We had hoped to still talk a bit about Liverpool while the Euros were on, but with even the rumour mongers' eyes focused on Poland and Ukraine and Brendan Rodgers deciding he might rather not give a daily briefing on what's going on behind the scenes at the club, it's three month-old transfer rumours and crickets out there when it comes to Liverpool news. We'd probably feel as though we're rather letting you down, seeing as in theory at least we're supposed to be a Liverpool blog—at least when we're not off on tangents about string theory and starfish—but then the truth is we're rather distracted by the Euros, too.
Every so often we remember that we had been eagerly awaiting developments on the Director of Football—or Sporting Director or Squad Quality Control Overseer or whatever they've decided to call the job this week—front, but things there seem to be about where they were twenty-four hours after Damien Comolli got the sack for investing John Henry's retirement fund in Stewart Downing. Which is to say nothing much has happened. Unless you believe the rumour that FSG acquiesced to Brendan Rodgers' demand that no Director of Football-type role be filled. Or if you believe the completely contradictory rumour that the Director of Football-type role has already been filled but the club isn't ready to announce the hire quite yet.
So at least for today we're not going to try to fight against the Euro madness—even if we'll still try to manage at least a bit of tangential Liverpool relevance in the end. In any case, it's time for a look back at Steven Gerrard against France in a game that saw the Liverpool and Engand captain put in one of the best performances of the day alongside club teammate Glen Johnson despite Roy Hodgson's tactical straightjacket that went looking for a draw before the first ball was kicked.
On Monday evening, not only did Gerrard put in perhaps his best free kick of the 2011-12 season for club or country, but outside of at times dropping too deep in defence he put in one of his strongest overall performances of late. It wasn't enough to drag England to more than a draw on the day, but that shouldn't take away from the fact that he more than justified his selection as captain. It can't be avoided, though, that simply by its quality it was a performance that will at the same time offer both promise and some amount of bittersweet disappointment for Liverpool fans who have spent the last few years watching his influence at club level wane while his injury record grows worse.
Video by Mostar