World Cup will prove Gerrard is the best

World Cup will prove Gerrard is the best

By Ian Doyle, Daily Post

RAFAEL BENITEZ believes Steven Gerrard can return from the World Cup having proven he is the best midfielder on the planet.

The Liverpool captain scored twice - one a contender for goal of the season - to propel his team to a 3-1 home victory over Aston Villa on Saturday.

It was the Anfield outfit's 10th successive victory and moved them level on points with second-placed Manchester United, albeit having played a game more.

Gerrard has now scored 21 goals in 51 games this campaign, the first Liverpool midfielder to break the 20-goal barrier for a season since John Barnes in 1990.

And an admiring Benitez is confident the 25-year-old can replicate his outstanding club form for England during the World Cup finals in Germany, which begin in less than six weeks.

"Steven's first goal was good but his second was amazing," said Benitez. "Those are the reasons that he is one of the best players in England and maybe the world.

"He is more mature now and maybe after the World Cup he will be established as the best midfield player in the world.

"He has so much more experience and quality. Taking that into the World Cup when he will be really motivated to do well for his country he can become even better.

"This is his time, his moment to go onto a higher level. He can score goals in Germany and lift the trophy.

"He has always played with his heart but now he's using more of his brain. He needs to do that if he wants to continue improving.

"It hasn't surprised me he is still so fresh after such a long season because we have good staff here to look after him. They're working, trying to control everything, but all my players are very professional."

Gerrard struck in the 61st and 66th minutes to ensure Liverpool ended their home campaign with 15 wins from 19 games, after Gareth Barry had equalised Fernando Morientes's fourth-minute opener.

And the Liverpool skipper admits that he is still four goals short of the target set by manager Benitez during the opening weeks of the season.

"I never imagined I would get 21 goals this season," said Gerrard.

"As a midfielder your main target at the beginning of the season is to get up to double figures.

"I hit double figures quite early in the season and Rafa turned round and said he wanted 25. I'm still four short but hopefully in the last two games I'll be able to score those four goals or I'm a failure.

"To be mentioned in the same breath as John Barnes is an honour. He was a great player for this club, one of the best to ever put on a red shirt.

"Goalscoring is one area of my game I've always tried to improve. But the team is always more important than myself."

Gerrard believes Liverpool's recent run of form is proof they can embark on a genuine championship challenge to Chelsea next season.

"We have now won 10 games on the trot, eight in the league and that is title-winning form," he said. "That's the idea now, we need to continue to be as consistent as possible next year.

"If we stop the occasional slip-ups away from home then hopefully we will be right in the title race from the start. We aim to carry this current run of form straight into next season.

"We will keep fighting until the end for runners-up spot, although Manchester United must be favourites now with two home games left.

"But we knew before the start that they had lost at Chelsea so that was a spur for us.

"It was important to put a bit of pressure on Manchester United."

Meanwhile, Ajax are ready to tempt Liverpool into offloading Jan Kromkamp.

The Dutch club will offer £3million for the right-sided player, who moved to Anfield only in January from Villarreal in a swap deal that saw Josemi move in the opposite direction.

However, Kromkamp has so far failed to settle and was criticised by Holland coach Marco van Basten for making the move to Liverpool, and Ajax are hopeful of capitalising on the uncertainty surrounding the player's international future.