Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard was a central midfielder who seemed to want every job on the pitch at once: win the ball, set the tempo, then arrive in the box to finish the move. Born in Whiston on Merseyside, he joined Liverpool's academy at nine, played for the first team from 1998 to 2015 and captained it from 2003. He was also used behind the strikers, on the right wing and even at right-back. His early spells on the right wing went badly ("I was out of position and out of my depth," he admitted later), and as a teenager he gave away careless fouls. He saw himself mainly as a defensive player, hunting for the key tackle, and Liverpool made him a ball-winner before he grew into the box-to-box role that suited him best. At his peak he had huge endurance, and he timed late runs from deep into the penalty area. Back trouble and several groin operations cost him long spells, though. His long-range shooting decided big matches. In the last Champions League group game of 2004, against Olympiacos, he hit a half volley from 25 yards in the 86th minute that sent Liverpool into the knockout rounds. In the 2006 FA Cup final he equalised from 35 yards in injury time, and the game became known as The Gerrard Final. By then he had scored in Champions League, UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup finals, a set nobody else had completed. The night that defined him was the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul, where Liverpool wiped out a three-goal deficit against AC Milan in six second-half minutes. Gerrard started it with a header from John Arne Riise's cross, then was brought down by Gennaro Gattuso for the penalty that led to the equaliser. Paolo Maldini remembered him dropping back to help the defence and said he "tackled every single player of Milan." There were limits. He never won the league, and his slip against Chelsea in April 2014 let Demba Ba score in a defeat that took the title race out of Liverpool's control. Discipline was another weak spot: in 2015, 38 seconds after coming on at half-time against Manchester United, he was shown a red card for a stamp on Ander Herrera. As his legs faded in his thirties he dropped deeper and dictated games with his vision and passing range, yet in the season of the slip he still topped the league for assists. His Liverpool teammate Fernando Torres once said: "He's as creative as a Xavi at Barcelona, with something extra as well." For England he won 114 caps, wore the armband at two World Cups and Euro 2012, and was the only Englishman in its Team of the Tournament. Jordan Henderson called him "probably the best player this country has ever seen" and rated his leadership just as highly.