Steven Gerrard leaving liverpool interview :(

drunkenmaster · 7 Jan 2015 at 13:29

BaZ87 said:
Prima Donna and undermining Rodgers? ****ing hell.

It's very clear the point he was making. Last summer he quit England for the sole reason of prolonging his Liverpool career and at that moment had the contract been put in front of him he would have signed it. Between then and now things have changed and his role in the side wasn't what he hoped it would be and therefore his mindset regarding signing a new deal has changed too.

Why is it wrong of Gerrard for not wanting to accept being a bit part player and ending his Liverpool career sat on the bench? Every day we hear of other players, with far less legendary status at their clubs, wanting to leave because they're not happy with the amount of playing time they're getting.

Gerrard will be remembered as one of Liverpools greatest ever players and for that alone I fully understand why he wouldn't want to end his career making cameo appearances and getting dogs abuse from morons because he isn't the player he was.

So what happened was he wasn't offered a deal, he's been told he won't play as often and now won't sign a deal. But if he was offered a deal, signed it, then was told at the same point he wouldn't play as much..... it would be fine and he wouldn't ask to leave despite this being supposedly the reason he was leaving?

Or more likely a case of had they offered me a key player deal earlier it would have been for more money than the rotation/OAP deal they are offering me now. That is once again how it reads when thought about logically but 99% of football fans read tabloids who will all go with the Gerrard wanted to stay story.

To me it comes across like Gerrard told everyone he was off, 90% of people think it's for more money, he comes out in the press and tries to make himself look like the wronged party to maintain his image in the fans eyes. Self serving crap that only goes to try and make the manager look bad but himself look better.

In exactly what way is ageing and not being actually good enough to start every game changed by the point at which his deal is signed. If he wants to leave because of lack of games, then regardless of if he signed a contract before he would ask to leave after this "you're not going to be starting" conversation.

I'm fine with players leaving, at any top club 99% of players will get worse before retiring with only an exceptional few who magically last till say 40 and get more bored/tired with the sport and retire when they choose as opposed to when their body stops letting them play at the same level. A few others retire earlier 30-35 still playing great but get bored or have injuries make it not worth carrying on. It's the media managed BS of trying to look like it's about something other than it is. There are literally a handful of players who retired still playing football that was at/above the level of their team mates. Pirlo will likely be one, Maldini maybe, Henry was certainly still exceptionally good when he left Barca. Even Giggs who was old and put in some good performances, spent 5 years no where near his best.

mmj_uk · 7 Jan 2015 at 13:31

Where is the evidence that he would become a bit part player any time soon? he's started in about 25 of Liverpool's 30 games so far this season with a few late substitute appearances, so far there's no evidence to suggest that Liverpool don't want to use him week in week out and he's only 34 ffs.. the way himself and everyone is talking you'd think he was 38/39. Why not just accept rolling season long contracts and leave once his fears actually come true and Liverpool stop using him? it could be 2-3 years yet. Why would he have been happy to risk being a bit part player in the summer but not now only a few months later?

It comes across to me that he simply wants out and is making excuses for leaving so the fans don't get upset with him, the way Liverpool have fallen off this season you can't really blame him for wanting to spend his later years in the USA as the leagues' new star man.

BaZ87 · 7 Jan 2015 at 14:06

Snax said:
I don't question the decision, I am questioning the continued drip feeding of comments that undermine Rodgers and the club. Silence would have been more dignified.

Drip feeding? If you seriously expected a player of Gerrard's stature and importance to Liverpool to leave without any media interest and interviews then you're delusional.

mmj_uk said:
Where is the evidence that he would become a bit part player any time soon?

Gerrard was told he would feature less and less, and that would only get worse next season as he gets older.

Purdy · 7 Jan 2015 at 15:07

6 million dollars over 18 months and he's going for the money? wat

fez · 7 Jan 2015 at 21:16

Hes going for the trophies

"The Galaxy are the most successful club in MLS history and I'm looking forward to competing for more championships in the years to come."

"One of the reasons I chose them was because of the success they've had recently. I want to add some medals and trophies to my collection."

drunkenmaster · 7 Jan 2015 at 21:32

Purdy said:
6 million dollars over 18 months and he's going for the money? wat

Are wages a players only income. Put it this way how much money from sponsors do you think he'll get playing in LA with media coverage across the states and some MLS coverage world wide compared to playing for 170k a week in Qatar... a league literally no one watches, with no media coverage worldwide at all, no tv money, etc.

Lets say you have Boss, Nike, Beats by lame, and a bunch of other sponsors and they say if you go to Qatar we'll give you 250k a year, if you go to the states we'll give you 5mil a year(for each company)... where do you end up making more money, Qatar with the 5mil extra direct wages, or almost any where else in the world but specifically in the states.

How many titles did Henry win in USA, no one gives a crap, once he leaves the states no one will care a single bit about what he achieved over there. He's there for the money.

It's particularly funny because when Henry, Defoe, Villa, Lampard, anyone goes to the states it's for the money. When Gerrard goes it's about the trophies.......

