I feel it could be a good thing in a weird kinda way. It may make other players step up to the plate instead of looking for the easy ball to steven all the time. Thats my hope anyway. Conversely we could be stuck with a months worth of lame, toothless performances like Braga last night. What do you lads reckon ?
I agree with that. It had already started with Stevie in the side. Mereiles is taking corners.Suarez free-kicks.Stevie last weekend was superb....even though he didn't do a whole lot.So was Lucas,they were as valuable in our win,as Maxi,Mereiles,Suarez and Kuyt,as they allowed them to do damage going forward,as Stevie and Lucas kept Carrick and Scholes occupied.
http://www.thisisanfield.com/2011/03/steven-gerrard-time-to-take-off-those-glasses/ Have read of that... ^^
roberto kinda my point hes been okay not great and he aint gonna be around forever time to learn to play without him
It's a shame Shelvey is out of action still... I'd love to see Suso step in but it ain't gonna happen
i know shelvey has done alrite when hes been in and hes still a kid.. suso id love to see even on the bench but his bit part season will be next season i feel as hes very young. Whats your thoughts on dani pacheco 3 managers now not giving him a shot ?
good point muppettfinder its time for agger or skrtel to take the dominant role even if carra is in the side(hed prob appreciate it)
ha from a man with ngog in his name im not scared wen david plays im devastated ive defended him to the hilt and he still left me down
I don't see in as too bad a thing, he hasnt played well al year. Losing Cara previously has shown to be far more costly. We'l play Lucas and Merielles in the centre.
I think technically and skills wise he's good. I think he struggles with the rough and tumble of the game. There must be something there which needs major work as no one seems to be giving him the chance. He's not going to be around much longer, he's getting older now and I'm sure first team football is on the agenda for the lad. Probably going to go to a La Liga team and do really well.
I dunno if it's major work. Rafa said Pacheco needs more consistency. Mind, he said the same about Babel and it didn't happen. Don't give up on him yet. It wasn't his fault he was thrust into 2nd striker role and he coped pretty well. He kept us in the Europa, admittedly against poor teams in early rounds but that was under Hodgson and he's also scored some good league goals - the Torres-like strike against Arsenal, the diving header against Villa - and his recent loss of form is hardly in stark contrast to our overall Europa perfomances. I think the pressure will be off him now he's back to 4th striker behind Kuyt. I think his development will continue and he'll be happier to be benched than a bigger name coming in as 4th striker. Do we really want to bring youngsters through or just buy another Voronin?
But surely to gain consistency he needs a run in the team? That's what makes me think it might be something else that's stopping him getting picked... Maybe he has an attitude problem although I must say I've never heard anything like that... Just trying to get to the bottom of it...
When we field a strong team we are not reliant on Stevie anymore, this is also the case when he plays. There was a time when he had to win matches single handed and as he gets a little older he is not able to do this. With Mereiles and the constantly improving Lucas Stevie is part of a strong midfield and doesn't have to do all the work himself which I hope means he is able to play for longer. We are always better with him in the team but no longer useless without him. The team against Braga needs to be strong, no young players given playing time, just the best 11 available. All the fans want a trophy, if we were a couple of away goals up then we could have used some younger players but with the score as it is I hope we don't take any chances.
With Gerrard out, do you think JC will go into that AM slot or will Suarez drop into it and play off Carroll? If I was JC, I would be relishing this chance to make that spot mine and show everyone that I am still worth something to this team. We shall see though, good to have some options though. I think Meireles, JC, Suarez, and maxi can all play in that role? With any one of them and Kuyt on the wing ( although he has done much better up top, but with Carroll coming back into the fold) we should be able to keep ticking along.
This looks to me like the opportunity that Jay Spearing has been waiting for - he's been a bench warmer for years now and at 22 doesn't look like he's getting anywhere, but then look at Drogba - at 22 he was at Le mans making ~20 appearances and 4 goals a season. I reckon we'll see a sort of improvised 4-3-3 going on with Gerrard out of the side. Carroll, Kuyt and Suarez will be the front 3 and will carry a lot of the attacks forward. Lucas and Meireles in midfield is the standard base, but then the 3rd spot can be rotated and i feel everyone will be vying for that place so much we'll see some inspired displays.
I was hoping to see the inspired displays myself a few times this season from some of the bench players but it never seems to happen and no-one seems to want to grab the opportunity. Spearing shows the desire but i'm not sure he has the quality Shelvy the same Poulsen just forget surely he'll be gone in the summer. Who is going to grab that spot, personally I'd love it to be Spearing but i'm not sure.
