Liverpool supporters have a powerful voice and when they speak, you have to listen. It was clear who they wanted to take over, they had been singing Kenny’s name as early into the season as October, and I knew Kenny walking through the door in January 2011 would give everyone a lift.
In an instant, the club was united again. Everyone was on the same page, no one was fighting and the club’s new owners made money available for transfers. Torres left, but Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll arrived as we broke the club’s record transfer fee twice in a matter of hours.
When Andy came he took time to settle and find his form. Playing for Newcastle is different to playing for Liverpool. The pressure is different and that is not me being disrespectful. I think he understands that now and in the second half of the season he was on fire and a handful for the opposition. He has the potential to be one of the best strikers around.
Suarez, on the other hand, made the transition into English football seamlessly. I love training and playing with him. He is a magician, a player who can conjure something out of nothing and I just hope that Liverpool can satisfy his ambitions and that he stays at the club for years to come. There are not many players like Luis in the world, someone who lights up the pitch as soon as he steps onto it and I just wish I’d played alongside more often up to now.
The delight I took at seeing Kenny back at Liverpool was tempered on a personal level by the fact that I didn’t feature for him as much as I would have liked. I was sent off in his first game, an FA Cup tie versus Manchester United, and then injuries took hold. Of the 16 months that Kenny spent back in charge, I probably missed 10 months of that time. That is a major regret, but there was nothing I could do because of both my injuries.
Before I broke down with a ruptured groin in the March, Kenny knows what I went through for him, the club and for my team-mates just to get out onto the pitch. I was like a pin cushion, taking injections in order to play.
At the time you don’t worry about the effects because you have a game against Manchester United in three days and you need to win. The fans want you out there.
There are two groups of players in football. There are those who will do anything to get out on the pitch and there are players who won’t. When you have an injection, you are basically trying to cover the problem up. I knew I wasn’t doing my body any good, and that my groin was becoming weaker. I knew the risks.
We were training at Melwood one Friday before a game at West Brom and I twisted. Bang. My groin ruptured. One sharp movement and it came completely off the bone. Agony, complete and utter agony. I was out for six months, my comeback delayed by an infection, but in the back of my mind I at least knew that the surgery had been a success. Liverpool had done medical tests that showed my groin was stronger than it had been for the best part of a decade.
My comeback lasted five games. There have been so many rumours about why I picked up a second infection, but the truth is it was a freak accident. I had gone up for a header with Daniel Agger in training and when he landed, he caught me on my ankle. It was the sort of graze caused by a stud mark that I have suffered a million times before, the sort of knock I wouldn’t even show anyone.
But overnight my ankle started swelling and growing like never before. Even then I travelled down to West Brom with the team and was going to have another injection to play, although I seriously wondered whether I would even be able to get my boot on because the joint had ballooned up so much.
Liverpool’s doctor, Zaf Iqbal, did a blood test and sent it away to a laboratory for tests. I was just sitting down for an evening meal at the team hotel when he said I needed to go back to Liverpool immediately. My first thought was that something had happened to my family, but then Zaf told me about the infection and said it needed to be treated straight away.
In those situations, you have to put your trust in the medical people and I am lucky in that I have total faith in Zaf and I also have one of the best physios around in Chris Morgan.
Two hours after sitting down for pasta, I was in the Spire Hospital in Liverpool having an operation to drain my ankle and clear up the infection. My career was saved on that operating table not only by the skill of the surgeon, Chris Walker, but also the speed of thought of Zaf and Chris Morgan.
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“I was like a pin cushion, taking injections in order to play.”
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Roy Imparts the Wisdom of Experience
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I will always maintain that Roy Hodgson could have proved he was the right man for Liverpool. His reign was short-lived because he was appointed at the wrong time. Liverpool supporters are powerful and when they call for something it is hard to resist. Roy came in to replace Rafa in the summer of 2010, but I feared he was up against it from the start because the fans wanted their idol, Kenny Dalglish, to take over. When the team didn’t then hit the ground running, it was always going to be tough for Roy. I respect him and I like him and I think with the right players he could have been a success at Anfield. He was very good to me and Jamie Carragher. He loved Jamie as a player and I just wish, as a group, we could have got better results.
Leading From the Front
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I’m often perceived to be the leader in the Liverpool team, but it simply isn’t like that. I am the captain and I do my share of organising and, hopefully, leading by example, but I am not on my own. Carra is a leader in his own right and I believe Pepe Reina is a future Liverpool skipper. Pepe’s a very strong character, which is a bit of a prerequisite for a goalkeeper because it can be a lonely position at times. But he is also unselfish, genuine and most of all he commands the respects of his team-mates.
Enjoying the Moment
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It’s not just my reaction that shows how good it is to score against Manchester United, but my team-mates’ as well. We were losing 2–0 in this game at Old Trafford before getting it back to 2–2. My first goal came from a free-kick and had a little good fortune about it as it crept through a gap in United’s defensive wall. Unfortunately, my joy was short-lived. Dimitar Berbatov started that season on fire and his hat-trick against us that day was one of the reasons why.
