STEVEN GERRARD has shelved all talk about his future in an attempt to maximise the role he can play in firing England to World Cup glory.
The Liverpool captain will have a decision to make in the summer about whether he commits to another season with his boyhood club or seek a fresh challenge.
He, however, was angered by reports last Friday which suggested he had practically made his decision to quit Anfield because he is “fed up” with Rafa Benitez.
That is not the case and it is understood Gerrard contacted Benitez when he was in Spain last week to rubbish the story.
It is clear, though, that Gerrard – who has three years left on his contract – will have food for thought about what to do when the World Cup is over.
But as he prepares for England’s friendly with Mexico at Wembley tonight, the 29-year-old has admitted those thoughts are on hold.
He is determined to flourish with the Three Lions in South Africa and does not intend to “fall into the trap” of driving himself mad with constant speculation as was the case in 2004 and 2006 when Chelsea were aggressively pursuing his signature.
“There has been speculation about my future for the last two or three months but it seems to have been that way for a long time,” he said.
“But I won’t consider my future or think about what is going to happen to me until after the World Cup. I feel as if I am experienced enough now to park issues like that.
“If other people want to talk about my future, I can’t control that. For me I am really focused and determined to put all my energy into playing for England.
“I fell into the trap four years ago in the last World Cup, where I was driving myself mad thinking about my future. This time I won’t make that mistake.
“Then I would be going back to my room, reading papers, going on the internet and speaking to people at home who were telling me that there was stuff going on.
“I also knew Chelsea were very interested because my agent was telling me. But this year that won’t be happening.
“People around me are under strict instructions not to be talking about my club future or any speculation.
“What is important is that I have a good and successful World Cup with the team; agents, friends and family have been told not to be talking about club stuff to me.”
Gerrard’s determination to banish the misery of a harrowing club campaign is evident and he does not try to mask the frustration he felt at seeing the Reds slip from second place in the Premier League to seventh.
Aside from that, he is desperate to recapture the sparkle that had made 2008-09’s Football Writers’ Player of the Year, as he is starting to wonder how much more time he will have playing for England.
“That’s the massive disappointment,” he said. “We finished second last year and the challenge for me then was: ‘Can we go one step further?’
“But this season we took steps backwards. It has been a very difficult, both personally and for everyone in the squad, to deal with the amount of setbacks that we’ve had.
“But I have to put that behind me now. There’s such a massive tournament round the corner and I have to change my focus to England and make sure I do everything I can to help make this team successful.
“The feeling this is our last World Cup has got to be the attitude going into it. We have underachieved in the past. Everyone around the world knows England have the tools in their armoury to do well. The challenge is to prove it.
“It is easy to say we are one of the favourites. The difficult thing is getting out of the group, then the last 16 and the last eight. There is a mental situation with this team in the last couple of tournaments where we have failed to get past the last eight.
Meanwhile, Gerrard – who is set to win his 79th cap this evening in front of a capacity crowd at Wembley – has revealed the role he played in ‘badgering’ Jamie Carragher out of international retirement.
“I spoke to Jamie all the time, right from the time he took the decision to step down from the squad,” he said. “I wanted Carra here because he is a top player but from a personal perspective it is nice because he is a good friend.”
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