Liverpool FC Forum

[GYBS]

Would swap Hyypia for Hughes and Keegan for Callaghan or maybe even Macca , but the rest i gotta agree with

[account deleted by request]

Everyone has to have Kenny, then a tough call between Rush and Keegan... then God.
Midfield Molby can't be beat in my book.

Molby absolute joy to watch Daws loved him. Never moved his ar.se just waited for the ball the bang. Unbeilevable ball player . never seen him make many tackles though.  But once he had the ball very very hard to shift it off him.

Molby made me laugh in Carra's book when he said Unsworth and Short (Evertons CB'S) couldn't get the ball off him in a phone box.

[redhayesy]

    Late 70's Callaghan/Case - I would have hated doing it but Gerrard is better.

Callaghan Saint ,SACRALIDGE

One of my all time favs

spot on NR also saint, sorry but i totally dis-agree with the 80's choice mate [to spell his name wrong was also SACRLIDGE] -CRAIG JOHNSTON was an awsome player,i can honestly say i never saw him have a bad game for us, watching him in that suberb team of the 80's week in week out, his enthusiasm,commitment,attitude was second to none.

IMHO gerrard would have found a place in the side of any era but for who ? very good question, as you say mate i would of hated dropping anyone of great teams gone by it's far easier to make that decision in our side right now.

sorry for not commiting to the debate mate but it's that hard for me to name any player from the years you mention.

totally agree tho gerrard is a red through & through, who will be remembered as a LFC legand. 

Have to disagree with Craig Johston, I thought he was overated and just happened to be in a brilliant team at the time

sorry mate but we'll have to agree to dis-agree on that cause the amount of games in which he scored & created chances for the likes of king kenny & rushy were what helped us be the force we were with the other midfilders. he scored vital goals to win or help us to go on to win that he will always be a player i mention to others when they talk about the great side of the 80's.

talking of which i haven't watched the 86 cup final for a week or two so that will cheer me up no end watching "skippy" score the all important goal for us to go on & "crunch the toffee's"   
& rushie's goal for hitting the camera at the back of the net for number 3 was poetry in motion. 

[GYBS]

I got Ian Rushs shirt from that game

[ConnO'var]

**** edit ****

Sorry.... wrong number.

[roberto green]

    Late 70's Callaghan/Case - I would have hated doing it but Gerrard is better.

Callaghan Saint ,SACRALIDGE

One of my all time favs

spot on NR also saint, sorry but i totally dis-agree with the 80's choice mate [to spell his name wrong was also SACRLIDGE] -CRAIG JOHNSTON was an awsome player,i can honestly say i never saw him have a bad game for us, watching him in that suberb team of the 80's week in week out, his enthusiasm,commitment,attitude was second to none.

IMHO gerrard would have found a place in the side of any era but for who ? very good question, as you say mate i would of hated dropping anyone of great teams gone by it's far easier to make that decision in our side right now.

sorry for not commiting to the debate mate but it's that hard for me to name any player from the years you mention.

totally agree tho gerrard is a red through & through, who will be remembered as a LFC legand. 

Have to disagree with Craig Johston, I thought he was overated and just happened to be in a brilliant team at the time

sorry mate but we'll have to agree to dis-agree on that cause the amount of games in which he scored & created chances for the likes of king kenny & rushy were what helped us be the force we were with the other midfilders. he scored vital goals to win or help us to go on to win that he will always be a player i mention to others when they talk about the great side of the 80's.

talking of which i haven't watched the 86 cup final for a week or two so that will cheer me up no end watching "skippy" score the all important goal for us to go on & "crunch the toffee's"   
& rushie's goal for hitting the camera at the back of the net for number 3 was poetry in motion. 

have to admit that is a game that stands out in my mind i was only a young lad at the time and everyone had the team posters in the windows in our street and when there was a friendly derby and the real magic of the FA cup and when it was a real working class game.How times have changed.

[NANNY RED]

On What Saint was Sayin ive picked my team of greats an its hard but ive chopped an changed so many times its give me a head ache. Terrible this rotation lark

Clemence

Nichol Hanson Tommo A Kennedy

Gerrard Souness© R Kennedy Barnes

Dalglish Rush

Subs  Hughes, Molby, Torres, Heighway, McDermott,

[ConnO'var]

I may as well go the whole hog and name my best team (from the 60's on)

                         Clemance

Neal            Hanson   Hyypia     Nichol

Keegan        Gerrard     Souness      Barnes

                     Dalglish
                       Rush           

Hyypia is in because Hanson said in his book he wasn't comfortable challenging for balls in the air. Nichol because he seemed to have it all and with Neal also being comfortable in either role they could swop positions as and when they felt like it. The rest hopefully speak for themselves.

Superb team there mate... agree with it 88%....

