Liverpool FC Forum

devaney » Mon Nov 25, 2013 5:49 pm wrote:2nd in the league. Best start to a season for years. Decent goal difference.  And suddenly Captain Gerrard is a liability. For one with an impressive command of the English language I find your choice of word (liability) a tad disrespectful. He's not what he was but he certainly is not a liability.

our whole midfield is a liability and it`s being propped up by a strike force that are on fire, suarez is one goal behind aguero in the scoring charts despite missing the first 6 games of the season, thats the reason we are in second place.

devaney » Mon Nov 25, 2013 5:49 pm wrote:2nd in the league. Best start to a season for years. Decent goal difference.  And suddenly Captain Gerrard is a liability. For one with an impressive command of the English language I find your choice of word (liability) a tad disrespectful. He's not what he was but he certainly is not a liability.

Listen mate ,it matters not one iota where we currently sit in the league ,or indeed the lack of any real deficit in our goal difference. I tend to read
a game the way its played out ,and to the vast majority in Anfield who insist on any player afforded the reverence of wearing the red shirt always
proffering 100% then currently Gerrard is some considerable way outside of those percentages. Anyway ,where we sit in the league is down to the
ability and form of our front line,but going through games without attempting one solitary tackle really is beyond the pale ,and I don't give a flying
fuck how esteemed or how high a plinth that player has been put on. If Steven Gerrard is starting to find this game hard then its detrimental
to our chances and to include him for the full 90 mins is tantamount to lunacy.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:06 pm wrote:

devaney » Mon Nov 25, 2013 5:49 pm wrote:2nd in the league. Best start to a season for years. Decent goal difference.  And suddenly Captain Gerrard is a liability. For one with an impressive command of the English language I find your choice of word (liability) a tad disrespectful. He's not what he was but he certainly is not a liability.

our whole midfield is a liability and it`s being propped up by a strike force that are on fire, suarez is one goal behind aguero in the scoring charts despite missing the first 6 games of the season, thats the reason we are in second place.

Agreed. It's very worrying when you look at the stats and how dependent the team is on the front two. Beyond that, there's really no one who contributes to the goals regularly enough. Gerrard needs to re-invent his game since he no longer has the legs to last the 90mins, if he should play 90mins to begin with. But I highly doubt he's intelligent enough or disciplined enough to do that. Hence why unfortunately, as much as it pains me to say this, Scholes is so highly rated even at his age as he knows how to control the tempo of the game, albeit being a horrible tackler.

Steven is struggling in some of the bigger games there is no doubt but he is still creating the majority of our goals.
2 more assists in the derby and 2 against Fulham.

I will take him doing that every week and struggling a bit.
For me the Everton performance while it was poor was down more to tiredness. He shouldnt have played against Germany in the friendly.

Anyway criticise him all you like but he is top of the assists in the league I think.

For me, Gerrard has never been at his best as a CM.  His best years were when he played in a free role. 

Even at his best he never seemed to have the discipline for CM.  Even during the Rafa era we always sort of accommodated Gerrard, on the right or in a free role.

jacdaniel » Tue Nov 26, 2013 11:32 am wrote:For me, Gerrard has never been at his best as a CM.  His best years were when he played in a free role. 

Even at his best he never seemed to have the discipline for CM.  Even during the Rafa era we always sort of accommodated Gerrard, on the right or in a free role.

couldn't agree more

I actually agree as well.

With Gerrard for me not being able to be a box to box midfielder these days I would much rather he was the furthest forward of the 3 rather than sitting in front of the back 4.
He is still one of the best finishers at the club and his ability around the box to deliver a killer pass is far better than Henderson or Allen.

I'd have if everyone was fit.

                                Mignolet

Johnson          Agger             Sakho        Enrique

                     Lucas            Henderson

                             Gerrard

                             Coutinho

                  Suarez              Sturridge

Ben Patrick » Tue Nov 26, 2013 2:32 pm wrote:I actually agree as well.

With Gerrard for me not being able to be a box to box midfielder these days I would much rather he was the furthest forward of the 3 rather than sitting in front of the back 4.
He is still one of the best finishers at the club and his ability around the box to deliver a killer pass is far better than Henderson or Allen.

I'd have if everyone was fit.

                                Mignolet

Johnson          Agger             Sakho        Enrique

                     Lucas            Henderson

                             Gerrard

                             Coutinho

                  Suarez              Sturridge

How narrow?

We do tend to spread the play throughout a game regularly, this formation pretty much allows for route one football only.

It looks narrow on paper but with the way we play it doesnt have to be like that.
Both forwards are constantly pulling wide and Gerrard would drift right.
Henderson would also not stay totally central.
With Johnson and Enrique both full backs that like to get forward I dont think we would struggle for width personally.

against the better sides i dont think you can afford to have just 2 mids doing the hard work, i agree pushing gerrard forward is the best place for him but i think against the chelsea`s and man citys of this world he and coutinho should be fighting it out for that spot behind the strikers.
while allen was on the pitch saturday we by and large coped with evertons dynamic midfield and that was with gerrard in the heart of the engine room contributing very little defensively, i`d like to see hendo, lucas and allen as a defensive screen in front of our back four when we play spurs, city and chelsea away from home next month. hendo and allen arent the best on the ball but they do have the engine to get up and down and help support the two stikers and gerrard/coutinho up top.


