5 Oct 2012

'I almost never played again!' - LFC star reveals how Agger nearly ended his career...

Steven Gerrard has revealed that his Liverpool team-mate Daniel Agger almost (inadvertently) ended his career last season.

In Gerrard's new book 'My Liverpool Story', Gerrard reveals that the serious injury he suffered last year came about as a result of an Agger tackle in training, which led to a potentially career-threatening swelling of his ankle. Gerrard remembers:

"I don’t think people realise how close I was to not playing again.

"There was a severe infection in my ankle, and if I hadn’t had the fluid out [of the ankle] within 24 hours I wouldn’t have had a cartilage.

"The bug would have eaten it. I’d probably have never played again, or even trained".


There's something mildly ironic about Agger - Liverpool's most injured player over the last 6 years - inflicting on someone else a career-threatening injury (!)

Gerrard also admits that he thought his career was over before he had his ankle operation:

"In my mind, as the operation began, was, "This could be the end". I owe the doc and Chris Morgan, our physio".

Gerrard concedes that he's had a 'couple of disappointing games' so far this season, but unlike in the past, he's not worried about it. He explained:

"Last year put my career into perspective. A few years ago I’d have been driving myself mad, not sleeping at night [worrying about poor performances]. Now I think, "At least you’re out there".

It's going to be a long, hard season, and if Liverpool are going to get the best out of Gerrard, he shouldn't (IMO) be played in every single game. If that happens, he will inevitably get injured/burnt out, and that will be no good for anyone. Indeed, Gerrard's appearance stats from the last few years bear this out:

* Between 2007 and 2010, Gerrard played 164 games for LFC and England, averaging 54 games a season.

* In 2008-9 alone, he made 58 appearances for club and country.

This clearly took its toll on Gerrard, with the negative impact being felt from 2010-2012:

*Only 64 appearances (club and country) in the last two seasons (32 per season average), with appearance numbers dropping dramatically as a result of injuries, and (arguably) playing too much without a break.

* If you factor in Euro 2012, and LFC's early start due to the Europa League, he's barely had time to recover.

The league is the priority this season, so Gerrard will hopefully be rested in Crapital One Cup games/Europa League games, which will allow him to (hopefully) have a big impact in league games.

Jaimie Kanwar


26 comments:

  1. Nice pick on Agger there Jaimie.

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  2. You're banned for a week. I'm sick of your sniping. If you don't like this site, go elsewhere.

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  3. jaimie i would like to agree with you about resting gerrard but with lucas injured we do not have enough cover the squad is so weak as for the youngsters i am well pleased with them but if we over play them they are more likely to get injured or over stretched we cannot afford to rest him if we want to try and have a halve decent season the results dont lie we could be in a serious mess by january

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  4. SG should be used wisely and strategically. if he wants to win a PL medal he should quit England. Would be best to prolong his footballing career. Realistically England is not going to win anything in the next 50 years.

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  5. I think you make a good point about the squad. In his press conference a few mins ago, Rodgers again reiterated that the squad is very 'thin'. Having said that, with Allen, Shelvey, Sahin and Henderson, LFC have decent cover in central midfield.

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  6. Totally agree. He should've quite after the Euros and concentrated on Liverpool.

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  7. On second thoughts, I've rescinded the ban. I've seen a lot worse.

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  8. am afraid gerrards missed the boat it will be a sad day when he retires if anyone deserves a pl medal it has got to be him i cannot see us being up challenging for a good few years

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  9. Did I abuse anyone or lie about anything or twisted your words?

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  10. Well he should prioritize which is more important. International caps clocked or PL medal.

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  11. No, I did not. I'm relaying a fact that Gerrard relays in his book. You are twisting my words because it's 100% clear that I'm just relaying info, not stating an opinion that could be construed as 'having a go' at Agger. One more post like that and you will be banned next time.

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  12. Can anyone give me an update on the likes of Coady and Texiera ?? They were supposed to be one of the best youth talent. Coady was/is a skipper of U21 as well right? Haven't heard a single thing about them yet. Also, U21 most prolific goal scorer Ngoo is ignored by BR too, any specific reason? Update please.

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  13. as if retiring from Intl will guarantee PL medal.

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  14. I know it sounds crazy but it seems BR does not like
    tall strikers , for me Ngoo is more of a threat than
    Morgan but BR has yet to give him a chance .

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  15. There are no guarantees in life.

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  16. If they were up to mark and pushing for a place with the senior squad. they would be in the fold. It has nothing to do about being ignored.

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  17. jaimie what about an amniesty when every one blocked gets back on it will be like an early xmas pressie from you;-0 i could be first on my other facebook page go on you know it makes sense it would be funny for a week or two

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  18. his striker at Swansea, Danny Graham is 6ft 1 inch.
    Lot of promising youngsters you hear of dont make the grade you are lucky to get 1 in 10 through.

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  19. lot of players take pride in playing and captaining their country you cannot criticise him for that.

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  20. and in Borini we have possibly the worst buy of all time

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  21. so was Jay Spearing and Stephen Darby

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  22. Liverpoolfc_theeplbest7:34 pm, October 05, 2012

    we developed good young offensive players, but aren't there any defensive mids in the reserves to give a go in the cups

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