Hero or Zero #12 - Steven Gerrard ;-)

[Red Astaire]

So I thought I'd give a bit of love to our captain and frankly my fucking hero Steven Gerrard! People probably think he gets enough love but not for me. A real life walking legend that is still doing the business now and probably (hopefully) for a few years yet.

Here's what Suarez said yesterday about him

'He didn’t talk about me, or through me, in the press, but in person,’ Suarez said.
‘In those moments I forgot that he was “world football great Gerrard”, a Liverpool legend, but as a humble person who spoke to me with all his heart for hours.
‘He said I was the best forward he’d ever played with, which given the amazing strikers that he’s played with at Liverpool, was amazing for me to hear.
‘I’ll never forget that.’

Here's what Pirlo said about him a couple of days ago.

"The intelligent players adapt and Gerrard has the ability to do that.
"He is an excellent passer of the ball, possesses an intelligent football brain, and has great vision.
"Top European clubs are always progressing with what they can do off the field.
"Training is getting more scientific, and we are constantly getting more educated on nutrition.
"If you look after yourself and are willing to adapt, there is no reason why you can't play at the top level until your late 30's.
"Gerrard is a top professional, it is very possible he has many years left for Liverpool and England in a new role."

I remember when he first broke through to the first team - I'd never seen anything like it. He was immense. So many great memories of him.

What do you think? Hero or Zero? 😉

 

[Athens]

Hero on the field.

Zero taste in music.

 

[Red Astaire]

Zero taste in music.

I wouldn't want to mess with him if I tried to change his choice...

 

[Dreambeliever]

Zero until he wins the league

 

[LeTallecWiz]

Owen, Torres or Suarez in their pomp (I don't think he played with Robbie when he was in his pomp)?

 

[Fabio]

Owen, Torres or Suarez in their pomp (I don't think he played with Robbie when he was in his pomp)?

Jovanavic

 

[Lippy]

Steven Gerrard is a Liverpool hero.

 

[Lippy]

Zero until he wins the league

See it posts like this that make me have empathy for Steven Gerrard. Surrounded all those years by people with clearly inferior abilities. 😉

 

[Red Astaire]

Steven Gerrard is a Liverpool hero.

I have thought about it and have decided to agree with you. Hero for me.

 

[Hyena]

I remember when he first broke through to the first team - I'd never seen anything like it. He was immense. So many great memories of him.

Special as he was then, I didn't imagine that Liverpool owe this boy so much one day. And I bet you didn't either.
At that time, the future was Michael Owen, Danny Murphy and the likes of ahem. Richie Patridge. Young Gerrard was a precocious, talented youth in the same bracket as David Thompson. I'm pretty sure no one outside of Liverpool noticed him. He certainly wasn't Fowler class.

He was special, but remembered more for being a bit fucking mental and a good lad than being a great player. He pretty much got a game only because all the senior players were injured (and shit). I think he would be where you would place Flanagan now. It all kicked off at one of those games where he suddenly burst a lung, scored a wonder goal then everyone was going on about the kids of Liverpool blah blah blah. Even then he was still a bit unsteady, a bit injury-prone, a bit unsure and hot tempered. Carragher-esque

He's pretty much eclipsed every fucking last one of them.

Our shining light in 2 decades of shit.
Absolute legend.

 

[Red Astaire]

Special as he was then, I didn't imagine that Liverpool owe this boy so much one day. And I bet you didn't either.
At that time, the future was Michael Owen, Danny Murphy and the likes of ahem. Richie Patridge. Young Gerrard was a precocious, talented youth in the same bracket as David Thompson. I'm pretty sure no one outside of Liverpool noticed him. He certainly wasn't Fowler class.

He was special, but remembered more for being a bit fucking mental and a good lad than being a great player. He pretty much got a game only because all the senior players were injured (and shit). I think he would be where you would place Flanagan now. It all kicked off at one of those games where he suddenly burst a lung, scored a wonder goal then everyone was going on about the kids of Liverpool blah blah blah. Even then he was still a bit unsteady, a bit injury-prone, a bit unsure and hot tempered. Carragher-esque

He's pretty much eclipsed every fucking last one of them.

Our shining light in 2 decades of shit.
Absolute legend.

I didn't - But I knew he was special. I never went to the games and I never really follow the youth teams. To me he pretty much burst onto the scene. Back then there was no such thing as streaming a game so I had to rely on reading about him in the newspaper or watching Timbo's goals (anyone remember that legend?) . Suddenly every game he was getting the man of the match award. This kid I had never heard of one week was suddenly bossing midfielders all over the premier league. Strangely one of the earliest games I remember him in was when he played right back. He was the best right back ever. Bombing forward and making crunching but fair tackles. Great to see possibly the greatest LFC player ever still being mint. Walking legend!

 

[SummerOnions]

Hero.

Won us 2 cup finals and deliberately got Hodge sacked

 

[Hyena]

This kid I had never heard of one week was suddenly bossing midfielders all over the premier league. Strangely one of the earliest games I remember him in was when he played right back. He was the best right back ever. Bombing forward and making crunching but fair tackles. Great to see possibly the greatest LFC player ever still being mint. Walking legend!

I remember this. It was surreal.
He was an unheralded teenager showing senior players all over the country how to play like a fucking man.



I was sure he was going to burn out / get injured

 

[Jack D Rips]

Zero until he wins the league

I always try to see the good in people, but Dreamy sometimes you come across as a complete and utter tool!

