Gerrard Article

[Oberon]

A good read http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...tar-frank.html even if it is the Mail.

I found it interesting how he says Capello and Benitez are similar and even though I share most peoples opinion on here about the national team I can't help but think it can only be good for our English players to be exposed to the methods of another world class manager.

I was also struck by just how much Gerrard has grown up, he was a real fiery little sod when he first played but seems to be a really mature individual with a proper perspective on his life and responsibilities.

Have a hat-trick today to celebrate Steve

[Morv2en77]

I dun think there are that many players in the world who would have or has dedicated his entire life as a player to just one cause, LIVERPOOL as has our Captain Stevie. I am really proud to have him as our captain am really glad that he is ours, LFC's.

Hope to see him play for many more years to come, and by god's wish, lets hope he gets his Champions medal this season....He n Jamie thoroughly deserves it, for all that they have given us.

Yeah, a hat trick from him today to celebrate would be ideal

[Tee]

Excellent article. Privelged to have such a wonderful player, we really are. It would be criminal if he finishes his career at Liverpool without that league winners medal.

[FatTony]

If we don't kick on this season and instead fall behind, I won't hold it against him to move on (if it looks like we won't have the funds to improve). He's given us so much.

[Shaggy]

Gerrard and Benitez: Winning relationship

Hadn't seen this posted anywhere. It's a great read and an indication of Gerrard's growing maturity, and another great insight into the crazy, meticulous and obsessive world of our great manager



http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...583772,00.html

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard believes Rafa Benitez operates on a 'different level' to other managers after revealing how he has adapted to his boss' methods.

Former Valencia chief Benitez arrived at Anfield in 2004 and has since guided the Reds to UEFA Champions League glory and an FA Cup win, while also transforming a struggling side into genuine Premier League title contenders.

England international Gerrard has been an inspirational on-field influence throughout the Spaniard's five-year tenure and has risen to a status as one of the best players in the world.

But the Liverpool skipper confesses that he found it difficult to adapt to Benitez's meticulous methods before realising that his manager's dedication is what is required for success.

"Even after five years with Rafa, I still feel I want to please him, that I want to impress him in every game I play," Gerrard told the Daily Mail.

"The great managers are like that. There are a handful operating on a different level and I am lucky enough to play for two of them, Benitez and (England boss) Fabio Capello.

"It is when you see what they put in, some of the little things they spot, that you realise how hard they work. Rafa will make a point, and you'll be thinking, 'has this guy not got a life?' because it seems so minor, but it is what sets him apart.

"I can have a good game - tell you what, I'll be big-headed, say I've had a fantastic game - we've won 2-1 in the last minute and I've scored both.

"I come back into the dressing-room and I'm buzzing, bouncing off the walls, thinking, 'I feel good today', that is when Rafa comes up and starts talking about a throw-in when they changed the play and I pressed far too late. He'll say, 'if you want, we'll go out there and I'll show you'.

"Or you'll have a run of 10 games when you're in form and flying and he'll pop you a DVD of your recent play and it's broken up into sections good and bad. And you're thinking, 'hang on, bad? I didn't do anything wrong'. But you'll watch it and you're out of position in one match, or you pressed late or you let a man go at a set-piece. You wonder when the guy sleeps.

"At first when he did things like that, I'd be asking, 'has he not watched my last 150 games for Liverpool?' There is a danger that you think he has it in for you because he pulls you so much.

"When he arrived, he would keep saying to me, 'left foot, left foot' or I'd shoot and he would say, 'hit the target' and I'm thinking, 'look, mate, I'm trying to hit the target'.

"I would say to people, 'I'm 26 - if he doesn't think my left foot's working now, it's never going to work' but then a few weeks later I scored with my left and he came up with a little smile and said, 'lucky goal today, left foot and it hit the target' and then the penny dropped.

"Finally, I realised it was the way he helped push you on and as a player, you either recognised it or fought it and, with these guys, if you fight it there is only one winner.

[RedReet]

Full article...

http://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=63943

[Shaggy]

Apologies please merge