Gerrard: Why we must keep Suarez

When Steven Gerrard made his league debut in November, 1998, Liverpool were a club in transition, trying to recapture the glory days of two decades ruling English and European football.

As he prepares for his testimonial against Olympiakos today, the midfielder is prepared to admit the very future of an international icon is in the balance, as the Luis Suarez saga hangs over everyone at Anfield.

Fifteen years on from what was an inconspicuous introduction — a one-minute appearance as a substitute for Vegard Heggem against Blackburn — Gerrard is these days a club legend with a glittering trophy haul that includes a Champions League, two FA Cups, three League Cups, a Uefa Cup and two Super Cups.

He has also captained the club for a decade and recently led them on a tour of Asia and Australia in which Liverpool demonstrated the continuing value of their glittering history by playing in front of a quarter of a million people over 10 days.

But sadly that doesn’t tell the whole story; because after four successive seasons finishing outside of the top four — and 24 seasons without a league title — it’s fair to say Liverpool has lost some of the mystique that came with total domination in the glory years.

And Gerrard — who has revealed he turned down another chance to leave Anfield last season when a mystery foreign club bidded for him — accepts Brendan Rodgers’ side face a crossroads as the board ponder how to deal with the on-going saga of Suarez’s possible move to Arsenal; not least because another year outside the top four — and another year unable to sign players who will only consider clubs involved in the Champions League — could make it increasingly difficult to find a way back to the top table.

“That’s my main worry, yes,” he said. “I’m sure all genuine Liverpool fans have the same concerns, the same worry, that it becomes permanent and we can’t bridge that gap.

“I have confidence, based on the way we played in the last six months of last season, that we can break into it. But certain things have got to happen to help us do that and one of them is keeping Luis Suarez. If you lose him you take steps backwards, if you keep him then it gives you an awful lot better chance. It’s as simple as that.”

Gerrard, of course, knows what it means to stay loyal. Despite being linked with moves at several points during his career — notably to Chelsea under Jose Mourinho — he has found the grip of his hometown club too difficult to relinquish.

“I am a fan, first and foremost,” he insisted.” If I wasn’t a player or the captain, I would be going to the game to watch the lads. That is why it is special to me and why I have stuck around.”

In fact, Gerrard has signed a new two-year contract that will keep him at Anfield until he is 35 and — significantly — when asked if there had been any recent opportunities to leave, replied: “Last year, yeah.”

There was no way of persuading him to reveal a name; but it was a Champions League club outside of England, which must make Real Madrid — before Mourinho’s departure — favourites to top the gossip list; a destination that could also, eventually, suit Suarez.

Gerrard said: “I’ve been through it before and that is the message for Luis. Move on if you want, further down the line. But a player of his calibre should wait for the big one to come to him. He deserves to play for one of the best teams in the world, Barcelona or Real Madrid. They will come calling again. So I am hoping from a biased point of view that he gives us another year.

“I think everyone knows how highly I rate him and how much I want him to stay. What we can achieve this season, I believe, depends on whether he stays or goes.”

That is quite a statement — and one which in itself shows how things have changed; because not even Kenny Dalglish, Kevin Keegan or John Barnes could ever claim to hold the future of Liverpool Football Club in their hands, let alone a Uruguayan striker who has only been in England for two seasons.

But in modern football things do change quickly; and that is why Gerrard’s contribution to Liverpool history is so significant as he celebrates his testimonial and donates the proceeds to local charities.

It should remind everyone of the old Liverpool and the old values — values that are worth preserving and ones that every player who wears the famous red shirt should understand. But you sense keeping them alive is going to be a real mission.