A Liverpool Legend and a True Friend
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England had played Bulgaria in a European Championship qualifier at Wembley the night before and we had another game with Switzerland looming, but nothing was going to stop me from playing in Jamie Carragher’s Testimonial match. I desperately wanted to show my appreciation to a team-mate and friend, whose achievement in playing for Liverpool for so long should not be overlooked. It is difficult to play for Liverpool’s first team week in, week out for the best part of 15 years as Carra has done. More so because he is a local lad, too. He is rightly considered to be a legend.
Conversing with King Kenny
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As much as I was disappointed that Roy Hodgson’s tenure was over almost before it had begun, I knew for the sake of the club that a change was needed. Kenny was itching to get back and when he answered the owners’ call to return to the Liverpool dug-out for the first time in 20 years his impact was like flicking a switch. Straight away the club was unified. The supporters were behind their hero, the players benefited from his man-management and Liverpool felt like Liverpool again. What I like about Kenny is that he will defend the club to the day he dies. He loves Liverpool, it is his life. I’d be sitting at home some days and his weekly press conference would be on Sky Sports News and he’d say something like, ‘Yes, they’ve got good players but we’ve not got bad ones ourselves.’ He was only interested in Liverpool doing well, and the way we finished that season showed how he was successful in stripping away all the negativity that had been plaguing us before.
Bearing the Brunt of the Old Trafford Faithful
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Bring it on! When I was younger I didn’t like all the abuse, but now I think it helps my performances. You can shout what you want – and there are a lot of players w
ho get verbals at Anfield – but I am going to try my hardest to shut you up either by scoring or setting up a team-mate. Ironically, the worse the abuse the better you are probably playing. It is part and parcel of football. I just think it is wrong when the supporters throw objects at players.
Face to Face with Fernando Again
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This was the day I hoped I would never see. Fernando was such a massive player for Liverpool and a massive influence on my own game that seeing him leave was hard. Watching him go to Chelsea was even harder. In some respects, he will argue that the move he made has been justified. He was part of Chelsea’s Champions League and FA Cup winning squads, but I know it will hurt him not to have started either game. There were days during his time at Anfield when he was unplayable, when I knew he would score even before the game had kicked off. I hope he gets back to that standard, except, of course, for the games when I am staring across the pitch at him.
Free Wheelers
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The facilities at Melwood are first class and they cater for a player’s every need there. Gerard Houllier deserves a lot of credit for this because he recognised the necessity to create a new state-of-the-art facility on the complex. The old Melwood was a few dressing rooms, a small gym and a canteen. Before training sometimes, we will go on the exercise bikes just to warm up our muscles and it’s good to get everyone together. There are a lot more British players at the club now and that can help team spirit, although ultimately it is down to how good you are not where you come from. Carra’s leading the banter here as Andy Carroll, Joe Cole and I look on. No change there then.
A Face in the Crowd
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I was injured for the end of the 2010–11 season, but decided to attend the final game of the campaign away at Aston Villa. Basically, I was a fan for a day. Carra had done it a few years ago and I’d had a few letters saying I should go to an away game. It was an eye-opener for me to get in among the supporters. I think for a young player in our squad, or maybe one of the foreign lads, to have a day like that would really help them.
Why not? The fans absolutely adore the players. The players get so much support from the fans, so I think for a player to give up a day, mix with the fans and give a little back . . . well, there’s no harm in that. Yes, there was a bit of banter flying around. Stuff like,‘You won’t get back in the team, Stevie,’ and ‘You’ve got a fight on next season, Gerrard, to get past Lucas and Spearo (Jay Spearing).’ I think it was all good natured!
A BRACE OF CUP FINALS. . .
BUT KING KENNY DEPARTS
My mobile phone rang and Kenny’s name came up on the screen. I was half expecting what he was going to say, but it remains one of the saddest conversations I’ve had. After leading Liverpool to two Cup Finals, winning the Carling Cup, I genuinely thought that Kenny would be in charge for the start of the new season. When Kenny went with Steve Clarke, his assistant, to Boston to see the club’s owners after the final game of the season, I thought it would be to discuss the plans for the new campaign and transfer budgets. But when he flew home without any assurances, I feared what was coming.
I think Kenny deserved more time, but football is a cut-throat business. Kenny, more than anyone, knows that eighth place is not good enough for Liverpool Football Club, but that league position was false.
I don’t look for excuses. Every club can say ‘what if’ about their season. What if Manchester United hadn’t conceded a late goal at home to Everton in that 4–4 draw? They would be champions. You have to deal with the set-backs you endure. Having said that, if you watched Liverpool from the start through to the finish of last season, there was no way that we were the eighth best team in the Premier League. We were far better than that and didn’t deserve to finish there. I genuinely feel that if we went into the final couple of games with a chance of still qualifying for the Champions League that would have been more representative of how we played. I think we hit the woodwork 33 times – we couldn’t do that again if we tried – and missed numerous other gilt-edged chances, drawing too many games at Anfield in the process. I still believe in this team and we are due the rub of the green.
