Just last week I wrote about how Liverpool were on fire and Manchester United were the “crappest” team in the English Premier League. United are still so lacking in any distinct style that they border on unwatchable, but they were solid in Sunday’s 2-1 win at Anfield and deserve to be fourth in a deeply mediocre table. With massive respect to Juan Mata’s great game-winning scissor splooger, the most amazing moment of the match came 38 seconds into the second half when Steven Gerrard, having been subbed on at halftime, stamped on Ander Herrera’s calf and was red carded.
Gerrard’s exit, in part, led to Liverpool’s first EPL loss of the calendar year and leaves Brendan Rodgers’ side five points behind United for the Champions League spots. For the second year in a row, a Steven Gerrard blunder could cost Liverpool an important campaign goal. If you care at all about Liverpool, or the prospect of watching Lionel Messi feed Liverpool their lunch in the UCL group stages this coming fall only to Jason Statham-trachea-punch it out of their throats while they are still chewing, the loss was devastating.
But while Gerrard’s red card puts Liverpool in rough shape for the last eight games, they’re only that close because of a certain sending off four months ago. Back in December, Liverpool were playing ugly, awful soccer. Rodgers insisted on playing a ball-stopping lone striker (Mario Balotelli or Rickie Lambert) at the top of the formation, and what was once a fluid, lethal passing attack resembled frozen butter.
In the fifth game of the Champions League group stages, Liverpool needed to beat Basel at Anfield to advance to the knockout portion of the tournament. At the half, Basel led Liverpool 1-0.
Then Lazar Markovic replaced Lambert at halftime, played aggressive and fast, passed at 92 percent, and was Liverpool’s best player. It was the type of straight-forward confidence that defined Liverpool’s 2013-14 campaign (until Gerrard’s slip, of course). Markovic then threw a flying arm at a Basel player and was Zidane’d.
At that point, the sending off wasn’t even surprising. Everything that was good for Liverpool had turned sour - Raheem Sterling looked tired, Daniel Sturridge was hurt again, Luis Suarez looked giddy in Spain - and now Markovic was sauntering to the locker room, taking with him the only shining performance from a must-win game.
But when Markovic went off, the remaining 10 men awoke like they felt a monster in their bedroom. The extra space on the pitch, plus the urgency of trailing in the Champions League, plus the lack of Lambert or Balotelli unshackled the attack, and once again the Reds resembled the William Tecumseh Sherman Liverpool of the prior year. March to the Sea, indeed.
Gerrard scored a free-kick equalizer in that game, one of his only real highlights of the past two seasons. They needed one more goal to go through and didn't get it. But Liverpool - most importantly Rodgers, who’d tinkered with a thousand lineups to try to account for losing Suarez and Sturridge - learned a lot from that refreshing second half.
The beautiful Phillippe Coutinho played (!!!) and played confidently, which makes you wonder what he did to get on someone’s bad side in the fall. Adam Lallana was full of life in an attack-supporting midfield role and even better as a substitute. Sterling looked like himself. Emre Can was somehow morphing into a real defender. Mario Balotelli was benched. Rickie Lambert was given a library card. Gerrard had “an injury” and missed a bunch of time. Rodgers was playing soccer’s version of NBA small ball. Every week he put out his best 11 players and loosened the creative reins for a blazing run of form. Not only had Liverpool not lost in 2015, they’d lost just twice in all competitions after that draw with Basel - at Besiktas (Europa) and at Chelsea (Capital One). They’d played the best soccer in England for four months and a season that looked awfully doomed was suddenly redeemable. The aforementioned United were aforementioned crap, and Liverpool were two points out of the top-four with a big Anfield clash looming. The Kop sang with reinvested voice. Everything was coming up Red.
Then Gerrard produced that surreal moment of live television. The stomp was so unnatural and egregious and obvious that it - unlike many straight reds - was immediately visible. Gerrard had possessed the ball for roughly 80 percent of those 38 seconds on the pitch. He pounded Juan Mata with a heavy challenge after completing five passes. He then used gravity’s massive force to pummel the inside of the Herrera’s leg. Martin Tyler called it “sensation at Anfield.” Arlo White deemed it “extraordinary.” It’s difficult to argue with either description. The stamp just made you think, “wait a second, WHAT did he just do?!”
Herrera slid in late, sure, but he never even made contact with Gerrard. The challenge didn’t seem intentionally bad. Herrera was a midfielder who hadn’t been able to get the ball from Gerrard in 38 seconds; he was desperate to get the ball back, and he made a bad challenge. That happens. Normally Gerrard, with his team trailing by a goal, would practice captain-like situational awareness, scowl at Herrera and move along. But while things appeared to escalate quickly (THIRTY-EIGHT SECONDS!) the maliciousness suggests to me a few possible scenarios.
1. With this being his last game ever against Manchester United, Gerrard entered the game enthused. He wanted to make his mark. He was emotional, full of adrenaline. He completed a long pass, then a fun short one, then crunched Mata. He was the focal point of the offense again. He felt young, and he got caught up in the moment. This is the most plausible, but the least fun, of these scenarios.
2. In his last game against his rival, Gerrard wanted to demonstrate just how much he hated that Damned United. He’d always wanted to cleat every United player past, present, and future one United player, just to prove a point, and his dreams became reality in a moment of blackout Inception-rage. Instead of revealing the pure, pulsing, hatred in his autobiography in 20 years, why not show everyone in the world on live TV?
3. After being an afterthought during most of Liverpool’s great run, Gerrard was healthy and ready to play all 90 in a “I’m Still Steven Gerrard And I’m Still Liverpool” performance against his rival. When Rodgers didn’t put him in the starting 11, he understandably felt slighted and disrespected that he wasn’t being given every opportunity to start every last game at the club for which he’s played for his whole career. He was emotional. Angry, even. Full of adrenaline. The stamp was a “f*** this, f*** everyone” moment, and he went out in a blaze of glory, which is fine because that’s what water from a shower can douse. This is a fun thought if you’re a conspiracy theorist (raises hand), but might not be based in reality. It makes some sense, though, doesn’t it? That toss of the captain’s armband felt symbolic, like LeBron James taking off his Cavaliers jersey after shutting down against the Celtics in the 2010 Eastern Conference Final.
United’s fixtures to finish the season are tough, and “being crap” is still the basis of their DNA. Liverpool could still make the Champions League. But in eight games Steven Gerrard will trek to MLS, the circus where old stars go to retire in front of novelty crowds, and he will carry with him The Slip and The Stamp as permanent marks on his European soccer career.
