With Liverpool set to face FC Basel later on today in their second Champions League match of the Group Stages, the Reds have confirmed that they are considering handing long-standing captain Steven Gerrard a contract extension.
“It is something we are looking at as a club, and with Steven and how he feels. He is still in a real good physical condition. He’s 34, he trains every day, he never needs a day’s rest. He wants to work,” explained Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers. “This is a genuine superstar and this country hasn’t produced many of them. He’s been a genuine world class player for so many years. How he still strikes a ball, there aren’t many like him, both with his passing and his shooting.”
Gerrard has come in for some criticism with the Reds making a poor start to the Premier League season. The skipper has been under increased scrutiny with his effectiveness in the deep role called into question. A number of sides, including Aston Villa and West Ham United, have been able to successfully man mark him out of the game, but an unchained performance against Everton, in which he scored a trademark free-kick to open the scoring, did well to answer his critics — for now at least.
“He will play and prepare himself right the way through to the very end. When that is we will see” continued the Northern Irishman who also confirmed that we were working on ways to combat the close attention he’s been receiving. “For teams to deem that he has to be man-marked shows the level he is at and the influence of his game. We did some sessions last week to work on freeing space for him and that worked quite well at the weekend where he was able to have that influence. When you need a calm head and to dictate the tempo of a game, there are not many better than him in world football.”
