Liverpool FC Forum

by **el_stinger** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:24 am

Stevie is a great player, world class even. One of the best Liverpool have produced it quite some time. However, he had a really bad premiership season with us, and even though he is in the annals of Liverpool FC history with THAT win in Istanbul, it looks like LFC are being held to ransom to offer him a huge salary. Albeit, he deserves to be on a huge payroll, LFC just can't afford it, with the likes of Kewell not playing and still getting paid, it might not me worth the hassle of keeping Stevie around for the sake of it.

Inspirational, yes, for the most part. But when he has a clanger, my god, we all do. If Real Madrid make a bid for him, we might get quite a few of their players for the swap. Raul, JuanFran are the main two i would be searching for. It might look like we need to sell him to fund our summer signings. What do you think?

Opta analyse the G-factor
by Duncan Alexander

With fresh rumours that Liverpool may be forced to sell Steven Gerrard in order to raise the funds manager Rafa Benitez needs to rebuild the squad, there is a sense of disappointment amongst many Reds fans, keen to see their captain remain at the club.

But if Gerrard is sacrificed then it may not be the blow that some fear. Liverpool's Premiership record without the England midfielder last season was actually superior to the matches in which he played.
The Merseysiders recorded a win percentage of just 40 per cent when Gerrard played, a figure that rose to 63 per cent when he was missing. The number of goals Liverpool scored per game was also higher when Gerrard was not playing.

It was a similar (though less pronounced) trend in 2003-04, when Liverpool again had a superior win percentage when their midfield dynamo was not in the team.
That is not to say that Gerrard would not be missed at Anfield, just that his departure need not be a crushing setback for Rafa Benitez's European champions.

by **lfclfclfc** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 6:46 am

While numbers do not lie, they can be deceiving. while opta analyses the g-factor, they left out the s-factor - why steven gerrard is S-pecial.

things can improve and must be improved next season but this is something to be worked out by rafa and stevie. perhaps players need to be more confident playing along side stevie? perhaps players need to be less reliant on stevie? perhaps stevie needs to learn, like all great captains do - to bring out the best in those around him? perhaps with the right crop of players, less injuries, stevie can be deployed more effectively (more attacking role rather dropping deep in front of the back four)? many questions to be answered before the season kicks off again.

while it may be true that we won more games without gerrard, there are games that we would NOT have won without gerrard, important games too. this is what the S-factor is all about. special performances on big stages. think olympiakos, think everton and champions league final. milan touted it as 6 minutes of madness, for us it was 6 minutes of sheer magic, and stevie alone conjured half of it!

this is where statistics fall short. rafa knows it and reiterates that he wants to build a team around stevie. if funds fall short we can build half a team now and the other half next season. good players are always available every season. sell a talismanic player and it could be a long wait before another walks in.

well, as far as we are concerned, stevie said is staying and that's that. future is red! :buttrock

by **Ciggy** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 7:12 am

by **captainduck** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:25 am

pfft numbers schmumbers... how many games has stevie won for us , or tied at least with his miraculous goals?? for god sake remember the middlesbrough game!?!?! anyways you cant pin those numbers on stevie alone, that would be rediculous. consider the opposition, etc when stevie is away. :down:

by **muttleyp** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:42 am

Stevie had a number of bad games last season especially in most of the games against Chelsea. I was of the thinking of if he wants to go then sell him, as there is no point keeping a player that dont want to stay and give his all, but make sure u get atleast 40mill.
But u cant put a price on the determanation that he will be putting in when wearing the red of Liverpool, if u sold him who could u buy that would play with the same level of burning passion for the club?
There are many out there who could put in quality performances but not with the same level of intesity that Stevie brings. Now that he says he wants to stay keep him as i'm sure we will be seeing a more consistent Gerrard who's head is clear on his future.

As for the Opta stats yes the win percentage is lower with Stevie playing but it also shows that we played more than 3 times the number of games with him, thus making it a very unbalanced stat.
I'm sure if we played more games without him that percentage would have dropped.

by **LFCNUTTER** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 10:03 am

Are we a team who has to sell its best players to fund new signings.LFC has not and never will be a selling club.If Stevie wants to stay, then a big club like LFC should pay him big wages to keep him ,after all he is one of the best players in the world and would walk into any team

by **maximus** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 10:08 am

1 - We do not need to sell to buy
2 - Be patient
3 - Chelsea loadsamoney are always looking to increase worldwide fickle support

YNWA :buttrock

by **RED ANT** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:26 pm

The thing is m8 no amount of money can replace what Stevie brings to the team.His poor performances were all down to his state of mind last season but when it mattered he delivered.

I would hate to think that we can't afford to rebuild without selling are best player over the last decade.

Stevie has already said we can expect to see an improved player next season,for me that is a mouthwatering prospect.

by **Adebisi** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:32 pm

We can easily afford any realistic wage demands he wants, he is worth three players wages! Should be some wages freed up with players exiting and I'm sure the board can budget around him with regards to players coming in and wage increases etc.

by **stanley park** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 3:59 pm

sell stevie? sell your best player to fund the transfer of lesser players to anfield.that just dosen't make sense to me.surely we have made enough money in the champions league,and the spin offs,to be able to make a significant impact in the transfer market without having to resort to the unthinkable and sell our best player.he may not have had the best of seasons last year,but why do you think every major club in europe would be on red alert and ready to break the bank to get him if he was available.no the way forward for liverpool football club is not to sell their most prized asset but to keep him and build a team around him,just like the way the major side's in europe would like to do.any suggestion of selling stevie to any of our european rivals is totally absurd.

by **mighty mo** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 4:20 pm

no chance selling gerrard would make the team stronger he is irreplaceable,the guy gives one hundred and ten percent everytime he wears the shirt,this would be a no brainer if i ever saw it and would take years to find someone as good as him and who has the club close to his heart.

by **XSD** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:14 pm

Just a thought..
who here thinks that this would be a good piece of business:
Gerrard-> Madrid
20m + Samuel, Guti, Figo, Juanfran -> Liverpool

by **woof woof !** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:19 pm

I'm fu'ckin'sick and tired of all this "is Gerrard that good and should we sell him bollox" .

EVERY Fu*king CLUB IN THE WORLD WOULD WELCOME HIM WITH OPEN ARMS IF THEY COULD AFFORD HIM !

THATS HOW GOOD HE IS .

NOW PLEASE SHUT THE FU'CK UP .

:veryangry

by **el_stinger** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 6:45 pm

Nice to see the old liverpool faithful defending the gerrard move, than listen to the bandwagon bollox of the newbie LFC "fan". Thank you old schoolers!

by **Pablo_Escobar** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 6:51 pm

woof woof ! wrote:I'm fu'ckin'sick and tired of all this "is Gerrard that good and should we sell him bollox" .

EVERY Fu*king CLUB IN THE WORLD WOULD WELCOME HIM WITH OPEN ARMS IF THEY COULD AFFORD HIM !

THATS HOW GOOD HE IS .

NOW PLEASE SHUT THE FU'CK UP .

Agree Woof.
If Stevie is so not important to us (vide stats) then why does every team on the planet welcome him with open arms.
He's our gem, our captain, I belive he's vital for next season success.

Only thing that could make him leave Anfield is his own will to leave, but I don't see it coming. He knows that he can achieve great things under Rafas command (vide amazing night in Istanbul)

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