Liverpool FC: Do the Reds Still Need Steven Gerrard?

Steven Gerrard is the embodiment of Liverpool Football Club. He’s been the captain, talisman and figurehead of Liverpool for the past decade. No Liverpool fan, or football fan for that matter, will forget an inspirational Gerrard leading Liverpool to European glory in 2005, but despite what a minority of Liverpool fanatics may tell you, it’s not the same club in recent years.

This season’s turbulent unfolding has seen Liverpool go from an unequivocal panic you’d associate with a nuclear disaster or alien invasion, to a jubilant refurbishment both on and off the field. The turnaround has been so euphoric that whilst Gerrard has watched on from the stands, the question that’s arisen is whether or not Kenny Dalglish’s revitalized playing system and fluent style would be helped or hindered by the return of the Anfield icon.

Under Rafa Benitez, and for the entirety of Hodgson’s short-lived term, Liverpool played with a two-man system, easy to defend and nullify.

While nine men in red lingered lifelessly for the most part, spectating as though they belonged in the stands rather than on the pitch, it was simple: stop Gerrard, stop Torres and you’d bring Liverpool to a halt, hence why Anfield hasn’t had a true contending team in recent history.

This weakness was highlighted to new extremes this year, given Fernando Torres’ goalscoring form resembling Emile Heskey on a bad day as opposed to the striker who had defenders quaking with fear when he found the net for fun in his debut season in England, as well as an aging Gerrard’s injury toils leaving many questioning his future ability to replicate the form that saw him become a Liverpool legend.

There was nothing a powerless Roy Hodgson could do to conceal these glaring weakness,  coupled with off-pitch turmoil. Barring divine intervention, nothing in the first half of the season could be done to clear up the mess. Instead of entering the pearly gates of football with historic success and star names galore, Hodgson had walked into footballing hell.

Since the departures of Hodgson and Torres and the billionaire soap-opera off the pitch finally being resolved, another Liverpool icon, Kenny Dalglish, has taken on the momentous responsibility of returning the broken club he loves to the summit of the footballing mountain once more.

Many expected the Scot to struggle in attempting to resurrect the sinking ship that was Liverpool, given the state of the club and his disinvolvement from management for such a prolonged period of time. 

However, since taking over, he’s inspired a complete revolution on Merseyside in style, personnel and results. For the first time in what seems like years, there is a buzz of excitement and anticipation radiating around the Kop.

A more open, flowing playing style has let previously subdued players like Raul Meireles, Glen Johnson, Lucas and Maxi Rodriguez unveil their true potential, whilst Torres’ replacements Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll have shown a sharpness and ability to finish whilst offering a more dynamic threat in partnership in attack.  

Rodriguez has been the most visible to benefit from these overhauls with two hat tricks since Dalglish’s appointment. Look back at the goals he’s scored: cutting inside, floating into central roles and playing with a new-found confidence, do you think he’d be doing this in a team with Gerrard? I doubt it.

Whenever a Gerrard-based Liverpool side plays, the setup is fairly simplistic. Get the ball to the captain in the centre and let him decide how the attack will proceed, be it sending the ball wide to static wide-men, sliding it into the underwhelming strike options or merely blasting a 25-yard pot-shot.

Obviously this was a simple choice, allow your best player to play the most prominent role, on paper it looks like the straightforward decision to make. However, in a league where defending vastly improves year upon year, an attacking system that revolves around one man is no longer a viable way of going about your attacking game.

Of course I’m not suggesting for a second that selling Gerrard should be a possibility or even a contemplation, but with Gerrard’s teammates showing in his absence they are very capable of being more than a potent supporting cast when the talismanic figure returns.

Liverpool’s rejuvenation could be completed when next season gets under way, but it could just as equally stall into another year of staunch mediocrity. It all comes down to Gerrard’s willingness to integrate his game into Dalglish’s system upon his return.