Up in the air: GerrardÂ’s dip in form is a worry
for club and country
As the inquest continues into England's retreat from
Moscow, one of the main questions troubling Steve McClaren must be
Steven Gerrard's loss of form. It will come as little consolation
to the England boss, but back in Liverpool Rafael Benitez is
wrestling with the same problem.
Both managers have indulged Gerrard this season with little reward.
Benitez has restored his captain to the central midfield role he
craves often at the expense of Javier Mascherano, Momo Sissoko or
Xabi Alonso while McClaren has dropped Frank Lampard, partnered
Gerrard with Gareth Barry and handed the Liverpool man the
captain's armband for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and
Russia.
The managers even fell out over Gerrard's broken toe and the issue
of using painkilling injections so he could play for his country.
Yet, rarely has the 27-year-old justified all the fuss with his
performances.
When the opportunity arrived to kill Russia off five minutes after
half-time, Gerrard's hesitant volley was as limp as the rest of his
performance. Benitez spoke up for his skipper yesterday, saying:
"Steven has experience and character. If he has another chance like
it, I'm sure he will score.
"All players need help at times but I think Steven has enough
character. I'll speak with him, but I think he'll be OK." The
Spaniard knows, however, that Gerrard's below-par performance was
not a one-off. His form for Liverpool has dipped since a
swashbuckling display against Chelsea at Anfield in August.
The low point came in Liverpool's Champions League defeat at home
to Marseille this month, two days after Gerrard had been left upset
by an incident in which a 10-year-old boy suffered a broken leg
after colliding with his car. So badly did Gerrard miscue a volley
during the Marseille game that he pulled his shirt over his head in
frustration, not realising the ball was still in play.
