It will blew up in our faces this decision as the team has no leader whatsoever to get the players around him and so on. Those scapegoating him are deluded as Brendan fu**ed up big time by playing him in a position he hasnt played in 10 years and which requires alot of stamina and energy, you won't see Pirlo, Xavi, Scholes or Lampard deployed in such a demanding position. Sad that he goes in these conditions.
I have to say, I find the reaction to Stevie saying he's leaving to be very weird. People are acting like someone died or something. He is leaving; so what would have been the... opposite? if he had signed a contract extension? Well, he is past it. He is slow. He drifts in and out of games (and that's being kind). Often times he is invisible. He is a liability in midfield as he doesn't have the pace (even when he's well rested) to keep up with our speed in attack, and yet when he is sat further back in a holding position he doesn't have the pace to protect the back four and he gets blown by again and again during the game as if he isn't even there.
So the other possibility would have been for him to stay another few years, and play less and less while still earning exorbitant amounts of quid. He's currently the highest earner at the club on £140,000 a week. He wanted a
raise on that. He wanted to earn even MORE money, whilst showing that he is years past his best. For comparison, Coutinho is on about £60K a week, Sterling is on £40K a week, and Markovic is on £35K a week. So Stevie currently makes more than those three combined despite contributing less than any of them individually. And he wanted a RAISE. I'm really sorry but he doesn't deserve it. Unless suddenly we are going to be handing out contracts for sentimental purposes. "Sure, you won't contribute much, but you're a legend so here, have £150,000 quid a week, just for the hell of it." That is the exact kind of financial suicide that nearly saw our club go under only a few years back.
So, Stevie is leaving the club. It's his decision. He contributes very little on the pitch and anyone who talks about us missing his "leadership" qualities probably only started watching us yesterday. He is the quietest captain of anyone in the league. And if you will say "he's the 'lead by example' type," well, his "example" has been piss poor for quite some time now, so that doesn't work either (not to mention the fact that the whole squad wanted him to speak up under H&G but he was too afraid and didn't want to rock the boat according to Carra).
The constant pressure to fit him somewhere into the team despite his clearly being past it is going to be the death of us, look at Leicester, we had a nice setup against Swansea, but then Gerrard came back into the team, so that meant Manquillo got benched because Henderson had to play RB, it meant there was one less mobile player in midfield, and suddenly a dynamic team looks stuck in the mud---all because there is some rule written in stone that Stevie has to start. it's ridiculous.
He is a legend and arguably the club's greatest ever player although I think Kenny pips him to that, just. But the moaning and wailing about us not being able to replace him and this is a tragedy is way over the top. If we're talking about the Gerrard of 2005, yes, it would be hard to replace him. But the reality is we have been playing without that Gerrard for several years now. So him leaving isn't going to change anything in that department.
Anyway. Celebrate what he achieved at the club. But don't cry yourself to sleep over what we are losing because whatever you think we are losing, I can't guarantee you we already lost it years ago.