Brendan Rodgers admitted he felt a bit awkward about dropping Steven Gerrard when he saw that Liverpool had produced a special-edition Gerrard-tribute match programme to mark the 16th anniversary of their captain’s debut.
“I wasn’t aware it was 16 years until I walked into the dressing room and saw the programme. I spoke to him yesterday and he didn’t mention it, so I felt bad when I saw about 20 pictures on the programme,” Rodgers said.
It sounded as though the irony helped to lighten the mood. It probably needed lightening.
Consider Gerrard’s description of how he felt when Phil Thompson told him to go and warm up after about an hour of Liverpool’s 2-0 win against Blackburn on November 29th, 1998. As so often with Gerrard, there is a peculiar strain of anxiety running through the recollection.
“All the subs were applauded. Well, nearly all. When I ran towards the Kop, did they clap me? Did they f**k! Nothing. Nerves filled every part of my body. I could see the doubt on the fans’ faces as they watched me warm up. I could almost hear them say to each other: ‘Who’s this skinny little twat? Who the f**k’s he? I hope he doesn’t come on.’ I was shitting myself . . . My debut awaited. I nearly dropped a load.”
If that was how unhappy Gerrard felt at the moment when he was about to fulfil his lifelong dream, you can’t imagine his stream of consciousness was particularly positive on Saturday as he stood on the sideline under the gaze of 45,000 people, watching Liverpool and Stoke play out a low-quality game.
At least the reception from the fans was rather different this time: when Gerrard stepped off the bench to warm up, the crowd applauded. But given his notoriously gloomy cast of mind, the cheers probably sounded like pity to Gerrard.
Not doing badly
He should reflect that he is actually not doing too badly. Sixteen years is a long time in football. Of the other 24 players who were involved in that Liverpool-Blackburn match in 1998, 21 have retired. Damien Duff, Kevin Davies and David Dunn are still playing, but none of them remain at Premier League level.
Gerrard has already clocked up more than 1,000 minutes in the Premier League this season, which is more than any other outfield player at Liverpool. It’s been the worst season of his career so far, with constant debate over whether he still deserves his place. But, paradoxically, the criticism has arisen largely because the club continues to rely on him to an unhealthy extent.
It’s all very well to talk about leaving him out, until you look at the alternatives. Lucas Leiva and Joe Allen lack presence. Emre Can scarcely looks any fitter than Gerrard, despite being nearly 14 years younger. So he remains as one of the most important players in a squad full of players who cannot seem to find their form. Gerrard is used to that pressure, it’s just that he no longer has the strength to carry the team as he once did.
While Gerrard’s decline has been well-documented, Frank Lampard has been winning plaudits for his remarkable effectiveness at Manchester City. But Lampard has played only 205 minutes in the league this season. He has only completed one 90-minute match, against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last week. Usually City ask Lampard for 20 to 30 minutes and, even at 36, he still has the energy to do that. So while City are using Lampard in a way that allows him to maximise his impact, Liverpool’s reliance on Gerrard magnifies his flaws.
Players to step up
Gerrard would probably benefit from more time on the sidelines, but what Liverpool really need is for the other players to step up. Players such as Adam Lallana and Lazar Markovic have to show why Liverpool spent more than £20 million to bring them to Anfield.
They might retort that it’s difficult to do that from the bench. The case of Lallana is particularly curious. He is the most expensive player in Liverpool’s squad, but ranks 13th out of 22 players in terms of minutes played, having started only six out of 13 games in the league.
Lallana and Lambert played nearly 200 games together for Southampton. They have started together in the league only twice this season, and maybe it’s just a coincidence that on each of those occasions, one of them managed to score a goal. In a squad conspicuously lacking in chemistry, it’s odd that Rodgers overlooks the potential of that established partnership.
At the weekend, Rodgers talked about how to restore Liverpool’s form: “It’s about working with the players, really consolidating, defining, and providing even more clarity in their roles.” Rodgers is supposed to provide that clarity, but he is also the man who wrote in his programme notes, seemingly without noticing any contradiction: “Only our confidence has been knocked. Belief has not been affected.”
There is one consolation for Liverpool as a disappointing season approaches its mid-point, which is that their players have underperformed so badly that there must be potential for improvement. But until Rodgers figures out what sort of a team he is trying to build from the strange squad he has assembled, it’s hard to see any of the individual players proving their worth.