Steven Gerrard confident of producing more inspirational displays for Liverpool

 

Captain Steven Gerrard is confident he can go on producing inspirational displays for Liverpool for some time to come.

The England midfielder will be 33 in May as he enters the final year of his contract at Anfield.

And, while he is happy to shoulder the responsibility of being the side's talismanic figure, Gerrard insists there are others who are capable of doing the same.

"I think eventually I may have to change (my game), but at the moment, while I am feeling good and fit and doing as much running as anyone else, I don't see any reason to," he told Press Association Sport.

"But every player on the planet, eventually when they get to a certain age, has to adjust certain things in their game and I am good enough to do that, it is not a worry for me.

"I know I can play a lot deeper in Liverpool's team quite comfortably, but while I've still got the legs, energy and will to get forward I will continue to do that and try to get on the scoresheet and create goals.

"My aim every time I go on to the pitch is to make a contribution and be the driving force behind the team.

"But what we have now is other players who are taking the responsibility and helping me.

"Luis Suarez at the weekend almost won the game single-handedly (scoring a hat-trick in the 5-2 win at Norwich).

"A lot of people say to me I have carried this team for a certain amount of time, but I think that is unfair to the players I've played with.

"I've played with some magnificent players in some fantastic Liverpool teams over the last 10 to 12 years so it is unfair to them to give me a lot of the credit.

"But I have found a consistency over the last few years I've been happy with."

Gerrard has brought out a new book, My Liverpool Story, which is a pictorial representation of his career at Anfield.

The England midfielder admits it did prompt him to stop to consider what he had achieved since joining his hometown club aged nine.

"It certainly brings back memories of all the highs and lows I've had since I turned professional at 17," he added.

"A lot has happened to me since I made my debut in 1998 and the end has been in sight since the beginning.

"You realise as a footballer that the career is only short and the seasons go quickly.

"You have to make the most of every season and finish each one as successfully as you can, personally and as a team.

"The pictures in the book brought back a lot of great memories, but also some downs along the way, but I am a great believer the downs have made me stronger and made me the player and person I am today.

"You learn more from downs. It has not been smooth since day one.

"I've missed out on a lot of big trophies and I've played in games which have frustrated me where, come the end of the season, I've not got out of it what I wanted in terms of personal performances.

"But I wouldn't change anything, because in general I've had a successful career to date and I still believe I can continue that for certainly another two to three years."

:: Steven Gerrard: My Liverpool Story is published in hardback and e-book by Headline, RRP £20.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Caption competition
Caption competition
News in pictures
World news in pictures
Sport blogs

New day (slowly) rising – As Brasileirão gets underway, Brazilian football stumbles, rather than leaps into the future

The average Serie A crowd last year was 13,000 - comparable to Australia’s A-League.

by James Young

iBet: Mercedes and Hamilton to roar in Monaco

Monaco is a street circuit where driver ability is more important than anywhere else and if we take ...

by Gareth Purnell

On The Road at the Giro d’Italia: It sounds sadistic, but the team live for the mountain stages

Three weeks ago as I drove off the Eurostar, I remember thinking what a very long time it was until ...

by Martin Ayres

       
Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

Andrew Mitchell: 'It's no good feeling hard done by'

In his first interview since 'plebgate', the former Chief Whip opens up just enough to concede that, in politics, you have to take the rough with the smooth

Johnny Marr talks relationships and reunions

He's worked with Modest Mouse, the Pet Shop Boys and Beck, to name a few, and recently released his first solo album. So why, wonders Johnny Marr, do people still hark on about The Smiths?
Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Corruption and the FCO: Blue skies, white sands, dark clouds

Special report: Met police call for criminal inquiry into former diplomat's Cayman Islands rule
Fallen angel: Winona Ryder on bouncing back from her decade in the wilderness

Fallen angel: Winona Ryder bounces back

She owned the 1990s... but then she disappeared. Now, Ms Ryder is back with quite the bang in her latest role, as the wife of a notorious real-life Mob hitman.
Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

Roman Polanski shakes Cannes Film Festival

The director's new film, 'Venus in Fur', is one of the raciest on offer
Rev Richard Coles: 'I don’t have any concerns that God is cross with me for being gay and eventually the Church won’t either'

Rev Richard Coles on the Church and homosexuality

The mellifluous, erudite and witty Coles is the nation's most pop-culture-friendly priest
'Baghdad likes to live from crisis to crisis': Civil war looms in Iraq

Patrick Cockburn: Civil war looms in Iraq

The governor of Kirkuk - one of the country's most violent but successful provinces - fears the worst
Written on the body: Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials

Written on the body

Tattooists at pains to point out their artistic credentials
Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

Conquering Everest: 60 facts about the world's tallest mountain

The IoS marks the sixtieth anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reaching the peak of the highest mountain on Earth
A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

Rupert Cornwell: A new, and irreversible, Dust Bowl looms

The destructive power of tornadoes will be as nothing once the Great Plains' vast underground water reserve dries up
Every creature's needless death diminshes us all

Philip Hoare: Every creature's needless death diminishes us all

A 60 per cent decline in our national species should alarm us, yet few of us act. But to mind more about animals would reflect well on society
Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground - and the monks at the heart of it

Killing with kindness: Burma's religious battleground

Six years ago, the world cheered the monks behind Burma’s Saffron Revolution. Now, a horrific new eruption of religious slaughter is being blamed on a 'Buddhist Bin Laden'.
Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

Let's take it outside: Bill Granger's Bank Holiday feast

You can’t always depend on the weather – but you can avoid the pitfalls of the British barbecue by preparing an elaborate outdoor feast indoors ahead of time...
The Calvin report: Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance

The Calvin report

Stirring Champions League final shows how far English game must advance
10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

10 big questions for the British & Irish Lions to answer

Warren Gatland's squad fly Down Under aiming to do justice to the expectations – and hoping the Wallabies stay in the pub