Steven Gerrard is several levels above hero. He is a legend!

 

[TheFasterBlade]

Eye for a pass. Powerful, if agricultural right foot. Never really did it for England, ergo never really world class. Meh.

 

[Judge Jules]

Wonderful player (he and Souey are in central midfield in my version of the All-Time XI) who has done more than any other single individual to keep the club's standards high during more than two decades which have been pretty barren by LFC standards. Please God we're on the way back now, and it's impossible to overstate how badly I want Stevie G to taste some of the success I hope we're about to see returning to the club.

 

[Lippy]

Wonderful player (he and Souey are in central midfield in my version of the All-Time XI) who has done more than any other single individual to keep the club's standards high during more than two decades which have been pretty barren by LFC standards. Please God we're on the way back now, and it's impossible to overstate how badly I want Stevie G to taste some of the success I hope we're about to see returning to the club.

I think he's tasted success mate. After all, he's won every club trophy there is apart from the league. Winning that would be a very fitting tribute to his career here. I'm not getting excited about the league I refuse to and if we did win it I've really no idea how I'd react.

 

[Judge Jules]

I think he's tasted success mate. After all, he's won every club trophy there is apart from the league. Winning that would be a very fitting tribute to his career here. I'm not getting excited about the league I refuse to and if we did win it I've really no idea how I'd react.

Good point well made. I guess what I really meant was consistent success, i.e.the title. Time we overhauled that bunch of cnuts down the E.Lancs.Rd.again.

 

[refugee]

I always try to see the good in people, but Dreamy sometimes you come across as a complete and utter tool!

Surely it was tongue in cheek (based on other people responses in other hero / zero threads). Not even Dreamy is that mental.....

Steven Gerrard is several levels above hero. He is a legend!

YES

 

[Red Astaire]

If it was anyone else I would have said tongue in cheek for sure but with it being Dreamy.....

 

[Tal]

If he wins us the league we are going to have to have a word higher than legend to describe him.

I think the regular wordsmiths on here need to have a think about what might be appropriate, without jinxing it, of course.

 

[gene hughes]

Hero

 

[Hyena]

It will literally be THE STORY for years if he wins the fucking league.
It'll up right up there with Istanbul.

 

[HC]

Where is he in the all-time Liverpool greatest stakes?

 

[ILD]

Tongue in cheek from DB obviously. It's a nod to the Suarez thread.

 

[SummerOnions]

So Gerrard

 

[Judge Jules]

Where is he in the all-time Liverpool greatest stakes?

For me he's at no.3, headed only by The King and Souey in that order. He may even have a wider range of skills than either, but they stood out as central figures even in our best sides. Even so, the case for Stevie himself being at the top of the list is a perfectly respectable one IMO.

 

[Khalido]

Wonderful player (he and Souey are in central midfield in my version of the All-Time XI) who has done more than any other single individual to keep the club's standards high during more than two decades which have been pretty barren by LFC standards. Please God we're on the way back now, and it's impossible to overstate how badly I want Stevie G to taste some of the success I hope we're about to see returning to the club.

That would be a phenomenal midfield pairing. Curious to know who makes the rest of your team?

 

[peterhague]

Special as he was then, I didn't imagine that Liverpool owe this boy so much one day. And I bet you didn't either.
At that time, the future was Michael Owen, Danny Murphy and the likes of ahem. Richie Patridge. Young Gerrard was a precocious, talented youth in the same bracket as David Thompson. I'm pretty sure no one outside of Liverpool noticed him. He certainly wasn't Fowler class.

He was special, but remembered more for being a bit fucking mental and a good lad than being a great player. He pretty much got a game only because all the senior players were injured (and shit). I think he would be where you would place Flanagan now. It all kicked off at one of those games where he suddenly burst a lung, scored a wonder goal then everyone was going on about the kids of Liverpool blah blah blah. Even then he was still a bit unsteady, a bit injury-prone, a bit unsure and hot tempered. Carragher-esque

He's pretty much eclipsed every fucking last one of them.

Our shining light in 2 decades of shit.
Absolute legend.

Er, that's horseshit from start to finish, isn't it?

I remember Gerrard being highly rated right from the very start. He went away training with the England squad very early on.

I know there must've been plenty of hype, because I distinctly remember saying to my sister soon after his debut that he was the real one to keep an eye on, not David Thompson, who she'd been raving about.

 

[Judge Jules]

That would be a phenomenal midfield pairing. Curious to know who makes the rest of your team?

Don't want to hijack the thread, but since you've been kind enough to ask:

Clemence

Babbel Lawrenson Hansen Nicol

Callaghan Gerrard Souness(capt.) Barnes

Dalglish Rush

Babbel gets my vote over Neal (winner for sheer longevity) and Rob Jones (best out-and-out defender I've seen at RB for us) for being consistently effective in open play at both ends of the pitch. Chris Lawler from Shanks' first great side was too, but wasn't as mobile or athletic. Nicol himself played RB more often than LB, but has got to be in the team somewhere and the competition at LB isn't quite as hot IMO (Gerry Byrne from Shanks' first great side is his closest competitor for me). I'd have loved to put big Sami in at CB but for me you can't split the Jocky/Lawrenson duo. Up front it's hard leaving out the likes of Suarez, Keegan, Beardo and Robbie, but the King is first name on the teamsheet (NOT in midfield, where he was merely decent) and if he's up front Rushie has to be there too.