Steven Gerrard: Why He Should Resign

It takes a lot of courage to admit when you're wrong. I believe it takes a lot more to admit that you're not as good as you once were. I am firmly of the opinion that Steven Gerrard is past his best...

...as captain of Liverpool Football Club.

This piece is in no way an attempt to convince you that Gerrard has lost something as a player. To my mind, he is the best central midfielder in the world today. He has everything: pace, power, guile, skill, goals, assists, tackles, and energy. Everything.

But is he inspirational as a captain?

It is important to keep in mind that this question is qualified by the words, "...as a captain." The question is not, "Is Steven Gerrard inspirational?"

If that were the question being posed, only one word would be needed in reply: Yes. Or maybe two: Unequivocally yes. Gerrard is Mr. Liverpool, and he has gained that reputation by winning games for the club, often single-handedly.

Istanbul is the greatest example of Gerrard's inspirational quality. It was also his greatest ever performance as captain. He scored the first goal on the road to victory, and the image of him drumming up the crowd will last long in the memory.

Without him, Liverpool may well have been on the end of a hopeless loss rather than a great victory.

However, Liverpool would have failed to get through the group stage if Gerrard hadn't scored what may be his best goal yet, against Olympiakos. Liverpool were 2-1 up, but needed another goal to get through.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man and the rest, as they say, is history. Who will forget Andy Gray, screaming, "Ooohhh, ya beauty! What a hit son...what a hit!"

Gerrard provided us all with a similar experience in the FA Cup Final the next year, bursting West Ham's bubbles with his long range strike.

Despite this, with the exception of his gestures to the crowd in Istanbul, all these instances have been inspirational from Gerrard as a player as opposed to him as captain.

There are two types of captain. One could be called "the motivator", a captain who is never quiet, constantly encourages and admonishes, cheers and chides. A perfect example of this type of captain would be Roy Keane. He was the leader of the United dressing room, and he took that position with him on to the pitch.

The other type of captain is "the inspirer" who consistently comes up with performances on the pitch, which leads the other players to attempt the same type of performance. Thierry Henry would be an example of this type of captain. His body language often reeked of contempt towards his teammates, but he could turn a game in an instant with one flick of his foot.

Clearly, the best captains have both of these attributes, as Roy Keane did. Possibly the zenith of his career was in Turin when his performance, and goals, took United into the Champions League final. This achievement is made better when one remembers he knew he would be suspended for the final itself.

When looking at Gerrard, while his past performances have been magnificent, in the big games this season he hasn't turned up.

I was at Anfield for both the quarter- and semi-finals of the Champions League. The man himself was big enough to admit the Arsenal game was, "probably my worst in a red shirt", but he didn't do enough to rectify that against Chelsea. He again had a poor game in the first leg and, after JAR's own goal, his body language was despicable.

Rather than lift the spirits of the team or the fans, he shouted at Javier Mascherano, asking him why he hadn't cleared the ball. To all intents and purposes I believe the tie was lost at that moment. 

In the same situation, Roy Keane may well have berated his players, but would still have had the will to win on the night, never mind at Stamford Bridge.

When Gerrard produces his best he is, possibly, the most inspirational player in the world. However, he could do that whether he was in possession of the captain's armband or not.

Teams need their captains most during the worst of times, and Gerrard hasn't performed in those moments for too long.

And if he found passing it on hard to do, he only needs to take advice from Sami Hyypia, who himself gracefully handed the role to Gerrard in the first place.

Who should replace him? The most obvious replacement is Jamie Carragher. He has a good football brain and, when Gerrard is silent, often performs the role of motivator anyway, as you may have heard!

However, I think an ideal future captain would be Javier Mascherano. He epitomises what a defensive midfielder should be with his desire and will to win. One cannot imagine him giving up.

So Steven, while I hope to watch you win the Premiership with Liverpool, you may not get the chance to lift the trophy.

Perhaps it's time to pass the armband on.