Steven Gerrard

[Phoenix07]

That was tough to watch. He wanted to break down, and I think the Margaret Aspinall comment pushed him over the edge which thankfully, we won't see.

[Frenchie]

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/late...rrard-decision

When did you know Steven Gerrard's decision to leave and what was your reaction? How do you feel about it now?

I've been in conversations for quite a while with Steven and had an idea of his feelings moving forward. He had always been really respectful in terms of once he made his final decision, he wanted me to know first. In fairness to him, we had a chat a few days before the announcement was made. I've been fully aware all the way along. He is someone who deserves the utmost respect and that's why I said in the last press conference when we were talking that [because of] what the guy has done in the game and how he is as a person, he deserves the time to make his decision. At this time, the decision is purely for him and his family. He has been and is an iconic figure at the club and always will be. Over time, there'll be an opportunity for him to come back here, for sure. At this moment in time in his life, it's a chance to experience something different for him when that time comes at the end of the season. At that time, that will bring an end to his Liverpool career as a player. He's a wonderful guy, we have a great professional relationship but we're also great friends. We dine out together, we talk about football, we talk about life, we talk about love. It's wonderful.

[Phoenix07]

Grant Wahl @GrantWahl · 18m18 minutes ago
Would be amusing if Gerrard says he's coming to "America" and not "MLS" because he's also negotiating with NASL's NY Cosmos. (Shrewd also.)

Current players include Marcos Senna (Villarreal) and Raul (Real Madrid).

Rick Parry is a non executive board member, and Pele is its Honorary President. Their Director of Communications also has a special affiliation with one of our posters here too.

[Liverpool]

I was in bits come the end of that interview, I'm going look a **** if I repeat that at the last game I see him play, Burnley in March.

[Gray]

He's awesome.

[Buzzo]

Steven Gerrard leaving LFC Full Interview
Steven Gerrard leaving LFC Full Interview - YouTube

What a guy That is a beautiful interview, so raw... Can't believe he is leaving -

We have been so lucky, very lucky, to have had him.

Hero, Icon, Legend

[BrooklynRed]

Current players include Marcos Senna (Villarreal) and Raul (Real Madrid).

Rick Parry is a non executive board member, and Pele is its Honorary President. Their Director of Communications also has a special affiliation with one of our posters here too.

This would be horrible, IMO. Please God no. They are a second division team. Makes zero sense as no one would see him play. They play at Hofstra University. Woof.

[dom9]

With all these tributes I'm starting to wonder if Gerrard has died. It's OTT at this moment. What's it gonna be like in the summer?

[mick the click]

Barrett's article on it. Can't link cos he C&P'd it himself on the rattle.

HOW do you assess a career like Steven Gerrard’s? For some, it is the goals he scored, particularly how and when he scored them. Others compare his talent to those who went before him. For Liverpool’s owners, putting his gargantuan influence in some sort of context is an exercise in futility. “His contribution is almost beyond measure,” Tom Werner and John W Henry said in a joint statement yesterday.

The reality is that the scale of Gerrard’s impact on Liverpool will only be revealed when he has gone to LA Galaxy or whichever MLS club wins the race for his signature. The hole that the veteran midfield player will leave behind him goes far beyond how well he performs on a matchday; it is a void that will affect everything at Anfield from boardroom and dressing room. Once Gerrard goes, Liverpool will not have an iconic figure for the first time in living memory; there will be no obvious reference point, no symbol of what the club represents.

When Liverpool’s commercial department sells advertising space they will do so without recourse to images of Gerrard, no fewer than seven of which featured in adverts in their most recent matchday programme. They will also no longer benefit financially from the cache of having the Premier League’s second biggest shirt seller of recent times. When potential new signings are targeted, the attraction of having Gerrard, one of the most revered figures in world football, as a potential team mate will have been lost.

In the stands, supporters will look for a new hero, a superstar with whom they can identify, to emerge but options will be thin on the ground. Brendan Rodgers will seek to appoint a replacement captain but the Liverpool manager will not be spoiled for choice with Jordan Henderson, Gerrard’s current deputy, the only real alternative. On the pitch, the departure of their only remaining true leader will raise yet more questions about a transfer policy which prioritises wage efficiency and youth over proven winning mentality.

