Steven Gerrard: My Liverpool Story (21 page)

Playing and scoring around the world led to camera crews and journalists from Germany, France and Spain wanting to come and interview me.

If I agree to every request that the press department at Liverpool receive, there would be no time to play.

I am not going to deny that when you are younger all the attention you receive is great. You do get a bit big-headed, you do milk it and any player who says they haven’t enjoyed a bit of press attention over the years is telling lies.

It’s nice to pick up the paper and see someone praising you. In any walk of life people like praise, but it is important to take criticism as well. I have had it drilled into me that you can’t linger on any hype or praise. I know when I have played well and deserve plaudits, and I know when I haven’t. Over the years I have probably been too hard on myself in interviews and too honest, but I refuse to see that as a negative. My honesty pushes me on and is one of the main reasons I have found a level of consistency over my career.

I only ever get the hump with the media if someone is being unfair, but, equally, I’ll take no notice of a piece if they are trying to cosy up to me for no reason. I can read between the lines. I’m not soft. I don’t revel in people praising me. I want to be around people who treat me as a normal person.

All the people I am close to – my family, my wife Alex, and my friends – they don’t brown nose me or over-praise me. I don’t surround myself with people who just say, ‘yes, yes, yes’. I am quite selective in who I will allow to get close to me because there are so many slippery slopes to go down as a footballer.

The introduction of camera phones and the explosion of social media mean trust becomes a big issue for players. I would say I have a dozen close friends who are in my life day in, day out and who know a lot of private stuff about me and my family. But I don’t want to upset anyone because I’ll have a coffee or a bite to eat with plenty more and they are important to me as well.

I have had to adapt. Nowadays I try to create a low profile off the pitch, while trying my best every day in training and in games so as to keep my standards as a footballer high. It is a balancing act.

Part of my appreciation of how best to deal with being in the public eye was shaped by Gary McAllister when he arrived at Liverpool. We are looked after by the same agent, Struan Marshall, and so I knew Gary was coming to Liverpool in 2000. Having played against him before I realised he was someone I could learn from. From the moment he walked into the dressing room Gary has always been someone who was prepared to talk to me. He was one of the people who spoke to me about my tackling in the early days and he helped me to channel my aggression in the right way. Not many people in football have the balls to come and tell you when you have done something wrong. A lot of people just want to talk to you about things you have done right. Gary said it as he saw it and I owe him for that.

These days I try to take on the role Gary did so well during the time he was at Anfield. I think it is so important for young lads in any team to have older ones around them, players who will offer pointers and advice about the game and the pitfalls away from the pitch. It is priceless. The worry I have is whether the young players want to listen or whether they think you are being ‘busy’, as we say in the game, which basically means to mither them.

It tells you a lot about the young lads at the club when you see how they react. If their eyes glaze over and they can’t wait for you to go, then I take the view that it’s their loss and I’m not going to keep on taking time to speak to them if they are not interested.

I’d say the ones who listen, like I did, are the ones who take the advice and tips on board, giving themselves a better chance of succeeding. I can speak to my younger cousin, Anthony Gerrard, who plays for Cardiff City, and some of the things he says to me stick, so the way I look at it is you never stop learning as a footballer.

I’ll help anyone at Liverpool and with England too. After all, we are striving for the same thing: success.

“I want to be around people who treat me as a normal person.”

Kung Fu Panda

Another test for the groins! No wonder I’ve had niggles over the years. I’m probably trying to reach, unsuccessfully it would seem, a cross from one of my team-mates. Rather that than my touch being poor. I think it shows two things. Firstly, the determination I have to go the extra yard for Liverpool Football Club and, secondly, the increasing physical demands that players are placed under. Far more emphasis is put on rehabilitation these days than when I first started. Sport science, with practices such as ice baths, has become a major part of the game. I would say that is the biggest change I have noticed over the years.

Catching My Breath in the Cauldron of Old Trafford

Gary Neville once asked me on an England trip whether I would fancy playing for Manchester United. I just laughed. It is unthinkable. I actually love going to Old Trafford, though. It is a tough, tough venue and you know you are going to have to play well to come away with anything.

Over the years, I’ve had mixed results there: some good wins and some performances in which we haven’t done ourselves justice. Banter from the crowd is part and parcel of football. As long as it doesn’t overstep the mark, I have no problem with it.

In the Full Glare

If I could be in charge of the Premier League for one day, I would scrap all lunchtime kick-offs and go down the foreign route of playing games at night. The atmosphere is better, the pitches are always extra slick because of the dew that falls on them, and there is just a better tempo to games that are played under floodlights. I much prefer playing under lights than in daylight. That is the downside of the increasing influence television companies exert on our games. I think Sky has been brilliant for the Premier League, but maybe they could just schedule a few more of our games at 8pm, although I understand they have scheduling commitments around the world.

Upended in Full Flight

He’s one dirty hatchet man, that Joe Cole! (only joking!). To be fair, I have kicked him a few times so I’ll take one back no problem. Joe’s very talented, but his enthusiasm for playing football shines through above all else. He had a difficult time at Liverpool when he arrived and wasn’t helped by the uncertainty off the pitch. But it says everything about him that he went to Lille in France on loan for a season to play and sample a new culture and that he has come back to try and prove he can be successful in a red shirt.

The Long Walk to Destiny

Penalty shoot-outs have played a big part in my career both with Liverpool and England. You are talking about fine margins, the difference between reaching finals and semi-finals, winning trophies and going home as losers. The second time we played Chelsea in a Champions League semi-final in 2007, the drama was no less than when we met the first time. I will always put my name forward for a shoot-out. If I miss from 12 yards, I’m not one of these players who will say I don’t want another one. You have to accept that sometimes the keeper will guess right and pull off a good save, or that your accuracy won’t be spot-on all the time. Thankfully, I scored here and overall I am pleased with my penalty record, considering some of the situations I have been in. The walk is long, especially in this situation, knowing you are trying to reach a Champions League Final against a very good team. In fact, it is too long and you have too long to think, but that is part of the test. With a couple of penalties that I have missed I have changed my mind on the way to taking them. So I stick to my plan now. If I go the way I intend and the keeper saves it, I accept it.

Rubbing Shoulders With One of the All Time Greats

Paolo Maldini is one of the few players my wife Alex has enjoyed watching over the years! She’s quite keen on him, as I suppose all girls are. My respect for Maldini is similar to the respect I have for Ryan Giggs. When you are playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world, in AC Milan, every week for decades, not just years, and playing consistently well, you deserve legendary status.

Don’t under-estimate how difficult that is. On the few occasions I have met him, he has come across as a humble man, which is testament to him, given everything he has done.