Will Steven Gerrard Be a Help or Hindrance to Liverpool's FA Cup Dream?

The perfect send-off, the perfect goodbye.

As soon as Liverpool's captain, Steven Gerrard, announced in January that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season, eyes turned to the fixture list to see who his last fixture in a Red shirt might be against. As fate would have it, the FA Cup final in 2015 falls on May 30: Steven Gerrard's 35th birthday.

For some, it was the romantics of football in a nutshell, for others, it was far too easy and there was no chance things would just happen to fall that way. The football gods, essentially, would not acquiesce to let Gerrard have his idyllic departure, laden with another domestic trophy.

As it happens, both sets of arguments appear to have some semblance of truth.

Jon Super/Associated Press

The Reds have made it to Wembley, albeit one stage earlier than the actual final itself, and will start off the semi-final against Aston Villa as favourites to progress purely on the basis of league position. However, Gerrard himself is playing an ever-decreasing role in the team and now, as fortune and fate collide, big decisions need to be taken by manager Brendan Rodgers on exactly how much Gerrard has to offer the team.

For Rodgers himself, the FA Cup could be a massive get-out clause. There is no suggestion from within the club that he is under pressure, but with a top-four finish in the Premier League looking unlikely, silverware—his first silverware—would at least be a pointer for Rodgers to use that the team continues to move in the right direction. The manager, for his own needs, cannot let sentiment or doubt cloud his decisions over whether Gerrard starts.

But is sentiment all that remains for perhaps England's greatest and most complete player of the modern age?

The Case For

Gerrard is Gerrard.

He has an aura, an imposing sense of person, someone who others look at and accept that he has indeed been there and done it. He has lifted the trophies, led the players, been the man that hopes are pinned on, both in the Red of Liverpool and the white of England.

A Fabian Delph on the opposing team, for example, may well acknowledge that Gerrard is on the wane, but would he risk going toe-to-toe with him all the same in such an environment? And, if it was Joe Allen instead, would he then?

Within the squad, any squad indeed, there is also a hierarchy. Liverpool's has probably already been affected by Gerrard's public decision to depart, but he will nonetheless be afforded a certain respect by those he plays alongside.

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

He wears the captain's armband, and he has always been able to direct players, both on his own team and the opposition's, during matches.

Lest we forget, he also remains a talented player. The problem has been where to field him to get the most out of the abilities which he yet holds onto, without upsetting the balance of the team and exposing those attributes of his which have been in decline.

The list of big occasions which Gerrard has proven the difference-maker in is longer than some clubs' honours list, and an FA Cup semi-final, his own last FA Cup semi-final, certainly qualifies among the upper reaches of games, if not at the very very top. Olympiakos, derby games, wins over domestic rivals and the 2006 FA Cup final itself: All have memories and associations of Gerrard stamped throughout.

The Case Against

One of the problems is, all of those big occasions are in previous years, some of them half a decade or more past.

Last season showed Gerrard still capable of helping the Reds win games: set pieces, composure, ability to handle pressure and delivery into the box from deep were all vital components of Liverpool's title challenge, but little of that has been on show last term.

Jan Molby in the Liverpool Echo says Gerrard must start on account of his big-match experience. Paul Joyce in the Express argues the same point, saying reputation does count for something and should do in the cup semi-final environment.

Except...experience counts for nothing if you can't control the emotion of the occasion. Now, Gerrard has obviously controlled himself in those scenarios beforehand, but do longer-term history or recent occurrences count for more? If Manchester United at Anfield was emotive and of paramount importance, what is a Wembley semi-final with his last piece of silverware on the line?

Jon Super/Associated Press

The red card against United and the injury he had suffered with before means that Gerrard has played just 27 minutes since February 11th. It's not just mental issues at stake, physical ones will play a part too on the Wembley pitch. Aston Villa are a team in (better) form, are optimistic about their chances and have little to lose. Liverpool cannot afford passengers, in any sense.

The final question against Gerrard's inclusion must be that the team has won and played well without him again in the last couple of games. The 2-0 win over Newcastle United saw good football, fast pressing and an initial 4-3-3 system which has no real place for Gerrard unless he takes the spot of Jordon Ibe on the right side of the front three.

Outcomes

Ibe aside, if Gerrard comes in, then who goes out? Jordan Henderson must not. Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling cannot, especially if Daniel Sturridge remains sidelined. Joe Allen doesn't deserve to be dropped. Lucas or Gerrard? Lucas and Gerrard? If fans were polled, that latter duo would probably be the last combination desired to be seen on show against Villa. It has been swatted aside more than once by the same opposition.

Is it really a dilemma? Is there a question to answer?

The team must come first and to be blunt, Gerrard has contributed nothing in recent games to suggest he should be in. On the bench, ready to properly answer a rallying cry if needed, yes, absolutely...but the team is set to compete without him, at least to start with.

Places must be earned at the club, just as the silverware itself must be. It may yet be that the fairytale ending goes exactly how Gerrard wishes it to and his final act as Liverpool captain is to loft one final trophy, but before any of those dreams are played out, the Reds need to beat Aston Villa. And that, more than likely, means Gerrard has to accept an initial reduced role to offer maximum impact when required.

Follow @karlmatchett