Source: Daily_Mail
Stevie to sign for good: All Gerrard has to do now is hit top form for England
After treating him mean for five years, Rafa Benitez will probably take some satisfaction from hearing how keen Steven Gerrard remains.
Yesterday England's finest midfielder said he would like to stay at Liverpool for the rest of his career and is keener still to continue working under a manager he admits was right all along.
Benitez used to really get to Gerrard, and not just because he was forever deploying him in roles that he did not consider were his best.
It was the cold-hearted response to anything he did well. No praise in the post-match press conferences. No pat on the back. Not even a smile.
Now, however, Gerrard finally gets what Benitez is all about. The ultra-professional, largely unemotional approach, and the focus on the team rather than any one individual.
Always candid and interesting to listen to, Gerrard sat in the England team hotel here in Hertfordshire and reflected on his time with a Spaniard who has built the best Liverpool team in almost 20 years.
'My relationship with Rafa has got stronger and stronger as time's gone by,' he said.
'Maybe when I was a bit younger I was a bit selfish, thinking of myself a bit too much when he was playing me out of position. I should have maybe taken a deep breath and realised it was for the team.
'When Rafa first came I spent a couple of years on the right. I had a little moan and complained that I was there every week.
'But he said to me that when he got strong enough players to play out wide, he wanted me in a central position attacking. He felt that was my best position. But until then I had to sacrifice myself on the right.'
And the lack of emotion? 'Sometimes he shows it,' said Gerrard. 'But he's a top manager and he'll always be thinking of the next game. He'll be seeing the goals go in against Aston Villa but be thinking of Fulham. He's a winner. He's good.'
So much so that Gerrard even agrees with Benitez's sometimes controversial rotation policy. 'The reason we are looking so fresh and powerful at the moment is because the manager changes it around at the right time and rests players at the right time,' he said.
'When you're selfish, particularly when you're younger, you want to play every game. But when you've got that little bit more experience you realise it is a very long season.
'Sometimes you have to accept getting taken off or rested so you're reaching your peak at the right stage of the season.
'We've got two massive Champions League games coming up against Chelsea and every league game is like a cup final. So it's important that the players are fresh and ready.'
It is the role as supporting striker to Fernando Torres that excites Gerrard most, however. That convinces him Anfield is the only place to be.
'I do want to be successful but I'm really happy at the club at the moment, playing in a top team, with world-class players under a manager with whom I believe we can be successful,' he said.
'I've got two years left on my contract and if there was a chance to extend that, I'm sure I'd do it. 'I've never been happier than I am at the moment throughout my career. Things on the pitch could not be better. I'm playing in my best position and I think you're seeing the best of me.
'There's a good feeling around at the moment but it's important not to get
carried away. Manchester United are still favourites.
'If they win their game in hand they're four points ahead, which is a decent lead at this stage of the season. But confidence is high, the momentum is with us. We have to focus on what we're doing and, if they have another slip-up, we have to capitalise on it.
'For years and years, I've moaned about not being involved in a title race and being too far away from the other teams. But at the moment I'm playing in a team who are capable of beating anyone in the league.'
But what about England? What about seeing Gerrard in the position he occupies for Liverpool in the England team? What about pushing Wayne Rooney into the Torres role to accommodate him?
'Wayne Rooney can do anything,' he said. 'These are things the manager has to decide - where to play certain players - but I'd love nothing better than the chance to play in that role for England in the hope of finding that form.
'Rafa has really helped me a lot in enabling me to improve in the position. I've been playing it quite a lot for Liverpool now and getting my head around it and I'm enjoying the freedom of playing in there.
'I've got two holding midfielders playing behind me who are doing an awful lot of running for me and have freed it up for me.
'I feel that's when you get the best out of me, when I'm free to run at defenders and cause danger in the attacking third.
'But it's the manager's decision to determine where I play. Fabio Capello has to make that decision. If I was picked to play there, I'd be very happy.
'I've played there all season for Liverpool and I think that would help me. But I'll play where I'm needed. For the team.' For England and for Liverpool.
