Giving the captain the respect he deserves

This week, 10 years ago Steven Gerrard, made his first team debut for Liverpool Football Club. Since then Gerrard has gone on to captain the club and has established himself as one of the best midfielders in Europe. To put it quite simply, Gerrard is easily Liverpool's most important player. 10 years is a long time for a player to have spent at any club and to commemorate the occasion the Liverpool FC official website has declared it "Steven Gerrard Week."

Our skipper has been very highly praised, and rightly so. Even so, I can't help but feel he does not fully get all the respect he deserves. Even though he's considered one of the best players in the world, I don't feel he gets enough recognition.

In my honest opinion, Steven Gerrard is the best player in England. Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United is obviously a fantastic player (although I hate his guts) and he's one of the most talented attacking players in Europe. I think last season there was no player better than Ronaldo (because scoring 40+ goals is a feat itself, but scoring 40+ from the midfield is insane). But in terms of overall playing ability, Gerrard is the best in England and I'll explain my rationale behind this.

Steven Gerrard is one of the most complete midfield players in the history of the game. He's got an amazing shot and amazing vision - getting nearly 20 goals and 20 assists a season. Physically, he's got everything you would want in a football player: he's quick, he's pretty tall, he's strong, and he's got amazing stamina. To accompany great attacking prowess and physical talents, he's been blessed with great defensive capabilities. Liverpool legend and former England international, John Barnes, believes, "He is the most important player Liverpool has and could be the most important player England has. In my opinion he is the most complete midfield player in Europe. If you look at attacking midfield players with Zidane and Ronaldinho and you look at defensive midfielders like Claude Makelele, creative midfield players with the passing of Beckham. He can do it all. For me he is the most complete midfield player in the world." To have the skills of 4 world class midfielders attributed to him is no small praise and there are few midfielders in the history of the sport who have such an honour.

Because he is such a complete midfielder he's extremely versatile. He's best known for playing as a central midfielder, where he is in the middle of the action dictating our play. This is where he has played for the majority of this season, being one of our better players. This allows him to showcase both his defensive and offensive capabilities. However, we must not forget that he can play in a variety of possitions better than many players can. He broke into the Liverpool first team 10 years ago playing on the right hand side of the midfield - and when he won the PFA Player of the Year award it was given to him because of his outstanding season on the right of our midfield in the 05/06 season. During that season he was given a free role out wide, much like the great Pavel Nedved of Juventus. Last season we saw Gerrard establish a great partnership with Fernando Torres playing as a central midfielder - but higher up the pitch in a more attacking role than a regular central midfielder. And who can forget his performance in extra-time against AC Milan in the Champions League final of '05, playing as a right back. That was a quality performance from him, playing in a very different role than he is used to.

Steven Gerrard is a player who enjoys making a name for himself on the big stage. He has scored in many many important games, as well as many cup finals. God knows how many games where Gerrard has managed to rescue Liverpool from an embarrassing defeat or draw and give us a win. Some of my greatest sporting memories have been the ball flying from our captain's right foot into the back of the net. I think the best example of this is the 2006 FA Cup final, where two goals from the skipper (including a last minute stunner) allowed the Reds to claw their way back into the game and eventually win it on penalties.

Aside from his playing ability, Steven Gerrard is a leader on a team of captains. Liverpool have an extraordinary number of players who have either captained another club club or their national team (or both). These players include Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia, Dirk Kuyt, Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso, Robbie Keane, Yossi Benayoun, and I think Martin Skrtel has captained Slovakia once. Despite having all of these leader-figures on the team, one man stands out as the definite leader. He inspires the team with his performances on the pitch and is always ontop of players making sure they give it their all. As a local lad playing for his boyhood team he knows what the club means to the fans and he'll do his all to get the win for his club.

He's so good that even the Queen of England made him a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Now tell me that isn't cool.

Steven Gerrard is a player of tremendous talent and he's easily the best player I've ever seen in a Liverpool shirt. He's a player that will be remembered as a great in the following decades and it's really great to be a fan of a team that has a player with so much quality. He's a living legend and I think he should get a lot more respect from Liverpool fans and from non-Liverpool fans.

Steven Gerrard: Living Legend

In other Liverpool news Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres scored two fine goals while on international duty with Holland and Spain respectively. Congradulations boys! Now come home and do the same for us!

And because I have spent so much time praising the Liverpool captain, here is a YouTube video highlighting his excellence: