England stunner Captain wants to choose his games so he can be true to Liverpool. STEVEN GERRARD wants to become an England part-timer - to safeguard his Liverpool career.
Gerrard, 32, was an inspirational captain at Euro 2012 despite England's failure to progress beyond the quarterfinals.
Now he will ask boss Roy Hodgson, the man who handed him the armband, to spare him from some of the more meaningless international fixtures.
Liverpool skipper Gerrard has no intention of turning his back on his country, with the World Cup qualifying campaign for Brazil 2014 coming up.
But he will plead to be rested for friendly internationals, starting with the game against Euro 2012 conquerors Italy in Switzerland on August 15 and probably against Sweden in Stockholm in mid-November.
Depending on his fitness, it may also mean missing some qualifiers - for instance, against minnows San Marino at Wembley in October, four days before England play Poland away.
Any pact with Gerrard will force Hodgson to address the vexed captaincy issue which undermined his predecessor Fabio Capello. The new manager will have to appoint a vice-captain for when his skipper doesn't play.
The midfield star is desperate to prolong his Anfield career. After battling injuries for two years he is more aware than ever that combining his love of England AND Liverpool is a dangerous balancing act.
Gerrard also knows Manchester United duo Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs quit international football in their early 30s and are still playing in the Premier League at 37 and 38.
Before England left their Euro base in Krakow, Gerrard told me: "Nothing has changed since we spoke in February because I never made the decision to quit.
"When I spoke to you I said 'Of course, when it comes to this stage I will consider it', but I didn't know which manager would be in charge then. Roy has come in made it very clear that he wants me around and wants me to be a help to the young players, and that my ability can still help the team.
"I've enjoyed this tournament, enjoyed every minute of it, except going out to Italy.
"The easy decision would be to walk away from all of this and say I want to prolong my Liverpool career.
"But the experiences I've had over the last four games have been fantastic and I still feel that I'm good enough to have an impact at this level.
"I will speak to the manager in more detail and will find out what he wants my role to be because I'm sure he understands that, with my age, the demands on my body and continuing to play for Liverpool, we can't hide the fact that I need to be managed properly to have a big impact on this team and also Liverpool.
"At the moment it hurts but I will smile again when I win my next football match. For now, I want to go home, have some holiday time, see my girls and my wife and rest for next season because we go again in August."
It seems likely Gerrard was leaning towards international retirement after being messed around by Fabio Capello and then Stuart Pearce over the England captaincy.
But his relationship with Hodgson was clearly cemented during Euro 2012 and it now seems certain the England manager will reach a compromise over friendly games and squad gettogethers to make sure Gerrard stays on-board for the matches that matter.
In the meantime, Gerrard hopes England can learn from the failure in Ukraine and bounce back.
"People have asked why we can't pass the ball and I think there are a few reasons why - no options, tiredness, technique at times," he said.
"It's a mixture of things and something we will all have to look at and all have to try and take responsibility for and try to improve as quickly as possible."
