Liverpool FC Forum

[Effes]

We are blessed to have Steven Gerrard at Liverpool.

Momo's addition to the squad has definitely meant that SG has to be accomodated elsewhere.

But this is no problem as he has the quality to ply his trade on the right, left ( well, Rafa thinks), attacking midfielder and at right back as he so galantly did in extra time in Istanbul.

If Rafa's not worried then neither should we be.

However, our formation is another poser, but I'm sure Rafa will play either 4-4-2 or 3-5-2/ 4-5-1
depending on the opposition on the day.

Didn't he have his best season last season ON THE RIGHT?

[PabloAimar]

alan smith was made to become a make-shift midfeilder for the mancesters becoz he cudnt get a game up front becoz of the competition.

gerrard's scenario is nothing like that so i dont know y im mentioning it

[The Ace1983]

alan smith was made to become a make-shift midfeilder for the mancesters becoz he cudnt get a game up front becoz of the competition.

gerrard's scenario is nothing like that so i dont know y im mentioning it

I wish you hadn't mentioned it. When I thought of comparing Stevie G to Alan Smith I gagged a little. 

[Alanay]

We need him as long as he wanted to be with us. He's proven that he's very versatile. He can play in all midfield positions and also he can perform an attacking role. Most importantly, he can score goal. I don't think we should talk about 'do we need him' or not as it's not relevant. Unless he personally want to move on.

[Espionage]

Griffen .

I’m sorry m8 but can you please explain how you think Liverpool fc would miss Xabi Alonso more then we would miss Steven Gerrard.
What do you think that Xabi will give us compared to Gerrard.

Steven Gerrard in 2005/6 season scored 23 goals in 53 games played.
Xabi Alonso     in 2005/6 season scored 5   goals in 53 games played.

Steven Gerrard becomes the 1st player for Liverpool fc to win the pfa player of the year since john Barns in 1988.


Because in my option I think it’s clear we would miss Steven Gerrard more.

Don’t get me wrong but I to think that Alonso is a superb midfielder quoted to be one the best midfielder in Europe.

Xabi Alonso proved last season that he can take control of our midfield in the absents of Steven Gerrard but that was a game or two we don’t know if he is capable of sustain that.
I am not knocking your opinion mate but would like to know what makes you think
We would miss Xabi Alonso more then Steven Gerrard?

Xabi Alonso hasnt been in the best of form lately, he has still been playing well and I think that he played great against Chelsea, but he has still not been as good as he was last year.  Lets hope that changes soon as IMO he is the most important member of our team atm.
Dispite what some other people may think, I believe that Rafa is actually constructing a team that revolves around Alonso.  He is the player that I think we would miss the most if injured (and it worries me that we dont have anyone else that can play his position, Zenden?). 

The reason why we have that holding midfielder is because we bring our full-backs into the attack so much.  Whenever the fullback comes forward (if they are playing on the same side as Gerrard), Gerrard reacts and changes into a free role and Alonso reacts and stays more defensive.  This is basic tactics across all sports: instead of having 1 person run 10m, you get 3 people to run 3m each.  This not only makes more sense tactically, but confuses the defense while it seems players are changing positions all the time. 

In his positition you have to watch the full-backs, and if one of them goes forward then you have to realise that its your responsibility to defend if the other team counterattacks.  Taking that into account you still need to make an attacking impact on the game aswell.  Think about how much Riise and Finnan used to go forward last season, the only reason why they could do that was because they didnt have to worry as they knew that they could go forward whenever they saw an opening because Alonso would always watch their back.
Watch Alonso next game, he has the thinking-man's position.  He does all the things that 90% of people never realise.  When other people make runs, he has to make those crucial minor adjustments to make sure that if we lose the ball we dont leave our CBs stranded.  He enters the attack but is never too commited that he cant help out our defense.   Think back to last season, how many times did you say to yourself, who made that tackle? when the other team counterattacks.
And how often you were suprised to see Alonso get up? Somebody said in another thread that he was near the top of the most active tackler last season, and that doesnt suprise me.

When thinking about dropping Alonso think about this:
Our fullbacks are used to going forward whenever they want, them going forward gives our right and left sided midfielders the ability to cut inside (crucial to the effectiveness of Gerrard's game).  Who would you trust in that holding role to allow our fullbacks the freedom to attack whilst still making an attacking contribution?

Nobody in our senior squad comes close.  We could change the structure of our midfield but then we would have to change the structure of our defense aswell.  So IMO we need Alonso, he is the one player that we really cant do without.

Hopefully Jack Hobbs continues to show promise in this position because from what I hear, he is being groomed to provide competition/cover for Xabi.

Taken from: http://www.liverpoolfc-newkit.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=19053&start=20

[Geo]

great post, ive been wondering about gerrards role since the beggining of the season.
playing gerrard is simply unacceptable, i just dont know what rafa was thinking and in hindsight i dont think he would of played him there again. i remember last season when stevie was playing on the right and kewell was playing well they would swap around change and both be very effective, but theres no denying that gerrards at his best in the middle and as much as i love momo in the central midfield role i think the sooner rafa realises that gerrard is no1 the better.
momo is an amazing player and going to be a legend in the future, but right now gerrard is the best at what he does (in the centre) so why do we play him wide, he is the captain of the club and most inspirational player on the pitch.
this is only a hypothetical but if one player had to leave gerrard or sissoko or alonso i think most would choose stevie to stay, no second thoughts, so why is he our 3rd string central mid.

Rafa has no excuse this season- we have signed a good right sided player in pennant and two right wingers in aurellio and gonzalez so there should really no reason to see stevie out on the wings.

the get the most oout of the team this season and in the near future i think stevie has to be playing out of the middle of the park.
one of the main reasons stevie said for leaving liverpool on the verge of the move to chelsea was because he was feeling no love from the liverpool coaching staff (whether this was a bunch of and he just wanted the money we will never know). but if he made the same argument now i could kinda see where his coming from.

credit it to him his going out playing whatever role his given and playing his best. this is a true sign of his character and why he is such a legend.