We all know Downing has struggled. We all know Downing has been a bit... awful... for a lot of his LFC career. But for quite a while now people on here have been saying 'actually Downing has improved quite a bit lately'. Downing is on the up, his confidence is growing and has been for a few months now. Downing had a good game on Thursday and as it currently stands I would say that Downing deserves to be in our first 11 ahead of Sterling, Assaidi, Suso and Borini. Sure he could still do with adding more goals and assists, but he drops into midfield well, gets involved in passing moves and links up with the attack. Plus he got a great raw from the crowds with a great sliding tackle on Thursday. I am not saying Downing is now a world beater or a great player, but he is not a liability or waster either. I think it is time we all start being nice to Stewart Downing.
I think he should be in the first eleven at the minute but Coutinho might have something to say about it in the coming weeks. Suarez, Sturridge, Lucas and Gerrard are guaranteed starters for four of the six mifield/forward positions. Henderson and Downing are probably the fifth and sixth at present.
I think it depends on the opponent. Some times you need three CM's and some times you need an extra forward. I like Suarez behind Sturridhe though. Coutinho left, Downing right.
True but the four I named won't change IMO. If we need three in middle then Hendo plays. If we can play with two the the other two play. Its just a question of who else plays in the 'Hendo' scenario. (at present)
Yes! Although I am not sure he is really cut out for the very top level, it would be interesting to see what a confident, settled Downing can do. He actually started his career at Liverpool pretty well but completely lost his confidence. Getting behind him and helping him to feel a valued memeber of the team may help him to push on. He was preety good at Villa to be fair to him!
He's doing the basics right now, and a little more. If he'd been a £8M signing there'd be no fuss - not his fault but it's the reality. Hope he keeps going - could be a valuable squad player.
The last few games Downing could have had a hat trick of assists in each game if we had a striker who knew that comng across the front post is a great way to get goals. He gets criticised a lot for cutting back and not putting early balls in (and rightly so at times) but when do we EVER have numbers in the opposition box from open play? I know he's been abject ****e for the majority of his Liverpool career but at the moment he's a much better bet than Sterling who has gone backwards and needs the rest of the season away from the first team (IMO). I'm not sure Downing will ever be more than the proverbial "useful squad member" but every team needs those types of players so why bother getting rid just to bring in someone else who may take as long as 18 months to "settle in"? On current form I'll have no problem if he's at Anfield next year.
Downing for what he offers at the moment wouldn't be worth selling anyway. no way we will get any value back on selling him, he is playing well at the mo so keep for now, but i hope in the not too distant future he is nothing more than a luxury player to have on the bench. he may make a great super sub(been a while lol), but if we want to progress, no way is he good enough to be a guaranteed starter for us.
It could be worse: we could still have Babel. Been a while since we had a proper left winger. Kewell was the last one and look what happened there. Every team needs workhorses. Shanks knew the value of work. Villa fans preferred to lose Ashley Young because Downing put more work in for the shirt. Fill a team with fancy-dans and you end up going out of the Champions League in the 2nd round six times in a row, like Real Madrid.
I've felt like a voice in the wilderness in the past making a (modest) defence of Downing. Not that I believe he's a world-beater, it's just that a lot of the criticism levelled at him hasn't been entirely his fault, imo. It's pointless a winger taking on defenders and getting in crosses if there's no bugger in the box, and this is a problem we've had for many years now. He's often looked better when he's on the right and cuts in onto his left foot rather than pinging in a cross to the invisible man. Hopefully Downing will do better if Sturridge is there to receive it, who knows? However I still think that if you look at the most effective attacking teams, they get three or four in there quickly whilst we treat it like a no-go area.
Yes he deserves his place...until we can get someone better. His lack of goals is a concern,sterling has scored as many as downing. He can put a good ball in and lack of bodies in the area is often the reason he gets few assists. However, his insistence on going sideways and backwards instead of taking his man on ( and he does have pace to beat a man) so, while he has definately improved he will not take us where we want to be. I see players like downing ,shelvey,sterling and maybe Allen / Henderson as good players but players who will keep us out of the top 4. Gerrard himself has said ,in an interview before the zenit game, that he feels our young players have a lot of hard work ahead of them to make a real contribution but players like downing don't have the luxury of time. He has not improved that right midfield/wing position that kuyt occupied for a long time but at least kuyt weighed in with goals,many of them crucial.if you watch him in the box when the ball is on the LHS he rarely makes room for himself and hardly ever makes a run to the back post. More often than not he is on his heels. It's as though he is frightened of making a mistake rather than playing without fear.
But at least they get you into the champions league in the first place. We have enough workhorses in Lucas and Henderson.
