Steven Gerrard has told Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, that Brendan Rodgers requires proven goalscorers and not more potential talent from this summer’s transfer market to help return the team to the Champions League.
The Liverpool captain will make the final Anfield appearance of his illustrious 17-year career on Saturday having decided against becoming “a bit-part player” for his boyhood club. Another factor in the decision to leave for LA Galaxy this summer, he admits, was an acceptance he is “getting too old” for the Premier League at almost 35.
Gerrard’s departure will deprive Liverpool not only of his vast experience and continued influence but also leave Rodgers increasingly reliant on a young squad for next season, a campaign of increased significance for the manager with his team almost certain to be without Champions League football. FSG has purposely targeted emerging talent such as Philippe Coutinho over established names during its ownership of Liverpool, but the departing captain believes that strategy should be postponed this summer to enhance the team’s prospects of reclaiming a top-four place.
“I wouldn’t buy any more potential in the short term, I would buy players that are ready to come and fight and be successful,” said Gerrard before what is sure to be an emotional farewell against Crystal Palace.
Asked to assess the Liverpool team he is leaving behind, the 34-year-old elaborated: “I can only go off the last 12 months. We have come mighty close in the cups, going out in two semi-finals, and in the league it was always going to be tough when we lost Luis [Suárez]. I thought we could definitely finish in the top four if we kept Daniel Sturridge fit.
“To get into the top four you need strikers who can score 25-30 goals a season. That is just the way it is. That is where we came short this season. I obviously don’t want to stand on the owners’ or Brendan’s toes – I am just speaking as a fan and having an opinion on where Liverpool are at this moment – but that is what we need to do. We need to bring players in those forward positions that can score 25-30 goals and you will see Liverpool do an awful lot better next season.”
Gerrard insists Liverpool were powerless to keep him once he decided against accepting a reduced role in Rodgers’ plans. “When you prepare from a Monday morning for a Saturday game and you don’t really know if you’re going to be involved, or you don’t get on when you have been a regular for so long, I think the buzz goes then,” he said.
But the midfielder admitted that age has also caught up with him as a Premier League regular. He added: “At 35 years of age I think it’s a nice challenge, an exciting challenge. I’m going to live in a fantastic place, I think the football is growing in the MLS, I think the level is right for me where I am now. I’m 35 in a couple of weeks’ time and I’m not really sure how much more I could give the club at the level I’d like to give it. Going back to when I peaked from 23 to 30 years of age, the reality is that I’m getting too old for this level and maybe a different level will suit me more.”
The former England captain plans to return to Liverpool in some capacity once his two-year contract expires with the MLS and revealed that talks have already taken place with the club’s hierarchy to that end. “I have had a couple of brief conversations,” he admitted. “I had a chat with Tom Werner [the chairman] and one recently with Brendan about what I am thinking about, short-term and long-term. But there is certainly nothing in detail. I’ve started on the coaching ladder but we will have to wait and see.”
Gerrard hosted a farewell press conference at Liverpool’s Melwood training ground on Thursday and used the occasion to urge Raheem Sterling to settle his differences with the club and sign a new contract. Sterling’s Anfield future is in serious doubt with the 20-year-old having rejected the offer of a five-year contract worth £100,000 a week.
“He should sign a new deal here,” said Gerrard, who almost left Liverpool for Chelsea a decade ago. “Brendan is a fantastic man-manager and puts a lot of time and effort into the development of an individual. The danger for these young players is they want it all too soon and they go chasing it. Then they go to another club and just become a number.”
