That's a fair point Dude and I agree. The only thing I would say is that it isn't Gerrard's fault if he gets called world class by commentators once per minute. Maybe we should lament the spirit of the current game and not Gerrard if you knwo what I mean? 
it's too easy to get sucked into it, Martin. And young lads have to have a very strong character, to avoid not believing the media and the plaudits.
Too much media exposure leads to too much hype. Also the media like "personalities" and magazines like Hello and that other one (the name escapes my uninterested and ageing mind) have led the public in general to crave "celebrity" and they go a long way to creating "celebrities" out of people who simply don't warrant the term.
They also fail to understand the whole concept of "the collective" which is what a team is all about.
It's also easy for the "know nothing" ex pros to pick out obvious individuals and repeat themselves collectively ad nauseam rather than try and explain to the masses about how the team mechanic works in any given team or about tactical nuances or patterns of play.
Viewing figures and circulation numbers (all advertising revenue driven) also drive the insanity of talking up the mediocre and average into the spectacular and "world class" (whatever that term actually means).
you've hit the nail on the head, Tes, when you say: "They (media) also fail to understand the whole concept of "the collective" which is what a team is all about."
The media (be it Sky, or the various magazines/newspapers), have a vested interest in creating heroes and villains. They want to inflate the average and the mediocre. They want easily tangible individuals/stereotypes to have in their football environment.
That's why it is so refreshing to hear such honesty from Kevin Keegan last season, when he said that there was essentially little competition in the premiership, and that breaking into the top four's cartel was nearly impossible.
His was a lone voice from the wilderness, that was amazingly honest. The rest of the people in the industry are probably scared to speak out, lest they hurt the duck that lays the golden eggs (money).
The modern game is entirely about money, and to that ends, it is all about accentuating the positive. Sadly the sky template is now used across all the channels (and most of the mainstream print media).
