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SITE UPDATE - 4 August 2010

Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who keeps visiting the site in my absence. I apologise for the lack of recent posts - the truth is I'm struggling build up the motivation to post anything. This has nothing to do with LFC and everything to do with my dwindling love of football.

As regular readers know, I despise many aspects of modern football, especially the greed, cheating and shallowness of many top-flight footballers. Indeed, I have little respect for the overpaid, money-grabbing mercenaries masquerading as 'footballers', which the makes it hard for me to justify wasting my time writing about them.

This will, of course, delight my many detractors :-) Having said that, I'm sure I will return occasionally to offer my humble view on things. I have complete faith in Roy Hodgson, and as I've argued in the past, the future is bright for LFC. The overwrought doom-mongers who were foaming at the mouth arguing that the club was facing the apocalypse are looking pretty stupid right about now.

All the best,
JK
***COMMENTS ARE ON***

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Gerrard: England more important than Liverpool

Coming hot on the heels of his ignorant ‘foreigners are taking over the league’ comments, Steven Gerrard has angered many Liverpool fans by proclaiming that playing for England is ‘ a lot bigger’ than playing for Liverpool.

I have been repeatedly shouted down when advancing that opinion that Gerard cares more about England than Liverpool, but once again I have been proved right. Gerrard stated:

"When I join up with England, these games are bigger than Champions League games or league games. You're representing your country. If you go to a major tournament and play well or achieve something as a team it's going to be a lot bigger than achieving something at your club."

Gerrard’s disappointing views are arguably at odds with the majority of Liverpool fans, who prioritise club over country. Not that Gerrard seems to give two hoots about damaging the expectations of his loyal fanbase:

"Maybe that is supporters being selfish. As a player, you want to play in the biggest games. Those are European [Championship] games and World Cup games."

It’s nice to know that Gerrard considers games against Macedonia and Trinidad and Tobago to be more important than games against AC Milan and Arsenal.

These comments confirm what I have been saying for years about Steven Gerrard: He is more interested in playing for England than Liverpool. In that respect, he is similar to former Liverpool player Michael Owen, someone who has shamelessly prioritised country over club for years.

Gerrard’s comments are depressingly unambiguous, and whilst I can understand his patriotism, this is not what you want to hear from a Liverpool Captain. The fact that Gerrard is a homegrown Liverpudlian makes it even worse, as there is now a damaging dichotomy between him and the Scouse fans that worship him every week.


Fans love to believe that Gerrard is an extension of them, representing their hopes and dreams as a ‘local boy done good’. The reality is sadly very different. Gerrard is as far removed from the average fan on the street as it possible to be. He lives in a different world, and has nothing in common with the fawning fans who put him on a pedestal.

In my view, the reason Gerrard prefers England over Liverpool has nothing to do with patriotism and everything to do with vanity. He wants to be immortalised on the international stage, and considered one of the best players of all time. He is hungry for the fame that the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Maradona enjoy. It’s all about 'Stevie Me' and what he can achieve for himself, rather than having anything to do with the team or the pride of England.

With these comments, Gerrard is close to destroying the special bond that exists between Scousers and ‘one of their own’. Would you ever hear Robbie Fowler say such things? Never. That is why Fowler is revered and Gerrard will ultimately be greeted with indifference.

As I’ve stated repeatedly over the years, Steven Gerrard is not fit to be the Captain of Liverpool FC. He needs to be stripped of that honour, and it should go to someone who prioritises Liverpool FC above all else. This is the way it needs to be and this is the way it should be.

1 COMMENTS:

Kevin said...

i wholeheartedly disagree.

"You're representing your country. If you go to a major tournament and play well or achieve something as a team it's going to be a lot bigger than achieving something at your club"

tell me, where in that does he suggest country being more IMPORTANT than club? he claims (rightfully so) that the results of matches involving nations will be bigger because it's ENTIRE NATIONS involved. bigger != more important.

who's to knock him if he wants glory on the world stage. i can't believe you're actually belittling our player, nay, our captain who wants to succeed in every aspect imaginable. that's disgusting. that someone we support week in, week out should want to be the best for club AND country and you find a problem with that.

you want to compare michael owen to gerrard, it seems the only thing they have in common is being english.

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