Steven Gerrard is Mr. Liverpool; His hat-trick against Everton at the end of last season summed up his lethal capabilities when he is on top form, and nobody can argue with his contribution to the Liverpool cause over the past decade.
For England this summer he was by far and away the nation's best performer, at the heart of everything good about Roy Hodgson's side.
But with a new manager at the helm of Liverpool, keen to take them back to the very top, a real challenge is presenting itself to the club captain.
It was illustrated no more so than the excellent home debut performance of Joe Allen against Manchester City.
Allen ended the game with a near immaculate pass completion rate of 94.5 per cent. Steven Gerrard by contrast completed just 78 per cent of his passes.
Surely if Gerrard is going to 'fit in' to the style of play which his manager desires to implement, that is going to have to be a figure he needs to improve.
The question is whether he is willing or capable of doing it. If he wants to be a part of Liverpool's long-term project he may have to.
Frank Lampard has found at Chelsea over the past two years just how quickly you can go from being undroppable to worrying over his future.
Gerrard is at that 'undroppable' phase right now, but whether he merits is after his opening two performances is another matter. It was he who gave the ball away which led to Daniel Agger conceding the penalty and being sent off against West Brom, and it was he who gave the ball away which led to Manchester City's first equaliser through Yaya Toure on Sunday.
A big part of Gerrard's game is searching for those key passes which unlock defences, and naturally these carry a higher risk-reward threshold which means his pass-completion rate will naturally be less than that of a Joe Allen type player.
Even so 78 per cent is lower than he would aim for, and when he starts making the basic errors which lead to the team conceding goals, all is clearly not well.
Gerrard is not beyond questioning, and he will need to up his game. Can he change his style and improve his ball retention at the same time, and be a part of Brendan Rodgers revolution? That is a lesson we will learn over the next two years.
What do you think about Gerrard's start to the season? And what do you believe his future holds?
image: © wonker
Dan Coombs
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Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.
As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.
He grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver, but it looks like this dream has passed him by. Instead, he hopes you enjoy reading his writing on our site, as we seek to debate the day's sporting hot topics.
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