For Liverpool FC, What a Difference a Steven Gerrard Makes

Liverpool’s resurgence under Kenny Dalglish suffered a setback with a draw at home to relegation-favored Wigan, Saturday. The Reds went into the match on a four-game winning streak and hadn’t conceded a goal in over seven hours, but against Wigan, they were without captain and talisman, Steven Gerrard, and ended up with a 1-1 draw.

And boy what a different Red side it was. At home to struggling Wigan after such a great display at champions Chelsea looked like an easy three points, but nothing is easy when you’re without Captain Fantastic, and the games against the teams fighting for their lives can be the hardest of all.

Gerrard suffered a slight groin injury in the 1-0 win at Chelsea last weekend and pulled out of England’s friendly against Denmark in midweek, a game he would have captained. The injury was enough to keep him out of Fabio Capello’s game, but not enough to keep him from finishing the match at Stamford Bridge.

The Reds clearly missed Gerrard’s influence against Wigan. They couldn’t play with three center backs, which Dalglish had deployed to such success in the past two games. This also meant fullbacks Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly couldn’t get forward as often as they would’ve liked.

It was man of the moment, Raul Meireles, who fired the Reds into the lead in the 23rd minute when Fabio Aurelio’s deflected cross found him unmarked in the 18 yard box.

Other than that, Meireles had to be played as a central midfielder in Gerrard’s absence and struggled to get forward as often as he has recently under Dalglish. He was substituted in the 54th minute, and his manager confirmed after the game his Portuguese midfielder has a slight virus.

Dirk Kuyt partnered new-boy Luis Suarez up front, and Suarez gave the Kop faithful a lot to cheer about when he had the ball. He showed great skilled and was unlucky not to score after hitting the post twice.

Suarez’s determination and hard work kept the fans and his teammates in the game, but the Reds’ attacking play overall was rather flat.

The Reds had difficulty stringing passes together and without Gerrard, lacked creativity in the final third. Despite having plenty of possession and some periods of outright domination, the Reds failed to trouble Wigan’s shaky keeper, Ali Al-Hasbi.

Al-Hasbi was there for the taking after making a mess of a save from a tame shot from Kuyt and didn’t look comfortable dealing with crosses. Despite that, the Reds had too many shots go off target and didn’t force Al-Hasbi into many saves.

Dalglish and Reds fans will be happy when their new No. 9, Andy Carroll, is fit so their corners have someone to aim at.

The most obvious area where Gerrard was missed was on set pieces. True, Aurelio has a fantastic record from set pieces, but the free kicks Liverpool was awarded against Wigan were more in Gerrard’s territory. Aurelio wasted one by blazing the ball high over the bar, and Maxi Rodriguez didn’t do much better.

Suarez was on set-piece duty after that and was unlucky to see his effort come off the bar.

In the end, the Reds were maybe a little unlucky to end all square because Steve Gohouri’s 66th minute equalizer had a hint of offside, and Wigan did little else to really trouble Pepe Reina. Wigan did however, defended gallantly and had plenty of possession in threatening areas.

Liverpool’s next two matches are against Sparta Prague in the Europa League Round of 32, the first leg coming away on Thursday. Dalglish may have been planning to give a majority of his starters a rest for this match, but Gerrard should be fit to take part in the second leg at home, unless the Reds really take care of business in Prague.

Liverpool isn’t drowning without Fernando Torres, but without Steven Gerrard, the Reds would have trouble staying afloat.