Poll POLL: Stevie Me
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This thread is very harsh. He's been immense for years, and in the 16 years he's been playing the brainless moments have been few and far between.
How we allowed this completely SHITE United team to roll us at home is a question for the manager and his tactics, and the timid team that showed up.
It's one game out of how many that we've lost in the past few months? United lose one game and we beat Arsenal and it's back on.
You all know better than that to start jumping off the cliff like a bunch of Bi polar* Lemmings.
It's still on, FFS
*I'm referring to football fan bi-polarity and it's silliness, not the more serious actual bi-polarity.
How we allowed this completely SHITE United team to roll us at home is a question for the manager and his tactics, and the timid team that showed up.
It's one game out of how many that we've lost in the past few months? United lose one game and we beat Arsenal and it's back on.
You all know better than that to start jumping off the cliff like a bunch of Bi polar* Lemmings.
It's still on, FFS
*I'm referring to football fan bi-polarity and it's silliness, not the more serious actual bi-polarity.
I wonder what type of reaction would he get if he slips up (again) in his testimonial.
The other players are jealous of how hamsom he is [emoji182]
They might be if they knew WTF "hamsom" was. 😉
Ok in my opinion the sub was the right one. We needed composure in the midfield and someone vastly experienced to get us back in the game. His first contribution was to wipe out Mata, which was worthy of a card as well, yes Juan Mata the midget. Not Fellaini the big physical presence who needed sorting. He then stamps on the next smallest person on the pitch.
The man is a legend but that game was very salvageable until he did that. But according to some of our fans particularly on phone ins, it was Rodgers fault for not picking him! Hahahahahaha! Twats! We won 6 on the bounce without him.
Diminishing his legacy talk is sensationalist bollocks, but what he did yesterday as THE experienced player and captain he is was inexcusable.
And I managed to tell Radio 5 that as the last caller to 606!
The man is a legend but that game was very salvageable until he did that. But according to some of our fans particularly on phone ins, it was Rodgers fault for not picking him! Hahahahahaha! Twats! We won 6 on the bounce without him.
Diminishing his legacy talk is sensationalist bollocks, but what he did yesterday as THE experienced player and captain he is was inexcusable.
And I managed to tell Radio 5 that as the last caller to 606!
You're right he should have been on for that shithouse Moreno.
If he had scored that easy chance in first half this whole thread may never had happened. I blame Adam
Eve's just as guilty IMHO. 😉
Revealed: The inside story behind Gerrard's remarkable TV apology for red card madness
The first thing a contrite Steven Gerrard did when arriving back-stage at Anfield on Sunday, having been dismissed for that disgraceful, inexcusable stamp on Ander Herrera, was to ask Liverpool officials how many games he would miss (three).
Gerrard then asked to be left alone, sitting in the dressing-room, gathering his thoughts, away from where Adam Lallana, whom he had just replaced at half-time, was receiving treatment.
He showered, donned his match-day suit and waited for Brendan Rodgers and the players to return. As they trooped in, and sat down, smarting at a damaging defeat to such bitter foe, Gerrard stood in the middle and addressed them. He apologised to the manager he’d let down badly with his recklessness. He expressed remorse to team-mates he’d left to take on United without him.
Gerrard was devastated his folly had cost Liverpool any real chance of getting back into the game, although they rallied and lost only 2-1. His red may ultimately wreck Liverpool’s hopes of getting back in the Champions League. No wonder Manchester United fans could be heard outside reveling in such a significant victory. As Gerrard made that walk of shame towards the tunnel, gleeful United supporters sent him on his way with the usual terrace hat-trick of “cheerio” chants, V signs and hand gestures mimicking the shaking of a dice.
No wonder United’s players had celebrated so loudly at the final whistle. Louis van Gaal’s excellent team could well have won against 11 such was the quality of contributions from the likes of Juan Mata, the man of the match, and Michael Carrick. As United marked the moment noisily, Gerrard inquired of another Liverpool official: “What do the club need me to do?”
