Steven Gerrard played everywhere for Liverpool, even filling in at right-back in Istanbul during the Champions League final victory over AC Milan. The general consensus was that the skipper’s best position was centre-midfield but, in truth, he rarely played that role.
During the season Liverpool won the treble, Gerard Houllier used him on the right of midfield. More often than not, Gary McAlister and Didi Hamman would patrol the centre of the pitch and one of Danny Murphy or Vladimir Smicer would play on the left. Gerrard claimed ten goals that season and he’d have to wait until the 2004/05 campaign to surpass that total.
He played alongside Xabi Alonso for a season before Rafa Benitez signed Momo Sissoko and shifted his captain to the right side once again. It was a move that drew criticism. Though Sissoko and Alonso impressed, fans and media alike longed to see Gerrard central. According to reports at the time, the Liverpool No.8 wasn’t best pleased with how he was being used.
Benitez justified his decision by pointing to Gerrard’s goal record: "Steve scored 23 goals last season, playing on the right side of midfield. He is not being played as a right-winger. Are you seeing him making crosses from the byline? No. He is always getting the ball and coming inside, that is what the role is. And he had the best season of his career playing that way.”
There’s no point comparing Gerrard to Mohamed Salah - they’re polar opposites as players - but Benitez tasked his captain with exactly what Jurgen Klopp wants his Egyptian star to do. Though deployed in a wide area, that is nothing more than a starting point. In play, both were given the freedom to drift inside and influence proceedings.
The Spanish tactician pieced together a team which then allowed Gerrard to dictate play in the final third. And because of this, the Whiston-born whirlwind was more rampant than ever before. He scored 20 or more in two of the next three campaigns but his position was slightly tweaked. Instead of starting on the right, the Liverpool captain was used behind a striker in Benitez’s 4-2-3-1 system.
Over this period, the Reds brought in Lucas Leiva and Javier Mascherano, effectively distancing the need for the England international to be played in a deeper role. Liverpool spent over £20million, a decent amount at the time, to bring in two central midfielders, even though they had Gerrard. That tells you a lot about how Benitez viewed his best player
During this time of his career, Gerrard was peerless.
In 2009, Zinedine Zidane claimed the Liverpool midfielder was the best player in the world: "Is he the best in the world? He might not get the attention of Messi and Ronaldo but, yes, I think he just might be. If you don't have a player like Steven Gerrard, who is the engine room, it can affect the whole team.”
Sir Alex Ferguson made the bold call to suggest Gerrard could replace Roy Keane: “If you were looking for the player you would replace Keane with, it would be Gerrard, without question. He has become the most influential player in England, bar none. More than Vieira. Not that Vieira lacks anything, but I think that Gerrard does more for his team than Vieira does, and has way more to his game. I’ve watched him quite a lot. To me, Gerrard is Keane. Everywhere the ball is, he seems to be there. He’s got that unbelievable engine, desire, determination. Anyone would love to have Gerrard in their team.”
While Jose Mourinho admitted to the fact he tried to sign him at every club he managed with the exception of FC Porto: “I tried to bring him to Chelsea, I tried to bring him to Inter, I tried to bring him to Real Madrid, but he was always a dear enemy. I was dreaming of having Claude Makelele, Gerrard and Frank Lampard in midfield.”
But he was only so highly-regarded because of how Benitez was using him. The team was shaped around getting the best out of him. The likes of Mascherano, Alonso and Sissoko all facilitated Gerrard’s marauding runs into the box. Had he attempted to make them while playing in a midfield two, the team would’ve suffered.
Gerrard could’ve been a brilliant centre-midfielder, but both Houllier and Benitez realised he could be much more than that. England managers did, too. It’s why he was often used in wide areas. Not because he was being shoehorned into the XI but because he was much more effective there than the common consensus suggested.
Towards the end of his career on Merseyside, Brendan Rodgers decided to use him as a deep-lying playmaker. He wasn’t tasked with shielding the defence - that was up to Jordan Henderson - and instead, he’d be the man to set the tempo. His vision was utilised, often playing perfectly weighted passes into the feet of Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez.
Even in today’s world, with teams taking more risks than ever before, a 27-year-old version of Gerrard would’ve been treated as an attacking midfielder, just as Kevin de Bruyne is. The City playmaker may start in a midfield three but Pep Guardiola has carved out a bespoke role for him in his system. Would he be trusted to play in a midfield two though? Highly unlikely. Managers would’ve done the same with Gerrard if he was around now. They’d have shaped their entire team around ensuring they have enough protection in key places to allow him to do what he was best at.
When Guardiola does it, it is genius. When Benitez did just that with Gerrard but instead started him on the right, he was accused of wasting his most talented player. In reality, Bentirez unleashed the real Gerrard onto an unsuspecting world. He would’ve been shackled as a centre-midfielder and Liverpool desperately needed him to be as free as possible, and he paved the way for the likes of Salah to do what his does at Anfield today.
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March 27, 2020 at 02:00AM
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Mohamed Salah and Liverpool keep benefiting from genius Rafa Benitez tactic Steven Gerrard disliked - Liverpool.com
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