Everything about Steven Gerrard totally explained
Steven George Gerrard MBE (born
30 May 1980,
Whiston, Merseyside) is an
English football player. He is the
captain of
Liverpool, where he wears the
number 8 shirt. He has been called an influential He has been nominated three times for the
FIFA Player of the Year, in 2005, 2006 and 2007. On
5 February 2008, it was announced he'd been voted by fans as the
Nationwide England Player of the Year for 2007.
Early career
Gerrard started out playing for local team Whiston Juniors. He was noticed by Liverpool's scouts aged just 8, and joined the Reds as a schoolboy in 1987. He played relatively few games, with late growth spurts restricting him to only 20 games between the ages of 14 and 16.
Aged 14, Gerrard had trials with various clubs, including
Manchester United. In his autobiography he claimed that this was "to pressure Liverpool into giving me a
YTS contract." During this time he'd an accident involving a rusty garden fork and could have lost his toe.
Gerrard signed his first professional contract with Liverpool on
5 November 1997.
Liverpool won their two-legged ties against Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea in the knock out stages and they went on to reach the Champions League final. However, in the meantime, the club only finished 5th in the league - more than thirty points behind the champions Chelsea. Liverpool did reach the Carling Cup final, but were beaten 3–2 by Chelsea after extra time. Gerrard headed an own goal with Liverpool winning with ten minutes left of normal time. This proved to be one of the lowest points of his Anfield career and once again, media speculation arose that he'd be moving on from Liverpool at the end of the season.
The Istanbul Final
Liverpool played
AC Milan in the
2005 Champions' League final in
Istanbul. The game started badly. At half-time Liverpool were 3–0 down. It appeared that AC Milan had the trophy won already. Rafa Benitez made a number of tactical changes at half time, including the substitution of
Dietmar Hamann for
Steve Finnan which allowed Gerrard to push further forward, and Liverpool launched one of the most famous comebacks in sporting history.
During a six minute stretch in the second half, Liverpool scored three times to level the game at 3–3. Gerrard headed in the first goal in from a
John Arne Riise cross in the 54th minute. Two minutes later
Vladimír Šmicer scored the Reds' second goal. Moments later, Gerrard was brought down in the box by
Gennaro Gattuso and won a penalty.
Xabi Alonso's spot kick was saved by
Dida, the goalkeeper, but he failed to hold the ball and Alonso scored from the rebound to make it 3–3.
There were no further goals in the game. Liverpool went on to win the match via a
penalty shootout. Gerrard became the second youngest captain ever to lift the
European Cup (
Didier Deschamps is the youngest). Gerrard didn't take a penalty, he'd have taken Liverpool's fifth spot kick if
Jerzy Dudek hadn't already saved from
Andriy Shevchenko to win the match for Liverpool.
Gerrard capped the season by captaining Liverpool to victory in the
FA Cup. He scored twice in the Final against
West Ham, including an equalizer in stoppage time to send the game into extra-time. The 35-yard strike (past
Shaka Hislop) has been called the greatest goal in FA Cup final history, and was named
Match of the Day's
Goal of the Season. Gerrard also scored in the penalty shoot out.
His goals in the 2006 FA Cup final makes Gerrard the only player to have scored in all four major cup finals that it's possible for an England-based player to take part in. Gerrard's goals were: FA Cup (2006 vs West Ham United), League Cup (2003 vs Manchester United), UEFA Cup (2001 vs Deportivo Alaves), and European Cup (2005 vs AC Milan).
2006–07: Champions League Runners-Up
Liverpool claimed the first domestic silverware of the 2006–07 season by beating Chelsea 2–1 to win the
FA Community Shield. As Gerrard was rested from the starting line-up, Jamie Carragher was made captain for the match and thus lifted the cup; Gerrard replaced
Boudewijn Zenden on the hour mark, and so added another medal to his collection.
Liverpool were unsuccessful domestically. They finished 3rd in the
Premiership, 21 points adrift of the champions
Manchester United and on equal points with 4th placed
Arsenal. In the
FA Cup, they were defeated by Arsenal at the third-round stage.
In the
Carling Cup they were again knocked out by
Arsenal at the quarter-final stage. Gerrard scored in the match but couldn't prevent his side suffering a 6–3 defeat at home.
However, Liverpool fared better in the Champions League. Defending Champions and favourites
FC Barcelona were beaten in the last 16, and joint favourites Chelsea in the semi-final. In the semi, Gerrard provided the assist for
Daniel Agger to score Liverpool's equalizer and later scored the third penalty for Liverpool in the shoot-out. Liverpool faced
AC Milan for the title on
23 May, in a repeat of the 2005 final, but lost 2–1.
2007–08
In Liverpool's first game of the new campaign against
Aston Villa at
Villa Park, Gerrard secured Liverpool three valuable points after scoring a curling free kick into the top-right corner from 25 yards out at the 87th minute, just two minutes after
Gareth Barry had equalized for Villa through a penalty. Gerrard was awarded the
Man of the Match award. The win marks Liverpool's first opening day victory in the Premiership since 2002. In the
Champions League qualifier versus
Toulouse F.C., Gerrard was substituted in the 65th minute with a suspected injury. While this was later confirmed as a hairline fracture in his toe he'd return to play only four days later versus
Chelsea. Gerrard played the entirety of the match as it finished in a 1–1 draw.
