• Champions League

Liverpool undecided on Gerrard future

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says the club are continuing to look at a new contract for captain Steven Gerrard but a decision on his future has not yet been made.

Gerrard, who has been with Liverpool since he was nine years old, has only eight months left on the contract extension he signed in 2013 and could theoretically begin talking to other clubs in just two months.

Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo: "It is something we are looking at as a club, and with Steven and how he feels. He is still in a real good physical condition. He's 34, he trains every day, he never needs a day's rest. He wants to work.

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"This is a genuine superstar and this country hasn't produced many of them. He's been a genuine world class player for so many years. How he still strikes a ball, there aren't many like him, both with his passing and his shooting.

"He will play and prepare himself right the way through to the very end. When that is we will see."

Gerrard's long-term future at the heart of the Liverpool midfield has been questioned recently after he followed disappointing displays with England at the World Cup with a string of indifferent performances for his club at the start of the season.

Both Rodgers and team-mate Jordan Henderson have strongly defended Gerrard's case, but the Liverpool manager also warned fans their captain won't last forever.

"Some of the criticism he is taking shows you the level he has been playing at for the last couple of seasons," Rodgers said. "For teams to deem that he has to be man-marked shows the level he is at and the influence of his game.

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"We did some sessions last week to work on freeing space for him and that worked quite well at the weekend where he was able to have that influence.

"Every football person will know the qualities and influence he still has. He is a real catalyst for everything the team has done in the last 18 months.

"When you need a calm head and to dictate the tempo of a game, there are not many better than him in world football."

Gerrard is set to lead Liverpool when they face Swiss champions Basel in the Champions League at St Jakob Park on Wednesday. The midfielder had a night to forget the last time he played there with his club in November 2002.

A 22-year-old Gerrard was substituted at half-time - and later criticised publicly by then-manager Gerard Houllier - after a poor display in a Champions League group-stage game. Despite being three goals down at half-time, Liverpool fought back to earn a3-3 draw but were still eliminated from the competition.

Rodgers said: "I've spoken to Steven about that night and I know he had an experience that really helped him in his career going forward.

"He got brought off at half time. He obviously had a fantastic relationship with Gerard Houllier, He was a young player who learned from very early on that you need to perform and prepare."

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