Steven Gerrard was the Footballer of the Year last season, not because he was particularly outstanding but because Liverpool were generally impressive and over the course of his career their captain had been generally excellent.
In a season without an obvious, stand-out candidate, in other words, the award went to someone who deserved to win something. It would have been somewhat anomalous, it was felt, for one of the best English players of his generation to be overlooked when the opportunity presented itself to acknowledge his overall contribution.
All of which goes to show that football writers (who vote for the Footballer of the Year) at least have foresight. Gerrard, and indeed Liverpool, have disappeared from the reckoning this season in a manner quite unimaginable when they finished second last time after losing only two games and inflicting two significant defeats on Manchester United. It may be some time before Gerrard is back to bestriding the game like a colossus, to judge from his anaemic display on returning from injury at Wolves, and if he does ever return to the heights of old it may be under a new manager and without Liverpool's other bona fide superstar, Fernando Torres.
That may be an unduly pessimistic view. Gerrard is entitled to come back gingerly after injury and anyone who expected to see him instantly back in the captain fantastic routine at Molineux was probably expecting too much, something that his occasionally superhuman performances have encouraged over the years. Rafa BenÃtez might not go to Juventus, though it seems idle to pretend that such a semi-honourable way out would not provide the neatest solution for all concerned in what has become a messy in-house argument at Anfield. And Torres, who knows, might even stay on Merseyside, though unless he makes a rapid recovery from his dreadful succession of injuries even he may not make much difference.
This time last year the Gerrard-Torres attacking partnership was being talked up as one of the most lethal in the land. This season it has simply not happened. It was being said last season that Liverpool could have won the title had they only managed to play their two best players in harness more often. Little did people realise that their joint appearances were about to become even more infrequent. Liverpool's decline this season is easily explained. They are a collection of ordinary players (with respect to the consistently above average performances of Pepe Reina and Jamie Carragher) with two world class matchwinners. If the two WCMs play to their full potential the rest of the team comes up to match them. If they do not reach that level, or if they do not play at all, the rest of the team deflates like a balloon with a leak and eventually ends up flat.
Considering Torres is widely regarded to be the most complete centre forward in Europe at the moment, certainly one of the top three, his frustrating absence for much of the season has been a severe loss to English football, as well as to Liverpool. You just watch, though. He'll be full of goals and running in the World Cup with Spain. Whether England will be able to say the same about Gerrard is a cause for concern for Fabio Capello. Even when fit the midfielder has not been at his best this season, and Gerrard is no fresh-faced teenager any more, able to bounce back from injury as soon as he is allowed. Gerrard turns 30 just before the World Cup, and while it is possible to argue his time on the sidelines will allow him to reach South Africa well-rested, the disruption to his season has seen the player's form suffer and possibly his confidence too.
In a season without an obvious, stand-out candidate, in other words, the award went to someone who deserved to win something. It would have been somewhat anomalous, it was felt, for one of the best English players of his generation to be overlooked when the opportunity presented itself to acknowledge his overall contribution.
All of which goes to show that football writers (who vote for the Footballer of the Year) at least have foresight. Gerrard, and indeed Liverpool, have disappeared from the reckoning this season in a manner quite unimaginable when they finished second last time after losing only two games and inflicting two significant defeats on Manchester United. It may be some time before Gerrard is back to bestriding the game like a colossus, to judge from his anaemic display on returning from injury at Wolves, and if he does ever return to the heights of old it may be under a new manager and without Liverpool's other bona fide superstar, Fernando Torres.
That may be an unduly pessimistic view. Gerrard is entitled to come back gingerly after injury and anyone who expected to see him instantly back in the captain fantastic routine at Molineux was probably expecting too much, something that his occasionally superhuman performances have encouraged over the years. Rafa BenÃtez might not go to Juventus, though it seems idle to pretend that such a semi-honourable way out would not provide the neatest solution for all concerned in what has become a messy in-house argument at Anfield. And Torres, who knows, might even stay on Merseyside, though unless he makes a rapid recovery from his dreadful succession of injuries even he may not make much difference.
This time last year the Gerrard-Torres attacking partnership was being talked up as one of the most lethal in the land. This season it has simply not happened. It was being said last season that Liverpool could have won the title had they only managed to play their two best players in harness more often. Little did people realise that their joint appearances were about to become even more infrequent. Liverpool's decline this season is easily explained. They are a collection of ordinary players (with respect to the consistently above average performances of Pepe Reina and Jamie Carragher) with two world class matchwinners. If the two WCMs play to their full potential the rest of the team comes up to match them. If they do not reach that level, or if they do not play at all, the rest of the team deflates like a balloon with a leak and eventually ends up flat.
Considering Torres is widely regarded to be the most complete centre forward in Europe at the moment, certainly one of the top three, his frustrating absence for much of the season has been a severe loss to English football, as well as to Liverpool. You just watch, though. He'll be full of goals and running in the World Cup with Spain. Whether England will be able to say the same about Gerrard is a cause for concern for Fabio Capello. Even when fit the midfielder has not been at his best this season, and Gerrard is no fresh-faced teenager any more, able to bounce back from injury as soon as he is allowed. Gerrard turns 30 just before the World Cup, and while it is possible to argue his time on the sidelines will allow him to reach South Africa well-rested, the disruption to his season has seen the player's form suffer and possibly his confidence too.
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