Gerrard the key to England’s hopes?
In Saturday’s FA Cup final, Steven Gerrard gave the kind of performance which should have made England fans breathe a sigh of relief and stop worrying about broken metatarsals anda forward line being lead by the slow and goal shy Peter Crouch.
At 2-0 down, Liverpool seemed down and out. However, one killer Gerrard pass (and superb Cissé finish) and fantastic volley later, and Liverpool were level. Even Paul Konch
esky’s fluke was not enough to finish Gerrard off. His stunning 35 yard last minute volley, despite suffering from cramp, was the kind of moment he has produced regularly for Liverpool during the last couple of seasons.
In the final group game of last year’s Champions League, Liverpool were facing a similarly difficult situation. Needing to beat Olympiakos to progress by 2 clear goals, Liverpool fell behind to Rivaldo’s first half free kick. A Gerrard inspired Liverpool roused in the second half with another stunning effort from Gerrard making it 3-1 with a few minutes left. Then, in the final, it was Gerrard who again showed his team the way back from 3-0, with a header to reduce the deficit to 3-1.
Ask any Liverpool fan and he will be able countless other superhuman performances from Gerrard in pulling his club out of adversity. Yet Gerrard has consistently failed to produce the same form for England. Many blame this on fatigue, the argument being that by the time improtant events come around, Gerrard’s tank is running on empty. Doubtless this is a valid point and the omens do not look good for the summer as Gerrard has already played over 50 games this season. However, it fails to explain a series of lacklustre displays by Gerrard during the last two qualifying campaigns.
Maybe Gerrard is the type of player that needs to be surrounded by a mediocre team which relies on his leadership, in order to be inspired to consistently produce his best. In a team where the supporting cast is superior to that at Liverpool, Gerrard struggles to develop the same level of motivation, preferring to share the burden of leadership and his performances suffer as a result. So maybe Rafa Benitez should think long and hard about how many top class players he should sign for Liverpool as they may in fact blunt the performances of Stevie G.
