Liverpool FC Forum

C-R » Mon Feb 01, 2016 1:01 pm wrote:(lol @ the post directly above me, how wrong could you be)

I think a lot of the other youngsters have had the plaudits but this lad is rising in confidence and played really well against seasoned pro's when we faced West Ham, I certainly expect much more from him, could he do much worse than the other current central midfield "first teamers" ??

He can only get better, his passing was simple but great to watch

Here he is against West Ham

I agree CR. The only thing the club needs to be mindful of, are the number of games some of our younger players are in. Burn out could be an issue.
Before we know it there could be another list of long-term injuries and vacations to Jamaica 
Although, we can be pretty confident JK would not let that happen... 

Stewart looks OK but Brannagan is the one to watch out for. Looks like a big potential that kid. I'd be tempted to start him for a league game.

damjan193 » Mon Feb 01, 2016 7:52 pm wrote:Stewart looks OK but Brannagan is the one to watch out for. Looks like a big potential that kid. I'd be tempted to start him for a league game.

I agree 100% on Brannagan, i'm a huge fan of his, i posted mainly on this one when i remembered the other poster before me mocking him

The lad is a talent but imo a long way off the first team.












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I'm not convinced he is anything special, and he isn't all that young. Decent enough player, but I feel that players like him, who do the simple things well and can put in a good shift, are really easy to pick up. Can any of you see him here long term or challenging the 1st XI for a place?

damjan193 » Mon Feb 01, 2016 6:52 pm wrote:Stewart looks OK but Brannagan is the one to watch out for. Looks like a big potential that kid. I'd be tempted to start him for a league game.

Absolutely agree with this

I thought Stewart was ok, just tidy. But Brannagan is by far a superior player.

red till i die!! » Mon Feb 01, 2016 7:59 pm wrote:The lad is a talent but imo a long way off the first team.












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For being 22 years of age mate, I think along Joao Tex, they should have broken into the first team long time ago

KS has the potential to be our version of coquelin......

What a performance against west ham. He was everywhere. He is a DM with pace, mobility (his change of direction is pretty impressive) and strength.

Could he be the answer to protecting our defence ? This will ensure the 5 players ahead of him just needs to concentrate on attacking the opposition.

The_Rock » Wed Feb 10, 2016 1:57 pm wrote:KS has the potential to be our version of coquelin......

What a performance against west ham. He was everywhere. He is a DM with pace, mobility (his change of direction is pretty impressive) and strength.

Could he be the answer to protecting our defence ? This will ensure the 5 players ahead of him just needs to concentrate on attacking the opposition.

he did play well, his passing impressed me as well, he kept it simple and looked decent, could have bagged himself a goal as well on another night

Good performance by Stewart. Good energy, good tackler, decent positionally and kept it simple. However he doesn't have much confidence on the ball and just looks to offload it asap. Needs to have a bit more in the locker to make it at the top level.

Both Brannagan and Chirivella have a better chance of making it as top level central midfielders in my opinion.

If I'm wrong? Great.

I'd agree that Stewart is a bit short on ability but sometimes it's not always about just picking the best XI players available, in fact id say it's that mentality that has held the English national team back for years, England always seem to have good players but they never have a game plan.
Sometimes you need players that fit into what you are trying to do and if Jurgen is serious about pressing teams high up the pitch and running them off their feet then he could do a lot worse than picking Hendo and Stewart in the middle.
Obviously as a pair they are a bit short on technical ability but if you surround them with ball players like Coutinho, Firmino, Sturridge, Sakho, Ilorri etc and just use them almost as a footballing metronome to set the tempo then it could work.
One thing about Stewart is that he does get through a prodigious amount of work and on Tuesday a decent side like West Ham really struggled to cope with his work rate, Hendo at his best is the same.
In the late 80's Jan Molby often found himself on the bench for the very same reason, Kenny felt that with the likes of Barnes, Beardsley, McMahon, Houghton, Hansen etc he already had enough technical ability in the side and he wanted someone in there like Nigel Spackman to run the hard yards, Molby was obviously the better player but the team as a unit functioned better when Nigel was playing.
As I said sometimes it not always just a case of picking the best XI players.

I wouldn't mind seeing this side given a run out against Villa, the 3 AM's behind Sturridge would be fluid and they could interchange positions.

   
                               Ward

  Clyne.           Sakho.       Ilorri.         Smith

                     Stewart.      Hendo

      Lallana.          Coutinho.        Firmino

                            Sturridge

Wouldn't disagree with a lineup along those lines. If I was Klopp I'd be playing the youngsters as much as possible in the remaining league games.

I have my reservations about Smith. I like his attitude and determination, he seems a tough enough lad and has good pace, but defensively he looks like he has a lot to learn and I'm not convinced he'd be an upgrade on Moreno in that respect. But I would give him more chances, likewise Stewart, Chirivella and a few others.

Like you say it's about the collective. A few lads with bite and determination like Stewart and Smith could actually improve results I'm the short term as well as aiding their development and letting us have a good look at them.

JC_81 » Thu Feb 11, 2016 8:39 am wrote:Wouldn't disagree with a lineup along those lines. If I was Klopp I'd be playing the youngsters as much as possible in the remaining league games.

I have my reservations about Smith. I like his attitude and determination, he seems a tough enough lad and has good pace, but defensively he looks like he has a lot to learn and I'm not convinced he'd be an upgrade on Moreno in that respect. But I would give him more chances, likewise Stewart, Chirivella and a few others.

Like you say it's about the collective. A few lads with bite and determination like Stewart and Smith could actually improve results I'm the short term as well as aiding their development and letting us have a good look at them.

Yeah Smith does seem a bit naive defensively but to be fair to the lad he's only played about 4 first team games so that could be down to nerves/lack of experience. I do like his hard running style though and as you say he does seem quite a determined character which to be fair can take you a long way in the prem.
What I really like about him though is that he can cross a ball on the run, so many of our first team players have to stop and come back inside (almost like they are taking an in swinging free kick) and even then they struggle to get it past the first man, Smith on the other hand doesn't allow defenders time to re-set, he powers towards the by-line and throws in good crosses on the hoof, it all sounds basic/bog standard stuff but it is a dying art these days.
A lot of our attacks lack momentum because players are always looking to take that extra touch or come back inside, Smith is direct but he also manages to marry that directness with quality delivery.

Stewart just needs to win the ball and give it to  one of our more creative players. That's all he needs to do.


The problem with our team (especially midfield) is that it is filled with players who can do multiple tasks but don't seem to be extremely good at one particular aspect. Milner, Hendo, Can, Allen, Lallana...etc. They are almost good in every midfield task but don't seem to be extremely good at anything.

We don't have specialist DMs (apart from lucas though he has lost his pace and mobility). We don't have specialist midfield set piece takers. We don't have goal scoring midfielders.

That the problem that the idiot Rodgers has left us with. That charlatan wanted a team of technicians who can do everything,....and he got jack of all trades and master of........

Like yakka has mentioned, we need to pick the right team (regardless of reputation of players) and in that team we need someone to protect the defence and win the ball in the middle of the park. And Stewart is the only one who has done that consistently this season.