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England vs France: Liverpool's Gerrard Shows You Can Teach An Old Dog New Tricks
Roy Hodgson may not have succeeded when managing Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, but the playmaker is revelling in a more disciplined role under the England manager at Euro 2012.
“DON’T TURN YOUR BACK…” is what I mouthed as Steven Gerrard sprinted towards Samir Nasri after 39 minutes of last night’s Euro 2012 game between England and France. But turn his back he did, and Nasri – looking more like a Birkenstock-wearing lesbian than ever – curled a shot into the bottom corner beyond a sprawling Joe Hart.
You may think it is harsh to start with a negative after a fine rearguard performance, but I’ve used it as it was pretty much the only thing Gerrard did wrong all night. The turning of the back is endemic in footballers from pub to Premier League standard. Nobobdy wants to get smacked in the face, it is a human reaction. So in that sense Gerrard can be forgiven. And for his mature, controlled, captain’s performance he should be exalted.
When I went on the FA Level 2 course last year, I spent hours in the bar every evening discussing the deficiencies of current players with a collection of UEFA Pro License coaches. These men might not be household names or work in the Premier League, but they hold the highest coaching certificate available to an English coach and severely know their onions.
After a day of working on delayed and one-on-one defending, I asked a coach about Steven Gerrard. “Fantastic player,” he replied. “Best technique for 10-20 yard passes in the world and a player you’d always want on your side.” As opening gambits go, it was pretty conclusive, but he wasn’t finished. “But he’s only half the player he could have been,” he said, “Gerrard is the classic case, the poster boy even, for a player who has only been coached on his strengths. All through his development he would have been encouraged to hit chipped or driven passes over the top to Michael Owen and then told to follow up. His left foot is average, he’s hasn’t been schooled to play as a pair in midfield and his decision making has been allowed to continue as instinctive rather than intelligent.”
Nasri is looking more like a Birkenstock-wearing lesbian than ever
I must say I was taken aback. Not because I disagreed, but because it hit several nails so firmly on the head that I could’ve built a fence. This is not a dig at Gerrard, a player who has given me goosebumps more than any since Robbie Fowler, it is merely a statement of fact.
Of course that side of his game has gone. The dynamism is not there and Roy Hodgson could’ve dropped a huge rick by making him the captain. Yet Hodgson, whatever his problems when he managed Liverpool, knows much more about football than you or I and has seen enough of Gerrard to surmise that he can play a disciplined role in an England midfield if he is made to feel special and accompanied by the right players.
No-one can argue that he was proved right.
Where in the past Gerrard would have burst from midfield to try and close everything down, against France he was content to anchor and let Parker, Young and Welbeck go and close and throw their bodies on the line. One misplaced pass aside, his passing was crisp and intelligent and he tackled with discipline.
All of his career he has been most effective when deployed as a 3D version of Roy of the Rovers. “Give me the ball and I’ll score, let him go and I’ll smash him.” It is a position that holds a particular place in the hearts of English supporters but also one that is as outdated as the number 10 with a cigar on. And this, more than anything, is why in his own way he was England’s man of the match last night.
Gerrard’s left foot is average, he’s hasn’t been schooled to play as a pair in midfield and his decision making has been allowed to continue as instinctive rather than intelligent
When you play a system that is essentially set up to make the team more than the sum of its parts you need the players to buy into it irrespective or reputation or wage. If that can’t happen, as it did with Torres and a few others at Liverpool, the manager’s goose has an apple up its arse. Yet if the Captain buys into it, a man who has won everything at club-level but the league and has decimated teams on force of personality alone, then the other players will surely follow.
90 minutes into a tournament is a silly time to extrapolate, and I’m not about to make grandiose claims. Yet what Roy Hodgson has done with Gerrard augers well for what lies ahead. He’s made him the full-time captain, he’s playing him alongside a midfielder who complements him perfectly, he’s letting him take every free-kick and corner and has essentially massaged his ego with intelligence.
As ever, the real work starts here. Gerrard had no choice but to play with this discipline in the face of technically superior opponents. England will be expected to tear into Sweden from the off and the layman will expect Gerrard to be in the faces of opponents, winning tackles high up the pitch and screaming in shots from 30 yards. With a fair wind and a good shape behind him he can, in fits and starts, still do that, but I’ll be far more impressed if he continues where he left off against France. Next season will be huge for Gerrard at Liverpool, as Brendan Rodgers will ask questions of him tactically with an eye on making him the deep-lying fulcrum of the team for the next three to five years. If he can lead England out of the group and restore a bit of national pride along the way, there is no reason why he can’t remain England captain until the next World Cup and change his role for Liverpool. At 31, it seems that Steven Gerrad will finally get the individual coaching he deserves for club and country. Even if he’ll probably still turn his back occasionally, only the hardest of hearts would deny him that.
