Steven Gerrard: My Liverpool Story

by Gerrard, Steven

  Cramp – The Downside of Extra Time

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  I build myself up so much for the big games that I tend use up a lot of energy before I even kick a ball simply because I want to win so much. I’ve never been a good sleeper before important matches because it’s whirling around my head just what is at stake. Liverpool as a club was fashioned on winning silverware, so every chance you get to make new history you have to take it. Cramp is a consequence of all that. The Millennium Stadium pitch was huge, it was a blazing hot day and for a large part of the game we were chasing round trying to get ourselves back into contention. When cramp takes hold you feel like you are restricted, like your muscles are snapping. It’s horrible. It’s different, too, from the cramp you sometimes get when you are in bed. Sami Hyypia is on hand here to try and get me going again, bending back my toes in order to freshen my legs up.

  Sweet as a Nut

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  As a one-off shot, I have never connected with a ball better than here. It flew past Shaka Hislop from 35 yards. It really was a boom or bust moment. There were just seconds left before the final whistle and West Ham were still leading 3–2. If I’d had more energy, I would have sought to control the ball and looked to have found a team-mate. As it was, it was all that I could do to whack it. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t. You can see the West Ham fans in the background, standing up in their seats, probably praying that it goes a yard wide. I surprised myself because you never expect to score a goal like that in those circumstances.

  Taking Responsibility

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  Even in extra time West Ham gave us a couple of scares, but once we reached penalties I was confident we would come out on top. After Istanbul the previous season, we had experience of the pressure that comes with a shoot-out. I was due to have taken the fifth penalty in the Champions League Final, but ultimately I was not required. Here, I am first up. Rafa Benitez put his trust in me and I always feel I can deliver because I am not afraid to miss. That is the key. Believe in yourself and don’t fear what might happen.

  Jubilation Reigns

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  People talk about ‘The Steven Gerrard Final’ but you can see from this picture it wasn’t all about me. Ultimately, we celebrated because of the role Pepe Reina played in the shoot-out. To get another FA Cup winners’ medal to add to the one I won in 2001 was brilliant. I really like this photo: Hyypia, Hamann, Finnan, me, Sissoko, Carragher, Morientes, Riise. I trusted these team-mates and it is one of the best Liverpool teams I have played in. We were strong, physical and had a real sense of togetherness.

  Rafa, Me and the Pursuit of Trophies

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  The perfect end to the perfect day. Rafa became the first ever Liverpool manager to win two major trophies in his first two seasons. At the time, it seemed like we would just carry on winning silverware, but unfortunately it didn’t work out like that. I think Rafa has respect for me as a player, but I don’t think he appreciated how lucky he was to have Carra and me in our prime. Maybe I didn’t appreciate fully what being manager of Liverpool is like when you have Chelsea and Manchester United to compete with.

  DEALING WITH FAME

  It is strange the first time someone asks for your autograph. You are a star in the eyes of the person thrusting a pen and a piece of paper at you, yet you are the one who feels awkward and shy initially.

  Like everyone does I’d practised my signature lots of times growing up, imagining making the grade for Liverpool, but being in the public eye has never sat easily with me. Even now, I don’t really like doing interviews for the media. I try to be honest whenever I do them and I respect the media not only because I know how big and important they are, but only because they have always been respectful to me.

  But I am happiest coming into work just to play football: to train and play the game at the weekend. Yet, it is not possible when you are playing in the best league in the world to simply do that. I had noticed that more people had started to take notice of me when I returned from Euro 2000 with England.

  Things snowballed from there. Winning the Champions League in the awe-inspiring manner Liverpool did in 2005, the performance I produced in the FA Cup Final in 2006 and then scoring twice for England in the World Cup Finals later that same year simply ensured that my reputation spread.

  Reaching a second Champions League Final in three seasons as we did in 2006–07 ensured that the focus was rarely off the club and myself.

  Playing and scoring around the world led to camera crews and journalists from Germany, France and Spain wanting to come and interview me.

  If I agree to every request that the press department at Liverpool receive, there would be no time to play.

  I am not going to deny that when you are younger all the attention you receive is great. You do get a bit big-headed, you do milk it and any player who says they haven’t enjoyed a bit of press attention over the years is telling lies.

  It’s nice to pick up the paper and see someone praising you. In any walk of life people like praise, but it is important to take criticism as well. I have had it drilled into me that you can’t linger on any hype or praise. I know when I have played well and deserve plaudits, and I know when I haven’t. Over the years I have probably been too hard on myself in interviews and too honest, but I refuse to see that as a negative. My honesty pushes me on and is one of the main reasons I have found a level of consistency over my career.

  I only ever get the hump with the media if someone is being unfair, but, equally, I’ll take no notice of a piece if they are trying to cosy up to me for no reason. I can read between the lines. I’m not soft. I don’t revel in people praising me. I want to be around people who treat me as a normal person.