Would probably swap Keegan (as a midfielder) with Heighway..

But you're 100000% spot on with the central midfield pairing..... what I would not give to have Souey, the player, back to partner Stevie. Every other midfield in the world, let alone the premiership would be quaking in their boots if they had to face up to that pair!

[Sabre]

As for Gerrard's season, do you remember the last season you could say it was an average season for him? he ranges from very good to perfect!

I actually think he can play much better Sabes, and once Torres is back he will. I think sometimes he's on a different level to the people we are playing up front recently (certainly very recently) and as such his game is blunted a bit.

What he's discovered though as I said earlier is the art of just cruising through games but still being the best player. His finish for the second goal against Hull was of the very highest order and an indication of where he's at. He has plenty of time to think about it, had to make sure he didn't hit it too hard as he was leaning backwards, and nad to steer it in. That ability to think within the moment is a God gift which only a few have.

Funnily enough I think his owrse performances this season (West Ham at home springs to mind) have been when he's reverted to previous type and gone more gung-ho. It could be our league position but on those occasions he's got himself a bit carried away and tried the impossible too often.

Yes, the way I put it it seemed he has nothing to improve, but I can't help being a bit OTT with the players I admire.

That carrying away has been a problem in some games in the past, and it's motivated by his will to win, and the fact he doesn't accept less than a victory.

That stubborness has it's good side also: it's more difficult to get Gerrard out of a game than it was to get out of the game Zidane. And I answer here to GYBS.

It's untrue that Zidane didn't have blips. He not only had blips, sometimes he ended up that frustrated that a nasty kick would send him to the dressroom with a red card. In his Juventus spell, the teams that beat Juventus beat them precisely by nullifying Zidane.

Yes, in his excellence, Zidane had more skill than Gerrard, he was able to leave me with my mouth open. But Gerrard's stubborness and will, united to the fact he's very versatile, makes him a very regular player and very difficult to stop.

How can you stop a player that is constantly running, that falls to the channels when he's too marked, that knows to go deep for a ball, that drives the ball comfortably and uses both legs naturally? I know it's possible to "control" Gerrard like any other player, but probably he's the most difficult player to stop I've known.

We all knew for instance Maradona would always like to dribble, and the only way to stop him was a good kick in the ankle. With Gerrard that's not possible with a red card, when he's driving the ball he's tough to tackle, when you have the chance the tackle he's already made the pass.

Sorry for the pro-Gerrard rant, but I felt like it. My point is it's true he has things to improve and sometimes he's too anxious and doesn't make the best decission, but that coin has two sides, and the same reason he makes him too carried away, makes him very difficult to nullify in a game.

[bigmick]

It's a good post Sabes and there's absolutely no doubt that stopping Gerrard from where he's at now, is very very difficult. If you are going to man mark him, you'd better make sure that the marker is a fantastic athlete because not only does Gerrard run all day, but he's as quick as lightening as well. It's all very well staying close to him, but when the move starts in earnest and his ears pr!ck up, he'll move from a standing start to full tilt in a stride or two, and in a second he's gone twenty yards and got the after burners on. The likes of Gattuso would simply get burned off by Gerrard, not strong enough, powerful enough nor quick enough to get to him.

You can try and screen him off, but once again it's hard. When you've got Alonso with his perceptive passing releasing Gerrard in little pockets, it's very difficult to get in front of him. People often talk about the Spaniards defence splitting passes and whether or not he's doing them, but it's the instant control which takes the ball into a pocket of space, followed by a crisp 20 yard pass into the window of opportunity that I like when he's playing well. You can have Gerrard covered, and suddenly it gets pinged into him on the opposite side and you're bang under pressure. you can grab and grapple all you like but you ain't stopping him from there, too powerful and strong.

Zidane you could try and box in, abnd normally he would work a spce with his wonderful feet. Gerrard though is happy to run with it, the afterburners come on and he has that burst, with the ball or without it and suddenly it opens up. He can arrive and head it too. He's actually let this part of his game go I think, when he first broke into the team he used to score for corners, bursting into the box and powering in headers.

Then there's the shot. You know if he gets a yeard within sight of your goal he'll bust the net.

Hard to stop, great to watch. Enjoy him while you can, and don't trouble yourself about body language and such nonsense. If you see a better allround player in a Liverpoolshirt in your lifetime, we'll all be blessed.

[stmichael]

Can't praise the lad highly enough. 11 goals already this season from midfield. He's basically the nearest thing you'll see to Roy of the Rovers.

[we all dream...]

Can't praise the lad highly enough. 11 goals already this season from midfield. He's basically the nearest thing you'll see to Roy of the Rovers.

You are right though, FAcup and the Champs league against olympiokos and in the final, all Roy of the Rover type come backs, that only Roy or gerrard could pull off...

