Last month marked the 24th anniversary of Steven Gerard’s debut for Liverpool Football Club, on that cold November 28th afternoon in 1998, an 18-year-old young Scouse prodigy stepped out onto the Anfield turf as a late substitute against Blackburn Rovers, little did fans know what impact Gerrard would make on the club winning everything apart from the Premier league. In honor of this anniversary I decided to pick my top 10 Steven Gerrard goals, just be clear these are goals that he scored in the Red of Liverpool and I am not including any England goals because let’s be honest he was wasted, undervalued and under-appreciated by the 3 lions. But on the Kop we knew how special he was. So this is my top 10 Steven Gerrard Liverpool goals.
10. Where it all began
Almost a year after his debut Liverpool played Sheffield Wednesday at Anfield in a vital Premier League game for the Reds. After going 1-0 down early on Liverpool found a way back thanks to goals from Sami Hyypiä and Danny Murphy. With the Reds 2-1 up it was time for Steven Gerrard to take centre stage. After picking the ball up about 30 yards out Gerrard decided to go on a dribbling run beating 3 defenders before slotting the ball home for his first-ever Liverpool goal. Little did we know how significant this moment would be, not only in Gerrard’s career but also for the future of Liverpool.
9. A goal for all angles
There are some goals that just look tailor-made for the TV cameras and in 2007 while we were away to Newcastle Steven Gerrard popped up with a goal of just sheer quality. Only three days after England failed to qualify for the Euros after losing to Croatia at Wembley, a defeat for which Steven Gerrard took a lot of criticism. The weekend after that defeat the Liverpool captain silenced his critics in the most spectacular fashion at St James park. Liverpool got a free kick 35 yards out, after Lucas shuffled the ball to him Gerrard ran onto it and blasted the ball right into the top bin. It was a goal that looked just as good on the TV cameras as it did in person and it sent Liverpool on the way to a dominating victory.
8. A rabbit out of a hat
Personally, this is my favorite Steven Gerrard goal of all time for the simple reason it came four weeks after we lost our late mother. The day of the Carling Cup Final in 2003 against Manchester United was an emotional one for me and my family. We spent the morning cleaning out my late mum’s room and by the time kick-off came around my sister and I were both emotionally drained. If ever I needed a Liverpool player to pull a rabbit out of a hat that was the day I needed it the most and in true Gerrard fashion he didn’t disappoint. He picked the ball up 25 yards out and as he controlled it with his right foot I shouted “hit it!“ Well, I swear he heard me because no sooner had I screamed it, did Gerrard have a crack, and as the ball clipped David Beckham’s right foot and lobbed over the United keeper and into the back of the net it sent my family and I wild in delight. I can still remember my Uncle Arif grabbing my neck, pulling me in towards him and whispering in my ear “that was for your mum my son” and it really was. This is where my own personal love affair with Steven Gerrard began and it was all because he picked me up when I needed it the most, this is something Gerrard would do for me time and time again over the course of his career.
7. Only Gerrard
In the 2008/09 season, Liverpool began their Champions League group campaign with an away trip to Marseille, this was always going to be a tricky game and after going a goal down early on the Liverpool captain came to the party by scoring a goal that only he could score. He had the ball cut back to him on the right-hand side of the penalty area and with his right foot he hit what I can only describe as a cross-shot which buried in the back of the Marseille net leaving us all asking the question how did he score that? It was a truly incredible goal and one that will go down in Champions League history.
6. Vintage Steven Gerrard
In 2012 Brendan Rogers took the helm as Liverpool’s manager and during the 2012/13 season he started moving Steven Gerrard into a deeper position in midfield, lots of us began to recognise that this might be the beginning of the end for Gerrard. However when Liverpool were away to Manchester City that season Gerrard reminded us that he still had a bit of the old magic left in his boots. As the ball came to him 35 -40 yards out he smacked it on the half-volley and saw it fly past Joe Heart and into the back of the City goal sending the Liverpool fans at that end into euphoria and leaving Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler to come out with the line, “Vintage Steven Gerrard.”
5. How did he score that?
There are some moments during his career where Steven Gerrard just left you in complete amazement asking yourself how on earth did he score that? In 2006 when we played Aston Villa at home the whole of Anfield was asking the same question. Stevie G picked the ball up 40 yards out and after running for a couple of yards he just decided to smack the ball which arrowed into the top bin. I think Gerrard himself couldn’t quite believe what he had just pulled off.
