My Story

Product Information

I decided to read this book because I am huge football fan. I am reading a football book because I love the sport. It would be hard on anyone's ego, and Gerrard has often been accused of egotism, because that's how people usually interpret his on-field persona. But if he really did have a giant ego, he would have left Liverpool for a stronger team years ago, instead of staying on and sacrificing his own chances of success to increase theirs. Beberapa belas tahun kemudian, perkataan ayahnya terbukti. Stevie sudah menjadi pemain kelas atas. Puncaknya, ia memenangkan Liga Champion yang terkenal dengan 'Keajaiban Istanbul'. Saat itu juga klub-klub besar memburunya, salah satunya Chelsea yang tengah dinahkodai Mourinho--idolanya. I decided to read this book because I am huge Liverpool fan, and I am interested in football autobiographies. I am reading another football book because I find them very easy to read, because I love the sport.

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." Kala itu Stevie kecil menangis di kamarnya setelah mendapat surat penolakan. Kemudian ia berteriak pada ayahnya bagaimana bisa seorang kapten Liverpool Boys tidak bisa lolos tes dan bersumpah tidak akan bermain sepak bola lagi. Ayahnya kemudian mengatakan begini, 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. Stevie juga memiliki tugas informal dari manajemen, yaitu membujuk pemain yang dijadikan target. Ia akan mengirim pesan singkat, bukan menelepon, karena itu akan lebih membuat si penerima santai membacanya. Yang cukup membuat sedih adalah, tak jarang para pemain targetan itu menolak karena prestasi LFC yang tidak lagi bermain di Champions. Stevie juga sedikit berkelakar ketika menceritakan ini, berkata bahwa dia punya kata-kata a la pedagang untuk membujuk mereka. Refreshingly honest, Gerrard takes us on his seventeen-year journey at his boyhood club; the defining highs and lows of his career, the triumphs and heartbreaks, and his emotional goodbye to Liverpool Football Club. The prologue broke my heart. It truly did. He writes about the moments immediately after the Chelsea game in which he slipped - in which we lost the title-that-should-have-been-ours - and it is so raw with emotion that it hurts to read.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. Gerrard had to go through so much, his parents got divorced in 2002. He didn't score or play well for a little while probably because he was saddened by his parents decision. There was a time where Gerrard had got dropped because he got injured so often but he still never gave up and performed everytime he got the chance.

A person I found interesting in this book was Steven Gerrard. His desire and determination has great an made him to become one of the all time England greats, and a captain at Liverpool football club. He is a leader and has a winning mentality like no other person on the planet. 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. 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. Beberapa hal lainnya yang tak kalah menohok adalah seperti kata pepatah "habis manis sepah dibuang", pemain kerap tidak diberi penghormatan secara sepantasnya oleh pihak klub.

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. He writes candidly of those he's played with and competed against, from Luis Suárez to Jose Mourinho, his experiences under Brendan Rodgers and Roy Hodgson. He also has an incredible and rare personal story, telling us of the extraordinary ups and downs of staying loyal to one club for your entire career.

Gerrard was not the brain of the team; that was Xabi Alonso. Benítez freed Gerrard from the responsibilities of dictating the play and covering the defence and let him do what he was good at – creating and scoring goals. Alonso could lead the play; Gerrard could lead by example. For a time, it worked. Liverpool should have won the league in 2009. Gerrard's consolation was to be named Footballer of the Year. Steven Gerrard is an English football player who currently plays for Liverpool FC and captains their side. It was really interesting and entertaining to read about such an amazing player. Also, since I play a lot of football myself, it was very inspiring and innovative. For some footballers, it is easy to be successful, but for Gerrard this was not the case. Ayahnya tidak semerta-merta menolak, ia membiarkan Stevie berpikir dulu, dan tentu saja, hatinya tertambat pada klub dengan lambang Liverbird itu. Gerrard has a way of expressing his anguish with texted emoticons. In a revealing chapter about injury he shares some of the late-night texts he swapped with Morgan. Gerrard’s are littered with sad faces. One sad face means he’s “not good”. Two sad faces confirm he’s feeling terrible. The decent grammar and perfect spelling are illuminated by all those sad little yellow faces. When Gerrard is trying to recover from the trauma of The Slip he and Morgan share a bag of Haribos while delighting in Chelsea losing to Atlético Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League. 9) He can’t stand Martin AtkinsonHe inherits a squad good enough to climb much higher than their current perch, 16th, though probably not strong enough to reach Europe. Villa’s owners have the money to bankroll more big signings but the club have also invested heavily in their youth teams in recent years – and won the FA Youth Cup last season – and expect to see players graduate from the academy to the first team. Smith gave debuts to players such as Carney Chukwuemeka and Cameron Archer, and made the 20-year-old Jacob Ramsey a regular in midfield. Gerrard will be expected to continue integrating young players, and it was noticeable that Villa’s CEO, Christian Purslow, mentioned the new manager’s stint in charge of Liverpool Under-18s when announcing his appointment. Rather than try to fit the hurricane into his defensive system, Benítez turned it loose on opposing defences. Gerrard and Liverpool then ran off a string of four consecutive season finishes outside the top five Premier League positions. One bright spot during that stretch was the team’s performance in the nonleague tournaments during the 2011–12 season, when Liverpool won the League Cup and was the runner-up for the FA Cup. The club broke through in 2013–14, leading the Premier League for six of the final seven weeks of the season only to relinquish the championship in the final week to place second in the league. Gerrard played one more season with Liverpool, leaving the team following the 2014–15 season having scored 186 career goals for the club, fifth most in Liverpool history. He then joined the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer (MLS). Gerrard played with the Galaxy for two seasons before retiring from club football in 2016. Kekurangannya, kamu kurang bisa baca buku ini jika kamu kurang tertarik dengan sepak bola, karena banyak sekali istilah dan kejadian-kejadian yang umumnya memang sudah dihafal Kopites di luar kepala. Lalu, desain sampulnya lebih menarik versi aslinya menurut saya karena foto Stevie terlihat ramah. Entah mengapa yang edisi terjemahan ini memakai wajah Stevie yang divektorkan. Every Liverpool-fan will love his bashing of Diouff (who in his right mind spits on the Celtic supporters? Disgraceful), and his questions about the mentality of a player like Mario Balotelli is something every football fan has had over the years.

El Hadji Diouf certainly won't be pleased after reading this. Rafa might have mixed feelings as well. But, it is great to see the regard that Gerrard has for great football players, irrespective of the club rivalry with their teams. In particular, the chapters on Istanbul and 'the slip' are brilliant to read. On more than a few occasions, I had moist eyes as I recalled the ups and downs of the legend's career. Gerrard mengupas perjalanan karirnya dimulai dari penyesalan ketika "terpeleset" di partai melawan Chelsea, pasang surut tim bersama para nahkoda "Pool", hingga akhir perjalanan dirinya bersama klub tercinta. Apa yang terjadi dua-tiga tahun terakhir, tentu mendapat tempat dengan porsi lebih di buku ini. Perpisahan dengan Suarez, salah satu pemain favoritnya adalah salah satu hal terberat dalam karir ayah tiga putri tersebut. This is the second autobiography from former Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard. Steven Gerrard doesn't need an introduction - but his insistence of staying a Liverpool over the span of an entire career is (unfortunately) of a dying breed.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. Di saat-saat galau itu, ia menemui ayah dan kakaknya Paul. Ayahnya lagi-lagi mengatakan sesuatu yang bijak, Five stars for the player and the subject matter. Three and a bit for the ghost writer, who is apparently an Arsenal supporter.