He was not thinking of his own image, one that was being merrily denigrated by United fans and by countless memes on social media. He was more concerned about Liverpool. He’d embarrassed them. So he would not hide. Most players would have skulked away. His lack of professionalism when reacting to Herrera’s challenge was not evident in his post-match behaviour.
An introvert by nature, Gerrard cares deeply about the club, and wanted to apologise to the Liverpool fans. He asked to do one interview with Sky’s Geoff Shreeves, a television reporter he has known for a long time and trusts implicitly.
He did not seek understanding or sympathy. Liverpool fans know anyway that the fury characterising Gerrard’s whirlwind minute against United is drawn from the same deep emotional well that made him tear up the defences of AC Milan in the Champions League final of 2005 and West Ham in the FA Cup final the following year. He patently overstepped the line at Anfield, his innate will to win turning into excess and, deservedly, he paid the price.
He is not a good watcher of games, brooding on the bench, itching to get on, the spring coiling tight. United stir his blood, especially when they are schooling his beloved Liverpool as in the first half. As a schoolboy, Gerrard once wore a Bryan Robson United No7 top in a Huyton street kickabout because he so enjoyed watching the midfielder play for England. Gerrard’s father summoned him quickly into the house, telling him to remove the United shirt, fearful of what the neighbours might think. Gerrard has always possessed that hunger to perform against United, a desire that spilled over.
He was too fired up when he came on, and Herrera was fortunate to escape injury. Gerrard knew immediately he had erred. So he was keen to front up. The clock was ticking. Sky was heading towards its build-up to Hull City-Chelsea and had still to complete the interview with the triumphant Mata and Carrick. Gerrard waited for the United pair to finish and then quickly took his place in front of the camera, in the small alcove next to the United dressing-room which was not a quiet place.
People were milling about, United players and officials walking past as Gerrard stood with his back to the wall, facing them and Shreeves’ microphone. The understanding was that this was not an interview, more an opportunity for Gerrard to make his statement of penitence.
Those closeby noted how calm and unemotional Gerrard was, simply focusing on transmitting his message. The storm that raged for 38 seconds of the second half, that had built while sitting on the bench watching his team-mates perform so timidly, was spent but the sorrow will remain.
In the countdown to his departure to LA Galaxy, leaving his footballing home of 17 years, Gerrard has just wasted four games, the match with United and then the forthcoming fixtures with Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup and then Newcastle United. He will have only six Premier League matches (and the Cup if Liverpool win that quarter-final replay at Ewood Park).
Borrowing the apposite phrase of his friend Jamie Carragher, Gerrard’s “moment of madness” has cast a dark cloud over his journey towards Sunset Boulevard. But claims that Gerrard has tarnished his legacy, has somehow invalidated all those epic moments from Istanbul to Cardiff, need resisting.
Critics also throw in last season’s slip against Chelsea as a further episode somehow lessening his stature amongst Liverpool fans. Yet demand is strong for tickets for his final game at Anfield, the visit of Crystal Palace on May 16. The Kop will take a longer-term perspective of Gerrard.
They will also appreciate that the midfielder has been more than a player for Liverpool, more than a frequent rescue act on-field. He is revered as the local boy who stayed loyal, who turned down United as a schoolboy, and who eventually rebuffed overtures from Chelsea that would have made him even wealthier and helped him win the title. When Gerrard attends the annual Hillsborough memorial service at Anfield, Liverpool fans see a man also grieving for a relative who died on the Leppings Lane End, his cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley.
Gerrard is loved at Liverpool and a few mistakes will not break that bond.
When it was Rodgers’ turn in front of the cameras, he spoke respectfully about Gerrard, supporting his captain. Strangely, Rodgers has been criticised for not starting the midfielder which would have been unfair on those like Joe Allen who have played well recently.
At 34, Gerrard’s decline has been clear, the defining moment coming in this season’s loss at Palace on Nov 23 when Jason Puncheon won the ball and sped away so easily from him. Liverpool are right to wind down Gerrard’s career with them, and Rodgers has handled a difficult situation sensitively.
