Author name: Mark Haworth

Please don’t get me started on whether a player (of any club) is the best player ever to grace the the shirt of (insert your team here…)

For me, it’s impossible to draw comparisons. And that’s in any sport. Jack Nicklaus vs Tiger Woods in golf for example. The game has evolved. Looking at LFC specifically, I’ve seen some magnificent players throughout my years watching games at Anfield. But each “best” player, was the best of that period, playing other teams from that period. I doubt that some of the legends of the 70/80’s would be able to keep up with the fitness levels and pace of the game today. The reverse is true, I couldn’t imagine some of the players today being able to play on the rain sodden mud pitches with the old laced footballs of yesteryear. It was a different game then. You need to compare like with like.

I look at it differently, if you were to grade all the players of any team on the standards at the time on a scale of one to five, on the basis that only the real legends made it to category one, then Gerrard most certainly fits into that category along with many other Liverpool greats. But that doesn’t make him *the* greatest.

In my view, he’s timed his LFC retirement well, it’s far better to go out as close to the top as possible. Arguably, that could have been at the end of last season, but at least this way he can soak up the atmosphere of his remaining games and let the crowd show their appreciation of his efforts over the years.

I’m sure we’ll see him back at some point at Liverpool, but I suspect now he realises he’s not quite the player he needs to be to maintain the exceptionally high standards required to compete at the top level of the Premiership. He’s still got plenty left in the tank to make a huge impression at another (none English) club before he finally hangs his boots up.

Thanks for all the memories Stevie, there have been some very good ones, and I suspect there may be some more to come 🙂