Gerrard Refuses to Rest on his Laurels

May 16, 2009

With England already well on the way to World Cup qualification, their players could be forgiven for taking it easy. Not Steven Gerrard it seems. The Liverpool captain has set his sights on winning the competition and told the FA’s official website: “With England we’ve got potential to do it. We’ve got good players.”

Gerrard is just one of a number of England players to have enjoyed an impressive season and the 29 year old was rewarded for his efforts last week when he was named the Football Writers’ Player of the Year. With Gerrard having to beat off stiff competition from the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard his confidence is unsurprising.

It really is amazing to think that just over a year ago the England national side was in turmoil - their manager Steve McClaren was sacked after just 18 months in charge and the team failed to even qualify for Euro 2008. Yet fast forward to May 2009 and, with regards to World Cup 2010 betting, England are one of the favourites to win the most prestigious tournament in world football.

A lot of the credit has to go to Fabio Capello. The Italian has one of the best managerial records of the modern era and he already seems to be weaving his magic at national level. He’s made very few changes in terms of personnel but does seem to have instilled a winning attitude amongst his players - so much so that after five qualifying matches they have a 100% record and are five points clear of second placed Ukraine.

Whether Capello and Gerrard will achieve their ultimate goal remains to be seen but one thing for certain is that everybody involved with this England team has a sense of belief that has been missing in these parts for some time. As Gerrard says:

“To win the… World Cup, that’s what dreams are made of. There’s a lot of hard work and a lot of hurdles to get over before I can achieve that but that’s certainly the ambition and the dream. And I think it’s possible.”

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