Luis Suarez will be the greatest player to not win the
Player of the Year award if he is overlooked for the accolade this season –
that's the view of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.
The No.7 turned in another outstanding display in Sunday's
3-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield, firing the opening goal to take
his tally for the season so far to 29.
In the Barclays Premier League, Suarez now has 22 goals to
his name, making him the division's leading marksman - and Gerrard believes he
deserves to be rewarded for his fine form.
"He's been doing that for us all season," said the
skipper. "Before the last deadline, we never got that centre-forward in
and he's almost carried this team on his own. At times he was the only
centre-forward we had.
"He's top scorer in the league now and he's been
incredible. I can't put into words how good he's been.
"If he doesn't win an award this year, he'll be the
best player ever not to win an award."
Suarez came up against one of the men thought to be among
his main rivals for end-of-season honours in Tottenham's Gareth Bale.
Gerrard acknowledges the Wales winger has been in
scintillating form this term - but remains steadfast in his belief that Suarez
has been the league's most outstanding player this season.
"Bale's in top form and probably one of the best
players in the world on current form," added the midfielder.
"But luckily enough, we've got a player who is as
equally as good as him in Luis Suarez - and I think Luis may just pip him to
Player of the Year, in my opinion.
"He's been incredible. It's hard to put into words how
good he's been."
After Suarez had opened the scoring, Spurs raced into a 2-1
lead thanks to a brace from centre-back Jan Vertonghen.
Liverpool levelled through Stewart Downing, who made the
most of a mistake from Hugo Lloris - and Gerrard was eager to highlight the
No.19's form.
He said: "He's a different player now. Now we're seeing
Stewart Downing the England international and why he has got all those caps.
"What is impressing me the most about Stewart Downing
at the moment is the work he's doing for the team without the ball - sliding
tackles, his double marking with Glen Johnson and his effort.
"The stats that go up on the board after every game
underline that. He's a different player and if he can keep producing those
types of performances then it will be money well spent.
"If he keeps to that level of consistency he can make
that position in the team his own."
It was left to Gerrard to secure the three points when he
fired home a dramatic late penalty.
The midfielder raced towards John Achterberg on the bench to
celebrate - and afterwards explained how the goalkeeping coach had assisted him
in his preparations should he have been required to take a spot-kick.
"I wouldn't like to take all the credit for the three
points today," he revealed.
"There are so many details that go into the games
nowadays. John Achterberg did a montage on their goalie for me before the game.
He consistently went to the right and I think he had saved four out of eight
going to his right.
"I was always going to his left having watched that,
but if I had never got that montage then I would probably have gone to his
right - so credit to John."
With Brendan Rodgers opting to select an attack-minded
starting XI that included Suarez, Downing, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe
Coutinho, Gerrard was deployed in a deeper role alongside Lucas Leiva.
"When your squad is littered with players like that,
sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself at times and play that little bit
deeper for the team," he said.
"If that means the other players go and excite the
crowd, assist and score goals, then I'm quite happy to watch that."
The result moved Liverpool into sixth place in the Premier
League, seven points off fourth-placed Chelsea.
Reflecting on the contest as a whole, Gerrard said:
"It's a big win for us.
"With our performances against the top sides this
season, I think we've been very unlucky not to get a win. It's been too long so
there's a bit of relief really that we have proved we can beat one of the top
sides in the league.
"I think on current form, along with ourselves,
Tottenham are probably the best team in the league. When the top sides come,
you always know there will be periods of the game when they will have control.
"Credit to Tottenham, they are a fantastic team but we
always stayed in the game. Even at 2-1, with players like Luis Suarez and
Daniel Sturridge in your team you always know that something can happen to get
you back in it.
"When we went out of the Europa League, the message
from the manager and the staff was that we needed to try and win as many of our
remaining games as possible and try to finish as high as possible.
"Our form is good but we can't afford to get carried
away just because we've beaten Tottenham.
"We need to show what we've shown today in all of our
remaining games. We want to finish above Everton and as high as we can in the
league."
Meanwhile, Gerrard paid tribute to Jamie Carragher after the
veteran centre-back notched up his 500th league appearance for the club against
Spurs.
He said: "For me personally, it's a sad and emotional
time to see Jamie announce his retirement. I'm closer to him than anyone. I've
been there through a lot of his games. To see him hang his boots up is a sad
time for myself and the club as well.
"You've got to respect his decision - he feels as if
it's time - but he'll be impossible to replace because he's been that good and
consistent for this club over the years."
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