Personally, I don't think Gerrard warrants a starting a position at all. I have seen nothing from him over the past few seasons (owing to injuries) bar a couple of top performances but he does not have the same impact as he once did. The team looks a lot slicker when he's not playing, and they seem to step up and rise to the occasion. I hope BR doesn't pick players on name rather than merit because Carragher and Gerrard will be struggling.
I do agree with that. It's the uncomfortable period where star players albeit still game changers in a split second, disrupt the rest of the team for the rest of the 90 to a point it could jeopardize the win. Continuing the Barcelona theme; Pep sold on some significant players because he couldn't see them in the 11 & it staying balanced over all. It's a gamble for a new manager & he'd have to get great results without him or the pressure would be on. Suppose it depends who he gets in as well.
I think Gerrard still has an important part to play we need older players alongside a young core. For me Gerrard fits well on the right side of the front 3 so that he has less responsibility to track back.
I agree with those who are having a few doubts about Stevie G as in how well will he fit into the formation BR will adopt mainly because he loves to drive the ball forward quickly...however in his defence what he has always shown throughout his career is an ability to adapt whether that be to a different style or different position. I'd put my mortgage on him starting as many games as he's fit for.
Or jut behind the two in a 433...? Maybe in the hole in a 4231 again...? Who knows. At this moment in time, I think Gerrard alongside Lucas is our best central pairing, build the side around them and Suarez Of course he would. He was vocal in saying it wasn't his preferred position but he also said he would play anywhere in the side because it is about the team
I don't see Gerrard going anywhere. I don't think anyone should be given an automatic starting place and I don't think BR will allow this but when fit, Stevie will play. Why? Quite simple really, despite him declining in recent years, he is still by far our best midfielder in terms of quality. He isn't the most important, that is Lucas IMO, but in terms of quality, no one bar Suarez touches him in the existing squad. I understand the concerns about his effort but I don't agree with the comments about his discipline. Like DirtyFrank, I think his discipline could have been questioned five years ago (hence Rafa pushing forward and into a less dangerous area to lose the ball) but he has become more aware in his old age (same age as me so actually VERY young!). The bit that's frustrates and worries me about Gerrard is his effort levels. He often appears lazy, he rarely puts the effort in when he loses the ball like he used to, more often than not he waves his arms at someone for not being on the same wave length and seems quite mardy for a few seconds before starting to jog back, by which point it is too late. I think that if we played a 4231, Gerrard could sit and play the "Alonso role". Alonso was not a DM under Rafa, that was Mascherano. Alonso was the playmaker, he was the catalyst and he was always available to keep it ticking over and then pick out the pass when needed. IMO, Gerrard could do this but needs to calm down and be patient with his passing at times.
Hope you're right but I don't think he is mobile enough nor does he have the tactical mind so hes always out of position. IMO he is a poor mans Paul Scholes
I think Adam will prosper under Rodgers. Remember he had by far his best season at Blackpool playing in a system very similar to the way Rodgers will set out his side. Part of his problem the last season was him getting used to a new system.
Yeah I agree with this, we created lots of 'chances' but how many of those were sitters? The reason Maxi scored the tap-ins he did is because of the intelligent runs he made into space which effectively 'made' the chance. The biggest problem for me last season is we failed to get to the bye line and put enough crosses in from those positions enough; the sort of goal Carrol scored away at Everton springs to mind!
What do you expect when Downing is afraid to run with the ball, turns back around passes to Enrique and then he cross from the half way line ha!
Last season I got fed up with supposed experts saying that Downing was delivering dangerous crosses. They may have been into dangerous areas of the box but as they were nowhere near any forwards, they were not dangerous at all! Is it just me, or is a winger supposed to DELIVER a ball? If you just cross into an area where you know your forwards are not going to be then you cannot call it a delivery!. Oh I nearly forgot! Isn't a winger supposed to beat his full back and then find space to cross rather than checking out an expecting our full back to go beyond their full back?
I agree with you here, he needs to put the ball on a forwards head not just lob it in the box. I also agree with GCS we have to give him someone to aim at.
People will say we have the perfect target man for crosses in Andy Carroll but having watched every game last season, it is clear to me that Carroll does not have the mobility to get into the box quickly enough for the cross having helped in the build up. Therefore, the wide players have to hold the ball up to wait for Carroll to arrive. IMO, this is making it difficult for Downing. The delay also means that it is usually the full backs that put the cross in, this takes me on to another bug bear - why do our full backs need to beat a man and/or run twenty yards with the ball before contemplating crossing? Carroll thrives off the early ball so once Any is arriving get the ball into quickly, this way Carroll is on the move as the ball comes in which is when he is at his best Edit: Andy Carroll's mobility is getting better so the diet programme Kenny, Clarke and co. got him on seems to be working
Hence why when we first put him up for sale at £16m, a bargain for a supposed midfield genius, we only got one bid of £12m. Everybody blamed Rafa for upsetting the poor bloke but upsetting him got his best season out of him so maybe Rafa should've done it sooner. It should also be remembered by the revisionists that when Real paid £25m for him they also paid £80m for Ronaldo and £56m for Kaka. Alonso was great but Barry scored twice as many goals. The rot set in as soon as H&G arrived. Everybody blamed Rafa for being "too defensive" in 2009 when we came 2nd (scoring 9 goals more than everybody else while being "too defensive") and said we drew too many games but to my mind Rafa was over-achieving taking that squad to 2nd. We were called a two-man team, meaning Torres and Gerrard - note nobody was including Alonso back then - but Torres and Gerrard were out injured for large parts of that season. The squad erosion caught up with us the next season and we came 7th. That erosion is being addressed but expecting it to be cured in a season is silly.
again alonso had his ankle broken by a dirty frank lampard challenge. his seasons were curtailed by injury... come on guys.... alonso is sitting in real madrid as just about name no 1 on the team sheet alongside ronaldo... we had a world class talent who got injured and rafa made a bad error thinking he was done for. I can PROMISE you i was being told alonso was just too slow, didn't score enough etc etc. I thought then and think now that the english new model central midfield who just runs forward like gerrard and lampard are all guys look to for the standard and anyone who does a real job like scholes and alonso are not appreciated. I think the statement it takes two to make a cross is very insightful from suarroll.... mr bale and mr baines lob in 20 balls a match aimlessly but they got guys i nthere who know where the danger area is and when one comes in right they score.... we mostly have one guy i nthe bloody box.
