Steven Gerrard made his 300th Premier League appearance for Liverpool on 13 April 2008 in a match against Blackburn Rovers. He scored the opening goal in this match and went on to finish the season with twenty-one goals in all competition. The following season he made his 100th appearance in European club competition for Liverpool on 10 March 2009 against Real Madrid and went on to score twice as Liverpool demolished the Madrid giants 4–0. Four days after the comprehensive victory over Real Madrid, Gerrard would score at Old Trafford for the first time from the penalty spot, putting Liverpool ahead on their way to a 4–1 victory over Manchester United.
Soon after these spectacular results, three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane hailed the Liverpool skipper, saying "Is he the best in the world? He might not get the attention of Messi and Ronaldo but yes, I think he might be." The season ended with Gerrard being named as the 2009 Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, becoming the first Liverpool player to win the award in nineteen years. Liverpool came close to winning the Premier League that season but the following season was a poor one for the club.
Although Gerrard ended the 2009–10 season with a total of 12 goals and 9 assists from 46 matches, the team struggled on the pitch while the club generally struggled off it. The in fighting behind the scenes escalated and it was no surprise that effectively, Rafa Benitez's position became untenable. Following the 2009–10 season, Rafael Benitez did, as expected, depart Liverpool after six years and was succeeded as manager by Roy Hodgson, who quickly assured fans that Gerrard would not be sold. Hodgson was right about Gerrard not leaving Liverpool, but unfortunately for him, his own position as manager did not last long as he left the club by mutual consent in January 2011.
Kenny Dalglish took over from Roy Hodgson but, as far as any major success was concerned, Liverpool were only left with chasing a top four place and success in the Europa Cup after Dalglish's appointment. The club achieved success in neither of those and the season petered out tamely. Gerrard's season was relatively quiet by his standards, but he did still contribute some important goals along the way.
Gerrard scored his first goal of the 2010–11 season from the penalty spot in a Europa League qualifier against Macedonian side FK Rabotnicki on the 5th August 2010 with his next two goals coming on 19 September at Old Trafford in a 3–2 loss against Manchester United. He followed this up with a headed equaliser in a 2–2 home draw with Sunderland. Eleven days later Gerrard came off the bench to turn the game when he scored a second-half hat-trick in a 3–1 win over Napoli in the Europa League.
Gerrard missed the start of English Premier League season 2011-2012 due to groin injury which had kept him away for much of the 2010-2011 season as well. Gerrard made his first start for Liverpool squad in the October match at Anfield against fierce rivals Manchester United. Gerrard scored Liverpool's only goal in the match, from a free kick, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
However, Gerrard's injury woes continued because on October 29, Gerrard underwent a treatment to clear an infection in his right ankle, which was placed in a protective plaster cast. Gerrard returned to first team action on Boxing Day in the match against Blackburn Rovers at Anfield, when he came off the bench. On 30th December, Gerrard again came off the bench against Newcastle United and scored another fine goal.
Gerrard helped Liverpool reach their first cup final at Wembley Stadium in 18 years as Liverpool won 3-2 on aggregate against Manchester City. Gerrard scored a penalty in both legs to secure a trip to the Carling Cup final against Cardiff in February 2012, a final Liverpool went onto win under dramatic circumstances when they beat the Championship side 3-2 on penalties after the game ended 2-2 after 120 minutes at Wembley.
