Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard opens up on anguish of slip against Chelsea and England’s World Cup exit
STEVEN Gerrard opens up on his infamous slip against Chelsea and England’s World Cup exit, describing it as “the worst three months of my life”.
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STEVEN Gerrard has opened up on his infamous slip against Chelsea last season and England’s early World Cup exit, describing recent events as “the worst three months of my life”.
Cruelly, it was Reds skipper Gerrard’s slip that led to Chelsea striker Demba Ba’s opener at Anfield as the Blues blew the title race wide open with a 2-0 win at in April. A week later Brendan Rodgers’s side squandered a three-goal lead at Crystal Palace that would see Manchester City edge them to the title by two points.
If that wasn’t hard enough to swallow, the 34-year-old captained England during their very short stay at the World Cup in Brazil, with Roy Hodgson’s Three Lions not making it out of Group D.
When asked about those events by reporters in the United States on Monday, Gerrard didn’t hide his emotions, almost cathartically opening up on the pain it caused.
“I’ve probably been through the worst three months of my life,” he revealed in the lead-up to the Reds’ pre-season friendly with Manchester City in New York.
“Every time I speak to the media it’s going to be mentioned and that’s the only time I think about it. I appreciate how big it is when you go out of a World Cup, when you fall short, after going so close in the Premier League title race.
But it is the slip on April 28 against Chelsea that proved especially hard to take for the Merseyside legend, who was one of the team’s best players during the season after being pushed back into a new deep-lying midfield role by Rodgers.
“It was cruel,” he said.
“I haven’t lost my man at a set piece. I haven’t missed a penalty. I haven’t made a bad pass or a mistake. Every single person on the planet slips at some point in their life, whether it is on a set of stairs, on the floor or whatever.
“For me, it happened on the pitch at a really bad moment. But, you know, over the course of 38 games, a lot happens for you and against you and that determines whether you win the league or not. But that happened at a really crucial time and I have to face that.”
With the start of a new season less than two weeks away, Gerrard insisted as leader of a young side looking to against challenge for top honours, he had to put the mistake in the past.
“When you’re captain of this team, you can’t afford to feel sorry for yourself or mope around,” he said.
“Everyone in this group looks to me to see what sort of mood I’m in; to see how I am behaving round the place moving forward so I have to shake it off pretty quick.
“At 34 there is no possible way I am going to let the last three months be the things I remember moving forward. It’s important it finishes on a high.”
The decision to retire from international football after the World Cup was an easier one for England’s third-highest cap winner.
“I don’t feel as if I could go to a tournament at 36 and be who I wanted to be,” he said.
“I’ve done it for 14 years. I had to be fair to my family but also to Liverpool as well.
“Everything was pointing towards calling it a day but I’m going to miss it.”
Rodgers and his skipper will be hope his decision will pay dividends for Liverpool, who — on top of challenging for the Premier League – will play European football for the first time since 2009-2010.
Originally published as Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard opens up on anguish of slip against Chelsea and England’s World Cup exit
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