Despite not having a Premier League title to his name, Steven Gerrard is regarded as one of Liverpool's greatest-ever players, but what would his legacy have looked like if he didn't slip against Chelsea in 2014?
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On Wednesday night, the Reds lost a league Merseyside derby away at Everton for the first time in 14 years, with it now looking like Jurgen Klopp has been denied a fairy-tale ending to his Anfield career by winning another league title. The German ended the club's 30-year wait for a domestic championship in 2020, but that lone Premier League trophy will probably leave him in good standing with the Merseyside faithful for many years to come.
It makes one wonder how much bigger of a legacy a player like Gerrard would have had at the club had he also been able to accomplish EPL success. The former England international had two seasons in particular when this could've been achieved. The first was in 2008/09, which was arguably his best individual campaign, but Rafa Benitez's side faltered in the second half of the campaign. The second time he had an opportunity to become a champion, and probably his best chance, was during the 2013/14 season.
Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling were all in sublime form that term, and it looked as though the then-34-year-old would finally get his hands on the one club trophy that had eluded him all his career.
The long-time Liverpool fan and academy graduate was leading a team that was five points ahead in the standings when they came up against Chelsea on 27 April 2014.
The English giants were coming off massive victories against Manchester City and Norwich City, and a win against the Blues would leave them in good shape going into the final two matchweeks, but ultimately it was not to be as a slip from the skipper allowed Demba Ba to go through and score the opening goal in Chelsea's 2-0 win.
But what if Gerrard had never slipped? What would the trajectory of the club have been? Even a draw, at worst, against Jose Mourinho's charges would likely have given them a good chance heading into the final matches, which would have given them the confidence to get a positive result away at Crystal Palace the next matchday.
If they were able to go through those matches and extend their unbeaten run in the league to 18 matches, then you'd have fancied their chances of beating Newcastle United at home, and ending the two-decade wait for a league title. You go from running the narrative of one of your club icons costing you the opportunity to win the league, to him being immortalised as leading an unfancied team to improbable English glory.
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If that was the case, then Brendan Rodgers probably gets a massive extension and even more lee-way to rebuild another title-challenging team because whether or not they had won the league, there was always going to be a strong likelihood that Suarez would leave the club.
The Uruguayan had spoken about how his dream was to play for Barcelona and after the historic season that he had, either the Catalan giants or Real Madrid were likely to land his signature.
As a consequence of him being such a pillar to what the Northern Irish tactician had built at the Kop, a regeneration of the squad would've been needed.
His staying would likely have also meant that Klopp does not make the move to Liverpool, and instead goes to another club.
That is an entire era of "rock and roll football" the Merseysiders would likely have missed out on, and with it, the sustained success that hiring the Stuttgart native came with.
But perhaps the biggest change would've come around the perception of Gerrard. The all-action midfielder is slated for not only slipping but what the slip meant for his career because, out of all the great English midfielders of the early 21st century, the one criticism levelled against him is the fact that he does not have a Premier League title to his name.
Had he won that edition of the EPL, the perception of him in relation to the likes of Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes would've changed drastically because, unlike them, he was the best player in his team for the majority of his career.
The following season he would've retired, but couple that with his UEFA Champions League and FA Cup heroics in 2005 and 2006, a league title would have likely solidified him as the bona fide Premier League Hall of Famer.
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While he has already been inducted into the category of the greats that have played in the league, his infamous bad touch is perhaps remembered more than his Istanbul heroics. He is the only Premier League Hall of Famer to have never won the EPL title, and that in itself perhaps speaks to his greatness, but what is more prevalent in the minds of many football fans is how he was practically the architect of his own legacy's demise.
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