Gerrard has earned right to hit back
WHEN Steven Gerrard’s legs finally gave way after 80 minutes at Stamford Bridge, the home of the champions was suddenly awash with emotion.
They were crocodile tears according to Liverpool’s captain, a largely insincere gesture after Jose Mourinho had beckoned Chelsea supporters to join in the applause. Gerrard had a point.
You can’t wipe the slate clean, what with those cruel, relentless songs about him slipping on his backside, just because Chelsea’s manager instructed a stadium to clap him off the field. Goodness knows Gerrard has taken enough stick from these supporters over the years and yet this stadium was suddenly transformed by spontaneous, rapturous appreciation. It was quite baffling.
There were glimpses of the Gerrard of old, particularly when he arrived at the back stick to head Liverpool’s 44th-minute equaliser.
By then he was almost halfway through the ritual abuse, shutting out the songs that began last May when his mistake at Anfield allowed Demba Ba to run clean through on goal.
Gerrard slipped up — deliberately so in his post-match interview — because he has been ‘slaughtered’ by Chelsea’s fans over the years.
The Liverpool captain had not even made his way out on to the blue carpet before kick-off to form the guard of honour when Chelsea fans began to taunt him. ‘The negative song shows what the “dear enemy” concept means — we have lots of respect for the top guys,’ was Mourinho’s take on this uncomfortable send-off.
Yellow hazard signs were held up in the Matthew Harding Stand, warning ‘Slippy G’ that another mistake on the halfway line could lead to a Chelsea winner.
Gerrard has had enough stick off this lot to last a lifetime and yet he has never once given them the finger, never once given them the bird.
This rivalry has come to a close, those intoxicating Champions League battles between the two sides now a thing of the past. Gerrard and Frank Lampard, the best No 8s in the world when Mourinho wanted them to play in the same Chelsea team 10 years ago, are to renew their acquaintance in Major League Soccer.
Chelsea away has always been Gerrard’s type of game. Since Liverpool were edged out of the Champions League places on the final day of the 2003 season, he has travelled to London with a score to settle.
When they later met in the semifinals of the competition, Lampard and Gerrard came out so battered and bruised it was difficult to gauge who had enjoyed the better game.
Fittingly, they both won a European Cup. They are ambassadors for the game, loyal and hard-working servants who were recognised at the PFA’s annual dinner on April 26 when both were given gongs for their dedication to the sport. Mourinho, who tried to sign the midfielder on five occasions (three at Chelsea, once with Inter Milan and again at Real Madrid), described Gerrard as his ‘dearest enemy’ on Friday.
The pair embraced at the final whistle — before Gerrard gave his spiky, post-match interview. He was entitled to it. Despite his advancing years he is Liverpool’s leading goalscorer in the Premier League this season, moving ahead of Raheem Sterling when he applied the finishing touch to Jordan Henderson’s free-kick.
The previous weekend he scored the winner in against QPR to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League alive.
Here he netted his 119th league goal in 502 league games. Beyond that, though, he was a casual observer in front of Liverpool’s back four. Eventually he made way, Brendan Rodgers implying he took Gerrard off in order for the captain to receive the acclaim of Chelsea’s fans.
When you hear that, you know he is getting out at the right time.