A team with Gerrard is a team that lacks/excels at? A team without Gerrard is a team that lacks/excels at? We all know the importance el capitan has been but I can't help but feel maybe a guy like Can deserves a good run out in that DM role?
I think is add a team with Gerrard playing like a regista = A team with Gerrard facing his own goal and playing more like a cm not a dm = For me since slip gate ( which was not the issue) not looking at the ball but thinking Hollywood in the 46th minute was) he's not stood himself between Skertl and whomever for more than 20 mins He's been receiving the ball from cbs facing his own goal not facing opponent and looks like a bus turning so everyone can close him down For me the thing boils down to Gerrard playing the way he is playing = liability Team without Gerrard v Real Madrid hand on heart played the best we've played all year despite being gash up front They played shirt fast one touch and it was only the fact that up top we struggled that took away from it Lucas, Allen and can..... 1000 time better than Gerrard facing his own game and Henderson inexplicably 30 yards forward of it I feel the only way Gerrard should get a contract is he proves he has the bottle to stand the **** in his position and work it properly
i would rather see Gerrard either given 60 minutes of giving his all and then replaced, or better still brought on for the last 30 mins or so and see if he can get a goal. i am struggling to see how Coutinho,Can etc ie young people!!! cant give 90 mins, yet we have a manager who thinks stevie can do this all the fecking time and every ruddy game! even though we have restricted him for the last few seasons now ie DM position, i still see more threat coming on from stevie than either of Borini or lambert, prob add ballo to that as well ffs. we need the energy in midfield from Henderson,Allen,Can with Lucas the sub to replace one of them, stevie should be used further forward and sparingly. genuine question for those that was happy about stevie supposedly prolonging his career by playing DM role, think that was a good plan still? not for me personally,Stevie has always been an attacking player.
For me Gerrard is being fitted in a position for which he is not suited and for which we have better players. Would you buy a Ferrari if your main use for a car is to drop your kids to school and do the weekly grocery shopping? Would you try to adapt/convert it if you had one to suit your needs or would you buy a more suitable car?
That is a funny analogy, because compared to the rest of our team (Sterling being the ferrari) - Gerrard is more akin to a Skoda
Look ferraris have some go and will never suit taking 2 kids to school or putting ten shopping bags in ok gerrard doesn't suit the role of a holder BUT..... when winning 11 games he was happy to sit right between the two split cbs face froward and pass it round and cover said cbs if they strode up with the ball to draw a man out to make space. right now he'd 55-10 yards further on and dropping back in. he is easier to press on as a result. he is not covering said cbs running on so they whole shape of the team is lost. There was an article on verticality recently.... well I've seen lovern stride up with the ball and open sapce for southampton. FOr LFc so far such forrays are very rare. why? If you draw a midfielder toward you as a cb you open a space for a coutinho to run into for a short pass. We are doing none of these things. Gerrard/role of regista is at the heart of things. Up the field balotelli is a disaster too.
From an outsider I think the slip and an awful world cup has probably dented his confidence. Age is probably catching up with him as well and I think he was kind of riding the crest of a wave last year and the fact you were fighting for that title seemed to lift his game as well. However he's always been a player to thrive off a mobile striker such as Owen, Torres, Suarez and Sturridge. Balotelli up front probably doesn't help to an extent either. Personally I can't see why you are still building midfields around him. We had a similar thing with Frank and he was gradually phased out. Matic and Fabregas being signed in the last year was the final nail so to speak. He needs to be used more sparingly like Giggs, Lampard, Scholes were during the final years at their respective clubs.