                            allen             lucas             hendo

                                         coutinho/gerrard

                              sturridge                suarez

with that formation the pressure would be off the front 3 somewhat in terms of tracking back, of course they`d still have to press and work hard but with 3 athletic mids behind them letting someone run off them (like gerrard let cazorla run off him for arsenals first goal) wont be as catastrophic. there should be enough cover there.
gerrard is not being helped by the way by rodgers who keeps playing him in a position which exposes the weaknesses in his game, at 25 gerrard could cover every blade of grass on the pitch without getting out of second gear but he`s 33 now and his legs have gone. it`s like asking carragher or hyypia to play wing back at the end of their careers.
hopefully by the time january is over we wont have any more worries about our midfield being over run.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Tue Nov 26, 2013 3:35 pm wrote:against the better sides i dont think you can afford to have just 2 mids doing the hard work, i agree pushing gerrard forward is the best place for him but i think against the chelsea`s and man citys of this world he and coutinho should be fighting it out for that spot behind the strikers.
while allen was on the pitch saturday we by and large coped with evertons dynamic midfield and that was with gerrard in the heart of the engine room contributing very little defensively, i`d like to see hendo, lucas and allen as a defensive screen in front of our back four when we play spurs, city and chelsea away from home next month. hendo and allen arent the best on the ball but they do have the engine to get up and down and help support the two stikers and gerrard/coutinho up top.


                            allen             lucas             hendo

                                         coutinho/gerrard

                              sturridge                suarez

with that formation the pressure would be off the front 3 somewhat in terms of tracking back, of course they`d still have to press and work hard but with 3 athletic mids behind them letting someone run off them (like gerrard let cazorla run off him for arsenals first goal) wont be as catastrophic. there should be enough cover there.
gerrard is not being helped by the way by rodgers who keeps playing him in a position which exposes the weaknesses in his game, at 25 gerrard could cover every blade of grass on the pitch without getting out of second gear but he`s 33 now and his legs have gone. it`s like asking carragher or hyypia to play wing back at the end of their careers.
hopefully by the time january is over we wont have any more worries about our midfield being over run.

Hendo, Allen and Lucas as the central midfield trio? why dont we just sign up for mid table obscurity now. I dread to think how bad we would be with those 3 pulling the strings.

Fowler_E7

Hendo, Allen and Lucas as the central midfield trio? why dont we just sign up for mid table obscurity now. I dread to think how bad we would be with those 3 pulling the strings.

we`ve got to be realistic, no way does our midfield outplay the likes of spurs, chelsea`s and city`s midfield, especially on their own patch, at least by putting hendo, allen and lucas in the engine room we will be hard to break down and maybe our front 3 (with the help of our fullbacks and occassionally the likes of hendo and allen getting up in support) can do something at the other end.
much rather have that than watch us get shredded like we were against arsenal and the last 20 minutes saturday.
hopefully we will strengthen the midfield come january anyway so this is a short term solution to keep us in the hunt for 4th.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Tue Nov 26, 2013 11:19 pm wrote:

Fowler_E7

Hendo, Allen and Lucas as the central midfield trio? why dont we just sign up for mid table obscurity now. I dread to think how bad we would be with those 3 pulling the strings.

we`ve got to be realistic, no way does our midfield outplay the likes of spurs, chelsea`s and city`s midfield, especially on their own patch, at least by putting hendo, allen and lucas in the engine room we will be hard to break down and maybe our front 3 (with the help of our fullbacks and occassionally the likes of hendo and allen getting up in support) can do something at the other end.
much rather have that than watch us get shredded like we were against arsenal and the last 20 minutes saturday.
hopefully we will strengthen the midfield come january anyway so this is a short term solution to keep us in the hunt for 4th.

You actually think by putting lesser players in it will strengthen us?

You actually believe by taking the one midfielder out of the team with any shred of creativety it will strengthen us?

You actually believe that our strikers and wide players wouldn't suffer from a lack of service with those players in the side?

You don't think the dead balls Gerrard puts in will be missed?

Gerrard is past his best, everyone can see it... EVERYONE!!! We all know. But to suggest the other three are better or even in the same galaxy is quite simply pathetic.

How you can advocate dropping your captain and still one of your better players for someone who, lets face it, is dog average at best and expect it to improve us is absolutely ridiculous.

Because he doesn't run a lot mate, he doesn't ''track back'' and isn't athletic enough...

Stu the Red » Tue Nov 26, 2013 10:58 pm wrote:

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Tue Nov 26, 2013 11:19 pm wrote:

Fowler_E7

Hendo, Allen and Lucas as the central midfield trio? why dont we just sign up for mid table obscurity now. I dread to think how bad we would be with those 3 pulling the strings.

we`ve got to be realistic, no way does our midfield outplay the likes of spurs, chelsea`s and city`s midfield, especially on their own patch, at least by putting hendo, allen and lucas in the engine room we will be hard to break down and maybe our front 3 (with the help of our fullbacks and occassionally the likes of hendo and allen getting up in support) can do something at the other end.
much rather have that than watch us get shredded like we were against arsenal and the last 20 minutes saturday.
hopefully we will strengthen the midfield come january anyway so this is a short term solution to keep us in the hunt for 4th.

You actually think by putting lesser players in it will strengthen us?

You actually believe by taking the one midfielder out of the team with any shred of creativety it will strengthen us?

You actually believe that our strikers and wide players wouldn't suffer from a lack of service with those players in the side?

You don't think the dead balls Gerrard puts in will be missed?

Gerrard is past his best, everyone can see it... EVERYONE!!! We all know. But to suggest the other three are better or even in the same galaxy is quite simply pathetic.

How you can advocate dropping your captain and still one of your better players for someone who, lets face it, is dog average at best and expect it to improve us is absolutely ridiculous.

you obviously havent read the other posts in the thread