Steven Gerrard reitres from country duties for welfare of Liverpool Fc, who will replace captain fantastic??

Steven Gerrard – former skipper of the England Football Teamhas announced his retirement from country duties. The Liverpool FC man dedicated his services totally to the club. The era when  he captained the English team will always be memorable.

Statistics of Steven Gerrard for his country

                His team mate in Liverpool FC and country football, Jamie Carragher states that there will be no replacement for Steven Gerrard in English Football again in terms of his position as a leadership qualities. The way he possessed the ball in the midfield and made distribution to all players will be greatly missed. He received the arm band after the succession of Roy Hodgson as a team mentor with whom he had worked earlier in Liverpool. He succeeded John Terry for the captainship and guided his team in the world cup 2014. In spite of great performance by the three Lions, they suffered a disappointing early exit from the tournament.

                When asked about his decision of retirement from International football, Steven Gerrard mentioned the reason of the time he will have to devote to the club after the return back of Champions League back to Anfield along with other games where he will have to play 2-3 times a week. He felt it was the appropriate time to retire himself to Club level games although keeping a smooth relationship with Football Associations (FA).

 "I have enjoyed every minute of representing my country and it is a sad day for me knowing that I won't pull on the England shirt again," 

"However, I do look forward to continuing my strong relationship with the FA and helping out in any way I can going forward. 

"I'd like to firstly thank my family and friends for all their support throughout my England journey. I'd also like to thank everyone who has been part of my international career, from the England managers I've played under to the staff at the FA and, of course, all the players I've been fortunate to play alongside.

"In particular, the supporters have been amazing, not least in Brazil when they got behind the team despite the disappointing results. 

"I'd especially like to thank Roy Hodgson, firstly for giving me the captaincy permanently when he took the job, making me the proudest man in the country and allowing me to fulfil my childhood dream. 

"He has been very understanding over the past few weeks and is a man I will always hold in the highest regard. 

"Most importantly, Brendan [Rodgers] has been fantastic and obviously I have to look after my body as much as possible to ensure I can give everything when I take to the field. "This has been a very difficult decision, one of the toughest I've had to make in my career. I have agonised over this since coming back from Brazil and have spoken to family, friends and people close to me in the game before coming to this point. 

"To ensure I can keep playing to a high level and giving everything to Liverpool Football Club I believe this is the right decision, and having Champions League football back at Anfield is another big factor in my decision.” 

                With departure of Steven Gerrard, Roy Hodgson will face the challenge of a proper replacement for the former skipper. He will have to build up a strong youth team, taking the English Football to another level. There is no doubt that Gerrard has been the key player in English squad, so with his departure the questions have been raised who will be skippering the team with exemplary performance and Leadership as Steven Gerrard used to do before. Gary Cahil, Wayne Rooney, Glen Johnson, Leighton Baines, Joe Hart are some names that surface as the next names for the candidacy for the arm band but who will Hodgson trust with the responsibilities is still unclear as the qualifiers for the Euro Cup 2016 is what they have next in hand.

The following are statistics of Steven Gerrard with his country:
Appearances :114

                          Starts :110

         Minutes on Pitch : 8,730

                           Goals: 21

          Shots on Target : 64

          Shots off Target : 76

             Blocked shots : 46

                 Goal assists : 22

         Chances created : 188

               Total passes : 5,636

     Pass completion % : 80%

               Total croses : 402

   Cross completion % : 27%

       Dribbles and runs : 228

Dribble Completion % : 61%

             Tackles made : 345

          Tackles won  % : 73%

                        Blocks :44

                  Clearances : 127

The retirement  from International Football will of course be  for the welfare and time contribution towards the club which shows no more any need to prove how devoted he is to the club and what the club means to him. This is why he is always our captain fantastic as always. Your contribution for your country will always be remembered and your achievements during this period will be marked in history.

How was the post friends, please do comment about it. If something's missing please let me  know. Thank you. YNWA

By :- Prem Kumar Shrestha