FA Cup: Yesterday's hero, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard

He controlled the crossfield pass from John Arne Riise on his chest and let the ball bounce twice before thumping a shot into the far corner from all of 35 yards out Those are the moments that Liverpool supporters will remember said the TV commentator If Steven Gerrard does leave Liverpool hell remember that one for the rest of his lifeSteven Gerrard PicGetty ImagesThat goal against Middlesbrough came on April 30 2005 towards the end of Rafael Benitezs first season as Liverpool manager Michael Owen had left for Real Madrid the previous summer and with Jose Mourinho and Chelsea romping towards a first league title in 50 years talk was rife that Gerrard would also flee the red nestLess than a month after that stunning strike Gerrard scored another a looping header over Dida in the AC Milan goal It would inspire the most remarkable of all Champions League final comebacks in a game that came to be known as the Miracle of Istanbul In its aftermath Gerrard didnt pack his bags and leave for Chelsea He stayed to carry on being the talisman of his hometown clubA decade later in an FA Cup semifinal at Wembley Gerrard had three excellent opportunities to script a fairytale finish to his Liverpool career In the final against West Ham United nine years earlier he had produced a lastminute thunderbolt mdash in addition to an assist and superb goal in the first half mdash to take the game to extra time and then penalties Liverpool hadnt won the Cup sinceOff the paceAgainst Aston Villa with a 10 lead having become a 12 deficit Liverpool needed similar heroics A free kick late in the game was right in Gerrard territory He got it to curve and dip but there was next to no power and it went straight into Shay Givens hands Then from a Phillippe Coutinho corner mdash Gerrards deliveries had been poor ndash he rose above the defence to glance a header towards the far post Kieron Richardson once of Manchester United cleared off the lineWith the seconds ticking down Gerrard then went for one of the long sweeping passes that Owen and Fernando Torres used to thrive on This time Mario Balotelli controlled perfectly and clipped the ball past Given only to find that the linesman had raised his flag for offside IncorrectlyAny angst over the erroneous call shouldnt obscure the fact that Villa were worthy winners Fabian Delph who came through the ranks at Leeds United before moving to Villa in 2009 was the games outstanding performer with Jack Grealish all of 19 not far behind In a Liverpool team that changed formations at least thrice during the game Gerrard was one of those most off the paceBrendan Rodgers has been criticised for losing the tactical battle but its been fairly obvious for a while now that the Gerrard situation has left him with a conundrum On form the club captain no longer commands a place in the first XI Yet you can imagine the uproar if Rodgers had denied him a Wembley farewell When Gerrard does play Jordan Henderson seems much less influential and Coutinho mdash Liverpools player of the season mdash struggles to impose himselfLast season when Liverpool came as close as they have to a first title since 1990 Gerrard was frequently outstanding both at dictating play and scoring crucial goals However since that slip against Chelsea that cost his team the title he has been a different player A World Cup debacle as England captain cant have helped and no one incident encapsulated his 201415 season quite like the manic red card against UnitedPlayed off the parkWhen he scored his first goal for Liverpool a dazzling run and finish against Sheffield Wednesday in December 1999 Gerrard was 19 the same age that Grealish is now That night in Istanbul he was in his mid20s and club captain like Delph Both younger men played him off the park on Sunday afternoonGerrard who once influenced big games with sheer force of will and personality was a man out of time yesterdays hero Villa will play Arsenal in the final on May 30 the day he turns 35 An era has passedThe writer is editorinchief of Wisden India