In one sense, Liverpool allowing a 34-year-old, particularly one whose peak has passed, to depart is entirely natural; indeed so normal it verges on being banal. But in so many others, it feels like a watershed moment; it is both a potential tipping point and a profound test. In their glory days, Liverpool allowed the good and the very good to leave in the knowledge that they could and probably would replace them with better but it is many years since they last mastered the art of succession.

Seeing high calibre, high earners like Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger and Luis Suarez replaced by Simon Mignolet, Kolo Toure, Dejan Lovren and Mario Balotelli hardly offers cause for confidence that they will fare better when recruiting someone to fill Gerrard’s boots. The likelihood is that they will not even try. Paul Pogba would be an obvious target but Liverpool have neither the ambition nor the pulling power to attract the Juventus midfielder. James Milner, likely to be available on a free transfer from Manchester City in the summer, may not be the glamorous acquisition that many Liverpool supporters crave but at least he would be a common sense addition.

Gerrard informed Rodgers of his decision to leave on Monday, their face to face meeting another indication of their mutual respect in an age when such information is usually passed on by agent to chief executive. There is a school of thought, one that is not without foundation, that Gerrard might have stayed for one more season had Liverpool been more decisive in their approach to him over a new deal rather than allowing his current contract to enter its final year. That, though, is just one element in a maelstrom of causes and effects that have prompted the former England captain to call time on his Liverpool career.

Chief among them is the playing time that Gerrard would be afforded. For all the talk that he could “do a Frank Lampard” by becoming an impact player from the bench, the truth is that kind of role is not one that Gerrard has ever sought. A consummate professional renowned for giving his all in training and being meticulous in his preparations, Gerrard’s entire life has been geared around being involved on a match day. Giving up on that is not yet a consideration, although it could, perhaps, have become one had Liverpool offered him the chance to become more involved on the coaching side. As was the case with Jamie Carragher, though, they never explored that option.
The effects of the recent brain drain at Liverpool are there for all to see and there is a deficit of experience which the club seems in no rush to correct. Instead, the prevailing idea will continue to be that rather than signing established winners, they can somehow cheat a transfer system that seems loaded against their approach by creating winners of their own. As yet, there are few signs that they will succeed, particularly when, at a stage of his career when others should have emerged to relieve the burden he has continued to carry, Gerrard remains the only current Liverpool player with a proven record of leadership at the highest level.

It is that which will create a chasm when Gerrard embarks on a new career in MLS in early July. At once, Liverpool will lose their leader, their captain, their legend. That they will also lose a great deal more besides – an icon, an inspiration and a talisman – in a departure which will raise further questions about both the club’s direction and its ambition. As Henry and Werner pointed out, Gerrard’s contribution has been beyond measure but they are the ones who must find a way of ensuring that the void he will leave is filled.

That's a bloody brilliant analysis IMHO. FSG - where are our gods?

[Roboklopp]

That moment where he wouldnt let Claire read out some stuff said about him and said "it'll break me" ****ed me up!

It's a ****ing joke the offish are only releasing that to paid subscribers by the way, ridiculous. Here it is for free :

https://vid.me/qCXE

Thanks Chris, appreciate that. **** me, it's hard to watch- that bit at the end in particular. Strange how you can love someone you've never met in real life. Gonna miss him terribly.

[Icon]

With all these tributes I'm starting to wonder if Gerrard has died. It's OTT at this moment. What's it gonna be like in the summer?

Might even be easier. We'd have lived it a while by then...

[dom9]

Might even be easier. We'd have lived it a while by then...

I blame social media. People are tripping over themselves to pay tribute. There's half a season left to play. That's the time for it, when his career has ended. Not now.

[Icon]

So...just ignore it then.

[dom9]

So..., just ignore it then.

I could post my thoughts in a more suitable thread if you prefer?

[Icon]

Your choice really..

But it appears this is a tribute thread of sorts currently, as news has hit us that our talisman is leaving.

Not really referring to you, but some seem rather negative about the sad responses, which are totally expected given the circumstances.

Do we all bottle our feelings up until the last kick..?