02 Jan 2015 14:43:45
All things considered; I'm glad Stevie has called it time. I'll miss the man, but I don't think Liverpool will miss the player on the pitch.

For me, he is a legend. My childhood hero and the best attacking midfielder in the world from about 2005-2008.

Gerrard personifies everything good about Liverpool. Pride, passion, determination, spirit and quality. He also personifies everything wrong with the club though. There is an aura around him as though what he has done in the past is an excuse for the lack of what he is doing in the present.

It's almost an arrogance. This has been Liverpool's biggest problem. We can't keep living off our past, just as Gerrard can't. I so wish Rodgers had used him properly because I think we'd have got him and the club that allusive title.

I'm am going to choose to believe that this was Gerrard's decision that he took to put the club before himself. For me, It is the right decision for us and him.

Hopefully he can win a league title in America and without his status holding us back, we can start pushing towards winning a title here in England.

All flames eventually turn to ash. Gerrard is a mortal just like the rest of us and cannot rise back up like a phoenix. Liverpool FC is immortal though and can and will rise again if it receives the correct leadership and puts the future ahead of the past in it's list of priorities.

We don't need the next Steven Gerrard. We need the first Jordan Henderson. We don't need the next Carragher. We need the first Mama Sakho! We don't need the next Suarez. We need the first Daniel Sturridge.

The past should stay in the past and the future should be left to those who have a place in it. Liverpool FC needs to realise that. We do not have a god given right to be a top club. We need to earn it and the only people capable of achieving that are the players we will have over the next 3-5 years and beyond.

Thank you Gerrard.

1.) 02 Jan 2015
02 Jan 2015 14:59:57
I agree, Sakho , Henderson and Sturridge could be the perfect spine for us to build on .now only if we could complete that spine with a competent goalkeeper then the rest of the squad could be very successful if played in correct positions. c'mon Brendan get a decent keeper and we will rule once again. YNWA.

2.) 02 Jan 2015
02 Jan 2015 15:38:41
I'm not sure I know the correct positions anymore. I always count around 4 players being played out of position when we play anymore. Starting to think i'm crazy.

3.) 02 Jan 2015
02 Jan 2015 15:54:40
All I know is Henderson is wasted playing at wing back hopefully r New captain will play centre midfield all the time from now on.

4.) 02 Jan 2015
Tommy you are spot on mate, Henderson looks different class in the middle.

5.) 02 Jan 2015
Please don't put Henderson in the same class as Gerrard even in the future, he just does not have what it takes to hit the heights as Gerrard hit for us.

6.) 02 Jan 2015
Well said EMS!

7.) 02 Jan 2015
02 Jan 2015 17:26:28
Bit unfair on Henderson there 18and5, he's come on leaps and bounds in recent seasons and could be great for us for another 7/8 seasons. Agree he's not a direct replacement for SG, we do need to find a midfield partner that complements his ability.

8.) 02 Jan 2015
Whoever disagreed to my earlier post is in cloud cuckoo land if they TRULY believe Henderson could emulate what Gerrard has done for LFC.
Put it his way, a lot of people put Gerrard as the best LFC player ever, a lot put him 2nd or 3rd, some others say in top 5, some more may say top 10, I don't think anyone (or very few anyway) would put him outside top ten, now to Henderson, I and many others would be able to name at least 100 players who have and always would be better than Henderson and that allows for him to improve in the future.
Anyone who thinks different, please explain.

9.) 02 Jan 2015
Johnnyr1970, I have said as much myself about the improvement in Henderson but come on he's not and never will be in the same league as Gerrard.

10.) 02 Jan 2015
Henderson doesn't need to be like Gerrard. That is the point. He just needs to focus on being Jordan Henderson and people like you are the reason this club is stuck in the 1970's.

Henderson certainly has the leadership qualities and he is a very good player. Roy Keane wasn't world class but he was part of a functional team. That is more important than being a one man team.

11.) 02 Jan 2015
EMS, "it's because of people like me that the club is stuck in the 70's",
I have read numerous long posts from yourself so explain in another one exactly what the f**k you are on about.

12.) 02 Jan 2015
Another thing EMS, I never said henderson had to be like Gerrard, just that he isn't and never will be in the same league as him. Why don't you ask the opinion of Ed01 who is a favourite of yours and who isn't very fond of Gerrard the person if he truly thinks he can emulate what Gerrard has done for LFC, which is what I said originally.

13.) 03 Jan 2015
18and5 if we want to help Hendo realize his potential at being a very good and effective captain, asking whether he can or cannot emulate SG is NOT the way to go. SG was NEVER compared to other club captains when he became captain in 2003. We need to stop going into the past and digging up stuff that make very little diff in this day and age. Let us accept Hendo for who and what he is, support him and give him the backbone he needs to be the leader we all know he can be and NEVER compare him to SG or anyone else because it is very unfair and he will defo fail.

14.) 03 Jan 2015
Redohio, It wasnt me that was comparing henderson to gerrard, and i have supported henderson giving him a lot of credit for his improvement from last season. I was telling everyone not to compare them because as you say henderson would fail.

15.) 03 Jan 2015
No one will be like stevie, the same goes for ian rush and kenny d, but i do believe hendo can become a very good midfielder in his own right and become a future captain, he is a different type of midfielder to stevie but he has all the tools to become a top player for us