Liverpool: Why Steven Gerrard Is Under Most Pressure Following Loss at West Ham
A grim loss away to West Ham United on Saturday night proved a hammer blow to Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool side, as a second successive Premier League loss in September, and the pressure is now on the Reds to respond in the upcoming Merseyside derby.
Under the most paramount pressure is Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.
The 34-year-old has long been a crucial part of the Liverpool first team, a key player under every Reds manager since the days of Gerard Houllier
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However, poor form so far this season in the Premier League—particularly against Aston Villa and West Ham in these losses—should raise the question of Gerrard’s continued vitality as the salient figure in the Liverpool midfield.
Cut apart once more at the Boleyn Ground, should Gerrard continue his unchallenged role within Rodgers’ starting line-up?
Captain Fantastic
Before any criticism is levelled, it is important to establish that Gerrard is a bona fide Liverpool legend.
This is a player who has almost single-handedly dragged the club from the mire with remarkable consistency over a 16-year stretch in the Reds’ first team, from Istanbul to the Millennium Stadium.
Per LFCHistory.net, the 34-year-old has made 675 appearances for the club, scoring 175 goals in the process.
The midfielder has won the Champions League and UEFA Cup, the FA Cup twice, the League Cup thrice and boasts personal merits such as the 2006 PFA Player of the Year on his curriculum vitae.
Even last season, Gerrard scored 13 goals and made a further 13 assists in 34 Premier League games, ensuring his presence was as vital as ever.
When the greatest Liverpool players of all time are considered, the captain would consistently make the top 10.
However, while it is necessary to acknowledge this, this should not be a factor in Gerrard’s inclusion under Rodgers in his later years.
Vs. West Ham
During Liverpool’s floundering away defeat to West Ham, Gerrard mustered a hugely disappointing performance in his regista role in front of the back four.
Former Liverpool winger Stewart Downing was in supreme form on Saturday night, and the 30-year-old’s battle with Gerrard was central to West Ham’s victory.
Shrugging off Gerrard’s attempt to shepherd the ball out of play with his strength, Downing was able to evade the flailing Liverpool captain and find himself in a dangerous position in the Reds’ penalty area.
Elsewhere, with Morgan Amalfitano’s 88th-minute strike, while most of the blame lands at the feet of Mamadou Sakho following the French centre-back’s abysmal headed clearance, the absence of a body in the midfield area to mop up this mistake proved pivotal.
This was the position the midfielder should have found himself, as the anchorman, in this scenario.
With the area vacant, this allowed Downing to pounce and set up the advancing Amalfitano, who was able to finish with ease. Gerrard arrived too late, with Downing’s pass eluding his desperate lunge.
It can be argued that Liverpool were chasing an equaliser prior to Sakho’s mistake, and as such the Reds midfield was rightly pressing the West Ham penalty area, but Rodgers employed other players to open the Hammers defence in this eventuality—Gerrard is the defensive shield.
Gerrard ended with the game with an exasperating statistical output, his failure to make a single tackle in his 90 minutes on the pitch a specific disappointment in his ultimately defensive role.
Furthermore, speaking to Sky Sports’ Sunday Supplement, Matt Law of The Telegraph outlined that “in that role where he’s playing, if you manage to nick the ball off him he can’t recover going the other way so then you’ve got a free run at the defence.”
As continually lampooned by opposing supporters, Gerrard’s costly slip against Chelsea last season works as a caricature of this assertion.
With Liverpool’s defence performing as poorly as they are at this juncture, a weak link in the central role shielding the back four can be devastating, as proven by performances first from Gabriel Agbonlahor and then from Downing in the Reds’ recent Premier League losses.
Target Gerrard, and you damage the nucleus of Rodgers’ system.
Too Much, Too Old?
When Gerrard announced his retirement from international duty in July, it was a decision lauded by most, with the Reds captain afforded more time to focus his efforts on the Liverpool cause.
At 34 years old, the midfielder would benefit from frequent international breaks now being replaced by rest periods—with an undivided attention on all matters Red, Gerrard should flourish.
However, these recovery periods are undermined if Gerrard is used as frequently as he has been so far this season for Liverpool.
The dismal performance at West Ham came as a third game within a week for Gerrard—with the Reds competing in the Champions League this season—and this proved too much.
The way in which Gerrard was continuously made a fool of by a rampant Downing was aided by a clear fatigue in the Liverpool man.
Gerrard’s statistics in the Reds’ midweek victory over Ludogorets—in stark contrast to those in the West Ham loss—make impressive reading, and this underlines how the midfielder can still be a decisive presence within Rodgers’ side, ultimately spurred by the taste of glory.
Still, having already played 180 minutes of competitive football in the last seven days, there is no surprise the ageing Gerrard struggled at the Boleyn Ground.
Unfortunately at this juncture under Rodgers, Gerrard remains a key man for better or worse, and whenever possible, the Ulsterman will select his decorated captain.
This is a situation exacerbated by injuries to Joe Allen and Emre Can, with the latter in particular a serious contender for the deep-lying role within Rodgers’ midfield—Allen is more vital further up the pitch, and deficiencies in his absence in the previous loss at home to Villa proved this.
Lucas Leiva’s listless performance at the Boleyn Ground should underline the Brazilian midfielder’s inability to function within Rodgers’ energetic system.
This leaves the Liverpool manager with little choice.
Gerrard was poor at West Ham, and pressure will mount on the Liverpool captain to perform following this loss.
The Reds will hope the dramatic platform of the Merseyside derby is the perfect stage for the midfielder to confound this.
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