It seems almost inconceivable that a player of Steven Gerrard’s ability will never add a Premier League medal to add to an otherwise full trophy cabinet. Having spent his entire career at Liverpool he’s played alongside some magnificent individuals, but never in a team that was collectively strong enough.
It got me thinking about the teammates that have come and gone since Gerrard made his debut in 1998, a fifteen year fantasy XI if you like. I found that there have been some weaknesses in the team that were prevalent throughout that period but nonetheless was able to come up with a match-day squad that could have competed with the very best in the world.
This is the team I settled on. Some controversial decisions maybe, but let me know what you think. They will line up in the 4-2-2-2 or 4-2-3-1 formations that Brendan Rogers has favoured in recent games.
Goalkeeper: Pepe Reina
For me, this was the easiest decision to make. To my mind, Pepe Reina has been Liverpool’s best keeper since Ray Clemence. Yes, Bruce Grobbelaar had a fantastic career for the Reds and he was capable of reflex saves that only an acrobat would attempt. But he was also prone to some incredible gaffes and poor decision-making at times.
Reina has had his critics this year but I would argue that he has still made less mistakes in this, an average season, than Grobbelaar would make in a normal one. He has been incredibly consistent over the years and his ability to sweep up behind the back-four is an underrated quality and something that has been essential to the way we play.
Like Grobbelaar, he has excellent reflexes and is better dealing with crosses than most foreign keepers who come to England. He communicates well with his defence and is able to maintain concentration during periods of inactivity.
His main contenders during the Gerrard era were Sander Westerveld and Jerzy Dudek, but Reina has been our best keeper and would be very difficult to replace if he were to leave this summer.
Right Back: Markus Babbel
Markus Babbel only had one full season at Liverpool but what a season it was! He was an integral part of Gerard Houllier’s treble-winning side of 2000-01. Unfortunately, the following summer he contracted Guillain–Barré syndrome and was unable to play for a year. The debilitating nature of the illness meant that he never was able to regain the physical levels required in the Premier League.
I’ve chosen Babbel over another excellent Liverpool right-back, Glenn Johnson, because of his superior defensive qualities. Babbel’s tackling was strong and well-timed, and his positioning and reading of the game were also excellent. On the rare occasions that wingers got past him he had the pace to recover and cut out crosses from the flanks. Babbel had also played a number of games as a centre-back, at both club and international level for Germany, which made him an effective marker at set-pieces.
Glenn Johnson may have the edge on skill and footwork, but Babbel’s surging runs and excellent deliveries from the byline were an essential part of Liverpool’s attacking arsenal on their way to winning the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup that year.
Other contenders were Steve Finnan, who was a solid defender but offered little in the final third and Martin Kelly, who has yet to really establish himself in the first team due to a succession of injuries.
Left Back: Jose Enrique
Left-back has been an achilles heel for Liverpool for a long time. The Steven Gerrard years began with Steve Staunton, an outstanding player in his first stint with the Reds, but one who was past his best on his return to the club. Dominic Matteo also played in the position on several occasions, and while he was a player I rated highly, he was better as a centre-back.
I guess most people would select John Arne Riise for this position but I was never convinced. At his best, Riise is remembered for his thunderous free-kicks and shoot-on-sight attitude. Although 21 goals in seven seasons at the club was a decent return for a defender, he was also guilty of going for goal on numerous occasions when teammates were better placed. His crossing was decent when he first arrived but this also deteriorated towards the end of his Liverpool career.
As a defender, Riise had a lot of short-comings. His positioning was poor, meaning that the left-sided centre-back was often called upon to cover for him which would sometimes leave gaps in the middle. He also lacked pace and was turned to easily for my liking, and had a tendency to give away free-kicks in dangerous positions.
Of the others, Emiliano Insúa had a lot of promise (we should have persisted with him) and both Stephen Warnock and Fabio Aurelio were decent players. I even considered Glen Johnson for left-back but felt that might have been a vocal critic of managers putting square pegs in round holes.
In the end, I plumped for Jose Enrique. On his day, he is by far our best left-back of the period. He has lots of pace, he’s a decent tackler and provides a constant threat down the flank. Recent stats show that opposition wingers are less likely to go past Enrique than either Leighton Baines or Ashley Cole. In other words, he’s the perfect modern-day left-back.
The caveat is his inconsistency. On a bad day his positioning, in particular, completely goes out the window and it can seem like he’s suddenly playing with a bunch of strangers for the very first time. Fortunately, those off-days have been a lot less frequent this season, and perhaps has benefitted from greater squad stability, particularly since Christmas.
