Hungry GERRARD Leads Liverpool from the Front
Liverpool's players will stride out into the muggy heat of the Olympic stadium this evening with one final rallying cry from their captain ringing in their ears. "We do not want to leave Athens upset and with regrets that we have not brought the European Cup home," said Steven Gerrard.
"We want to make history, be heroes and come home as winners."
Memories of Istanbul two years ago will abound at kick-off tonight as Gerrard, the inspiration behind Liverpool's comeback at the Ataturk, leads his team out against a Rossoneri line-up primed for revenge. The midfielder usually revels on such stages, having been instrumental in claiming the Champions League and the FA Cup under Rafael Benítez, and any notion that the Merseysiders' motivation is any less in pursuit of a sixth European Cup was dismissed. This team may have enjoyed consistent successes in cup competitions in recent years but the hunger remains.
To win one final was absolutely magnificent but to do it twice would be really special," said Gerrard, who is expected to play in an advanced role off Dirk Kuyt. "But I do not feel fulfilled as a footballer yet. Not at all. I am 27, I have had a decent career so far as medals are concerned but I have still got a lot of ambitions and dreams to fulfil: winning the Premiership, perhaps, and I want to experience another Istanbul. I'm even hungrier now than I was when I started out."I want more medals and trophies. If we win this game I won't be happy. I want more European Cup medals and more FA Cups. I want as many honours for this club as I can before I retire and everything I win just makes me hungrier to keep going."
Gerrard saw Mohamed Sissoko hobble away from training last night, the Mali international struggling to overcome a hamstring injury, but insisted this Liverpool side is far stronger than the team that recovered from 3-0 down at half-time in Istanbul to rally and recover to take the game to penalties. "We're a better team this time around," he said. "We've been to the final before so we know what it's all about. Personally, in 2005, everything was new for me and it took its toll. Everyone was talking about the history this club has in the European Cup and our previous successes and we felt a bit of pressure on us to emulate some of their achievements.
"I know I wasted a lot of energy with nerves before that game and I won't be making the same mistakes again. When you're nervous you get tight, you don't make the right decisions and you don't play to the best of your ability. We were really naive back then and didn't do ourselves justice in that first half in Istanbul. It was only when we were staring down the barrel of the gun at half-time that we started to play anything like ourselves."
Liverpool will hope to capitalise on the Italians' desire for revenge. "Milan will feel they have something to prove after the way they caved in in the second half, and we'll be ready for that. They've looked a good team all the way through the competition and did well to get past Manchester United as well as they did because they've had a great season. But it's going to be different this time around. Hopefully, we'll be ready from the whistle this time and not left facing a mountain to climb like before."
Source: The Guardian
"We want to make history, be heroes and come home as winners."
Memories of Istanbul two years ago will abound at kick-off tonight as Gerrard, the inspiration behind Liverpool's comeback at the Ataturk, leads his team out against a Rossoneri line-up primed for revenge. The midfielder usually revels on such stages, having been instrumental in claiming the Champions League and the FA Cup under Rafael Benítez, and any notion that the Merseysiders' motivation is any less in pursuit of a sixth European Cup was dismissed. This team may have enjoyed consistent successes in cup competitions in recent years but the hunger remains.
To win one final was absolutely magnificent but to do it twice would be really special," said Gerrard, who is expected to play in an advanced role off Dirk Kuyt. "But I do not feel fulfilled as a footballer yet. Not at all. I am 27, I have had a decent career so far as medals are concerned but I have still got a lot of ambitions and dreams to fulfil: winning the Premiership, perhaps, and I want to experience another Istanbul. I'm even hungrier now than I was when I started out."I want more medals and trophies. If we win this game I won't be happy. I want more European Cup medals and more FA Cups. I want as many honours for this club as I can before I retire and everything I win just makes me hungrier to keep going."
Gerrard saw Mohamed Sissoko hobble away from training last night, the Mali international struggling to overcome a hamstring injury, but insisted this Liverpool side is far stronger than the team that recovered from 3-0 down at half-time in Istanbul to rally and recover to take the game to penalties. "We're a better team this time around," he said. "We've been to the final before so we know what it's all about. Personally, in 2005, everything was new for me and it took its toll. Everyone was talking about the history this club has in the European Cup and our previous successes and we felt a bit of pressure on us to emulate some of their achievements.
"I know I wasted a lot of energy with nerves before that game and I won't be making the same mistakes again. When you're nervous you get tight, you don't make the right decisions and you don't play to the best of your ability. We were really naive back then and didn't do ourselves justice in that first half in Istanbul. It was only when we were staring down the barrel of the gun at half-time that we started to play anything like ourselves."
Liverpool will hope to capitalise on the Italians' desire for revenge. "Milan will feel they have something to prove after the way they caved in in the second half, and we'll be ready for that. They've looked a good team all the way through the competition and did well to get past Manchester United as well as they did because they've had a great season. But it's going to be different this time around. Hopefully, we'll be ready from the whistle this time and not left facing a mountain to climb like before."
Source: The Guardian
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