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Steven Gerrard: It would mean nothing to lead Liverpool out at Wembley, but winning the League Cup would be a dream come true
The Reds skipper is desperate to help the club reach their first Wembley final since 1996, but is aware of the threat posed by Manchester City in Wednesday's semifinal.
Jan 25, 2012 7:07:00 AM
By Joel Lamy
Steven Gerrard says it would be ‘a dream come true’ if he could lead Liverpool to League Cup glory at Wembley.
Liverpool takes a one goal lead into the second leg of its semifinal against Manchester City as it tries to join Cardiff, who overcame Crystal Palace on penalties on Tuesday, in February's final.
The Reds have not won any silverware since 2006, a run Gerrard is desperate to end, but he admitted that the club’s fortunes in the Premier League were more important than any Cup run.
“It would mean nothing to lead Liverpool out at Wembley, but to lift the Cup there would mean an awful lot – a dream come true,” he told reporters.
“If I lead the club out at Wembley and we lose then I’ll remember it in a bad way. To get to Wembley is the target – to win it is the dream.
He added, “The big objective for this club is the top four, so if you look at it that way the Bolton game was bigger than tonight against City.
“But, as a player, I don’t want to be saying I finished in the top four. I want to say I won the Carling Cup four or five times.”
Liverpool has the advantage and an away goal thanks to Gerrard’s penalty in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium, but the Reds captain is wary of City’s quality as it looks to get back into the tie.
“That is the danger - going into the game thinking that we’re 1-0 up and that we need to protect that lead. These are too good an opponent to try and do that against,” he said.
“On their day City are one of the best out there at the moment. But there’s nothing to fear with them. We’ve proven we can beat them.
"We proved in the first half of the first leg we can be better than them and with our crowd behind us and with such a big prize at stake I’ve got an inner belief and a confidence that we can achieve it.”
Liverpool takes a one goal lead into the second leg of its semifinal against Manchester City as it tries to join Cardiff, who overcame Crystal Palace on penalties on Tuesday, in February's final.
The Reds have not won any silverware since 2006, a run Gerrard is desperate to end, but he admitted that the club’s fortunes in the Premier League were more important than any Cup run.
“It would mean nothing to lead Liverpool out at Wembley, but to lift the Cup there would mean an awful lot – a dream come true,” he told reporters.
“If I lead the club out at Wembley and we lose then I’ll remember it in a bad way. To get to Wembley is the target – to win it is the dream.
He added, “The big objective for this club is the top four, so if you look at it that way the Bolton game was bigger than tonight against City.
“But, as a player, I don’t want to be saying I finished in the top four. I want to say I won the Carling Cup four or five times.”
Liverpool has the advantage and an away goal thanks to Gerrard’s penalty in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium, but the Reds captain is wary of City’s quality as it looks to get back into the tie.
“That is the danger - going into the game thinking that we’re 1-0 up and that we need to protect that lead. These are too good an opponent to try and do that against,” he said.
“On their day City are one of the best out there at the moment. But there’s nothing to fear with them. We’ve proven we can beat them.
"We proved in the first half of the first leg we can be better than them and with our crowd behind us and with such a big prize at stake I’ve got an inner belief and a confidence that we can achieve it.”
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