By Anthony Stanley (Dannyluke10).

No 7: Steven Gerrard.

As I type these words, it is almost exactly one week since the most heart-breaking moment of what has been a surreally brilliant season. The cruelties that are inherent in football were laid bare in cold and stark detail. Steven Gerrard, the inspiration of our title challenge, the soul of the club and its moral conscience, slips and lets in a horribly negative Chelsea. There’s no other conceivable way that the Londoners are going to score but for that mistake. And it’s Stevie who has let them in. But, almost needless to say, there’s no blame apportioned by Kopites. Instead there’s a surging empathy and emphatic sympathy for Stevie. The only thing that hurt more than the result was that it was our captain who was culpable; in the second half, as he strained to atone for the error, we willed one of his shots to find the top corner. Or bottom corner. Unusually for a player who has had more Roy of the Rovers moments than any other, it was not meant to be on this particular day. As he trotted off the Anfield pitch, our hearts went with him and I realised I owed Steven Gerrard a symbolic apology. Here it is then, a letter of contrition and regret to a player who not only has defined Rodgers’ tenure but has defined the club he has graced for so long:

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