Captain Fantastic: How Rodgers has transformed Steven Gerrard

If anybody deserves a Premier League medal, it’s Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard.

The 33-year old has won everything except for the League title during a long and illustrious career at Anfield. His boyhood dream to lift the Premier League title aloft at Anfield on the final day of the season seemed destined to go unfulfilled, as Liverpool languished in seventh place at the end of last season, a gargantuan 28 points behind table topping Manchester United.

Not even the most optimistic Kopite predicted that Brendan Rodgers would be able to turn around the team and get them competing for the League title again before Steven Gerrard sadly but inevitably hung up his boots and retired from professional football.

Now, however, unbelievably Liverpool sit top of the table at the beginning of April, with their destiny in their own hands. Win the next five matches and they will be crowned champions of the Premier League for the first time.

The transformation in both the club’s fortunes and Steven Gerrard can be largely attributed to the phenomenal work of boss Brendan Rodgers, whose tactical genius has propelled Liverpool up the League and revitalised the club captain.

Rodgers realised that, after years of Gerrard covering every blade of grass as an all-action attacking midfielder, the ageing England captain needed to modify his game and adapt to a new role in the team in order to continue to play on a regular basis for the Reds.

Gerrard will captain England at the World Cup this summer

As exhilarating as it was watching Steven Gerrard in full attacking flow, the time has come where his legs simply won’t allow him to continue to play in that manner. In response to the unavoidable reality of Gerrard’s ageing, Rodgers astutely assigned the club captain a new position; the so-called ‘quarter-back’ deep lying midfield role.

Things didn’t necessarily go according to plan at first and Gerrard arguably took time to settle into the role. Away at Stoke City he was unconvincing, despite netting a spot kick, and when Aston Villa visited Anfield the following week Gerrard’s flaws were exposed.

Playing next to Jordan Henderson in the middle of the park as part of a dysfunctional 4-4-2 formation, Gerrard was unable to cope with Villa’s midfield, who took advantage of their extra man to run the game during a first half in which the Midlanders claimed a surprise two-goal lead. Gerrard’s performance only improved when Lucas, who has more experience in the holding midfield role, replaced Coutinho at the break, affording the skipper the freedom to move further forward.

Nevertheless, even in that game, which Gerrard himself admitted wasn’t one of his best, the number eight provided evidence that he can adjust to the role that Rodgers wants him to play in. After all, it was his raking ball from deep that set Luis Suarez in behind Villa’s defence and, after the Uruguayan had been felled by the goalkeeper, Gerrard converted from the spot.

In that moment alone, Gerrard demonstrated two skills crucial to his new role. Firstly, he sprayed a long defence-splitting pass forward for Liverpool’s strike force, in this case Luis Suarez, to exploit. Then, he made the most of a set-piece.

The former is particularly crucial for Liverpool, since it provides much needed variation in their style of play. Although it is right that Rodgers emphasises keeping possession with short passes and building from the back, it is also important that the Reds don’t become one-dimensional. That’s where Gerrard comes in. Unlike Lucas, his main competitor for the sitting role in front of the back four, Gerrard can spray pinpoint passes across the park, with devastating effect.

Moreover, Gerrard’s ability from set pieces is another important way in which he contributes to the side. All bar one of his 14 goals this season have come from set pieces. Eleven of those came from the penalty spot, from which he has been ruthlessly efficient, bagging a late winner at Craven Cottage and almost netting a hat-trick of penalties at Old Trafford.

Gerrard's headed effort in the derby is his only goal from open play

Meanwhile, he has found the net from two beautiful free kicks, the first proving the only bright spot from a disappointing afternoon in Hull and the second vitally breaking the deadlock before the break at home to Sunderland. In addition, Gerrard has provided a League-high seven assists from dead-ball situations.

Despite taking time to transition to his new deeper role, Gerrard now seems to be taking to it like a duck to water. It seems the natural and appropriate evolution of a midfielder approaching retirement who wants to prolong their playing career as long as possible, making the most of his passing range and ability from set pieces while also allowing relative youngsters like Henderson and, to a lesser extent, Allen, the freedom to develop as more attack-minded midfielders.

If Gerrard were finally to fulfil his boyhood dream and lift the League title at the end of this season, it would be a just reward for not only an impressive season, but also a remarkable career. The Kop, and most neutrals, will be cheering him on every step of the way.

YNWA