On
October 28,
2007, Gerrard played his 400th game for Liverpool against Arsenal, scoring a goal. Gerrard was elected fans player of the match.
Gerrard scored in nearly every gameduring November and by scoring in the away Champions League tie against
Olympic Marseille he became the first Liverpool player since
John Aldridge in 1989 to score in 7 games in a row.
On
April 13th 2008 he made his 300th
Premier League appearance against
Blackburn Rovers F.C., and marked the occasion by scoring the opening goal. Liverpool finished fourth in the League and reached the semi-finals of the European Champions League eventually going out to Chelsea. Gerrard ended the season with 22 goals surpassing his goals total of the 06-07 season and was one of the nominees for the PFA player of the year alongside teammate
Fernando Torres. He was also selected for the PFA Team of the tear for the fifth year in a row and sixth overall.
Transfer speculation
Media speculation of Gerrard's future was rife during two consecutive summer transfer windows, with him being most strongly linked with a move to
Chelsea both times. During the summer of 2004, However, by July contract negotiations broke down between Gerrard and the club. Reports stated that Gerrard was about to leave Liverpool, and Chelsea were again reported to have tabled a British record bid of thirty-two million
pounds for the player. Throughout the episode, Liverpool remained insistent that they wanted Gerrard to stay, but on
5 July, Gerrard stated publicly that he wished to leave.
To the delight of Liverpool fans, Gerrard changed his mind the next day and pledged his future to the club. He also apologized to the club's supporters and insisted that there were no get-out clauses in the new contract that he'd be signing. He also offered to give up his captaincy, but was told by Rafael Benítez that it wasn't necessary. On the morning of
8 July, Gerrard signed a new four-year deal with Liverpool alongside teammate,
Jamie Carragher.
In summer 2006, Gerrard quashed transfer rumours, publicly stating, "I'm not going to get involved in all that kind of speculation again; I'm settled and happy at Liverpool, and I'm not going to go through another summer like the last two. I'll be staying here until the day someone tells me they don't want me."
Prior to the Champions League final in May 2007, Gerrard stated that he was in talks to sign a new contract with Liverpool, saying:
"I've never been happier with my football. I'd love nothing better than to get this contract sorted and signed ... We need to keep all of our big players here so it's very important we get the contracts sorted out so they can be here for a long time." It was announced on
4 May 2007, Gerrard would tie up a
£120,000 pounds a week contract to keep him at Liverpool until the end of his career, despite already being contracted until 2009 . This contract would make him the highest paid British player. This was confirmed on
4 June 2007, when Gerrard and team-mate
Jamie Carragher signed deals that would tie them to Liverpool until July 2011. On the 20th of April 2008, it was reported by
The Daily Mirror that
Chelsea FC had lined up a £33 million pound bid for the midfielder, this after 2 previous failed attempts.
International career
Gerrard was given his international debut by
Kevin Keegan against
Ukraine on
31 May 2000. It was 18 months and only 44 games since his debut for the Liverpool first team. That summer, he was picked for the England squad for
Euro 2000. In an unsuccessful campaign for England, Gerrard only made one substitute appearance, coming on for Michael Owen after 61 minutes, in the team's sole victory — a 1-0 defeat of
Germany.
Gerrard was one of three Liverpool players including
Michael Owen (3 goals) and
Emile Heskey (1 goal) who scored in the
World Cup qualifying game in September 2001
against Germany (1– 5 away victory), this being his first international goal. England successfully qualified for the
2002 World Cup, but Gerrard was forced to pull out of the squad to undergo surgery on a problematic groin injury. This operation finally put an end to injury problems that had plagued Gerrard since his early teens.
The
2004 European Football Championship saw Gerrard finally get a starting role in a major international tournament. Late in England's first game against
France, Gerrard's back-pass was intercepted by
Thierry Henry, who was then brought down by
David James, winning France a penalty.
Zinedine Zidane duly scored to give France victory 2-1. England went on to win their next two group games to progress in second place, with Gerrard scoring his first goal at a finals competition with the third goal against
Switzerland. England lost in the next round to
Portugal, with Gerrard being substituted in the 81st minute.
