My Story

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The highs in the books comes, when he describes the feelings and doubts that goes through his mind while he has his ups and downs throughout his career. Ada satu kualitas--selain kemampuan bermain sepak bola dan kepemimpinannya--yang saya tangkap dari Stevie di layar kaca dan saya temukan juga di buku ini: kejujuran. Buku ini seolah konfirmasi atas kejujurannya yang saya temukan di media lain. Tidak ada fakta yang betul-betul mengejutkan. Ini bisa dilihat dari ceritanya tentang pemain favorit untuk bermain bersama--Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Luis Suarez. Saya sudah melihat semua bukti nyatanya di lapangan, betapa Stevie menyayangi mereka semua bahkan sampai mereka meninggalkan Liverpool. Five stars for the player and the subject matter. Three and a bit for the ghost writer, who is apparently an Arsenal supporter.

There really are some great football biographies out there, to name a few I'd go with Paul Gascoigne's Gazza : My Story (which really is extraordinary with it's describtion of Gazza's trouble with alcohol and a struggle against a fragile psyche) or A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke (which is more of a story about a man battling [and losing to] depression in the macho-world of modern football). I also enjoyed Alex Ferguson's autobiography (and this comes from a diehard fan of Liverpool FC). Yes,the book has its quibbles. There are passages that could've been shorter and less repetitive. But even then, I'd think this deserves 4.5ish stars.Steven Gerrard - legendary captain of Liverpool and England - tells the story of the highs and lows of a twenty-year career at the top of English and world football. You could say he is a glass-half-empty kind of guy. In the book, he sheds tears on at least 10 separate occasions. The narrative is strewn with phrases about his mental meltdowns: "My head was gone,""my head was a mess,""my head was about to explode,""my head was battered,""it was doing my head in." As previously stated, Steven Gerrard released this book at the age of 26, which for footballers is only really middle age. Most professional footballers don't retire until their early thirties, and indeed the likes of Ryan Giggs (who is an iconic footballer in his own right, and still playing first team football for Manchester United at the age of 35) have shown that it is possible to go on longer than that at the highest level. Personally I felt that at the time of releasing this book Steven Gerrard had at least another five or six years left at the very top level of club football. As such, it was something of a disappoint that he released this book only two thirds of the way through what is, up to now, a glittering career. You can't help but feel at the end of this book (especially if you've read it recently) that a second book is likely at some point down the line.