The fellas absolute genious.

His Mrs is fit too lol 

[stmichael]

Apparently he has scored 10% of all Liverpools Premier League goals, which is incredible for a midfielder.

[Toffeehater]

The Best player in the world in his position , no one comes close . He's captain fantastic and without him we'd be in loads of more . Thank god he did not leave us for chelsea , what a player . The day he hangs up his boots will be a sad day for football and hopefully he retires with a premier league medal .

[metalhead]

A great interview on goal.com
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The latest addition to the Goal.com writing team is award-winning journalist Mohammed Bhana, author of the official Liverpool FC book: The Asian Liver Bird. Mohammed has interviewed some of the biggest names in football, and his first interview for Goal.com is with none other than Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard…

Born in the Huyton area of Merseyside in 1980, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is living the dream of playing for ‘his’ club.

Skilful and forceful, fans, players and managers around the world would love for Gerrard to play in their side.

Not since legendary Scottish winger Billy Liddell in the 1950s has a Liverpool player exerted such influence and carried the team in the way Gerrard has over the past few years.

Like Liddell, Gerrard has captained the club with distinction, led by example and established himself as a firm fan-favourite.

However, Gerrard has been playing for different levels of Liverpool teams since he was spotted as a rough and ready schoolboy at the tender age of eight. Nine years later he made his first-team debut, coming on as a second-half substitute for Vegard Heggem against Blackburn Rovers on November 29, 1998. The following week, Gerard Houllier gave him his first start when the Reds travelled down south to take on Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

The Liverpool skipper maintains that an element of adolescent enthusiasm did somewhat subdue the young Gerrard when he first graced stadiums throughout Europe.

Leader

Nowadays he is undaunted and stops at nothing to exert control over the opposition. He explains: “At times I was just excited to be in stadiums around the world. Playing against great sides - I was a bit over-awed at times. If I’m being honest games just passed me by.

“Now, I’m more experienced, I love leading Liverpool out as captain. As a player what more do you want than playing against the best teams throughout the world. What better way is there to test yourself? The bigger the stadium and the team, the better. I’ve played in a lot of big games since then and regard them as just another one of those must-win games. I know what to expect from those games now.”

Bread and Butter

Gerrard believes everyone associated with the club accepts that Liverpool will win the Premier League soon. And that’s an honour he is determined to add to his collection of silverware:

“We call it the bread and butter around here and we need to win it,” says the Liverpool captain.

“I’m desperate for the League. I can’t show you how much we want to win the Premiership. If we do win it I think it will be bigger than Istanbul and I would want to go on and win it again.

“We have had a good season so far but it’s easy for me to sit back here in this interview and say to you we’re a great team, the squad’s great. The hardest thing’s to actually go out there and prove it on the pitch.

“It has been a long time since we have been able to say Liverpool are top of the league in December, but we are happy where we are.”

Great Expectations

Gerrard explains how his main priority is to produce big performances on a regular basis. He feels all the players will pull in the same direction and help each other find their best form: “As a player, if you’re honest with yourself then you know when you’re playing well and when you’re not. I’ve set standards for myself where people expect top-notch performances week-in and week-out. That’s good, I’d rather play with that type of expectation around me than not, but when I fall a little bit below that standard people are very quick to notice it, and point it out.”

Leading by example, the Liverpool captain points out the special relationship he has with the fans and thanks them for their patience and support during the last ten years.

"Obviously the fans mean everything to me and they are the people I try to please when I play," he continues. "It’s always special to hear them singing my name before, during and after a game at home or away and it's something I really enjoy.

“They have been behind me from day one when I made my debut. I've got a good relationship with them and I don't want that to change, because when the fans perform it’s always a big help to us.”

Honour

The Scouser was also awarded the MBE in the Queen's honours list at the start of 2007. A humbled Gerrard was understandably thrilled and honoured to receive such recognition for playing a game he has loved all his life. He said: “It was an honour I accepted on behalf of those people who have been so supportive to me throughout my career, all my team-mates over the years, everyone at Liverpool Football Club, everyone at England, all my family and friends and all those coaches who have helped me since I was eight.”

For all the comical wealth that his gifts have brought him, and for all the distractions that wealth seems to offer, Gerrard seems to be totally focused and in love with the game: playing football looks increasingly like the best escape from all the nonsense and the hangers-on.

A player of Steven Gerrard's ability deserves to be winning the Premier League regularly. Billy Liddell also deserved to win many domestic accolades. Unfortunately, the kind-hearted winger never got that chance. 

Hopefully history will not repeat itself. It would be a crying shame if, in thirty years’ time, people think of Gerrard's time as the 'Gerrardpool' era.

Mohammed Bhana, Goal.com

LINK

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Stevie = LEGEND