Stewart Downing: How Liverpool Midfielder Is Winning Over His Critics

As he drew back his right foot―notoriously the weaker of his two―Anfield produced a collective inhale.

Stewart Downing had latched onto a dreadful error from Tottenham’s Kyle Walker, bundled his way past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and was now faced with a glorious chance to draw Liverpool level in a match that had threatened to get away from them. Given the vast majority of the Reds career that Downing has had so far, the outcome many have surprised many.

There is little doubt that, had this been a year or even as little as a few months ago, Downing’s subsequent shot would have cannoned into the legs of defender Jan Vertonghen, leaving the Reds winger facing nothing but a disappointed Kop end who would have vented that disappointment in no uncertain terms.

Yet, Downing managed to drill his low shot through the legs of the Belgian defender stationed on the line, and 16 minutes later, Steven Gerrard scored the penalty which won Liverpool an absorbing game of football, a game which Downing had played a key role in.

Sunday was just the latest in an increasingly long line of encouraging displays from the sometime England winger.

Whilst Downing’s gradual improvement over recent months may have been overplayed by some, it is clear to see and can probably be put down to the work of three men.

The first of these men is Brendan Rodgers, whose handling of his winger hasn’t always been the kindest but has served as an interesting aspect of his first year in charge at Anfield (BBC).

The Northern Irishman may have faced questions about just how he’d stand up to the characters in the Liverpool dressing room upon his employment last summer, yet here he was openly criticising a £20m player with 34 England caps to his name, albeit one that fans had hardly taken to following a less than stellar first season.

Rodgers was seemingly faced with two options, either ship Downing out at a huge loss or attempt to reinvigorate him. The second man involved in the winger’s change of fortunes perhaps had a big part to play in that.

Dr. Steve Peters is one of the leading sports psychologists in the world, and a man who comes highly recommended by two of Great Britain’s London 2012 Olympic cycling stars Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton―with the latter in particular crediting Peters for helping her handle the trappings of her success (BBC).  

Appointed at Liverpool in late November (Liverpool Echo), perhaps Peters has helped Downing unlock the talent that he undoubtedly has, clearing what seems to be an often-cluttered mind and helping him focus on benefiting the team.

The third and final one of the "Downing trio" is of course Downing himself, who responded to being both left out of the team and shunted back to left-back in a calm, professional manner.

Despite appearing to be on the verge of leaving Liverpool more times than trains pull out of Lime Street Station, the winger has now started 16 of the last 17 league games, scoring three goals and directly making four others in that time.

The strike against Spurs on Sunday ensures that Downing has now scored in back-to-back Premier League matches following his early goal in the 4-0 win over Wigan, and whilst neither strike will win awards for his part in them, they did at least showcase an ability to get into goalscoring positions―a key talent in this Liverpool formation and a skill which could ensure that he makes even more appearances than he has been making already.

He might not possess the skills and abilities of a Luis Suarez or a Philippe Coutinho, but Downing can still have a large role to play in this Liverpool team.

If he gets a chance like Sunday’s again, those fans in the Kop end might not have the need to hold their breath for much longer.