Source: Liverpool_Echo
Liverpool FC manager Roy Hodgson hails Steven Gerrard as the man to follow
Roy Hodgson and Steven Gerrard 300[LNB]ROY HODGSON today threw down the gauntlet to his squad as he urged them to follow Steven Gerrard's lead and become heroes against Chelsea.[LNB]The Liverpool captain's 13-minute hat-trick against Napoli on Thursday has given the club a lift going into a potentially significant showdown with the league leaders.[LNB]Gerrard, of course, will return to the starting line-up tomorrow, as will Fernando Torres, who has caught the eye regularly in training at Melwood this week.[LNB]But while the match-winning capabilities of Gerrard and Torres are well known, Hodgson would not mind in the slightest if one of their colleagues upstaged them and took Monday morning's headlines.[LNB] Maxi Rodriguez did that at Bolton last weekend when popping up with a vital winner and Hodgson wants that to become a recurring theme to ease the burden on Liverpool's dynamic duo.[LNB]'Fernando is doing very well in training,' said Hodgson. 'He is looking much more like his old self. It is a pleasure to have a player of the quality to work with.[LNB]'He and Steven Gerrard are wonderful players but other players have got to start stepping up to the plate.[LNB]'But we can't just send out on a team that simply relies on Steven or Fernando or if they happen to have a slightly lesser game then we can't just throw the towel in.[LNB]'We need some of the others to nail their colours to the mast. If, God forbid, either one of them didn't happen to play so well, we need others to produce.[LNB]'To be fair, Maxi has done very well. Soto (Kyrgiakos) is another. He has come into the team after not playing so many games last year but he is doing a good job.'