When we speak about the legendary generals of English football – the players who go out on the pitch and dominate the other 21 players – can we say they have any traits in common? Many display a flair for cruelty and a casual attitude toward the rules. But if a single characteristic united them, it would be their near delusional levels of self-belief. Jika kamu bertanya pada Kopites--sebutan penggemar Liverpool FC di luar kota Liverpool--generasi 90an terutama dari Indonesia bagaimana awalnya mereka menyukai LFC, jawabannya hampir selalu sama. Steven Gerrard. Setidaknya itulah yang saya tangkap dari cerita-cerita fans di situs LFC Indonesia. Dan, saya setuju. Rather than try to fit the hurricane into his defensive system, Benítez turned it loose on opposing defences. Those are the statistics for the Steven Gerrard on the pitch. Off the pitch he is known very much as a private individual who largely keeps himself and his family out of the limelight for non football related reasons. His autobiography, released when he was 26, was therefore much anticipated. It was well received by fans and critics, and won the Galaxy British Book Awards Sports Book Of The Year in 2007. A person I found interesting in this book was Steven Gerrard. His desire and determination has crafted him to become one of the all time England greats, and a captain that will never die at Liverpool football club. He is a leader and has a winning mentality like no other person on the planet.The book really shines when he goes in depth with what goes on behind the scenes of a big football club like Liverpool FC - what's happening in a club when their captain for more than 10 years have to ask repeatedly for a new contract, and finally getting an offer he couldn't possibly accept with the ultimatum of signing the contract or leaving? The description of Rafael Benitez as a cold tactician really is a highlight, one scene in particular where Gerrard speaks with Rafa after the penalty win in the FA Cup final in 2006. Gerrard is, understandably, expecting some praise (he has after all scored 2 goals in a historic final in one of the biggest competitions in English football), but the only reaction from Rafa Benitez is that the team "have to do better in the league next year". As such seasoned readers may well be put off by the style of this book. It is not particularly welcoming, and you almost need to skim the words rather than trying to take them all in as individual sentences. Certainly if you try to read the book intricately it will become a struggle, because in all honesty it just doesn't flow that well from sentence to sentence. Then again this is something that should be expected and persevered with. If you want a literary masterpiece, don't buy the autobiography of a professional footballer. Ada satu adegan di mana Stevie dilimpahkan kebahagian setelah kesialan datang bertubi-tubi padanya. Tapi bagian itu terlalu indah untuk dibuat spoiler di sini. Selagi membaca buku ini dengan lahap. Saya teringat masa nonbar pertama di markas Big Reds Jogja. "Stu!" kau, pahlawanku malam itu. Memori malam Liga Champions saat masih duduk di bangku sekolah. Permainan kelas wahid yang disuguhkan Pool saat mentas di kasta tertinggi Eropa. Beberapa momen saya langsung cari videonya di youtube. Seperti gol Gerrard kala melawan Olympiakos di tahun 2005. Tontonan yang berujung dengan melihat video gol-gol legendaris milik Gerrard. Tendangan-tendangan spekakuler yang mengangkat performa tim dan memberikan dampak luar biasa bagi fans dan kawan sepermainan. Sang kapten mengupas perjalanan Liverpool bersama dirinya selama satu dekade terakhir itu rasanya wow. Mengesankan.

There are also some excellent chapters. The chapter on Gerrard’s injuries and surgeries is painful to read, not because of the writing, but because the gruesome detail. The section about Steve Peters, the sports psychiatrist, the theory of the inner chimp, and Gerrard’s thirty-eight seconds of crazy genius and madness in his last game against Manchester United, is also an entertaining read. It was interesting to read about him heading to Monaco with his wife right after the slip against Chelsea during the tilt at the title, and to Dubai with the players after the extended retirement celebrations, and the calamity at Stoke. For me, the slip and the flight to Monaco only served to make a hero more human. I don’t blame Gerrard one iota for taking his family to Los Angeles to have a break from all the attention and pressure he has to put up with on Merseyside, as well as the abuse from rival fans. As I said the book got repetitive. Having the songs sang on the terraces repeated over and over got tiresome as did being given a commentary on the matches. I understand needing to tell how goals and significant moments are created but at times it was like a literary version of MOTD.

Di saat-saat galau itu, ia menemui ayah dan kakaknya Paul. Ayahnya lagi-lagi mengatakan sesuatu yang bijak, But the first thing Gerrard must do is repair Villa’s defence. That was a job Smith accomplished in his first season after promotion, and the signing of Emi Martínez brought even more solidity last season. But those gains have somehow got lost this season, with only Newcastle and Norwich conceding more goals. Curiously, Villa even became more vulnerable at set pieces despite hiring a specialist coach in the summer. Gerrard will be bringing a new one. Ayahnya tidak semerta-merta menolak, ia membiarkan Stevie berpikir dulu, dan tentu saja, hatinya tertambat pada klub dengan lambang Liverbird itu. The other thing that stood out for me is how honest yet professional he managed to be throughout when dealing with other high profile players and managers. There are plenty of ex professionals out there who have stirred up a lot of controversy in their autobiographies by being unnecessarily brutal, to the point where you feel like they are stirring things up for the sake of it. The book is bloated with long summaries of matches played the last couple of years. As a true red I remember the games vividly, but I don't really need to read about who passed who in a match against Stoke 3 years ago.