[lfc-news] Gerrard: Glad to be back - Echo

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's
'Thanks & Giving.'
http://us.click.yahoo.com/6iY7fA/5WnJAA/Y3ZIAA/2_TolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Liverpool Echo, 10 Mar 2005
Glad to be back
By Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

STEVEN GERRARD admitted he was concerned about his dip in form prior to
Liverpool's demolition job of Bayer Leverkusen last night.

The skipper was back to his inspirational best as a Luis Garcia double
and Milan Baros ensured a comfortable 6-2 aggregate win.

The quarter-final draw takes place a week tomorrow, and Gerrard says no
side in Europe will relish a trip to Anfield.

He's also hoping his fine performance in the BayArena will kickstart a
positive end to the season.

"No-one knows more than me if I'm playing well or not and in my last
five or six games I've been below the standard I expect from myself,"
said Gerrard.

"The manager has told me he wanted more from me so I felt I needed a big
performance. I'm happy with how I played last night. It was a lot better
than I've been for the last five weeks.

"The manager will always want more from us whether we're playing well or
not. Even though we won 3-1, when we got back to the dressing room he
told us he didn't think the second half was good enough.

"That's why he's such a successful coach. He won't settle for any
individuals or the team dropping their standards.

"We were sloppy in the second half and the manager wasn't as happy as he
was after the first. When you get a big lead and know the other side
needs six to beat you, you can let things slip a little.

"We settled more than we would have had the game still been tight. The
manager doesn't want us to take our foot off the pedal at all.

"At the same time, we know there's a lot to be positive about from the
first half, particularly when you consider our away form this season.

"I think we shocked them because they expected us to sit back and be
negative. Instead, we got at them, took control and dominated the first
half."

Many Anfield officials are hoping a swift opportunity to exact revenge
on Chelsea will come their way in the last eight.

The English clubs can now be paired in Europe and Gerrard believes
Liverpool can shock whoever they face.

"There are a lot of teams left who are stronger than others," he said.

"Every tie will be difficult and I wouldn't like to choose to play any
particular side. Everyone will want a battle of Britain and if we can
play like that and get a few more injured players back in time, we'd
fancy our chances against anyone.

"We've got to keep this kind of form on the road. We've not had many
problems at Anfield, but this shows we are capable of doing it away too."

Gerrard wasn't the only star performer in Germany and he highlighted the
superb contribution of youngster Stephen Warnock.

"Steve was brilliant," said Gerrard. "Considering he's only made a
handful of European appearances, it was an exceptionally good game by
him. I'm really pleased for him."

Unsubscribe: lfc-news-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
http://www.lfc-list.org.uk/

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lfc-news/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
lfc-news-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/