The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Sliding doors almost closed: Steven Gerrard and Chelsea

Steven Gerrard is playing abroad, but is certainly no longer in his prime.
Roar Guru
8th May, 2015
0

It was April, it was sunny, and it was a day to celebrate for Steven Gerrard.

Having passed the test and the emotion of a stern Manchester City challenge only two weeks previous, Gerrard and his Liverpool teammates were ready to play Chelsea, shorn of playing talent for the day and ambition for their season.

His remarks following that win against Manchester City were telling: “We must not f****** slip now!” he bellowed to his engaged teammates. It would be embellished in its full ironic cruelty a fortnight later.

It is quite possible that Steven Gerrard’s legacy will be as much about the day he lost his footing on a dry Anfield surface, allowing Demba Ba to score, as it will be about Istanbul or Cardiff. Not only did that play a large part in Liverpool losing grip on their first league title in 24 years, it has since proven the moment King Midas lost his touch.

Gerrard has never been the same since, and that will never be made clearer as he leads a guard of honour on Monday morning. Who else to receive it other than Chelsea?

The recent rivalry that has blossomed in the last decade between Liverpool and Chelsea is about more than the mere difference of red and blue, Roman’s roubles, or the animosity between Jose Mourinho (he who once sported a Liverpool logo on his phone) and Rafa Benitez (who criticised Chelsea fans while both managing for and against their club).

A lot of it can boil down to Steven George Gerrard – he of Liverpool, who twice nearly joined Chelsea.

Call it the ‘Sliding Doors’ moment of Gerrard’s career. Will there be a moment on Monday when Gerrard claps the Blues on that he wonders what may have been had he signed for Stamford Bridge all those years ago?

Advertisement

What would his trophy cabinet have been had he full stopped his Liverpool career with a Champions League in 2005, and swapped red for blue? Would he have had another European triumph in Munich as Chelsea did, three Premier League triumphs, several Cup successes?

Or would his Chelsea career been a daily realisation of what his England career frequently demonstrated – that one of he or Frank Lampard would not survivive?

It’s equally possible that Gerrard right now may have plied his trade in the fringe clubs of the Premier League or Championship, as it is he could have been clapped on by the club he has remained with.

Now in his final days as a Liverpool player, Gerrard has to endure the ignominy of clapping on the club that denied him his last chance at league glory. Furthermore, he has to do it as very much a force in rapid decline.

Of course, the Stamford Bridge faithful will not miss their mark – with scorn aplenty headed the Huyton product’s way. Neither will Mourinho or his team, who will not settle now the league title has been settled. Mourinho seems to grow an inch whenever confronted with the red of Merseyside.

Denying Liverpool once more will not only inflict further pain on the player he twice tried to sign, but will almost certainly end their Champions League hopes next season.

In contrast, there can be no win on Monday for Gerrard and Liverpool that can make either player or club forget that April day. The damage is done, and as Gerrard calls in the removalists ahead of his marquee move to LA, while clapping on the team that he almost joined, the sliding doors will almost be shut.

Advertisement

Join The Roar’s live coverage of Chelsea versus Liverpool on Monday morning from 12:45am (AEST).

close