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Having turned in his worst performance of the season in a disheartening loss to Arsenal over the weekend, things have gone from bad to worse for Steven Gerrard, as the Liverpool captain's immediate future has been left in doubt due to a late hip injury suffered on Saturday. Its full extent, and just how long he's likely to be out, isn't clear. Still, that he will miss at least some time seems almost certain given Brendan Rodgers has chosen to speak about the issue.
"He took a knock towards the end, with his hip, [but] I’m not sure the complete diagnosis on it," said the manager, with Gerrard uncertain for both Saturday's match against Fulham and for England duty following it. "Stevie’s been brilliant for me. It was a tough game for him, but we’ll assess his injury and see where he’s at. Roy [Hodgson] has always handled Stevie really well, both when he was Liverpool manager and now the player is England captain, so I’m sure that will be fine."
With qualification wrapped up, England face Chile and Germany for a pair of friendlies this time around, and with the games mostly not mattering any more at the the international level, one would hope that if there are any questions about Gerrard's fitness he won't play. Given stamina has been the Liverpool captain's greatest enemy when it comes to putting in consistent performances this season, even if he is full fit by the time players head off to join their national teams it would be in his best interest to be given some time off.
As for Liverpool, with both Joe Allen and Philippe Coutinho back from injuries of their own, at least the Liverpool boss will have options when it comes to who fills in for Gerrard this weekend against Fulham—assuming, that is, that the captain doesn't make a miraculous recovery or that Rodgers doesn't decide that a less than completely fit Gerrard is still better for Liverpool's chances of winning than no Gerrard at all.