The boss of Liverpool Brendan Rodgers said that he was not aware of the captain Steven Gerard’s 16th anniversary debut. He left him against Stoke but he was totally unaware. It was for the first time in Gerard history that he did not take a start with the league match since New Year at time he was injured. After beating Potters by 1 – 0, Roger said, “I wasn’t aware it was 16 years until I walked into the dressing room and saw the program. I felt quite bad but he’s a wonderful man. He thinks about the team.”
This year the contract of Gerard will be expired and sad news is that throughout this season, the performances of Gerard have been criticized. Gerard was the former captain of England and after the World Cup, he got retired. For Liverpool, this year, Gerard has made 18 appearances. During the mid of week, for 90 minutes, Gerard played against Ludogorets and at 75th minute he just replaced Lucas at Anfield. On performances of Gerard, Brendan Roger said, “I look at each game and put the players in I think will get us a result. He will always play a part in our work. Every player wants to play every minute of every game but the reality is that at this level, and how competitive it is and the squad we have got here, you can’t just rely on Steven in every single game. He’s been brilliant for me in my time here.”
Talking to BBC Match of the Day, the ex- Liverpool midfielder Paul Ince said, “You want to keep on playing so when you feel fit and you’re not playing it kills you. Steven Gerard wants to play every game, he doesn’t want to sit on the bench.”
Then Danny Murphy added, “I was with Paul at Liverpool when Steven made his debut and I can’t believe it has been 16 years but he’s got to accept that now. It might benefit him actually as we’ve seen with Frank Lampard.”
It was hard to believe that it has been about 16 years now that Gerard made his debut. It was surprising for Brendan Roger and it was hard to believe for him. That is the only reason why Brendan Rodger was not aware of the 16th anniversary of Steven Gerard debut.