Pastures new: Steven Gerrard could link up with Mourinho at Real Steven Gerrard is 30 a week today, a day on which any young man might reflect on what he has achieved in his life and make plans for the future, but an even more significant landmark for a professional footballer approaching the twilight of his career.
In Gerrard's case, he can rest assured that he will be remembered as an iconic figure of the English game, a man who personified a glorious FA Cup final in 2006 in a manner not seen since Sir Stanley Matthews in 1953 and whose inspiration helped his hometown team win the ultimate prize in club football, the Champions League.
Yet ahead of the World Cup in South Africa, Liverpool, the club Gerrard joined 22 years ago at the age of eight and who had until recently seemed to be steadily rising to challenge the elite, now appear to be in terminal decline.
And while his ability is universally acknowledged, he is aware that he is yet to produce a defining performance at a major tournament for England.
In short, Gerrard stands at the crossroads of his career for club and country, although there could be few more serene places to contemplate the dilemmas ahead than the Alpine location of Irdning, amid soaring mountains and lush green meadows, where the England national team have been preparing for the World Cup.
Gerrard is more in control of events than in the past, when he acknowledges that he may have underperformed in major tournaments for England because he was contemplating a future away from Liverpool.
Though a change of club appears to be a real possibility, with a Real Madrid under Jose Mourinho frequently named as a likely destination, Gerrard will not take a final decision on his future at Anfield until the tournament is over in July.
'There has been speculation about my future for the last two or three months, but it seems to have been that way for a long time,' he said. 'But I won't consider my future or think about what is going to happen to me until after the World Cup.'
Walking alone or walking away?: Steven Gerrad putting country before club Gerrard added: 'I feel as if I am experienced enough now to park issues like that. If other people want to talk about my future, I can't control that. For me I am really focused and determined to put all my energy into playing for England.
'I fell into the trap four years ago in the last World Cup, where I was driving myself mad thinking about my future. This time I won't make that mistake. Then I would be going back to my room, reading papers and that, going on the internet and speaking to people at home who were telling me that there was stuff going on. I also knew that Chelsea were very interested because my agent was telling me. But this year that won't be happening.
'Every time I went back to my room (in 2006) I was driving myself mad thinking about, "Should I go to Chelsea, should I not?" Mentally, it might have drained me, I don't know if it did or not, but it might have. But I won't make that mistake again.
'People around me are under strict instructions not to be talking about my club future or any speculation. It's not important now. What is important is that I have a good and successful World Cup with the team. Agents, friends and family have been told not to be talking about club stuff to me.'
Still, at present there is a lingering sense of profound disappointment at Liverpool's regression.
A year ago, Gerrard was voted the Football Writers' Player of the Year and Liverpool had finished second in the Premier League, just four points off the title, but now he must confront the reality of playing for a club £351million in debt and with no prospect of keeping their best players, only Europa League football to offer and, crucially, seemingly no chance of winning the Premier League in Gerrard's playing lifetime.
'That's the massive disappointment,' he said. 'We finished second last year and I sat in front of your lads (at the Football Writers' Award) and the challenge for me then was, "Can we go one step further?" But this season we took steps backwards.
That's the disappointing thing and it has been a very difficult season, both personally and for everyone in the squad, to deal with the amount of setbacks that we've had.
'But I have to put that behind me now. There's such a massive tournament round the corner and I have to change my focus to England and make sure I do everything I can to help make this team successful.
Hit list: Should Jose Mourinho join Real Madrid, he will seek out Gerrard'I think once you start training, you get talking to the lads and the banter starts flying and people start talking about World Cups that helps you put what's happened at club level firmly behind you. That's gone now, there's nothing I can do to change what happened this season at Liverpool.
'There's a long time after the World Cup, once it's over, to change your focus back to Liverpool. Hopefully, things might happen while I'm away. There might be players coming into Liverpool to help strengthen the team. We'll have to wait and see, but I'm not really interested at the moment in what's going on at Liverpool.'
Before then, the small matter of a World Cup. He is visibly cheered by the return of the prodigal, his confidant and friend, Jamie Carragher, to the England squad.
'I'm pleased he's back after the work I've put in trying to make him available!' he said.
And in keeping with the theme of self-reflection, Gerrard does not rule out the prospect of retirement from international football in the near future.
'Thirty is the age when you do consider internationally what you are going to do moving forward but also what you have achieved as well,' he said. 'You don't want to step out of this level of football having not achieved something. If we go on to do really well that might influence your decision but I have not really given it much thought to what I'm going to do.
'I'm sure a lot of players are coming to that age now when, after this World Cup, you have three or four weeks' holiday to consider what the next best move will be for you.
'But that also depends on how well we do in the World Cup and also what the manager is thinking and that decision might be taken out of your hands.'
The counterpoint to that thought is the excitement of South Africa. He is at his most animated when discussing the prospect of his role interchanging with Wayne Rooney in attack.
'We're already speaking about it now and the World Cup is still a fair way away,' he said, before adding the obligatory rider: 'Though we have to make sure we are both in the squad of 23 first.'
Mountain men: England are put through their paces in Irdning, Austria An educated guess says they both will be for a tournament Gerrard knows will help define his legacy as a player.
'My career has gone really well so far but there is still a lot of ambition in me to go and achieve big things,' he said.
'The biggest thing you can do as a player is win the World Cup. So, that's the challenge. The hunger is still there. The World Cup is the pinnacle for every player, it's a fantastic stage to go and do well on. That's the challenge for me.'
There is a poignant moment as he concedes that he may be preparing for his last World Cup finals.
'If I was guessing, I'd say it would be my last. I am 30 and with the standard of players coming up behind me now are you going to be good enough to hold down a regular place in the 23? But, thankfully, I'm fit and able to be involved and I want to make the most of this World Cup in case it is the last one.
'That's got to be the attitude going into it. It could be my last chance to shine in a World Cup and also your last chance to win a World Cup, so you want to give it everything you've got.'
It may feel like the end of an era, but it could equally be the start of a new one for Gerrard.
source :dailymail