  All the people I am close to – my family, my wife Alex, and my friends – they don’t brown nose me or over-praise me. I don’t surround myself with people who just say, ‘yes, yes, yes’. I am quite selective in who I will allow to get close to me because there are so many slippery slopes to go down as a footballer.

  The introduction of camera phones and the explosion of social media mean trust becomes a big issue for players. I would say I have a dozen close friends who are in my life day in, day out and who know a lot of private stuff about me and my family. But I don’t want to upset anyone because I’ll have a coffee or a bite to eat with plenty more and they are important to me as well.

  I have had to adapt. Nowadays I try to create a low profile off the pitch, while trying my best every day in training and in games so as to keep my standards as a footballer high. It is a balancing act.

  Part of my appreciation of how best to deal with being in the public eye was shaped by Gary McAllister when he arrived at Liverpool. We are looked after by the same agent, Struan Marshall, and so I knew Gary was coming to Liverpool in 2000. Having played against him before I realised he was someone I could learn from. From the moment he walked into the dressing room Gary has always been someone who was prepared to talk to me. He was one of the people who spoke to me about my tackling in the early days and he helped me to channel my aggression in the right way. Not many people in football have the balls to come and tell you when you have done something wrong. A lot of people just want to talk to you about things you have done right. Gary said it as he saw it and I owe him for that.

  These days I try to take on the role Gary did so well during the time he was at Anfield. I think it is so important for young lads in any team to have older ones around them, players who will offer pointers and advice about the game and the pitfalls away from the pitch. It is priceless. The worry I have is whether the young players want to listen or whether they think you are being ‘busy’, as we say in the game, which basically means to mither them.

  It tells you a lot about the young lads at the club when you see how they react. If their eyes glaze over and they can’t wait for you to go, then I take the view that it’s their loss and I’m not going to keep on taking time to speak to them if they are n
ot interested.

  I’d say the ones who listen, like I did, are the ones who take the advice and tips on board, giving themselves a better chance of succeeding. I can speak to my younger cousin, Anthony Gerrard, who plays for Cardiff City, and some of the things he says to me stick, so the way I look at it is you never stop learning as a footballer.

  I’ll help anyone at Liverpool and with England too. After all, we are striving for the same thing: success.

  * * *

  “I want to be around people who treat me as a normal person.”

  * * *

  Kung Fu Panda

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  Another test for the groins! No wonder I’ve had niggles over the years. I’m probably trying to reach, unsuccessfully it would seem, a cross from one of my team-mates. Rather that than my touch being poor. I think it shows two things. Firstly, the determination I have to go the extra yard for Liverpool Football Club and, secondly, the increasing physical demands that players are placed under. Far more emphasis is put on rehabilitation these days than when I first started. Sport science, with practices such as ice baths, has become a major part of the game. I would say that is the biggest change I have noticed over the years.

  Catching My Breath in the Cauldron of Old Trafford

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  Gary Neville once asked me on an England trip whether I would fancy playing for Manchester United. I just laughed. It is unthinkable. I actually love going to Old Trafford, though. It is a tough, tough venue and you know you are going to have to play well to come away with anything.

  Over the years, I’ve had mixed results there: some good wins and some performances in which we haven’t done ourselves justice. Banter from the crowd is part and parcel of football. As long as it doesn’t overstep the mark, I have no problem with it.

  In the Full Glare

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  If I could be in charge of the Premier League for one day, I would scrap all lunchtime kick-offs and go down the foreign route of playing games at night. The atmosphere is better, the pitches are always extra slick because of the dew that falls on them, and there is just a better tempo to games that are played under floodlights. I much prefer playing under lights than in daylight. That is the downside of the increasing influence television companies exert on our games. I think Sky has been brilliant for the Premier League, but maybe they could just schedule a few more of our games at 8pm, although I understand they have scheduling commitments around the world.

  Upended in Full Flight

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  He’s one dirty hatchet man, that Joe Cole! (only joking!). To be fair, I have kicked him a few times so I’ll take one back no problem. Joe’s very talented, but his enthusiasm for playing football shines through above all else. He had a difficult time at Liverpool when he arrived and wasn’t helped by the uncertainty off the pitch. But it says everything about him that he went to Lille in France on loan for a season to play and sample a new culture and that he has come back to try and prove he can be successful in a red shirt.

