Tuesday, 8th January, 2013
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard believes he has not scored enough goals so far this season and is bidding to change that during the second half of the campaign.
The season has already been a memorable one for the 32-year-old midfielder, who made his 600th appearance for Liverpool, while he also reached the 100 cap mark for England.
But as a team his Liverpool side have struggled to show real consistency and enter 2013 sitting eighth in the Premier League table.
That was a league finish which caused the club’s American owners to sack icon Kenny Dalglish last season, despite the Scot bringing home silverware.
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Gerrard has scored five goals in Liverpool’s 21 Premier League games so far and he is hoping to boost the Reds’ Premier League fortunes by increasing that total markedly.
"I’ve had mixed experiences this season. I’ve passed some unbelievable landmarks for club and country, getting to the 600 games mark and winning my 100th cap for England", he told his club’s official site.
"But with the slow start we made and being where we have in the league it’s been a bit mixed for me.
"There’s my form as well. I’ve played well in some games but I’ve been disappointed with myself in others and I’m not happy with my goal tally at the moment.
"People’s opinions, perceptions and the way they judge you changes when you get a goal.
"I think my performances are getting closer to where I want them to be so if I can add goals to those performances then maybe people will start saying the old Steven Gerrard is back.
"I don’t think the manager’s asked me to do anything different in terms of the way he wants to me to perform but because of certain injuries, situations that have happened to the team and formations that we’ve played, I’ve naturally played a little bit deeper.
"I’ve maybe gone into protection mode rather than playing the old Steven Gerrard way with the shackles off and going for the jugular."
Liverpool return to Premier League action this coming weekend, with a trip to face fierce rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Defeat would see the Reds slip to an astonishing 24 points behind Sir Alex Ferguson’s men with only 22 games played.
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