It’s been fun guys. The wild Liverpool to Los Angeles adventure is over. No, not my vacation. I wish. But actually Steven Gerrard’s soccer vacation to the United States after leaving Liverpool in the summer. The Premier League legend has had mixed success in Major League Soccer, tailing off somewhat after a solid start for his new club. But he could be hanging up his boots and calling it a night sooner than expected.
As reported on the official LA Galaxy website, Gerrard has been contemplating the end of his playing days recently. Looking ahead to next season, the former England and Liverpool captain said:
“It could be my last season as a footballer. … I certainly don’t want to feel like I’m feeling right now come next year… I’d love to go out on a high. It’s a long season and I only came here for the last four months, but I’ll certainly be better for the experience next year.”
He has cited various reasons for some of his struggles:
“Going on the road, playing on turf, playing at altitude, playing in humidity, those are the hurdles that I’ve had to face over the last three months that I wasn’t aware of. Every away game has a different challenge,”
To his defense, it his a huge step up from the Premier League in these aspects. Certain players can adapt; others don’t adapt at all. The risk with Designated Players from Europe is that they cannot make this adaption. Obviously this becomes even more problematic with age which is something Gerrard does not have on his side.
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The playing surfaces are not often considered, but are so rare in the top-tier of Europe and totally non-existent in the Premier League altogether. So of course playing on turf will have its effects as will altitude and the ever-changing weather conditions. These however cannot be used as excuses for poor performances.
Plus he hasn’t helped himself by flying to and from the UK to fulfill his media duties as a pundit covering Champions League on television. Also, there hasn’t exactly been many complaints from other European veterans like Drogba and Pirlo. Would love to hear their take on what Gerrard has said about the unique characteristics of Major League Soccer.
Gerrard also spoke about what the team needed to do from now on:
“At home, we’ve got no problems because we’re very strong and we play well. We’ll always win more than we lose. For us to move forward next year and finish in the top two spots—and avoid games like —we’ve got to be better defensively and stop conceding on set pieces and crosses.”
“We’ll improve the squad, and we’ll hopefully have a that’s ready to compete again next year.”
So, will 2016 be his last ride? Will he ever win a league title? Guess we’ll have to keep watching. Plus one last thing. He didn’t say where it would be his last season – could he finish with Galaxy then complete the remainder of the season for his beloved Liverpool who are of course under new management with the genius that it Jurgen Klopp? Exciting stuff.