The most important moment of Liverpool’s season so far remains a mysterious and controversial one. And one that could reverse itself any time next month.
It came when Steven Gerrard, their most precious asset, decided to stay at Anfield rather than listen to the advice of England teammates John Terry and Frank Lampard at Euro 2004 and join the millionaires at Chelsea. Why did he stay? Why did he become the first modern footballer to show loyalty to his boyhood club and turn his back on a pay rise?
Certainly there was truth in the initial tale that fanatical Liverpool fans, realising the damage his departure would have, made death threats against Gerrard and his family. Then we heard that family and friends had put huge pressure on him to stick to Merseyside.
Finally, the official line seemed to be that new boss Rafael Benitez had been very persuasive, though that didn’t appear to be the case for striker Michael Owen, who left for Real Madrid in remarkably similar circumstances.
To have lost Gerrard and Owen would have left Liverpool in serious trouble, though the money would have been useful as they try to avoid sharing a new stadium with arch-rivals Everton.
The footballing fact is, Liverpool’s season was saved when Gerrard turned his back on the big money move to London and Roman Abramovich’s millions.
At the time he said: ‘For the first time in my career I thought about the possibility of moving on but, after coming home from Euro 2004 and sitting down with my family and spending time with my agent, I have decided I am staying on at Liverpool Football Club.â€
Last season he single-handedly kept the Reds competitive. He signed a new four-year deal last November, which was why all the Chelsea talk was kept under wraps. But it is known that he had basically agreed a deal and that Roman Abramovich was furious when he decided to stay.
This season, the 24-year-old has already equalled his six-goal tally for the whole of last term. And his goals against Olympiakos and Portsmouth in the past two weeks have been as important — and as spectacular — as any in the history of a club boasting three European Cups.
And if you’re wondering how he lives happily in Liverpool while the roubles are flowing at Chelsea, consider this. In February 2003, the Sunday Mirror claimed Gerrard had a brick thrown through his windscreen and was involved in a car chase after a string of death threats from the minders of a teenage model. This particular episode lasted two years and ended with the youngster employing 24-hour bodyguards.
Merseyside Police were so concerned that they even instructed armed response vehicles to patrol outside his Southport home.
But he’s come through that. And he’s come through all those injury problems, when his back and knee went if he played more than once a week. And the groin strain that put him out of the 2002 World Cup.
Now he’s captain incredible — and the Chelsea rumours have resurfaced as he is compared with the great Zinedane Zidane as a midfielder capable in all areas.
If losing Gerrard last season sparked death threats, the thought of him going off to Chelsea or Real soon is likely to cause riots in the streets of the city that gave us The Beatles.
Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry says: ‘There is no chance of Stevie going in January. That just won’t happen. Our intention is that we will never let him go.â€
That’s all very well. But why the panic now? Because of how Gerrard apparently feels.
These are the words which worry Liverpool, the words uttered by Gerrard before his superb third goal in the 3-1 win over Olympiakos 10 days ago which ensured their place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
‘Ideally, I want to win things with this club, but I haven’t got time on my side. I’ll be 25 in the summer and I’ll only have five or six years left at the top level in which to win things and be successful, so hopefully the turnaround needed at Liverpool will happen quite sharpish. I can’t wait for three or four years for the club to be turned into a title-winning side.
‘I’m a fan and I’m the captain and it would hurt the fans more if I did decide to leave.
‘I want a big family by the time I’m 35 and to be able to show medals to my children. It would mean a lot for me to be successful with the club I’ve supported all my life. Hopefully, from now to the end of the season, they can show me they’re as ambitious as I am.
‘Hopefully if we can get that win [they did], the manager will be given funds to strengthen because everyone knows the squad still needs strengthening. It would be nice to see a couple of new faces in January.â€
If Liverpool don’t move for new players in the transfer window, Gerrard could, well, move himself. Watch this space.