Steven Gerrard: My Liverpool Story (7 page)

I must admit there was a certain amount of relief when we lifted the Cup because losing to a side that was a league below us would have been embarrassing and the stick we would have received unrelenting. But, after the game, when we were all back in the hotel celebrating, it dawned on each and every one of us that this was what it is all about.

And especially me. Some of the others had experienced this before, but this was my first final and my first major medal. Of course, I had won medals and trophies growing up and coming through the ranks, and each one is important in its own right, but this felt different. This was like my first proper medal. A place in history.

There is a pressure and a weight of expectation that comes with playing for Liverpool. You are constantly reminded about the history and tradition of the club, what other players have previously won, and I loved the feeling that I was adding to that. Thankfully, there was more, much more, to come. We were back at Cardiff soon after.

I have strong memories of the FA Cup Final while I was growing up: staying in all day as a kid to watch the build-up, and then the match itself, before racing out of the house to the scrap of wasteland on Ironside Road and trying to recreate what I had just witnessed on the TV. Now to be playing in one was a dream come true, although for 83 minutes it was an occasion to endure rather than enjoy.

It was the one-off hardest game I had played in my life at that point. We were physically out of our depth. Arsenal were fitter, stronger and better. Maybe we were tired due to the punishing schedule we had been on, but maybe that’s an excuse. Yes it was a tough season, both physically and mentally, but if that final had been played after we’d had four weeks’ rest Arsenal would have still played us off the pitch. That pitch was Arsenal’s pitch. They were all in their prime and that remains the best Arsenal side ever for me.

I was up against Patrick Vieira that afternoon and it was certainly a learning experience. In the future, I seemed to grow every time I played against him and get better, but back when I was younger he just knew where to be, what to do and if he had wanted to, it felt like he could have gone up a few gears as well.

That we won after being second best for so long was remarkable, although when you have players like Michael Owen on your side the impossible becomes possible. It wasn’t a shock to me what he did that afternoon because I had seen Michael do it so many times before at so many different levels. Two chances, two goals. Game over. Freddie Ljungberg had wrapped one hand around the Cup for Arsenal with a goal in the 72nd minute, but Michael came good twice in five minutes after that to underline just how big a player he was.

I had worked with him full-time since leaving school and I knew how mentally strong he was, how fierce he was, how much he detested losing, how much of a battler he was. Arsenal knew that too and still couldn’t stop him.

Ordinarily, we would have partied long into the night, but there was the small matter of the UEFA Cup Final against Spanish side Alaves now looming. Two down, one to go.

Liverpool went through the card that season, playing every single game – all 63 of them – as mapped out when the fixtures had been published the previous June. It was a slog, but what an experience.

The UEFA Cup Final was played at Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion and what sticks out in my mind the most was how much Gerard Houllier wanted it. He was delighted to win the Carling Cup and the FA Cup and knew they were important milestones for the club, but he was desperate to lift the UEFA Cup.

He was forever talking about European competitions and how hard it is to win a European trophy. I knew we wouldn’t let him down.

It took ages to get into the ground because our supporters had taken over. They were literally rocking the bus as we weaved our way through the crowds, wishing us good luck, and you could see in the faces of Michael Owen, Didi Hamann, Markus Babel and players like that just how much they were up for it. Liverpool’s supporters had been unbelievable in Cardiff, but this was something else.

We set off like a steam train and after Markus had given us an early lead, I crashed home a second goal following a great pass from Michael of all people. It was meant to be the other way round – me feeding him – but I didn’t mind that little bit of role reversal. When I get the licence to burst forward, I can be a goal threat in any game. I played on the right in Dortmund, but with a fair amount of freedom to go where I wanted because we had Didi and Gary McAllister holding in midfield.

However, there was a pattern emerging to our appearances in finals that still holds true today. At Liverpool, we seem to enjoy making life difficult for ourselves.

The scoring was crazy that night. Twice we threw away two-goal leads and then conceded an equaliser in the last minute to take the game into extra time. But even though it must have been torture for Gerard and our fans, I knew we were going to win.

Sure enough, Gary McAllister’s free-kick was inadvertently headed into his own net by Alaves’ Delfi Geli for what was the ‘golden goal’. We exploded in celebration. An insane game to cap an insane season, but one I look back on with immense pride.

Liverpool Football Club is about winning trophies and that season we put our names in the history books alongside the likes of Liddell, St John, Yeats, Dalglish, Rush and Souness.

“That season we put our names in the history books.”

Right Place, Right Time

A header against our neighbours from across the Mersey, Tranmere Rovers, helped to keep us on course for the cup Treble in 2000–01. The build-up to the game had been huge. John Aldridge, the former Liverpool striker, was the Tranmere manager and a few of their players had come out with the old ‘welcome to hell’ slogans warning that they would kick us off the pitch.

We played well that day though, winning 4–2, and if you study the starting line-up, you’ll notice that Gerard Houllier picked eight British players in his first eleven. He knew it would be a physical battle to begin with and what his selection tells you is that even managers who sign a lot of foreign players know that in certain games they will find it hard to cope without enough home-grown muscularity.

Diving Right In

Another diving celebration came after one of the best strikes I have ever hit. To score against Manchester United at Anfield is always special. To score past a World Cup winning goalkeeper such as Fabian Barthez is pretty special too. But when you put those two things together and add in the fact that the shot from 30 yards was still rising as it hit the top corner of the net, it makes it one of my best goals for Liverpool. To claim a win and three points meant it was a good day all round.

First Goal in Europe

Gerard Houllier gave me licence to get forward into the penalty area from midfield and I knew Didi Hamann would hold the fort behind me if I fancied getting into the box. It is only when you start making those sort of runs that you add goals to your game. I should have scored a few more headers in my career, but my first European goal came from one in a 2–2 draw with Olympiakos in Athens in November 2000 in the UEFA Cup.

Finding My Feet

The hurdles en route to our UEFA Cup success in 2001 grew steadily higher, but I loved every minute of it. Here, I am in action against Porto during a 0–0 stalemate in the first leg of the quarter-final. I found European games, especially those away from home, demanding but stimulating. The atmosphere was different, the pitch was new to me and I didn’t know too much about my opponents. In those situations, you have to step up to the mark and, over the years, we have done that at Liverpool in Europe.

McAllister the Master

I admired Gary McAllister from the moment he walked through the door at Anfield and he remains a source of inspiration to me today. Gary is one of the reasons I believe I can carry on at Liverpool if I manage myself correctly and if the club looks after me. Gary wasn’t over-trained during his time at the club. He was fresh when he played and that enhanced his tremendous ability to influence games, and not just any games: huge games that shaped Liverpool’s history. That is what I want to do. I’m not saying I want to play until I’m 38 or 39, but I’m 32 and between now and when I’m 36, for example, I want to be able to have a big impact at Liverpool.

Taking Aim

My first inclination when I get the ball is to pass it. If one of my team-mates is in a better position than me on the pitch, then I will look to find them rather than selfishly trying to dribble the ball. Technique is important when you are trying to pass accurately, and you can see from how my left ankle is bent over what sort of strain footballers put their bodies under. When you do that repeatedly, it is no wonder you get little niggles and pain in your ankle joints.