The only positive for Liverpool out of Gerrard’s dismissal is that the succession planning has been made easier. The Gerrard era is over. The red cards should be remembered but the likelihood is that Liverpool fans will remember more the moments when Gerrard made them dream.
The first thing a contrite Steven Gerrard did when arriving back-stage at Anfield on Sunday, having been dismissed for that disgraceful, inexcusable stamp on Ander Herrera, was to ask Liverpool officials how many games he would miss (three).
Gerrard then asked to be left alone, sitting in the dressing-room, gathering his thoughts, away from where Adam Lallana, whom he had just replaced at half-time, was receiving treatment.
He showered, donned his match-day suit and waited for Brendan Rodgers and the players to return. As they trooped in, and sat down, smarting at a damaging defeat to such bitter foe, Gerrard stood in the middle and addressed them. He apologised to the manager he’d let down badly with his recklessness. He expressed remorse to team-mates he’d left to take on United without him.
Gerrard was devastated his folly had cost Liverpool any real chance of getting back into the game, although they rallied and lost only 2-1. His red may ultimately wreck Liverpool’s hopes of getting back in the Champions League. No wonder Manchester United fans could be heard outside reveling in such a significant victory. As Gerrard made that walk of shame towards the tunnel, gleeful United supporters sent him on his way with the usual terrace hat-trick of “cheerio” chants, V signs and hand gestures mimicking the shaking of a dice.
No wonder United’s players had celebrated so loudly at the final whistle. Louis van Gaal’s excellent team could well have won against 11 such was the quality of contributions from the likes of Juan Mata, the man of the match, and Michael Carrick. As United marked the moment noisily, Gerrard inquired of another Liverpool official: “What do the club need me to do?”
He was not thinking of his own image, one that was being merrily denigrated by United fans and by countless memes on social media. He was more concerned about Liverpool. He’d embarrassed them. So he would not hide. Most players would have skulked away. His lack of professionalism when reacting to Herrera’s challenge was not evident in his post-match behaviour.
An introvert by nature, Gerrard cares deeply about the club, and wanted to apologise to the Liverpool fans. He asked to do one interview with Sky’s Geoff Shreeves, a television reporter he has known for a long time and trusts implicitly.
He did not seek understanding or sympathy. Liverpool fans know anyway that the fury characterising Gerrard’s whirlwind minute against United is drawn from the same deep emotional well that made him tear up the defences of AC Milan in the Champions League final of 2005 and West Ham in the FA Cup final the following year. He patently overstepped the line at Anfield, his innate will to win turning into excess and, deservedly, he paid the price.
He is not a good watcher of games, brooding on the bench, itching to get on, the spring coiling tight. United stir his blood, especially when they are schooling his beloved Liverpool as in the first half. As a schoolboy, Gerrard once wore a Bryan Robson United No7 top in a Huyton street kickabout because he so enjoyed watching the midfielder play for England. Gerrard’s father summoned him quickly into the house, telling him to remove the United shirt, fearful of what the neighbours might think. Gerrard has always possessed that hunger to perform against United, a desire that spilled over.
He was too fired up when he came on, and Herrera was fortunate to escape injury. Gerrard knew immediately he had erred. So he was keen to front up. The clock was ticking. Sky was heading towards its build-up to Hull City-Chelsea and had still to complete the interview with the triumphant Mata and Carrick. Gerrard waited for the United pair to finish and then quickly took his place in front of the camera, in the small alcove next to the United dressing-room which was not a quiet place.
People were milling about, United players and officials walking past as Gerrard stood with his back to the wall, facing them and Shreeves’ microphone. The understanding was that this was not an interview, more an opportunity for Gerrard to make his statement of penitence.
Those closeby noted how calm and unemotional Gerrard was, simply focusing on transmitting his message. The storm that raged for 38 seconds of the second half, that had built while sitting on the bench watching his team-mates perform so timidly, was spent but the sorrow will remain.
In the countdown to his departure to LA Galaxy, leaving his footballing home of 17 years, Gerrard has just wasted four games, the match with United and then the forthcoming fixtures with Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup and then Newcastle United. He will have only six Premier League matches (and the Cup if Liverpool win that quarter-final replay at Ewood Park).