Purdy · 8 Jan 2015 at 01:16

Are you replying to me or just addressing the other people in here (quite a lot of them apparently) who have said he has gone to there for the trophies?

drunkenmaster · 8 Jan 2015 at 02:24

The first part of my post is in response to you questioning how Gerrard is going somewhere for the money when it's not that much... I was pointing out footballers direct wages from the club is only a part of their entire wage packet. Becoming a household name in America when he's already a household name in the UK(and that won't change by being in the UK for another 2 years at all and it won't change by being out of the UK) means his sponsorship deals can increase dramatically. There is a reason why multiple top pros have done the same thing and why everyone accuses them of going for the money when they are on seemingly low wage deals as well.

The second part of the post was in response to people quoting Gerrard talking about going for trophies which is laughable.

Rich_L · 8 Jan 2015 at 03:40

It's pretty shocking when a public figure and role model like Steven Gerrard will come out with inane niceties about wanting to move to a new team for success, whatever happened to footballers being honest about loving the money, setting fire to a pile of $100 bills in front of the reporters and then screeching off in a gold-plated Maserati.

Nate75 · 8 Jan 2015 at 08:08

Rich_L said:
It's pretty shocking when a public figure and role model like Steven Gerrard will come out with inane niceties about wanting to move to a new team for success, whatever happened to footballers being honest about loving the money, setting fire to a pile of $100 bills in front of the reporters and then screeching off in a gold-plated Maserati.

I think this is the behaviour that only "Super" Mario is capable of thesedays!

The__Malteser · 8 Jan 2015 at 08:47

Pigeon_Killer said:
Just about every newspaper and footy website.

He's been offered a $6 million (3.9 million) pound contract a year for 18 months.

Purdy said:
6 million dollars over 18 months and he's going for the money? wat

Yes, and that puts him around the £75k/w, which is what people here are throwing out as what he was going to earn at Liverpool. If he wanted the money, he would go to China. I read that Keita was earning 10M (not sure about currency, if it was $ or euro) a season! now I know life is not as good as the USA blah blah blah, but you said it was just about the money.

Also, maybe you don't care what Henry, Defoe, Lampard etc. did in the USA, but any person who follows football closely would take interest. Henry was magnificent in the US. He would do some crazy stuff. Granted, the quality of the league isn't very high, but Henry would do the unthinkable; scoring from corners, dribbling players whilst juggling, super free kicks/long shots. Yes, the money is nice, but playing football week in week out is also appreciated. As others said, he is 34! Not 40. He can easily play up to 40 if he wanted to.

jonneymendoza · 8 Jan 2015 at 09:29

The__Malteser said:
Yes, and that puts him around the £75k/w, which is what people here are throwing out as what he was going to earn at Liverpool. If he wanted the money, he would go to China. I read that Keita was earning 10M (not sure about currency, if it was $ or euro) a season! now I know life is not as good as the USA blah blah blah, but you said it was just about the money.

Also, maybe you don't care what Henry, Defoe, Lampard etc. did in the USA, but any person who follows football closely would take interest. Henry was magnificent in the US. He would do some crazy stuff. Granted, the quality of the league isn't very high, but Henry would do the unthinkable; scoring from corners, dribbling players whilst juggling, super free kicks/long shots. Yes, the money is nice, but playing football week in week out is also appreciated. As others said, he is 34! Not 40. He can easily play up to 40 if he wanted to.

if you think that he will just pocket 75k a week and thats that from LA you are in cooko land mate as he will pocket a lot more then that in adtverisements etc.

Tax there i believe is lower then here too so that 75k comes up to about near 90k+ with US tax deducted

The__Malteser · 8 Jan 2015 at 10:24

jonneymendoza said:
if you think that he will just pocket 75k a week and thats that from LA you are in cooko land mate as he will pocket a lot more then that in adtverisements etc.

Tax there i believe is lower then here too so that 75k comes up to about near 90k+ with US tax deducted

Those are called image rights. Every player has them, every manager has them. The % of money the club/player get from his image (him appearing in advertisements etc.) is decided between the team/player on signing of the contract You think he earns nothing from sponsors etc. at Liverpool? Being a Liverpool legend, I'm quite sure he earns quite a bit from ads. Go look at the Lewis Hamilton case in the F1. Same thing happened.

jonneymendoza · 8 Jan 2015 at 10:40

Yea Lewis Hamilton is a beast.

Purdy · 8 Jan 2015 at 12:02

drunkenmaster said:
The first part of my post is in response to you questioning how Gerrard is going somewhere for the money when it's not that much... I was pointing out footballers direct wages from the club is only a part of their entire wage packet. Becoming a household name in America when he's already a household name in the UK(and that won't change by being in the UK for another 2 years at all and it won't change by being out of the UK) means his sponsorship deals can increase dramatically. There is a reason why multiple top pros have done the same thing and why everyone accuses them of going for the money when they are on seemingly low wage deals as well.

The second part of the post was in response to people quoting Gerrard talking about going for trophies which is laughable.

Oh right, I only saw one person quote that and I'm fairly sure he's being sarcastic as he isn't retarded

Tummy · 8 Jan 2015 at 12:11

I would swap Liverpool for Los Angeles too, earning a fortune and living with the lifestyle.

I maintain it is a shame for him to not retire at Liverpool, as well as it demeaning his 'loyalty'.

He has been a fantastic servant for Liverpool and at times has dragged them through matches and to an extent competitions.