Sentimentality is a powerful motivator. Ask the unfancied France team that made it all the way to the 2006 World Cup in an effort to give Zinedine Zidane a fitting send-off (in the end he got a different kind of send-off). Or the Chelsea side that finally lifted the Champions League trophy on the night Didier Drogba called it quits in blue. It’s an inspiration Liverpool have become familiar with this season.
With Steven Gerrard set to leave Anfield at the end of the season the Reds feel almost compelled to give the legendary club captain a deserving finale. It just so happens that this year’s FA Cup final falls on the midfielder’s 35th birthday. The script might not yet be written, but it’s in draft form.
Now the FA Cup is Liverpool’s only chance of silverware this season, following their exit from the Capital One Cup on Tuesday night, suffering an extra-time defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Saturday May 30 is the ultimate aim, but the League Cup would have been a suitable send-off for Gerrard too.
But while such sentimentality can provide a strong torrent of incentive to any team, it can also overwhelm. Liverpool mustn’t lose sight of their wider objective this season, especially with the most crucial period of their campaign coming up.
Between now and March 1 Brendan Rodgers’ side will face West Ham, Everton , Spurs, Southampton and Manchester City, in a spell which will almost certainly make or break their late push for a top-four finish. Regardless of his legend at the club, this season is about more than Gerrard for Liverpool.
Of late there have been signs that Rodgers’ side are starting to find their groove, and even had chances to win the game at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night. It would have been them looking forward to a Wembley final had things gone slightly differently, and had Thibaut Courtois not turned in a Man of the Match performance.
“Over the two legs we were the better side but their goalkeeper has got them to the final,” an exasperated Rodgers told Sky Sports after full-time in extra-time. “The players gave everything. We created chances to win the games but unfortunately we weren’t quite clinical enough. That final pass or final finish was lacking.”
Indeed, Liverpool’s game is starting to resemble something closer to what is was last season. There is a creativity and energy to their play that was desperately lacking just a few weeks ago, but as Rodgers rightly states, the cutting edge they once had with Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez is missing. Rodgers must be counting the days until the former’s return.
Liverpool need the rest of their team—midfielders, wingers, defenders—to pick up the slack created by the lack of a reliant goalscorer; something that has thus far failed to materialise. Even Gerrard—the untouchable on the home straight of his Liverpool career—is guilty of not providing enough goal threat from midfield this season. Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson even more so.
The Reds face pretty much every rival they have for a place in the Premier League’s top four over the next few weeks, in a stretch of fixtures that could define their season and maybe even affect Rodgers’ job security at Anfield. The aim of giving Gerrard a trophy to hold aloft as he completes his final lap of honour is an understandable one, but could ultimately be a distracting one.
Apart from anything else, qualifying for next season’s Champions League would be a much more significant send-off for Gerrard than lifting the FA Cup at Wembley in May. Sure, sparkly silverware has its obvious allure, but finishing in the top four would provide Liverpool with a platform for the future. That could be Gerrard’s biggest legacy.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1BmSCyb
via IFTTT January 27, 2015 at 11:00PM
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