Borrowing the apposite phrase of his friend Jamie Carragher, Gerrard’s “moment of madness” has cast a dark cloud over his journey towards Sunset Boulevard. But claims that Gerrard has tarnished his legacy, has somehow invalidated all those epic moments from Istanbul to Cardiff, need resisting.
Critics also throw in last season’s slip against Chelsea as a further episode somehow lessening his stature amongst Liverpool fans. Yet demand is strong for tickets for his final game at Anfield, the visit of Crystal Palace on May 16. The Kop will take a longer-term perspective of Gerrard.
They will also appreciate that the midfielder has been more than a player for Liverpool, more than a frequent rescue act on-field. He is revered as the local boy who stayed loyal, who turned down United as a schoolboy, and who eventually rebuffed overtures from Chelsea that would have made him even wealthier and helped him win the title. When Gerrard attends the annual Hillsborough memorial service at Anfield, Liverpool fans see a man also grieving for a relative who died on the Leppings Lane End, his cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley.
Gerrard is loved at Liverpool and a few mistakes will not break that bond.
When it was Rodgers’ turn in front of the cameras, he spoke respectfully about Gerrard, supporting his captain. Strangely, Rodgers has been criticised for not starting the midfielder which would have been unfair on those like Joe Allen who have played well recently.
At 34, Gerrard’s decline has been clear, the defining moment coming in this season’s loss at Palace on Nov 23 when Jason Puncheon won the ball and sped away so easily from him. Liverpool are right to wind down Gerrard’s career with them, and Rodgers has handled a difficult situation sensitively.
The only positive for Liverpool out of Gerrard’s dismissal is that the succession planning has been made easier. The Gerrard era is over. The red cards should be remembered but the likelihood is that Liverpool fans will remember more the moments when Gerrard made them dream.
Decent attempt at damage limitation but I hope Steven can be part of something positive and memorable before he leaves. It would make a much better and fitting story.
These last sputterings of a dying star haven't really colored my perception of Gerrard, but his decline, which stretches back for years, certainly has. It's not that it makes me think less of him as a player, simply because his skills have diminished as his explosive athleticism and his endurance inevitably gave way. It's that what was left, after these waters inevitably receded, is both what I hoped I'd see and the confirmation of limitations I hoped I wouldn't.
This is a man who has defined our club for an era but it's an era that has no particular definition. We've been one of the best in the world, and then there's been Dossena, Riera and Voronin. We've won a champions league, then just a couple years later there was a lot about banks and bankruptcy. He could have cemented a bipolar era on a note of absurd, improbable joy. Instead, he cuts a tragic figure, and the worst indignity of all, an irrelevant one.
And what of the football? What is Gerrard anyway? Will he be most remembered as a box to box midfielder, where his play certainly carried the team, as he sprinted back from narrowly missing one rocketed shot to hooking a sliding tackle as some mortal tried to pull the trigger down our end? It seems the more he shined, with young legs, the more he prevented us from developing a balanced midfield that was more the sum of its parts and the more he prevented himself from becoming a midfielder that was more than the sum of his world class characteristics. Then, as a more tactically rigid manager wanted nothing to do with that, do we remember in his most productive advanced roles on the right or in AM, occasionally having the joy of a brilliant forward to produce for, all the while the press and sometimes he himself, wondered how he had ended up orbiting a set of more specialized players?
Then at the end, we have his late years with us. Rafa had originally said he'd make a forward when he couldn't do the job in midfield. Instead, with his shooting power and his acceleration weakened by injury and time, we put him in one of the more heady positions in the park. Rafa then said he was making a great DM, and you'd think he'd be one to know, but he saw what he wanted to see. Rodgers had him there as the second name on the teamsheet. One of the most thoughtful positions on the entire pitch, and he ends up there on a farewell tour, a renaissance man who is one of the best all around footballers we'll ever see, but one of the least specialized. We hear it referred to as the quarterback role, which is incomprehensibly stupid, but perhaps not in Gerrard's case. That's how he plays it, sometimes there's hints of it off the ball as well, unfortunately.
