Steven Gerrard- the name of a true legend

Once in a while there comes a player such as Steven Gerrard. He is a man who plays with passion for the red shirt. Everytime he steps on the pitch, it is with pride that he wears his number 8 shirt. Since his inception in the Liverpool first team squad, Stevie Gerrard has made a name for himself at Anfield. Steven Gerrard is arguably one of the most respected players in the Liverpool squad. His presence on the pitch gives a driving force to the team. His passes are excellent and has one hell of a right boot. Numerous had been the times when Stevie G has made us all happy with his goals. No Liverpool supporter can forget the winner he gave us thanks to his long range missile against West Ham in the FA Cup Finals at Cardiff. This day has already gone down in history as Steven Gerrard's day.

Steven Gerrard is undoubtedly an all rounder and certainly one of the best midfielders in the world. I have never seen such a complete player. He has pace, awareness, strength, power and most importantly a never say die attitude. His abilities were given more credentials and he gained even more respect when he captained Liverpool to an emphatic victory in the CL Finals at Istanbul in 2005. Throughout his career at Anfield and as senior player, Gerrard has amassed just about every trophy and medal, except the Premier League. It's unquestionable, Gerrard wants to have the PL trophy as a Liverpool player before he retires.

Aged nine, Liverpool discovered Gerrard as he was playing for Whiston Juniors at that time. Nobody knew that the very nine year old would grow to become a gem. After 8 years of training at LFC, Gerrard became ready for first team action and went on to sign his first contract as a professional footballer. On November 19, 1998, Gerrard made his first team appearance against Blackburn Rovers as a second half substitute. During his first season, Stevie G played around 13 games. Having endured ups and downs in his career due to injury problems, Gerrard managed to establish himself as a first team regular at the start of the 1999-00 season . His first ever professional goal came at Anfield against Sheffield Wednesday.

Since then Gerrard has progressed enormously as a player. He was once again the key player to a magnificent treble in the year 2001. It was the same year when Liverpool tasted European glory as they beat Alaves by 5-4 to claim the UEFA cup. Gerrard was one of the scorers and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year for his wonderful achievements. After years of striving on the pitch Gerrard was gradually handed the captain armband in place of Sami Hyypia. His achievements saw him become one of the nominees for the most respected Golden Ball Award. He as well gained the title of UEFA’s most valuable player.

Steven Gerrard has now 100 goals to his account as a Liverpool player. He scored his 100th goal in a Liverpool shirt against PSV Eindhoven in the 2008-09 CL group stages. He has also scored in 4 major finals, a feat that any other English player has yet to match. Gerrard has tasted lots of success at Anfield. But he has also known how to handle defeats. His optimism was clear after the 2-1 CL finals defeat at Athens when he penned a 4 year deal which will keep him at Anfield until 2011.

It would sadden me and every Liverpool faithful around the globe when Gerrard will part ways with Liverpool. Gerrard’s love affair with Liverpool had been a passionate one and will forever be remembered. As for Gerrard, he will unmistakably go down in history as one of Liverpool’s most legendary players.