Steven Gerrard is one of three Premier League stars to make the cut for the UEFA ‘Ultimate Team of the Year’. The former Liverpool captain is in elite company.
UEFA have Steven Gerrard in their ‘Ultimate Team of the Year’. Describing it as an all-time team, UEFA have put out an XI featuring the players with the most fans’ TOTY placings.
Gerrard gets himself a place in midfield – but by the skin of his teeth. The Liverpool legend made the yearly squad three times, which puts him level with six others.
Luka Modric, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Toni Kroos, Pavel Nedved and Zinedine Zidane all made it three times, too. Gerrard gets in for having more nominations than any of those, however, with seven.
He joins Xavi and Andres Iniesita in the side for a 4-3-3 formation.
Unsurprisingly, Real Madrid and Barcelona dominate the team. Gerrard and Phillip Lahm are the only two who never played for either, in fact.
Gerrard is also one of three Premier League legends in the team. Thierry Henry gets in there, as does Cristiano Ronaldo, of course.
As for the rest of the team, there’s a place in goal for Iker Casillas. Spain then continue to dominate the rest of the defence – Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos and Carles Puyol make the cut.
Lionel Messi is the final player, naturally, giving us the following XI:
Casillas
Ramos – Puyol – Pique – Lahm
Gerrard – Xavi – Iniesta
Messi – Henry – C. Ronaldo
Quite an attacking midfield there but four-fifths of Spain’s World Cup-winning back-five sits behind it, alongside a World Cup-winning captain in Lahm.
And no one’s complaining about that attack – it’s about as good as it gets.
These teams don’t carry too much weight, of course – they’re just here for fun. And at Rousing The Kop, we’re obviously going to agree wholeheartedly with Gerrard making the team, even with all that talent missing out.
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