Gerrard: My dream is theirs

May 23 2007 EXCLUSIVE by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

THE statue of Bill Shankly, strategically placed outside Liverpool’s museum as a nod to an unparalleled past, reads: “He made the people happy.”

It’s a slogan which has come to epitomise the ideals of a football club with a dual purpose behinds its bold claim to ‘exist to win trophies’.

While the management and players, past and present, clutch their League, European Cup or FA Cup winners’ medals with a sense of personal fulfillment, it’s the impact they have had on a broader community which swells their pride.

No-one feels it more than Steven Gerrard, the captain who would have been joining the quest for tickets and mass exodus from John Lennon Airport if it wasn’t for his extraordinary football gifts.

He’s specialised in making the people happy with heroic performances in two recent cup finals, as well as a series of games which have led his side to glorious peaks.

A thirst for more success sustains him, and the thrilling prospect of seeing another 500,000 fans celebrating on the streets of Merseyside is an inescapable motivation.

“As a Liverpool fan myself, it’s obvious that even if I wasn’t a player I’d want to see the club winning all the best trophies,” says Gerrard.

“Winning European Cups and being the envy of everyone in England is my ambition as a supporter as much as a player, so to be actually part of a team that can do that, and achieve something so special makes you want to take that opportunity even more.

“I think it’s fair to say that this responsibility brings its own pressures, which are massive. Jamie Carragher would feel the same way, but when you’re growing up and dreaming of being a player, this is what you’re working for. These are the opportunities you want, so you’re not going to hear us complaining about it.

“There are going to be 30,000 Liverpool supporters in Athens, maybe even more, and every one of them would give anything to be in my shoes. There is no way we can let those people down. I want to make a lot of people happy because I know from growing up in the city what it means to them. I know the sacrifices people have made to follow us around Europe. My family and friends have done the same to get here for the final.

“It’s just a shame more people couldn’t get tickets and I feel sorry for those who have had to stay at home.”

Most players are content to stamp their authority on one major final, but Gerrard has two career defining epics to his name in recent years.

Those experiences give him the belief he can produce when it matters again.

He said: “It gives you a lot of confidence when you look around the dressing room and see players who will perform on the biggest stage and can be matchwinners.

“We have lads who’ve played in World Cups, European Championships and massive Champions League games, so there’s no sense of going into the unknown with us anymore. There are leaders all over the team.

“We also have a manager we know we can trust to prepare us in the right way. He proved it at Valencia and now at Liverpool that when it comes to the big occasions, he knows what we need to do to win. It’s up to us after that.

“From a personal point of view, some of the finals have gone well for me. I’m realistic enough to know you can’t produce those kinds of performance every time, but I’m going into it full of belief and I can promise I’ll be doing everything I can to win it.

“These are the kind of games which define your career. If you have the right impact, people will talk about it for years. The last final definitely changed my life forever. Before then people can say I was a good player who had enjoyed a bit of success but still had to fulfil his potential.

“When you win the European Cup it takes you to a new, higher level and people probably see me as a different player now.”

Big games bring the best out of the big players. Gerrard won’t be nervous leading the team into the Olympic Stadium tonight, just eager to have an influence on the result.

“You can’t play in a game any bigger than this and I feel lucky to have won it, but desperate to win it again and again,” he says.

“I’m not someone who’s going to settle for what I’ve already done in my career. I'd be cheating myself and cheating the supporters if I did that, which is why I’m hungry for more.

“I’d hate to look back when my career is over and see opportunities which we let slip. The worst thing you can have in football is regrets, looking back and thinking you wish you’d done this or that differently. You can’t guarantee you’ll win a game like this, but you can make sure that afterwards you did everything possible to get the right result. That’s our aim.”

If Gerrard hoists aloft the European Cup tonight, he’ll join the elite group of captains to do so twice.

Emlyn Hughes is Liverpool’s sole member of the exclusive club and few will question the credentials of the current skipper to force his way in.

If he does, he won’t just be making the people happy. Look closely, and you might just see a twinkle in the eye of that Shankly statue.