  The Long Walk to Destiny

  * * *

  Penalty shoot-outs have played a big part in my career both with Liverpool and England. You are talking about fine margins, the difference between reaching finals and semi-finals, winning trophies and going home as losers. The second time we played Chelsea in a Champions League semi-final in 2007, the drama was no less than when we met the first time. I will always put my name forward for a shoot-out. If I miss from 12 yards, I’m not one of these players who will say I don’t want another one. You have to accept that sometimes the keeper will guess right and pull off a good save, or that your accuracy won’t be spot-on all the time. Thankfully, I scored here and overall I am pleased with my penalty record, considering some of the situations I have been in. The walk is long, especially in this situation, knowing you are trying to reach a Champions League Final against a very good team. In fact, it is too long and you have too long to think, but that is part of the test. With a couple of penalties that I have missed I have changed my mind on the way to taking them. So I stick to my plan now. If I go the way I intend and the keeper saves it, I accept it.

  Rubbing Shoulders With One of the All Time Greats

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  Paolo Maldini is one of the few players my wife Alex has enjoyed watching over the years! She’s quite keen on him, as I suppose all girls are. My respect for Maldini is similar to the respect I have for Ryan Giggs. When you are playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world, in AC Milan, every week for decades, not just years, and playing consistently well, you deserve legendary status.

  Don’t under-estimate how difficult that is. On the few occasions I have met him, he has come across as a humble man, which is testament to him, given everything he has done.

  Kaka Thanks His Maker

  * * *

  There are two sides to any final – joy and despair. Kaka is in ecstasy and I’m distraught. The Brazilian was probably one of the best players in the world around that time. The irony is that both he, and AC Milan, played better in Istanbul than in Athens two years later. That’s football.

  Contemplating the One That Got Away

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  The reason why the Champions League Final of 2007 grates with me so much is because it was a missed opportunity. The sort I may not ever get again in my career. The team selection wasn’t right that night. In my opinion, there wasn’t enough pace in the starting line-up to hurt Milan, plus we gave them two soft goals. If we had been sliced apart, then I would have accepted defeat, however reluctantly. But that night still fills me with regrets.

  BOARDROOM POLITICS

  Looking back now it feels like I was brainwashed, but at the time I was excited by the plans of Tom Hicks and George Gillett. To compete with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and the other mega-forces across Europe (this was before Manchester City became such an important financial powerhouse) you need to be able to buy the best players when they become available.

  In the words of David Moores, the Liverpool chairman at the time, he wasn’t rich enough to do that. So he sold the club in February 2007 to Hicks and Gillett and I can understand why he felt they were genuine, why he felt they had the best interests of the club at heart. I felt all those things, too.

  When I sat down with the two Americans at a meeting in the Lowry Hotel in Manchester, they blew me away, with what they were planning to do and the ideas they had. Me and Jamie Carragher were on England duty for a game against Spain at the time and the coach Steve McClaren said it was OK for the new owners to come over and see us.

  Rick Parry, Liverpool’s chief executive, brought Hicks and Gillett over to the meeting and, over the course of half an hour, they spoke about ambitious plans for a new stadium in the shadow of Anfield and of backing Rafa in the transfer market. I was happy and to be fair to Hicks and Gillett, they were as good as their word on some things, albeit initially. They had paid for Fernando Torres to come in that summer, but soon after, the storm clouds gathered.

  The first time I started to get uneasy was in the autumn of 2007 when rumours started to circulate that Rafa was under pressure. He had given a bizarre press conference in which he kept on repeating the phrase ‘coaching and training’, in response to a barbed request from Hicks to stop getting involved at all levels of the club and focus on what he was best at – coaching and training. Those were Rafa’s strengths, no doubt about it, but he didn’t take kindly to an American in cowboy boots telling him that.

  Relations became strained from there and the media had a field day as it did throughout the Hicks and Gillett tenure. I have learnt a lot in my career about how the media and the press operates. I understand briefing takes place and when your ears prick up it is usually for a reason. Stories do not come out of nothing and the idea that the club was thinking of sacking Rafa was a concern if not a huge surprise, as he had started clashing with the people above him at the club.

  I was equally concerned that Jurgen Klinsmann, the former Germany s
triker, was the man in the frame to replace Rafa. He had played at Tottenham, but what did he know about managing in English football? At the time, I was thinking, ‘We’ve just reached two Champions League Finals in three years, Rafa is a top manager, why do we even need a change?’ If you ask me now: ‘Rafa or Klinsmann?’ I would say Rafa, all day long.

  Yet as a team we found ourselves in a situation where if we didn’t beat Marseille in our last Champions League group game, we would have been out of the competition. Rafa? The signs were that he would have been out of a job.

  As a team, we were awesome that night. We had worked on our shape so much before that game that I knew we were going to be hard to beat. From the first whistle, we were too strong and too powerful for the French. We were constantly in their faces and swatted them aside 4–1. It was a great display. We were through and Rafa was safe. For now.

  But the lull did not last and for two-and-a-half years everything at Liverpool was permanently in a state of flux. The club was being sold. No it wasn’t. Rafa was going. No he wasn’t. Hicks and Gillett were fighting. Yes they were.