Gerrard to Stay at Reds
New Liverpool manager, Roy Hodgson, has revealed that Steven Gerrard has shown no sign of intent that he wants to leave the Merseyside club.
There have always been questions over the future of Gerrard at the club because Liverpool have never been able to step up to the next level in the Premier League during all of the time that he has been playing there.
However, Hodgson says that the pair have now had a very thorough chat and it seems that Gerrard will stay at Liverpool to captain the club next season. It will be a huge weight off of Hodgson's shoulders as he may have been sweating over the future of one of his key players.
Hodgson must now turn his attention to other key players that must stay at the club if Liverpool are going to keep competing in the Premier League. They have slipped into a very competitive group of clubs who will now all be fighting for a Champions League place.
Importance
It was very important for Liverpool to get Gerrard to publicly commit himself to the club. Although there may not have been any serious doubts from the player or the club, it was important to give off this image.
This is because it will now stop any clubs from sniffing around Gerrard and disrupting the immediate future of the club under their new manager. Hodgson will not have to worry about the possibility of building a team without Gerrard in it.
The reason that Gerrard is so important to Liverpool is because a lot of the play goes through him. He has a huge influence and scores vital goals at vital times for the club, which have helped them to stay where they are over recent years.
He will keep the captain armband and this is important because Gerrard may have started to question himself. He did not have a great World Cup with England and taking the captaincy off of him now may have been a blow too far.
Others
There are now others at the club that Hodgson will have bigger worries over. He has to secure the future of Fernando Torres but he cannot do this until he gets back from playing for Spain in South Africa at the World Cup Final on Sunday.
Hodgson is the man who has been given the task of building the club back up again to a level where they can compete with the other fringe teams outside the top four. This will be the first step because these fringe teams are all doing very well in building up their squads and their confidence.
The reason that securing the commitment of other players is important is because it will be one of the first chances that the manager gets to show what he is all about. It would not give off the right image if Hodgson was not fighting for his best players and allowed them to leave for a variety of other clubs.
There is no doubt at all that Liverpool are much better with Gerrard in the team than with him out of it. Other players will see his commitment and may choose to go along a similar road. This will mean that Liverpool have a better chance of a top four finish if you want to get in with an early bet.
As for Gerrard as a player you can always expect him to pop up with a goal or two. Remember that he takes the penalties and free kicks for the side, which automatically gives him more chances to score goals.
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