but we lost

i saw an incredible headline today, screaming that steven gerrard is the best midfielder in the world after he scored his 100th goal for liverpool, or so says rafa benitez, together with a few other "experts". steven gerrard, the best midfielder in the world? even with our fondness for hyperbole, the notion that gerrard is the best midfielder in the world right now, to me at least, is nothing but arrant imbecility.

allow me to quote iain macintosh, the only one of the 3 pundits to not agree with that rubbish of a statement mentioned above.

"BEST midfielder in the world?
absolutely not.
...
his positional sense is woeful and he has little regard for managerial instructions."

and the most damning of all,

"if you're going to be tagged as 'the best in the world', you have to produce on the international stage and gerrard has fallen well short.".

and i agree with him absolutely.

gerrard is a fine midfielder, the best midfielder - in fact - in liverpool.

but i do not even regard him to be the best in the premiership, much less the world.

the "experts" say that his consistency is why he's that best. what then of paul scholes, who at 33 is still producing the goods week in week out for the biggest club in the world no less, not some club who thinks of itself as "great" because of its past achievements. paul scholes is like gerrard, who can pick out a pass from 40 yards, hit screamers from impossible distance and unlock the meanest and the most organised of defences. only scholes can do it better, and has been doing it consistently for more than a decade now.

the "experts" say that gerrard's flair puts him apart from the rest. but mention flair and the names kaka, xavi and fabregas come into mind, to name some, all of them outstrip gerrard by miles for creativity.

the "experts" say the gerrard's drive is key to his ability, i say that essien is just as, if not more powerful and all-action, than gerrard.

the "experts" say that gerrard is versatile and that is why he is so good, but iniesta too is versatile. only he doesn't whine and sulk and ignores his manager's instructions when he is played out of position.

one player, though, is the best midfielder in he world right now, and in my opinion, his name is michael ballack.

2 footed (something that gerrard is definitely not), consistent, creative, prolific and an all-action midfielder, ballack has proven his credentials at the highest level with unfancied bayern leverkusen, coming so close to winning the german bundesliga, the champion's league and the german cup, but for a catastrophic collapse. at bayern munich, he confirmed his status as one of the world's finest, winning 3 bundesligas, as well as the german cup 3 times. and at chealsea, he won the fa cup.

and here's the difference ballack, who has actually won major trophies, in different clubs and in different countries, and can do everything that gerrard can better, and gerrard: ballack is of proven international pedigree

ballack captained a poor german side to the 2002 world cup finals in japan. 3 years later, he led and was the fulcrum of a young and overhauled german team under jurgen klinsmann that placed third in the confederations cup against the likes of brazil and argentina, and a year later, to third place of the 2006 world cup, where many feared the worst from the hosts. then 2 years later, he was again intrinsic in the german's run to the finals of the 2008 european football championship.

while he has never won a winner's medal with germany, neither have gerrard, who play for england, a much more talented side on paper and more often than not, gerrard has flattered to deceive in an england shirt, falling to emulate his liverpool form with england and failing to gel with frank lampard, while ballack on the other hand, as mentioned above, has been influential, to say the least, for the german side.

how then can such a conspicuously less able player be considered the "best"? i'm flabbergasted.

but i think, the reason that we crave such titles to others, the best something, the most something, et cetera, is due to our own insecurities.

we require such reassurances because our egos need them, because without them, we do not have a sense of self-worth. and so, we value our own importance with the crowns that others give out, and when those closest to us fail to sooth over our insecurities, we become hurt, and feel neglected and expendable. we feel that we're secondary, an afterthought. we feel that we're not important.

i was told that football is a confidence game, and i wholeheartedly agree.

only claiming that gerrard is the best midfielder in the world isn't building his confidence; it is soothing over his insecurities (gerrard is notoriously insecure) - and it is pure fantasy.