This isn't a man who didn't want quality around him, this is a man who kissed Alonso, the yin to his yang, who knew where to be, rather than how to get there. He loved Torres. He loved Owen. He wasn't threatened by brilliance, and he did better in better teams. In our good, flawed, one though, whose trajectory is typically ambiguous, in the twilight of his career he's finally incapable of really mattering to anyone but the press. He is the hole, not the patcher. His considerable reputation, the narrative, everyone wanted to put a bow on it and say he had found a nice place in DM. The alternative was what people didn't want to consider; no place at all for 90 minutes, it should have been the case for longer, if we hadn't been so poor. And typically, it almost worked, we almost won the league with one of the least balanced, most insanely flawed teams I've ever seen, deadly at times, suicidal at times, and at the heart of it, our midfield palimpsest.
Should it matter to his memory that we didn't, or that he lingered around that corpse for a year? It clearly does for him, sadly, how could it not? But there's a reason he had this tour, and never really developed some very nuanced understanding of a specific role in a team that would overcome his diminishing legs. It's because he was the captain of a leaking ship, patching holes. At the end of his era, we might still be as leaky, he might have overstayed his welcome, he might have for one last time the other night tried, and failed, to do it himself by tapping into the raw vein of the footballing beast. And yes, he might have patted himself on the back during the hole fixing, but why not, that's all he knew, its all he was given. We can't know what he would have been had he not been so defined in his development by the mediocrity around him and the needs of the day, but it seems a bit unfair to wonder. What we do know is the name son, and in a team sport, to a fault, he was the fucking man.
This is a man who has defined our club for an era but it's an era that has no particular definition. We've been one of the best in the world, and then there's been Dossena, Riera and Voronin. We've won a champions league, then just a couple years later there was a lot about banks and bankruptcy. He could have cemented a bipolar era on a note of absurd, improbable joy. Instead, he cuts a tragic figure, and the worst indignity of all, an irrelevant one.
And what of the football? What is Gerrard anyway? Will he be most remembered as a box to box midfielder, where his play certainly carried the team, as he sprinted back from narrowly missing one rocketed shot to hooking a sliding tackle as some mortal tried to pull the trigger down our end? It seems the more he shined, with young legs, the more he prevented us from developing a balanced midfield that was more the sum of its parts and the more he prevented himself from becoming a midfielder that was more than the sum of his world class characteristics. Then, as a more tactically rigid manager wanted nothing to do with that, do we remember in his most productive advanced roles on the right or in AM, occasionally having the joy of a brilliant forward to produce for, all the while the press and sometimes he himself, wondered how he had ended up orbiting a set of more specialized players?
Then at the end, we have his late years with us. Rafa had originally said he'd make a forward when he couldn't do the job in midfield. Instead, with his shooting power and his acceleration weakened by injury and time, we put him in one of the more heady positions in the park. Rafa then said he was making a great DM, and you'd think he'd be one to know, but he saw what he wanted to see. Rodgers had him there as the second name on the teamsheet. One of the most thoughtful positions on the entire pitch, and he ends up there on a farewell tour, a renaissance man who is one of the best all around footballers we'll ever see, but one of the least specialized. We hear it referred to as the quarterback role, which is incomprehensibly stupid, but perhaps not in Gerrard's case. That's how he plays it, sometimes there's hints of it off the ball as well, unfortunately.
This isn't a man who didn't want quality around him, this is a man who kissed Alonso, the yin to his yang, who knew where to be, rather than how to get there. He loved Torres. He loved Owen. He wasn't threatened by brilliance, and he did better in better teams. In our good, flawed, one though, whose trajectory is typically ambiguous, in the twilight of his career he's finally incapable of really mattering to anyone but the press. He is the hole, not the patcher. His considerable reputation, the narrative, everyone wanted to put a bow on it and say he had found a nice place in DM. The alternative was what people didn't want to consider; no place at all for 90 minutes, it should have been the case for longer, if we hadn't been so poor. And typically, it almost worked, we almost won the league with one of the least balanced, most insanely flawed teams I've ever seen, deadly at times, suicidal at times, and at the heart of it, our midfield palimpsest.
