take away his ability to hit a beautiful long pass or pre-empt a dangerous situation.
But we think Brendan Rodgers should already be thinking about limiting Gerrard to 30 or so games a season to keep him fresh for the big ones. Manchester United did it to great effect with Giggs who, even at 39, was still one of the best players on the park because he was used sparingly.
It will be very interesting to see how Emre Can progresses once fully fit. He looks like a gem and, far from being Gerrard’s arch rival for a place in the side, the German can be instrumental in extending Gerrard’s top level career. An on form Can will afford the legend the regular rest that he requires if his performances are going to remain top-notch.
Liverpool fans: Can Stevie G still play 50 games a season to good effect?
James
Oct 14, 2014 at 8:43 pm
Stevie was very quick in his prime. Jamie Redknapp once said on Sky that he was as quick as Fernando Torres when he was in his prime at Liverpool. Dont come much quicker than that. And how many times did he catch up with an attacking player and make a goal saving tackle?