Steven Gerrard

Liverpool

1998–2004: Beginnings, cup treble and club captaincy

Gerrard made his first-team debut for Liverpool on 29 November 1998 as a late substitute in a Premier League match against Blackburn Rovers. He made thirteen appearances in his debut season, replacing injured captain Jamie Redknapp in central midfield. He also occasionally played on the right wing, but scarcely contributed in the short match time he received, which he attributed to nerves. Gerrard recalled in a 2008 interview with The Guardian, "I was out of position and out of my depth." Nonetheless, Liverpool's coaching staff remained convinced that he would improve. Gerrard saw himself as a defensive player primarily, looking to make key tackles rather than push the team forward. Replacing Paul Ince, Gerrard regularly partnered Redknapp in midfield for the 1999–2000 season. After starting the Merseyside derby on the bench, he replaced Robbie Fowler in the second half, receiving his first career red card for a challenge to the upper leg of Everton's Kevin Campbell. On 5 December 1999, Gerrard scored his first senior goal in a 4–1 home victory over Sheffield Wednesday. However, he began to suffer from persistent back problems, which sports consultant Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt later diagnosed as a result of accelerated growth, coupled with excessive playing, during his teenage years. He was then beset by groin injuries that required four separate operations.

In the 2000–01 season, Gerrard…

2000–2004: Beginnings and early call-ups

Gerrard made his international debut against Ukraine on 31 May 2000. That summer, he was called up for UEFA Euro 2000, making only one appearance as a substitute in a 1–0 win over Germany before England were eliminated in the group stage. He scored his first international goal in the famous 5–1 victory over Germany in a 2002 World Cup qualifier in September 2001, and while England qualified, Gerrard was forced to pull out of the squad due to his ongoing groin problems after pulling up in Liverpool's final match of the season against Ipswich.

2004–2006: FIFA World Cup debut

Gerrard scored his second goal for the national team in the Euro 2004 qualifier against Macedonia on 16 October 2002 in a 2–2 draw, his third goal was the opener in a 2–1 win over Serbia and Montenegro on 3 June 2003. Before the Euros, Gerrard won the only trophy with the national team in his career – the friendly 2004 FA Summer Tournament. He was a regular starter in Euro 2004, scoring once to make it 3–0 in England's win over Switzerland in the second Group game of the tournament but England would be eliminated by the tournament hosts Portugal in the quarter-finals losing 6–5 on penalties in a match when Gerrard was substituted off in the 81st minute for Owen Hargreaves.

He participated in his first World Cup in 2006 and scored two goals, both in the group stage, against Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden, although his spot-kick was one of three…

Regarded by several pundits and footballing figures as one of the greatest players of his generation, in 2009, Zinedine Zidane and Pelé considered Gerrard to be possibly the best footballer in the world. Known for his versatility and wide range of skills, he was capable of playing in many positions. A hardworking box-to-box player with great endurance in his prime, Gerrard was usually deployed as a central midfielder, but he had also been used as a second striker, a holding midfielder, an attacking midfielder, a right-back, and a right winger. Gerrard began his professional career as a wide midfielder on the right, although he did not excel in this position as he had a tendency to commit careless fouls in his youth. Nevertheless, Liverpool retained their faith in the youngster, and he was later shifted to a defensive midfield position as he matured, where he excelled as a ball-winner rather than as a playmaker.

He continued to evolve tactically, coming into his own in a box-to-box central midfield role, which allowed him to be effective both offensively and defensively; indeed, at his peak, he was known for his ability to make late runs from behind into the penalty area. Under Benítez, he was also used in a supporting and creative role, as an attacking midfielder behind the strikers, or even as a deep-lying playmaker; he was increasingly deployed in the latter position in his later career, in order to compensate for his physical decline, and due to his ability to dictate…

Steven George Gerrard was born on 30 May 1980 at Whiston Hospital in Whiston, Merseyside, the second son of Julie Ann and Paul Gerrard. He started out playing for his hometown team, Whiston Juniors, where he was noticed by Liverpool scouts; he joined the Liverpool Academy in 1989, aged nine. Liverpool was the club that he adored while growing up as a youngster, and his childhood football heroes were Liverpool's John Barnes, Ian Rush and England's Paul Gascoigne. As a child, he had an accident in which a garden fork pierced the big toe of his right foot. In his autobiography, he credited his father and Liverpool Academy director Steve Heighway for preventing unnecessary surgery to amputate his toe. Despite not being a Catholic and living outside the school's catchment area, Gerrard attended Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School in Liverpool's West Derby suburb after it was recommended by his primary school teacher (whose husband was a PE teacher there) due to its superior football reputation over other schools in the area. He had trials with various clubs at age 14, but his success was not immediate and he never made it into the England schoolboys' team. His trials included one with Manchester United, which he admitted in his autobiography was solely "to pressure Liverpool into giving [him] a Youth Training Scheme contract". He signed his first professional contract with Liverpool on 5 November 1997.