Liverpool hopeful of making strong case to Gerrard

Times Online 1st February 2005
By Oliver Kay
STEVEN GERRARD has yet to be invited for tea and biscuits with Peter Kenyon and José Mourinho, at least as far as we know, but the latest reports of him being shown around properties in Surrey can only have increased the sense of anxiety at Liverpool, whose chief executive, Rick Parry, summoned him to a meeting last week to reiterate the club’s desire to help him to satisfy his ambitions without having to join Chelsea.

Far from meeting Chelsea officials to discuss a £30 million deal for Gerrard, as one newspaper suggested on Sunday, Parry and Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, spent last week trying to convince the midfield player that he should stay at Anfield.

“Our position with regards Steven is exactly the same,” Parry said yesterday. “Rafa and I reiterated to him only last week that we want to build a team around him.”

Later in the day, at a press conference to look forward to the Barclays Premiership match away to Charlton Athletic tonight, Benítez joked: “My English is not that good, but, when I say around him, I do not mean without him.”

Gerrard, though, has been demanding signs of visible progress for some time and, despite improvement in some areas since Benítez replaced Gérard Houllier as manager last summer, the 25-year-old seems certain to leave at the end of the season, most probably for Chelsea, unless the pace of change increases dramatically. He hinted as much on Saturday, when it is doubtful that, as a summariser on Match of the Day, he was taken unawares when asked about his future by Gary Lineker.

Yesterday, in an interview with Liverpool’s official website, Gerrard was prepared to paint a slightly rosier picture, but there were no guarantees or promises about his long-term plans — and nor can there be when, by his admission on Saturday, he is already planning to “sit down at the end of the season and assess my future”.

Gerrard talked instead of his desire to catch Everton, who lead Liverpool by seven points in the race for the fourth Champions League qualifying place, and thus the necessity of victory at The Valley tonight.

“This is a vital fixture, without a doubt,” he said. “Every league fixture between now and the end of the season is going to be a must-win game. We can reel them (Everton) back in. We’re a better side than Everton in my opinion.

“Losing to Manchester United and Southampton and seeing us go out of the FA Cup against Burnley was one of the worst weeks I’ve had since I’ve been at this club, but we’re happier now than we were last week. We’re in the (Carling Cup) final, still fighting for a top-four finish in the Premiership and in the last 16 of the European Cup.

“If you look at the bigger picture, it’s not too bad. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say I’d like things to be better but, when so many changes are made, things are going to take time.”

Gerrard also rejected suggestions that Liverpool had become a one-man team, saying that such claims were “unfair” on his team-mates, but without question he has become the biggest personality at Liverpool Football Club. Too big, he will be told by his suitors from Stamford Bridge, but, even if he is wearing the blue shirt of Chelsea next season, Gerrard is determined to leave Anfield on a high.