GERRARD IS FINISHED AND RODGERS NEEDS AN EXIT STRATEGY

At thirty-four years of age and with his abilities in rapid decline, it is about time for Steven Gerrard to accept a backup role at Liverpool. If not, manager Brendan Rodgers needs to come up with a way of removing him from his starting eleven.

D. Ray Morton, 25th September 2014.

Brendan Rodgers has done his best to incorporate Steven Gerrard into his vision of this new Liverpool but how long can it last now?

When Brendan Rodgers took over at Liverpool, he knew the time would come when two Anfield stalwarts, Jamier Carragher and Steven Gerrard, would have to walk off into the sunset. Carragher retired from the game gracefully, bowing out when he knew he would have no significant role in Rodgers' possession-based game. How could "Carra" excel as a ball-playing defender in a team run by the man who had previously made Swansea City the Premier League's surprise possession-bossing team? He weighed up his options and stepped aside and now enjoys his role as an analyst for Sky Sports.

With Steven Gerrard, Rodgers would not have it so easy. He changed the team's playing style opting for a more direct, counter-attacking game. This fell in line with what some of the players were used to under previous managers and it also appealed to the Liverpool faithful who prefer a rapid pass-and-move game above a more methodical "tiki-taka"-like approach. In order to do this, Rodgers deployed Gerrard in the deep-lying playmaker role, the "quarter-back" that sits in front of the defence, sweeps up and looks to set up attacks with long diagonal passes to pacey wingers.

For most of last season, it worked a charm. Liverpool racked up enough goals to ignore their leaky defence line and came very close to winning the Premier League title before finally being pipped by Manchester City. Of course, the key moment in this late collapse was the now infamous slip against Chelsea in which Gerrard hesitated in possession, fell and allowed Demba Ba the clearest of one-on-one opportunities. The Senegalese scored and Liverpool's title challenge was as good as dead.

The "slip", an image that may haunt Gerrard forever

This terrible moment for the Liverpool captain was followed by an equally terrible World Cup. Gerrard was ineffective as England finished bottom of their group. Unsurprisingly, he retired from the international game concentrating on keeping himself as fit as possible for Liverpool's current campaign. It has not started well. Liverpool have lost three times in the league already and the optimism brought about by their shock second place finish last time out has subsided. With Daniel Sturridge out injured and Luis Suárez shipped off to Barcelona, the Reds look more like contenders for a Europa League spot rather than getting in to the top four.

Rodgers has to decide when to cut the chord. Steven Gerrard is not the "evergreen" Ryan Giggs who managed to fool a lot of professionals into thinking they can play on until the age of forty. Giggs operated in a reduced role for years under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. He accepted that but chipped in with some important performances nevertheless. The feeling is not there that Gerrard can do a similar thing for Liverpool. Giggs always played in teams that had several stars, several match-winners. Even in his very prime, there was always two or three other players around him of equal, or possibly superior, talent. When Gerrard was at his very peak, aside from perhaps Fernando Torres, he was the star of the show and the man the Anfield crowd expected to change games. Those days are over.

Liverpool appear to have a lot of problems right now and as the season wears on, it will only get harder. Tougher games in the league, the domestic cups and the Champions League are ahead of them and only through rotating Gerrard and diminishing his key role can Liverpool manage to get through this season feeling they have done something productive.