4. That was something really special!
When we talk about Steven Gerrard’s greatest goals we have to mention Middlesbrough in 2005, Borough had just been promoted that season and when they came to Anfield they got a rude awakening as to what the Premier League is all about. This 35-yard shot had all kinds of bend and dip on it. No keeper in the world could have got anywhere near it and yet again it left fans in sheer awe of our captain.
3. What a hit son! What a hit!
The top three practically pick themselves and there is no doubt what comes in at number three. Liverpool ended their 2004/05 Champions League group with a home tie against Olympiakos. The Reds knew that they needed to win either by a score line of 1-0 or if the Greek team managed to get a goal at Anfield Liverpool needed to win by two clear goals in order to qualify for the last 16. When Rivaldo gave Olympiakos a first-half lead Liverpool knew they were up against it and the Reds went into half time knowing they needed three second half goals in order to qualify, it needed to be a magical Anfield night and what unfolded was sheer drama. Florent Sinama Pongolle was bought on at half time and within 53 seconds of the second half, he pulled one back in front of the Kop leaving Liverpool needing two more. The Reds pressed forward but had to wait until the 76th minute for Neil Mellor to pop up with number two and all of a sudden Liverpool had 14 minutes to get another goal. Anfield was a cauldron of noise at the point with screams of ”come on boys” being bellowed around the ground. Even as my sister and I watched on TV we could feel ourselves getting closer and closer to the edge of our seats. They say cometh the hour, cometh the man and in the 86th minute Gerrard showed the entire world why he was Liverpool’s captain. As Mellor cushioned headed the ball down to him everyone in the ground and watching on TV stood up and started cheering before the ball had even left his foot, we all knew it was in and Gerrard didn’t disappoint. What followed was one of the best pieces of commentary from Martin Tyler and Andy Gray I have ever heard as on the half-volley, Gerrard smacked the ball right into the bottom corner sending the fans on the Kop nuts as he ran towards them bumping both fists. Special players do special things at special times and this definitely fell into that category as Steven Gerrard and Liverpool gave us one of the best nights Anfield had ever seen.
2. And GGGEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAARRRRRDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!
Now you can make the argument that this goal belongs in the number one spot and to be fair it’s close. But I will go on to my number one in a bit, for now let’s talk about that equaliser in the last minute of the 2006 FA Cup Final against West Ham. When you concede three freakish goals in the way Liverpool did that day you begin to think that this surely isn’t your day. After going 2-0 down thanks to a Jamie Carragher own goal and Pepe Reina’s blunder the Reds had done magnificently to pull it back to 2-2. However, when Paul Konchesky’s dodgy cross somehow found its way into the back of the Liverpool net the Reds had only 20 minutes to find another equaliser. The players were dead on their feet and even Steven Gerrard was clamping up but as the board went up to indicate four minutes added time Gerrard unleashed a 45-yard half-volley that almost broke the West Ham net. Liverpool had done it and once again their skipper was at the heart of it. I can remember as the ball fell to him I was thinking “no, not from there Stevie, it’s too……” He stopped me in mid-thought and I remember as my sister grabbed my face I screamed in hers “how, how has he scored that?” Liverpool went on to win the Cup on penalties and yes, Gerrard took one and scored it. He was given the man of the match award but that goal was worth the ticket price alone.
1. Hello, Hello, Here we go!
There will be people reading this that will think Gerrard’s FA Cup Final goal should be in the number one position and to be fair that is a valid argument but my logic is if Liverpool didn’t win the Champions League in the manner that they did in 2005 I don’t think we win that FA Cup Final in 2006. This was by far Steven Gerrard’s most important goal and most important moment in a football shirt of any color or description, this moment defines Gerrard’s entire career and that’s why it’s got to be number one on my list. Liverpool went into the 2005 Champions League Final in Istanbul against AC Milan as massive underdogs, no one had given us a chance and I distinctively remember one of my carers at school using the phrase “not a chance in hell.” At half time those chances looked even slimmer as Liverpool were 3-0 down against what was the best team in the world at that time. What transpired after half time was just incredible and I genuinely mean this, Liverpool gave me the best six minutes of my life, sorry to my future wife who might be reading this one day should I be lucky enough to be blessed with one. As Liverpool came out for the second half Gerrard looked like a man possessed, within six minutes of the second half we got our reward, Riise’s cross from the left was met by a bullet header from Gerrard and as the ball flew passed Dida it was game on. Steven Gerrard started that amazing revival that night, he dragged the team kicking and screaming back into that game and ultimately pulled them over the line to win number five and to bring old big ears back home. This goal defines Gerrard’s entire career and like I said before was his greatest ever moment in football.
I hope you have enjoyed this list, if there are any goals that you think I should have included please feel free to comment below.
Wheel of Thoughts 