Which position would you say is now the most important in football? That’s a difficult question to answer for a team - or squad - sport where the form or performance of one player should have little effect on the fortunes of the team as a whole.
A week ago I wrote about Steven Gerrard and his much talked about contract negotiations with Liverpool. The discussion was based around whether Gerrard should want to stay at Liverpool and whether Liverpool should want to keep him. The answer to that second point has become all too obvious in the last 72 hours as Liverpool took another massive leap backwards.
Rangers manager Ally McCoist, normally the most gregarious of characters, is suddenly looking his age. Gone is the twinkle in his eye, and the cheeky-chappie persona that even his fiercest critics have grudgingly admired in the past. Instead, a haunted, weary expression seems to have attached itself to the Ibrox boss’s features of late.
The fact that Sir Alex Ferguson is no longer manager of Manchester United and that Frank Lampard no longer plays his football in Chelsea blue are reminders of one inevitable truth that even applies to football, nothing lasts forever. At the age of 34, Steven Gerrard is out of contract this summer. With the Liverpool captain and his club still a long way apart in contract negotiations could this be the end of Gerrard’s tenure at Anfield? And should it be?
Here’s a stat for you (and after all, who doesn’t like a good football stat!?), have a look at the current Premier League table and take everyone from 4th place and below. They are ALL closer to bottom of the league QPR than they are to top of the league Chelsea. There, let that digest for a moment.