Liverpool's Greatest - No.1: Steven Gerrard - Liverpool FC

NewsLiverpool's Greatest - No.1: Steven Gerrard - Years: 1998-2015 - Appearances: 710 - Goals: 186 - Trophies: League Cup (2001, 2003, 2012), FA Cup (2001, 2006), UEFA Cup (2001), UEFA Super Cup (2001), Champions League (2005) After we crunched 134 years of statistics, received more than 1.35 million selections by fans and took the opinions of Reds legends, Steven Gerrard has emerged as Liverpool’s Greatest. The iconic midfielder’s incredible contributions across 17 years in the first team place him at the summit of a list teeming with achievement and ability. Talk of a hugely talented kid named Gerrard was widespread as he advanced through the club’s Academy during the 1990s. When his chance to step up to the senior squad followed, the teenager snapped into tackles and rasped passes as though he had been mingling with the professionals for years. Liverpool truly had something special on their hands. The fresh-faced Gerrard debuted as a late substitute against Blackburn Rovers at Anfield in November 1998. His first goal arrived 12 months later, a snaking run through the Sheffield Wednesday defence allowing him to fire in a low finish. The Scouser’s raw and explosive talents did require his still-developing body to catch up during his fledgling years, but he would become an awesome all-round package. Strong, quick, technically superb, a creative passer, a fine finisher, long-range shooter, fierce tackler and a ferocious competitor – these attributes grew, too, with each season. Gerrard’s first taste of success came in the remarkable 2000-01 campaign that included triumphs in the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup. He started all three finals and began his knack of scoring in showpiece fixtures with a goal as the Reds beat Alaves 5-4 in Dortmund to take the European honour. Moulded by a mentor figure in manager Gerard Houllier, he also benefited from the experience and nous of teammate Gary McAllister for two years at an important period of his career. By 2003, Gerrard’s powerful performances and driven mentality gained him the captain’s armband – which he would wear for the next 12 years. Nobody has skippered the club in more games. His ultimate night as Liverpool’s leader occurred at Istanbul’s Ataturk Stadium in May 2005. Having already scored a vital screamer past Olympiacos in the Champions League group stage, Gerrard was the catalyst for the greatest comeback in a final in the tournament’s history. Trailing 3-0 to AC Milan at half-time, the Reds were given hope by his outstanding header. And given belief by his rousing, hands-raised reaction. Perhaps it was not over. Within six minutes, Rafael Benitez’s team were level at 3-3, Gerrard winning the penalty from which Xabi Alonso equalised. A night on which the midfielder also did a stint at right-back concluded with him lifting the European Cup above his head. There were similar heroics a year later in the FA Cup final against West Ham United, where the Reds were 2-0 and 3-2 behind during 90 minutes. Gerrard assisted, scored and then produced a phenomenal, last-minute equaliser from 35 yards, before also converting a penalty as Liverpool prevailed in a shootout. “They are performances for the ages, those performances will be getting talked about in 40, 50 years’ time,” said Jamie Carragher, his long-serving vice-captain. You have to accept cookies in order to view this content on our site. Watch on YouTubeAdapted into more of an advanced central role by Benitez in subsequent seasons, the No.8 was routinely hailed by his peers at home and on the continent as one of the most gifted and impactful footballers of his generation. “He’s one of the few players who is a superb technician, who is great on the ball, but who mixed in those fighting qualities with everything he did,” said Zinedine Zidane. “And he led everyone else and pushed them on to do more and perform better.” Named PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 2006, he was also selected in the Premier League Team of the Year eight times. The league title itself sadly eluded Gerrard, with the Reds’ challenges in 2001-02, 2008-09 and 2013-14 coming up short. It was not for the want of trying, nor commitment – ‘Stevie G’ resisted overtures from many admiring teams and remained loyal to Liverpool even in times when the club was struggling to compete at the level he deserved. For that, he was loved even more. He said an emotional farewell to Anfield as a player in May 2015, doing so with a remarkable haul of 186 goals and as one of only three men in LFC history with more than 700 appearances. “I look back at it with pride,” Gerrard said then. “I am really proud of what I’ve achieved here. All the trophies I’ve won here and all the great memories I have. “Growing up as a boy, dreaming of playing for Liverpool just that one time, I’ve achieved an awful lot more than I thought I would have at the beginning.”