nothing there is unreasonable at all. my view is he's bottled it. When you say riding the crest of a wave that is what i mean. everything going your way and belief in system = playing the regista role. no confidence in lads around him and hiding = coming form midfield, easily marked and just playing hollywood. You are right as well... mobility upfront and his passes come off. spraying it 40 yard to a full back who promptly passes it back or inside is about as useful and a comb for greez.... spraying it 40 yards to a sturrdige or suarez is a different matter. lampard is a different player who's prime assets were work rate off the ball and joining the box late and scoring. he had all the passing etc but his prime star making characteristics were covering the ground.... so yeah matic is an f'n beast and fabregas has been finally placed in a real mifield role not a indulged yaya type role or even up front... calls act as real midfielder. You are also dead right... schoel at this age was playing 14 games not 50 games and used sparingly and when he played it was at home in acres of sapce and he looked great... cos he had acres and plays it simple as was his style. Giggs was an awful midfielder compared to winger but he also had a brain. in the end... gerrard is toast if he doesn't play that one role and LFC NEED to rotate him. I'd rather a last 20 with intensity than this stuff... but we need to fix the up front stuff too.
was a good post, only thing is if possible could he tell our dozy **** of a manager the last part please he does need to be used sparingly, worryingly he is being used the complete ruddy opposite
Rodgers needs to make a decision soon. * Gerrard has been an asset in an attacking role. As he gets less mobile he needs to have the legs beside him and play less. Rest him for 50% of the games. * Gerrard will never make a decent defensive midfielder because of his attacking instincts. Rodgers needs to recognise this and quickly. Rodgers needs to have the balls to tell his star the truth...
H should be used exactly how Lampard is used at City. Doesn't play every game, but can come on behind the striker(S)(BR Take note on strikers, ie 2, with like 30 minutes of the game left so he can make an attacking impact if needed. He's awful at reading the game defensively, which causes many problems for our already crap CB's. BR needs to grow some ****ing testes and drop him. He's rapidly losing the respect of a lot of Liverpool fans because of things like this, and rightly so.
Probably a bit harder to drop your captain as well, as he has other influences on the pitch that perhaps was less so for Lampard and Scholes. But rotation is key to extending the life of any player mid 30's. Not many can still perform consistently at the top level at that age 2-3 times a week. Pirlo is probably an exception but his game was never about the legs and has others to do that for him. I think BRod sees Gerrard as a Pirlo type but I don't think he's in that class (in that role). Gerrards always been better as an attacking player higher up the pitch.
His vision in attack is absolute class, he is a very intelligent player when it comes to creating chances. I think Lucas proved against RM that he can slot into DM on his own and hasn't completely lost it so hopefully will get the chance to do that and take some pressure off Gerrard playing this role that is alien to him in reality.
gerrard is an other verison of beckham now... all about a dead ball so he should f off to america or psg and pretend to collect real medals. no club in england would touch beckham... he went on loan to ac cos he know he'd no legs. gerrard is playing in one of the most demanding leagues for physicality and he is fading rapidly. lucas as dm on his won is same story... do that in prem and he'll get eaten up. Lucas will stand in position more than gerrard thats all. you need to also stop seeing henderosn 30 yards up the pitch and actually contributing in the midfield area.
Give him an ambassadorial role at the club - he's a legend and a big name to help entice players. But from a playing perspective, he simply does not fit. In fact, it's worse than that - he ruins the dynamic of the team. He doesn't protect the defence, the other midfielders have do his running for him, and now he continues to play long aimless balls, thus breaking down the attack. As mentioned by someone else, use him like City do with Lampard.
Now it's gone over the top. We concede **** loads of goals from set pieces or second phases of set pieces, it's because our defenders are disgustingly **** not all because Gerrard is 34 now. Jesus.
we had that with kenny, how would most say that went? i want to see him no 2 personally in a player/coach type role( will he take a pay cut though?), rather he was used as an impact player and getting advice and experience from brendan sat on the bench at same time, long term who knows( depends on brendan i suppose) but he would help attract players from that aspect as well for me.
No question that our defenders are sh*t - but we are constantly cut open. You only have to see how many times attackers press Gerrard, and run at him. He's so easy to bypass. So yes, he may not be a 'direct' cause of the problem but the whole defensive unit is a shambles (deep keeper, **** defenders, DM).
