What Next for Liverpool's Best Midfielder Steven Gerrard on Captaincy Milestone?

On 15 October, 2003, a 23-year-old Steven Gerrard walked out at Anfield as Liverpool's newly appointed captain for a UEFA Cup tie against Olimpija Ljubljana, a match the Reds won 3-0.

Then manager Gerard Houllier had made the bold decision to move the armband from experienced centre-back Sami Hyypia to one of Liverpool's most talented young players in some time.

"Stevie has certain leadership qualities which I spotted very early in his career," announced Houllier. "When he was young, all he needed was time to mature. Now he is 23 and he is ready. There has been a maturing in his game and his personality."

Eleven years later and those leadership qualities are what Liverpool fans have seen frequently over Gerrard's illustrious career.

Upon being awarded the captaincy, Gerrard declared, "I want to blossom into a world class player, something I'm not yet—and hopefully captaining Liverpool will help me achieve that ambition," as reported by Sky Sports' Peter ORourke.

PAUL THOMAS/Associated Press

Six years later, as Gerrard and Fernando Torres combined to create one of Europe's most deadly strike partnerships, Zinedine Zidane not only pronounced Gerrard as world class but as possibly the best in the world.

"He has great passing ability, can tackle and scores goals, but most importantly he gives the players around him confidence and belief," explained the Frenchman, as per The Guardian. "You can't learn that—players like him are just born with that presence."

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The skipper reflects on a milestone day. pic.twitter.com/PP4OxGX5zA

— This Is Anfield (@thisisanfield) October 15, 2014"

Not many players have been named man of the match in a League Cup final (2003), Champions League final (2005) and FA Cup final (2006). Gerrard has, and he scored in all three of those finals, plus a UEFA Cup final (2001) too.

What's incredible about Gerrard's Liverpool career and captaincy is that, unlike most of Liverpool's greats, he's shone in sides that have been struggling to make an impression in English football. He's been the diamond in the rough, surrounded by inferior players and dragging the side through some extremely tough times.

The latter stages of Houllier's years, the first and last season of Rafa Benitez's reign, the six months under Roy Hodgson and the ownership of George Gillett and Tom Hicks are all dark times in Liverpool's recent history that would have been far darker without Gerrard at the club.

When the debate about Liverpool's greatest-ever player arises, you must contextualise the fact Gerrard had to cope with playing alongside Salif Diao or Christian Poulsen, while Kenny Dalglish and Co. were surrounded by the likes of John Barnes, Ian Rush and similarly great players in the club's history.

What Next?

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

So what next for Gerrard, who turned 34 this summer?

The new season hasn't begun in the same vein as the previous campaign; Liverpool and Gerrard have struggled to find form. It might be expected that the skipper is suffering a hangover from the manner in which the season ended, followed by a dismal World Cup in Brazil.

He's at a crossroads in his career, recently retired from international football and struggling to continue in his deep-lying playmaker role.

A cameo in his more advanced midfield role against West Bromwich Albion, linking well with Mario Balotelli, gave fans a nostalgic feel and has seen debates over whether that's the role which he should be used in going forward.

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My thoughts on Steven Gerrard's resurrection as a No. 10 at #LFC, for @thisisanfield: http://t.co/1sSR3PrZV7 The way forward for Rodgers?

— Jack Lusby (@LusbyLatest) October 8, 2014"

Whether Gerrard has the legs physically to play such a role, especially if Rodgers is to get his side pressing opponents high up the pitch as was their trademark last season, is extremely doubtful.

Should Liverpool really be looking at getting the Gerrard of five years ago as the solution? He needs to be used more carefully than that.

Three games in a week is an extremely difficult ask for a player of Gerrard's age, and so now would be the time where Brendan Rodgers should look to reduce the reliance on the skipper—something that Liverpool have failed to do for years now.

In fact, it pains to say, but the future should look something like how Frank Lampard's last two years have played out.

Lampard, now 36, started 20 Premier League games for Chelsea last season (21 the year before) and nine Champions League games. Six goals and three assists from those 20 starts offered a solid return for the midfielder.

The season before, 2012/13, he hit 15 Premier League goals in 21 starts and eight sub appearances. That's the sort of return Liverpool should be looking to get from Gerrard this season, at the same age as Lampard was.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

With all the talk of burnout for Raheem Sterling this week, there's a danger that the same may occur with Gerrard at some stage this season, with the skipper having started nine of Liverpool's 10 games so far this campaign, missing only the League Cup tie against Middlesbrough.

By reducing his playing time slightly, using him in a more advanced role in the process—both as an impact sub and in a good proportion of league and European games—would ensure that Gerrard could write more magical moments into his Liverpool career.