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England vs France Analysis: Watch Handbags+ 1pm Today
Plan A Worked For England But Hodgson Must Use Arsenal’s Walcott For Plan B
Gazza, Wazza, Owen & Ox: Pray Arsenal’s Star Is Ready To Be England’s Next Wildcard
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COMMENTS
Nice piece and totally agree that he had a very good game yesterday. Only quibble / comment would be that his very best form for both club and, sporadically, country has been when he's pushed forward and partnered with genuine talent like Torres & Rooney - creativity and goals have flowed when he's been given this role. At 31 I don't believe his legs have gone to the extent that he can't still be a force further forward and it feels like a waste of one of our most skillful, creative and deadly players to keep him so far back. Yes he can do that job better than most.. but we don't play him at RB and he'd be better there than most as well.. to make an impact on high class opposition, england and LFC would benefit from playing him further forward. Given the woeful lack of CMs Roy has taken to the Euro's this won't be happening any time soon.. but good as Gerrard can be in the role he played last night it feels a bit like buying a Bentley and using it for trips to the tip. Dies the job but a bit of a waste. If we (eng or LFC) had lots of other creative and goal scoring options then fine.. but neither does so it's at best a shame that he's being utilised in this way.
Cracking piece Owen. Shouldn't a few fingers be pointed at how Gerrard's got to 31 without having to be overly bothered by positional responsibility and such like?
what a load of arrogant tosh...absolutely the worst kind of internet tripe from another underqualified wannabee sports journo
Isn't Gerrard's problem that he is incapable of playing a subtle pass and has to smash the ball at his colleagues the whole time as if he's playing his hollywood 40 yard passes despite the fact they're only a couple of metres away? I thought he was poor last night, as was Parker (his last ditch blocks masked what was an extremely limited performance). Neither is capable of holding onto the ball and at European level that is a sin - something Lampard is capable of. We really miss Wilshere who is also capable of playing that way, hopefully he comes back from his injury well. He was directly responsible for France's goal by being too deep, yet for you was England's man of the match, Liverpool tinted glasses much? Welbeck or Lescott would have been a better shout. Next you'll be stating that Glen 'headless chicken' Johnson is a world class full back!
Turning your back is what real footballers do, as opposed to the armchair variety.
You've actually agreed with me in that first sentence. If you search the site, there is a piece by me outlining exactly why Glen Johnson is shite.
How I am under qualified? Any links to your articles anywhere?
Owen, I'm glad you agree Johnson is shite. Not his fault, but how he got in the squad, let alone starting line up ahead of Micah Richards is beyond me. Now, do you not think that Gerrard is limited as a player at this level because of his lack of tactical awareness and technique? The amount of times he'll thrash a ball at someone nearby for it to ping off them infuriates the hell out of me. He can't put his foot on the ball and play possession football, he can only play one way, 100 miles an hour - it's certainly served him well in the premiership, but not unfortunately in an England shirt.
You sound like a biased manU fan and my 6th sense tells me have paper qualifications but no natural ability to label Glen Johnson as 'no good'...He actually had a man of the match performance or at least top 5 for England(and the commentators aslo said it too. Talk then about how Henderson and Lucas are rubbish at Liverpool but people like y'all praise them daily...then again you might not be that naive.
Just read Gerards level of completed passes was just 66%, really not good enough at the top level and certainly not warranting your England man of the match!
I'll agree with you on tactical awareness but technique wise he has a lot of plus points. Everything the three pro license coaches told me rings true. However the fault here is with the coaching set-up when Gerrard was a kid rather than his fault. Look at Michael Owen. One-footed, only ever relied on his pace because that's how he was coached.
Other nations don't have their best attacking midfielders stifled in a withdrawn role, and very few would be applauded for doing so. This isn't just a knock on Hodgson though - Dalglish did the very same thing last year, allowing inferior players to push forwards while Gerrard continually sat behind the ball and tried to make the match-winning passes expected of a playmaker, but from his own half. Which rarely worked and are instead viewed as 'hollywood passes'. The guy is our Sneider or Kaka but is being used in a role that doesn't suit him, as if he's De Jong or Lucas. The mere fact that he's happy to dive into a tackle, doesn't make him a defensive player...
It may have been the way he was coached but that is the player he is, no brain, all guts Agree Jay that Gerard would play best 'in the hole' with Young moved to the left but who do you play in CM with Parker then? Jordan F'ing Henderson?! What happens when Rooney comes back? The Sneider comparison in my opinion is way off, Gerard does not have the ability to thread little passes and keep the ball moving the way a technician like Sneider does. 66% pass completion against France, Cabaye and Diarra, his opposite numbers, were both in the 80's. Kaka is a pale imitation of his former self these days and struggles to get in the Madrid team, mostly due to a drop off in his pace...
Well done for pointing out what I haven't read or heard anywhere else ,that Gerrard turned his back on the shot. That said ,he cannot be forgiven ,it was an act of cowardice.You do whatever you have to do to block a shot ,like John Terry has throughout his career.
"It's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or when the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." Stevie, You'll never walk alone.
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