Gerrard suffered an injury scare days before the
2006 World Cup in
Germany, when it was suggested that he might be ruled out of England's first game of the tournament; however, he was deemed fit to make his first ever World Cup appearance, and started in the side that beat
Paraguay 1-0. He then went on to score twice in the group stages of the tournament – first netting England's second goal in a 2-0 victory over
Trinidad & Tobago with a long-range, curled strike (coincidentally, again past Hislop) in injury time. This victory, in which Gerrard's Liverpool team-mate
Peter Crouch also scored, ensured England's progress to the second round of the tournament with a game to spare. Gerrard was then initially rested for the final group game against
Sweden, as a precaution against picking up a second
booking that would have ruled him out of the second round match (having already received one against Paraguay). He came off the bench to score a powerfully headed goal in the 85th minute, giving England the lead in a game that finished 2-2. Gerrard was one of three England players to see their penalty saved by
Ricardo Pereira in the quarter-final penalty shoot-out which was won by Portugal. Gerrard finished the tournament as England's top goalscorer with two goals.
Gerrard was regarded by both the footballing media and bookmakers to be one of the prime candidates for the England captaincy after
David Beckham resigned the post.
William Hill gave odds of 2/1 for Gerrard (with
John Terry as favourite on 1/2 odds). With 47 caps at that time, Gerrard was a more experienced international player (as opposed to Terry's 29), but
Steve McClaren chose to give the post to the Chelsea skipper, with Gerrard as vice-captain. On
October 13,
2007, Gerrard captained the England squad for the first time in a competitive match.
Due to England failing to qualify for The
European Championships in 2008,
Steve McClaren was fired by the F.A.
Fabio Capello was hired and is responsible for deciding who the captains arm band will be given to.
Personal life
Gerrard is married to
Alex Curran, and the couple have two daughters: Lilly-Ella Gerrard (born
23 February,
2004) and Lexie Gerrard (born
9 May,
2006). They married at
Cliveden on
June 16,
2007, the same day as the weddings of
England team-mates
Gary Neville,
Michael Carrick and rock star
Rod Stewart, a day after England captain
John Terry's. He has an older brother named Paul (not to be confused with
Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard) and his parents are divorced.
On
1 September2006, Gerrard published his first
autobiography, entitled
Gerrard: My Autobiography, in which he talks extensively about his personal life, Liverpool and England careers. Gerrard states in his autobiography that his ambition before he retires is to get a "well done" from manager
Rafael Benitez. The formal ceremony is expected to take place in
2007.
On
29 December 2006, Gerrard was made a
Member of the Order of the British Empire by
the Queen in her
New Year Honours List, for services to sport.
On
October 1,
2007 he'd a low-speed car accident in his
BMW X5, knocking down a 10 year old boy who ran into the road outside Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School in
Southport. Gerrard later visited the boy and handed him football boots signed by the boy's favourite player,
Manchester United's
Wayne Rooney, who is a teammate of Gerrard for
England's international team. The boy has since recovered fully from his accident.
On
December 11,
2007 whilst he was scoring for
Liverpool against
Marseille, his house was being burgled.
Club statistics
Correct as of 17 April 2008
International goals
» Scores and results list England's goal tally first.
| # |
Date |
Venue |
Opponent |
Score |
Result |
Competition |
| 1 |
2001-09-01 |
Munich, Germany |
|
2-1 |
5-1 |
2002 FIFA World Cup Qual. |
| 2 |
2002-10-16 |
Southampton, England |
|
2-2 |
2-2 |
UEFA Euro 2004 Qual. |
| 3 |
2003-06-03 |
Leicester, England |
|
1-0 |
2-1 |
Friendly match |
| 4 |
2004-06-17 |
Coimbra, Portugal |
|
3-0 |
3-0 |
UEFA Euro 2004 |
| 5 |
2004-09-04 |
Vienna, Austria |
|
2-0 |
2-2 |
2006 FIFA World Cup Qual. |
| 6 |
2005-03-30 |
Newcastle, England |
|
1-0 |
2-0 |
2006 FIFA World Cup Qual. |
| 7 |
2006-05-30 |
Manchester, England |
|
1-0 |
3-1 |
Friendly match |
| 8 |
2006-06-15 |
Nuremberg, Germany |
|
2-0 |
2-0 |
2006 FIFA World Cup |
| 9 |
2006-06-20 |
Cologne, Germany |
|
2-1 |
2-2 |
2006 FIFA World Cup |
| 10 |
2006-09-02 |
Manchester, England |
|
2-0 |
5-0 |
UEFA Euro 2008 Qual. |
| 11 |
2007-03-28 |
Barcelona, Spain |
|
1-0 |
3-0 |
UEFA Euro 2008 Qual. |
| 12 |
2007-03-28 |
Barcelona, Spain |
|
2-0 |
3-0 |
UEFA Euro 2008 Qual. |
Career honours/achievements
Liverpool
Runner Up
Personal
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE): 2007
UEFA Team of the Year: 2005, 2006, 2007
FIFPro World XI: 2006-2007
PFA Player of the Year: 2006
BBC Sports Personality of the Year: 2005
UEFA Champions' League Most Valuable Player: 2004–05
Member of PFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Barclays Player of the Month: March 2001, March 2003, December 2004, April 2006
PFA Young Player of the Year: 2001
PFA Fans' Player of the Year: 2001
References and notes
Further Information
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