RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Wow! Liverpool might have actually cloned Steven Gerrard, his regen is incredible
A new Liverpool wonderkid very much looks like a Steven Gerrard clone and he's on his way to the first-team soon.
Liverpool's former No.8 was everything supporters could have wanted from a captain.
Steven Gerrard was not simply one of the greatest midfielders in the club's history. He came to represent everything Liverpool stood for. Passion, commitment, leadership and extraordinary ability were all wrapped into one player.
What made Gerrard truly special, though, was his ability to take control when Liverpool needed him most.
A crunching tackle, a surging run through midfield, a defence-splitting pass or a moment of individual brilliance in front of goal — he always seemed capable of producing something when the situation demanded it.
That was perhaps the biggest difference with Gerrard. He was not a player who simply enjoyed the good moments. In many ways, he was at his best when Liverpool were struggling and someone needed to take responsibility.
When everything around him was falling apart, Gerrard had a remarkable ability to grab the game by the scruff of the neck.
And then there were the goals.
Whenever he stood over a free kick or received the ball 25 or 30 yards from goal, there was always a sense that something special could happen.
Gerrard possessed the power to blast the ball into the top corner, but he also had the technical quality to bend it beyond a goalkeeper with precision.
Even better, he seemed to reserve those moments for the biggest occasions.
European nights, cup finals, title races - when Liverpool needed a hero, Gerrard was so often the player who delivered.
That ability to lead by example, particularly when the pressure was at its greatest, is what made him more than just a brilliant footballer.
It is what made Steven Gerrard one of Liverpool's most iconic captains.
If you’re a young midfielder coming through Liverpool’s academy, comparisons to Steven Gerrard are probably inevitable.
Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of talented youngsters labelled the “next Gerrard”. Jay Spearing, Jordan Rossiter and a number of others have had that tag at different stages of their development.
But the reality is that nobody is ever going to truly recreate what Gerrard did at Liverpool. His impact was unique. For many supporters, he remains the greatest player to ever wear the shirt, so the bar is ridiculously high.
Curtis Jones and Trent Alexander-Arnold both gave supporters that feeling when they first broke into the first team . They were local lads, incredibly talented and clearly comfortable playing on the biggest stage. Naturally, that made the connection with supporters even stronger.
But neither have gone onto deliver Gerrard's heights. Someone else could do though, who literally looks like a clone of the club's former no.8.
Let's introduce you to Luca Eden.
Last year, at just 14 years and 263 days old, he became the youngest player ever to make an appearance for Liverpool at U18 level. Then, in January, he went one step further by becoming the youngest player to score for the Reds at that level, finding the net against Burnley.
Despite his age, Eden made 10 appearances in total and quickly became a regular in Liverpool's U18 Premier League side. He's still only 15, which tells you plenty about how highly he is regarded.
Eden also captains England at U15 and U16 level.
If you watch him play, there are already some obvious Gerrard comparisons.
Eden is a technically gifted midfielder, but he's also aggressive, tenacious and not afraid of a physical battle. He uses his body well, competes for every ball and, perhaps most importantly, has a seriously impressive shot from distance.
He's already scored some spectacular goals from outside the box. But recent the goal that once again showed an eery resemblance to Gerrard was his one against Italy shared by Lewis Bower .
The touch, the finish. It's like he is a Gerrard clone.
Obviously, there's a long way to go, but Eden is certainly a name Liverpool supporters should keep an eye on. He has even trained alongside senior and U21 players in front of Andoni Iraola and Richard Hughes. He spent the summer with the U21s and in the first game for the U18s, Eden won a penalty against Man City and once again stood out for his quality.
He plays so much like Gerrard it's scary, almost to the point that it looks like he is a clone of the club's former legend. It means Eden is an incredible talent and someone whose name we might be hearing a lot more often in the coming years.
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