Should it matter to his memory that we didn't, or that he lingered around that corpse for a year? It clearly does for him, sadly, how could it not? But there's a reason he had this tour, and never really developed some very nuanced understanding of a specific role in a team that would overcome his diminishing legs. It's because he was the captain of a leaking ship, patching holes. At the end of his era, we might still be as leaky, he might have overstayed his welcome, he might have for one last time the other night tried, and failed, to do it himself by tapping into the raw vein of the footballing beast. And yes, he might have patted himself on the back during the hole fixing, but why not, that's all he knew, its all he was given. We can't know what he would have been had he not been so defined in his development by the mediocrity around him and the needs of the day, but it seems a bit unfair to wonder. What we do know is the name son, and in a team sport, to a fault, he was the fucking man.
Will be listening to this tonight!
I agree with most of that, but Mata was their best player and the one who was more likely to fade if presented with a physical battle. Fallaini enjoys physical battles, and it was unlikely to have mentally effected him at all.
That article grieves me because he doesn't deserve this public humiliation of all people. The likes of Mario - lazy, incompetent and a troublemaker - they get away scot-free, even achieving cult-like hero status for some. Cos he's a jack of the lad.
But here's a man who has been walking the talk for a good decade or so, and he gets most of the flak. It isn't coincidence that so many of his teammates reveal him to be one of the hardest trainer, if not the best. His leadership is exemplary and unquestionable. A true leader puts his team over any individualism and he was humble enough to take full responsibility because he knows he's let everyone down. Not one to deflect the blame or find a cheap excuse, this is a real man. Standing up and not shrinking away like a coward, yet with the full posture of humility and respect for others, taking full ownership as a captain, a leader of the pack.
Yes, he screwed up but go on, tell me which footballer hasn't screwed up at least once before.
A painful and undeserving ending for an otherwise club legend. He will always be my favourite Liverpool player of all-time.
But here's a man who has been walking the talk for a good decade or so, and he gets most of the flak. It isn't coincidence that so many of his teammates reveal him to be one of the hardest trainer, if not the best. His leadership is exemplary and unquestionable. A true leader puts his team over any individualism and he was humble enough to take full responsibility because he knows he's let everyone down. Not one to deflect the blame or find a cheap excuse, this is a real man. Standing up and not shrinking away like a coward, yet with the full posture of humility and respect for others, taking full ownership as a captain, a leader of the pack.
Yes, he screwed up but go on, tell me which footballer hasn't screwed up at least once before.
A painful and undeserving ending for an otherwise club legend. He will always be my favourite Liverpool player of all-time.
Well, if being condemned by your own captain on live national TV is getting away scot-free. Which it isn't. Balotelli is indeed lazy and incompetent, but he doesn't get away scot-free. Mario's an odd choice for comparison because every mistake he makes is blown up wildly - god knows what would happen if he was in court, not once but twice, for assault.
Hmm, not sure about that. I can think of a number of examples where I'd question his leadership, especially when he's been shaking his head at team mates and managerial decisions during a game. Also, if he put his team over any individualism why then did he leak his inside story about his apology to Henry Winter? Was that putting the team over individualism, or was that an attempt to make himself look like a self-sacrificing heroic figure?
Gerrard has been a terrific player for us, and should be remembered as such. I wouldn't put him anywhere near the top of the list of Liverpool captains though.
Man i dunno and I'm tired of arguing/debating cos it's really pointless at the end of the day.
I guess what I really wanted to say is I still heart Stevie.
I guess what I really wanted to say is I still heart Stevie.
God, I'm so sick of people on here calling Gerrard a palimpsest.
Nooooooooo! How?
farkmaster is a flawed writer. it's just never quite right. always trying hard though
I love that you felt obliged to proffer a semi-compliment at the end there Skullf.
'Good on you for trying Fark, you fucking shitcunt'
LOLOLOLOLO
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