To many people, Steven Gerrard’s days as a football superstar are nearly over. At 31 years old, many football fans expect him to retire sooner rather than later. Gerrard has missed several games this season, to recuperate from an operation for an ankle infection. His absence from recent games has been evident in Liverpool’s performance – without Gerrard, Liverpool seem to be struggling a little, only managing a draw against Swansea City, and more recently, 1 – 1 against Manchester City at Anfield.

But Gerrard’s absence may be a good thing, Liverpool are currently sixth in the Barclay’s Premier League with 23 points. Liverpool were triumphant at Stanford Bridge, with a 2-1 victory against Chelsea. This season has probably been Liverpool’s best season in a few years, and they are expected to be about 5th or 6th place at the end of the season. With Gerrard on the bench, we can see new players emerge, ones who were previously overshadowed by Gerrard’s reputation. One such star is Luis Suarez, who has been praised of having “amazing technical ability” which helped Liverpool advance from 12th place to 6th place in the 2010-2011 season.

With such promising young stars shooting out of nowhere, Gerrard will certainly have to work hard to keep his place on the Liverpool first team. But Gerrard also has to worry about his place on the England squad. Euro 2012 is less than a year away, and at 31, it is expected to be Gerrard’s last European Cup, and he would want to go out in a blaze of glory. Not that Gerrard has not had enough chances, having featuring in six major international tournaments during his career, although England did not win any of these competitions.

Perhaps it is time for Steven Gerrard to move aside and make way for the promising young talent, ready to take his place on either the Liverpool or England squads. He has had a fantastic career, winning several trophies with Liverpool, but “all good things must come to an end”, and perhaps, it is the end of Steven Gerrard.