For goodness sake I'm getting sick and tired of all this Gerrard kicking. So his long range passing wasn't on song in the first half. However, given that he was facing a 5 man Spurs midfield his covering, tackling and general presence far more than made up for that. Now he's playing as a defensive midfielder and some idiots want him charging box to box in the same way as they see Henderson does. But Henderson can't deliver the same quality of free-kick and I doubt that Henderson would want the responsibility for taking penalties. Anyway he's got a whole offensive midfield and dedicated forwards in front of him to score the goals!! Just look at how the rest of the players respond to his presence and then tell me that he's too slow and past it!
Do elaborate on the picture, pleb boy. Also, they say where you come from you have "woolly" definitions of Woman. I'm sure you're erratic with your definition of Child too.
Totally agree. I thought that Can was brought in to be that replacement? Do you think he can or he can't?
The reality is that the league demands this type of physical midfielder, No team has won the PL without one, and for me the reason why Arsenal have not featured in the last 10 years and Utd have to get someone in to replace Carrick who has seen better days.
Livtor calm down!! If you keep on like this you are going to get some form of ban - or is that what you really want?
Quick in the mind AND quick in the feet is required for BR's style to work best. Can looks slow in the turn. Gerrard too - however few managers would pass the chance to field as experienced and skilled passer of the ball as Gerrard, not to mention his leadership skills. Ideally, Gerrard should get some competition from a BR type of player, but strangely BR has not yet paid much thought to that for some reason.
The first priority for an outstanding DM is not to be fleet of foot but to be outstanding at reading the game and taking positions to cover potential problems before they even transpire. At the same time that player has to advise those around him of what he is seeing AND have the authority to get them to do what he wants.
By physical midfielder, you mean a DM? I agree, but it doesn't need to be a slow-reacting physical presence. Allen's too slight, but a steelier version of him would suit BR's style. A slick Schweinsteigger, Masch, Davids or Makelele type, more than a Khedira or Can type of large fella, imo.
Ignoring the pun, I don't know yet, dave. We haven't seen much of him yet. As with Suarez, Gerrard will be impossible to replace like-for-like so we'll have to adapt.
None of us know what BR has paid much thought to, unless he tells us. I think you were nearer the mark earlier when you said the scouts have yet to come up with anything, and there's still a little life left in the old dog so no immediate panic. It will need to be addressed soon though.
It's unrealistic to try and replace Gerrard on a like for like basis. I hope that Can is given the game time to develop his own style - perhaps that will come in both of the cup campaigns as well as substitute appearances.
Haven't really given Can a chance yet! I don't really know what type he will turn out to be and wont reach the top of his game for another 3-5 years, but i recon BR will mold him to his style. As for Gerrard i think he has already been replaced with Hendo and Lucas has been replaced with Gerrard.
i think when things are going well yeah there's life in the ould fella, barely. My view is that in effect LFC need to play a 5-3-2 with gerrard. It's not a diamond par se but 3 at the back with gerrard told and begged to stand still and not run but get between the split cbs and pass it. now..... he did this right up until his slip... then he lost all discipline and went all over the shop and had about ten crap shots v chelsea trying to make up for it. in effect when we have the ball we are 3-5-2 with sterling free and full backs advanced and when they have the ball (which was a scandalously inaccurate 61% of the time according to skysports) its 4-4-1-2 almost. in short as long as gerrard stands in the centre circle at most and jobs 5 yards this way and that to get the ball advanced from the back LFC are "ok"
RHC, you could chose the 11 best players in the world to play for LFC and kaffakop and sir red would still find fault!!!!
I thought his interview after the game summed him up tbh. He said the penalty was very important - and at this point I'm expecting him to say, it was just after HT, still only 1-0 etc, but no, not Me La, he says "because I'm sure if I'd have missed it, then there'd have been calls for Rickie or Mario to become our penalty taker" As for his performance, 1st half he gave the ball away cheaply and was playing as deep as I've ever seen him sit. 2nd half he was better and did OK.
I didn't think he had a good first half yesterday, same as the two CB's. Couldn't pass short never mind long and continuously gave the ball away around the centre line which is fairly dangerous for a slow arsed DM to do...... It got better second half. That's no more Gerrard bashing than Lovren or Sakho bashing. Specific criticism of a specific performance. About replacing Gerrard. People mistakenly think of replacing the golden era Gerrard : The forward, the box to box but he's now the DM; the rest are nice memories. As a DM there are bette in the world than Gerrard. Getting them is the problem. As Captain, as a leader, as a representative of the club as a local identity? Much harder, but not impossible to meet two of those. For every rousing speech the current Gerrard does you had the undisciplined Gerrard who threw away games trying to win them single handedly and abandoning his position and the managers system in doing so. That's not a sign of the mature leader we sometimes paint. In his defence he's been asked to do it so often over the years it's probably and automatic response his body can longer provide. I'm happy for him to continue as DM if he does as he's asked. As Mito says, trust in your manager and the team he's building around you..(make no mistake, this team is literally being built around him) and stay bloody disciplined and he'll only be found put occasionally. And we'll get that Hollywood assist we like 10-15 times a year. His records are a separate thing and should be met with only praise and applause.