Also, the fact we reached two Cup Finals shows there are good players at this club. You don’t beat Chelsea and Manchester City en route to lifting the Carling Cup if your team is rubbish. And when you come within a yard, less than that, of keeping your hopes alive in the FA Cup Final as well, then that shows your team-mates don’t lack heart and character.
The Carling Cup often gets dismissed as meaningless, but you cannot underestimate its importance to Liverpool last season.
Reaching the final allowed us to dream again and winning the trophy ended a six-year barren spell without silverware for the club. That is too long for Liverpool FC.
Meeting Cardiff City at Wembley was a landmark day for the Gerrards, but one that would ultimately end in both joy and despair. My cousin, Anthony, has forged a great career for himself since finding it difficult to make progress at Everton, and he can be proud of what he has done. He’s younger than me, but I am quite close to him. I can remember, growing up, we’d play together at Ironside Road where my grandparents lived.
As always with Liverpool, we made life difficult for ourselves during the game. I think the occasion got to some of our players and we also found ourselves trying too hard, myself included.
What I thought would be a comfortable success, and I mean no disrespect to Cardiff by that, turned into a slog. We fell behind, hauled ourselves level through Martin Skrtel, took the lead thanks to Dirk Kuyt, and then conceded at the death, which lead to extra time and then penalties.
I should have known what was coming. Birmingham in 2001, AC Milan 2005, West Ham 2006, if we can find the hard way to do something, we will. The shoot-out did not start well. I was first up and saw my attempt well saved by Tom Heaton, the Cardiff goalkeeper. The walk back to the half-way line was tortuous. Every step of the way, I was thinking: ‘I’ve just lost us the Cup.’
I wasn’t on my own. Charlie Adam’s effort went high and wide, while for Cardiff, Kenny Miller and Rudy Gestede were also off target. That meant that when Anthony stepped forward to take his kick, he had to succeed.
Instinctively, I celebrated when he dragged his shot just wide of Pepe Reina’s post. It was an important moment for Liverpool, but I was heartbroken for Anthony. At times like that whatever you say seems hollow. I sought him out as the party began around him and looked to console him, but words are useless in those situations. Instead, I waited until the next day to speak to him properly. I know what he was going through. When you score an own goal in the last minutes of a Cup Final against a big team and one of your biggest rivals, there is no place to hide.
The other disappointment of that day for me was that the success did not become the platform that it should have been for the rest of the season. I still believe it was an important milestone in the development of this team, but we wasted the opportunity to prove that immediately.
Our league form remained frustratingly inconsistent and, while the FA Cup left me dreaming of a Cup double, especially when we beat Everton in the semi-final at Wembley, that was to end in failure.
It still nags away at me as to why, as a team, we didn’t turn up for the first hour of the final against Chelsea. There is no explanation for it. We knew what was at stake. It was inconceivable that we should be so insipid.
When we eventually woke up, of course, we pushed Chelsea close and the debate about whether Andy Carroll’s header crossed the line or not raged afterwards. If we had come back to 2–2 and forced extra time, I am sure we would have won. Roberto di Matteo’s side were out on their feet at that point.
Yet the manner of our comeback left me only with regrets. If only we had started like we had finished. If only: those two small words are the worst for any footballer.
Reaching two Finals and winning one trophy did not mask our league position, but it wasn’t the worst season either. Live
rpool is about winning silverware. It was important to return to that standard. What the decision to dismiss Kenny shows is that the Americans are not afraid of making big calls, good or bad. It shows they care about Liverpool. Now we have to see if it works.
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“I think Kenny deserved more time, but football is a cut-throat business.”
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Slide Rule
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This was my first start back after my groin operation and the infection that slowed my rehabilitation. I’d made a few cameos before that, easing my way back in, but I have to thank Kenny for having the faith to pitch me in against Manchester United. It went better than I expected in the main and I scored a free-kick in front of the Kop before United equalised.
The celebration was to show once and for all there were no ill-effects on my groins after the surgery. Being honest, the doctors probably winced when they saw me doing that.
Behold the Joy on Kenny’s Face
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It is sad the way Kenny’s reign ended at the end of last season, but it hasn’t changed how I look at him or what I feel for him. I don’t think his departure will change the way too many Liverpool fans regard him either. Whether he is the manager or not, he is still an icon; someone who has given his life for Liverpool. The look on his face sums up perfectly his love for the club. Every time we scored a goal, you saw his celebration: arms in the air, beaming smile. People who have that kind of passion are very hard to find.
Steven Gerrard: My Liverpool Story Page 13