There are still a couple of games at which the team must make an appearance but in reality the season is over. Of all the players the one that has been most intriguing, perplexing and, yes, at times disappointing has been our captain and best player.
About two games into the season I remember a WUM making the comment - "I'd sell Gerrard - his legs are gone." The response was swift and predictably savage. Nearly 8 months later I wonder what response that same poster would receive were he to repeat the comment?
Plenty of us have been howling for Gerrard to be put in midfield for a period as our stocks in that area were clearly bordering on non-existant. It didn't happen and, on the rare occasions when Gerrard did move to the middle in a game he looked either uninterested or uncommitted. Some said tired - others tried to excuse him due to injury but as he racked up games the excuse became more tenuous.
Tonight, contrary to any other suggestion, he was largely playing midfield and, for about 80 minutes he was in the thick of it. He set the tone with a surging run in the opening minutes before overplaying the ball to Babel. He got back in defence while Aquilani kept Kuyt company, moving, passing and even looking to create room for a shot on the edge of the box. Plenty of posters said he was anonymous from the 2nd goal – I thought it was earlier than that. They said he disappeared but I think he was exhausted. He did more running in a game than for quite some time and it was to be expected that he’d tire. Give him 6 or 7 games in that position and I think he’d have the miles in the legs that he’s missing just now. He can play the midfield role IMO and fitness would not be an issue.
Many have commented that the searing, thunder bolts that Gerrard was dispatching with regularity in prior seasons have disappeared. It was a comment that was gaining momentum over the last 2 or 3 months prior to our visit to Burnley. Gerrard's second, on first inspection, was a return of our Captain Marvel. The thing that caught my eye - apart from a superbly crafted and placed strike - was the technique. In fact it wasn't a thunderous strike from yester-year at all - it was a curled, sided footed and superbly placed effort. Those shots of blinding power are still a missing factor in our play.
Contrary to popular opinion the first affliction of age is not the muscle but rather the joint or, more specifically, the ligaments between bone and muscle. The elasticity reduces, the joint feels looser and subconsciously you find that you hold back a little; not that you don’t have the strength or power but rather you’re not confident in those pressure points – your joints – withstanding the impact. The difference, IMO, between Gerrard’s Burnley strike and those of prior years is his reluctance to hurl his leg and foot at the ball with reckless power and so subject his ligaments to the consequential forces. He’s feeling the impact of age in the ligaments – particularly the knees – and after that it is only a short trip to being over the hill.
So with that in mind I’ll repeat the posters comment simply to see if public opinion on our best player - at least on these boards - has been swayed by our worst season in 15 years. “I’d sellSteven Gerrard – his legs are goneâ€.
About two games into the season I remember a WUM making the comment - "I'd sell Gerrard - his legs are gone." The response was swift and predictably savage. Nearly 8 months later I wonder what response that same poster would receive were he to repeat the comment?
Plenty of us have been howling for Gerrard to be put in midfield for a period as our stocks in that area were clearly bordering on non-existant. It didn't happen and, on the rare occasions when Gerrard did move to the middle in a game he looked either uninterested or uncommitted. Some said tired - others tried to excuse him due to injury but as he racked up games the excuse became more tenuous.
Tonight, contrary to any other suggestion, he was largely playing midfield and, for about 80 minutes he was in the thick of it. He set the tone with a surging run in the opening minutes before overplaying the ball to Babel. He got back in defence while Aquilani kept Kuyt company, moving, passing and even looking to create room for a shot on the edge of the box. Plenty of posters said he was anonymous from the 2nd goal – I thought it was earlier than that. They said he disappeared but I think he was exhausted. He did more running in a game than for quite some time and it was to be expected that he’d tire. Give him 6 or 7 games in that position and I think he’d have the miles in the legs that he’s missing just now. He can play the midfield role IMO and fitness would not be an issue.
Many have commented that the searing, thunder bolts that Gerrard was dispatching with regularity in prior seasons have disappeared. It was a comment that was gaining momentum over the last 2 or 3 months prior to our visit to Burnley. Gerrard's second, on first inspection, was a return of our Captain Marvel. The thing that caught my eye - apart from a superbly crafted and placed strike - was the technique. In fact it wasn't a thunderous strike from yester-year at all - it was a curled, sided footed and superbly placed effort. Those shots of blinding power are still a missing factor in our play.
Contrary to popular opinion the first affliction of age is not the muscle but rather the joint or, more specifically, the ligaments between bone and muscle. The elasticity reduces, the joint feels looser and subconsciously you find that you hold back a little; not that you don’t have the strength or power but rather you’re not confident in those pressure points – your joints – withstanding the impact. The difference, IMO, between Gerrard’s Burnley strike and those of prior years is his reluctance to hurl his leg and foot at the ball with reckless power and so subject his ligaments to the consequential forces. He’s feeling the impact of age in the ligaments – particularly the knees – and after that it is only a short trip to being over the hill.
So with that in mind I’ll repeat the posters comment simply to see if public opinion on our best player - at least on these boards - has been swayed by our worst season in 15 years. “I’d sellSteven Gerrard – his legs are goneâ€.