Centre Backs: Sami Hyppia & Daniel Agger
Personally, I like centre back partnerships that include a both a right and left footed player. For that reason Daniel Agger is practically unchallenged, the only serious competitor being Dominc Matteo but his career as a centre back only really flourished after leaving The Reds for Leeds Utd, replacing Rio Ferdinand, and then later at Blackburn.
I’m sure many people would include Agger in any case. He doesn’t always dominate as a as he should but his propensity for bringing the ball out of defence reminds many Liverpool fans of one of our greatest ever players, Alan Hansen. This ability is integral to the system currently deployed by Brendan Rogers.
There was a lot of competition for the other central defensive birth: Stephane Henchoz, Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel. Despite this, I couldn’t look beyond Sami Hyppia who, pound for pound, was probably our greatest signing since Gerrard made his debut. Big Sami was comfortable on the ball, strong in the tackle and imposing in the air. The perfect foil for Agger, and a player I feel we’ve never adequately replaced.
Central Midfield: Dietmar Hamann & Xabi Alonso
I decided against picking Jamie Redknapp because although I feel that as a youngster he was at least as good as David Beckham, the succession injuries he incurred, usually on international duty, never really allowed him to reach his full potential.
I’ll probably get slaughtered for not picking Steven Gerrard in central midfield, but here’s my reasoning. Xabi Alonso, at his best, set the rhythm for Rafa Benitez’ team. He didn’t have Gerrard’s lung-busting energy or goal-threat, but he passed the ball just as well and had better positional sense and discipline. However, he was never a holding midfield player and was always better when he had this kind of player alongside him.
Steven Gerrard, not only lacks the discipline for the holding midfield role but it also blunts his attacking instincts in the opposition’s final third. For that reason, it was down to Dietmar Hamann and Javier Mascherano. While Mascherano was tireless, and often very effective in closing down attacking threats, he offered little in the opposition half.
Hamann was a better passer of the ball, had a cooler temperament and wasn’t opposed to carrying the ball beyond the half way line and shooting from distance. His impact from the bench in the 2005 Champions League final tells you everything you need to know about this often underrated German.
Attacking Midfield Right: Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard’s best position for Liverpool has probably been a central attacking role just off the main striker. His partnership with Torres in that very position came close to winning us the league in Rafa’s penultimate season. In truth, such is Gerrard’s all-round ability that he could play pretty much anywhere in the team and he would still be better than most of the players we’ve bought specifically for those positions.
Gerrard at his peak had everything. Energy, pace, ability to run with the ball, explosive finishing and an excellent range of passing. In the type of system that Brendan Rogers currently plays, Gerrard would have plenty of opportunity to cut inside and would therefore be less isolated than was sometimes the case when he played in this position under Benitez. Quite simply, one of the greatest players ever to have graced Anfield.
If Gerrard was deployed elsewhere in this team then Vladimir Smicer or Yossi Benayoun would be excellent understudies for this position.
Attacking Midfield Left: Luis Garcia
Therefore, it really came down to Patrick Berger, Luis Garcia, Vladimir Smicer and Harry Kewell. Ability-wise, there wasn’t much to choose between them. They could all pass, shoot and dribble. They were all capable, on their day, of doing something a little special, things that could win matches.
Kewell, though, perhaps never really produced his best stuff in a Liverpool shirt and a section of the Reds fans questioned whether some of his injuries were really in his mind. Smicer was a hugely talented player who had a terrible time with injuries.
Patrick Berger had a sweet left foot and scored some great goals for Liverpool. He struggled for playing time under Roy Evans, though, with the manager questioning his attitude and selfishness on the pitch. He did flourish during Gerard Houllier’s first season in charge, but suffered a series of injuries after that.
That leaves Luis Garcia. Yes, he could be frustrating at times, giving the ball away by trying something complicated when a simple pass would have sufficed. In part, his talents were stifled to an extent by Rafa Benitez’ rigid tactics. Yet, he was a match-winner. He was always capable of pulling something out of the bag at times when we were struggling for a goal, adding an extra goal threat alternative to Steven Gerrard that would make opposition defences sit deeper. He’s another player that would thrive in the current Liverpool team.
Forwards: Luis Suarez and Robbie Fowler
Liverpool have had no shortage of decent strikers to choose from in the Steven Gerrard era: Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Jari Litmanen, Milan Baros, Djibril Cisse, Peter Crouch Dirk Kuyt, Craig Bellamy, Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez, Andy Carrol. I’d have Luis Suarez playing just off of Robbie Fowler, and I think they would have been the perfect combination.
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