AND SO Steven Gerrard has announced his retirement from international football 14 years after making his debut v Ukraine in 2000.
Although many Liverpool fans will be thankful if it means squeezing a few more years out of his legs to play for the Reds, I think the captain’s retirement will be a big loss for the national team, where he is still probably England’s best midfielder.
Reflecting on his career with the Three Lions, it is tempting to go along with the media narrative that he never performed for his country the way he did for Liverpool. From my vantage point at Anfield I’ve heard all manner of ingrates telling him how he ‘let his country down’ post the World Cup in South Africa and the last Euros.
Give me strength, he was probably the only player England had that played well in South Africa and the Euros. It’s a lot easier for the knuckle draggers to chant “ROONEY” though, despite poor showings in both campaigns, which must explain why he and no other player has seemed to carry the burden of rubbish English campaigns the way Gerrard has.
For my money, Gerrard deserves all the accolades he will get as he retires from the national scene. This was a player who never fussed despite being played out of position and taken for granted for almost all his England career by a cavalcade of substandard managers.
We’ve endured him being played on the left, the eye-wateringly dull soap opera of the Lampard/Gerrard midfield axis. You know the one, they couldn’t play together – as if their unique properties when combined resulted in some kind of midfield anti-matter that no manager could fathom a way out of.
When he was the finest box-to-box midfielder in Europe he was shackled as a deep-lying centre mid or a wide player. We had the appalling Stuart Pearce giving Scott Parker the captain’s armband in a hugely public snub and, again, Gerrard said nothing and got on with the job.
That was after the time he was captain, but he was third in line to the throne as England had three captains with the likeable John Terry and Rio Ferdinand in front of him.
I will remember Gerrard as the player who was at the heart of all England’s best moments in an era when they were generally second best (and that’s being kind).
The stunning 5-1 victory over Germany, when he scored with the trademark strike from the edge of the box, the performances in Portugal in 04 when that England team, probably the best of his era, went out on penalties in the quarter finals.
The opening goal in South Africa in 2010, the three unbelievable crosses for three headed goals in Euro 12 when he was comfortably England’s stand out player and to his final goal for England which sealed qualification to the ill-fated Hodgson World Cup of 2014.
So, chapeau Steven, chapeau. After 114 caps and 21 goals, It’s probably only now that England will realise how lucky they’ve been to have had you at their disposal for the last 14 years. There will no doubt be a sense of regret that you were messed around by lesser men at the peak of your footballing prowess in your mid to late 20s when England should have built a team around you as any other nation would have.
Bizarrely, It feels like they’ve been trying to get you out of the team for as long as you’ve been in it but the numbers don’t lie. In a truly blessed career you’ve been England’s and Liverpool’s best midfielder and everyone must respect your decision to concentrate on club football for the playing time you have left.
Personally, I think you could continue to play for England – I look around and ask who in central midfield is better? But… the national team’s loss will be Liverpool’s gain as long as it means a few more years of you stepping out at Anfield in the red shirt.
Yawn. An overrated player and an overrated retirement.
Yawn.
Another internet troll with garbage statements that don’t resemble the facts.
You are boring and predictable Rupert. Any evidence to back up your attention seeking statement would be welcome… Have to agree with Mr Girling that England’s loss will be Liverpool’s gain… Keep the head up Stevie son and justify your decision by bringing us all the Premier League this year… YNWA
Although many have wittily called them the Golden Shower, it is only when they retire that you realise just how good that generation of England players, of which Gerrard belonged to, were.
Eriksson deserves a lot of blame for the failure of these players to realise their potential in an England shirt. His indulgence of Beckham meant that formation and strategy were built around getting the best out of him, even when it was clear that from 2003 onwards he was no longer in his prime. Sven’s reluctance to drop any of his star names, or at least leave them out of the starting XI, for the overall benefit of the team meant we had to endure the tedium of the ‘Gerrard-Lampard’ arguments as well as seeing players who may have been perfect midfield foils (Hargreaves, Barry, Carrick, etc) either overlooked or underused.
Gerrard performed his international duty with class and dignity, which is more than what can be said for some of his team mates. As with Liverpool, he played in nearly every position, displaying a tactical flexibility which even today he is not always given credit for. I’ll always remember that goal against Germany and also his performances for qualification for WC2010 which were excellent. As with others, his supposed failings with England cannot be viewed in isolation.
Every fan of clubs who had members of the (for argument’s sake) Golden Generation like to think it was THEIR player who was mistreated by the national set-up and was left under-appreciated by the Wembley mob. That’s unavoidable. Remember how they booed Ashley Cole for the crime of…no, sorry I can’t remember what he did that merited such a reaction. The tribal nature of club football permeates perceptions of the national side to such an extent it’s amazing England players don’t retire straight after winning their first cap.
Time for the next sacrificial lambs to take their place, Stevie.
I think your absolutely spot on there mate, I already feel bad for Sterling and Henderson.
Excellent article. Helps me get over the rage I felt reading some of the dross written about him yesterday.
Thank you Stevie, YNWA.
Stevie has been a great servant for club and country, and I am happy that he can now focus all of his energy now on Liverpool.
It would be great (although i acknowledge unlikely) if Sturridge, Henderson, Sterling, Johnson, Flanagan, Lallana and Lambert all do the same and resign from the international team!!
Never has such a talented player never had a team built around him, Zidane, Messi and Maradona never had to play on the left, or as a defensive midfielders but Gerrard was pushed from pillar to post to allow England to be built around Beckham, Lampard and Rooney, Fat lot of good it did Stevie and England, but he never complained and just got on with it. Gerrard will go down in the history of football for being the best attacking midfielder / second striker / no 10. Never to play in his best position in 114 matches.
“The best attacking midfielder / second striker / no. 10 never to play in his best position in 114 matches”.
Unless you include Scholes and Lampard who would have been equally justified in having a team built around their talents. His high tempo style just wasn’t as suited to international football as club football, which is why he didn’t consistently hit the same heights for England.
Can you say that again?
And listen to yourself?
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/aug/24/steven-gerrard-wayne-rooney-england-captain
Stevie G <3