Liverpool FC Forum

heimdall wrote:

CharmlessMan wrote:I know it's not happening for him this season, perhaps one factor is down to him playing 'out of position', I can say the other one is down to his 'lax' approach to matches, which to be fair is evident in virtually the whole team this season. The team's low confidence, lack of guts and poor form worry me more than one individual player. Gerrard's ability is unquestionable, his value to us is also unquestionable, but I won't worry about one individual player when the whole team isn't performing, I worry about them all, just like I wont worry about one player being off form when the majority are performing to the best of their abilities, we're winning and doing the basics to a high standard.

I agree it works both ways, but I'm much more comfortable with Sissoko and Alonso in the centre than I am with Gerrard and Alonso or Gerrard and Sissoko. I will agree Gerrard should be played in the centre over Zenden, but will that sort Gerrard out? I doubt it, he's needs to sort himself out mentally and sort out his attitude, then his performances will fall into place and that goes for the rest of the team who have put in spineless appearances this season.

I'm sorry but I disagree with you, Gerrard is not just one player, he is the captain of the club and also the only real player we have with flair. How many matches have we seen him win on his own??
I think the problem with the team stems from Gerrard being off, if he is happy the team is happy and if the lad wants to play in the middle, which is where almost everyone including him thinks he should play, then for F^&k's sake Rafa play him in the bloody middle!!
My preferred central midfield would be Momo and Gerrard with Momo in the Didi role, i.e defensive midfield behind Gerrard Why doesn't Rafa try playing Alonso on the right, that might actually work very well as he is an incredible crosser and distributor of the ball.

mattylfc wrote:What do people think about the suggestion of playing Gerrard on the right at home and in 'easier' away fixtures (where he can get forward more) and then putting him back in the middle away from home, certainly against the teams at the top end of the table.

What do people think?

Bad Bob wrote:I guess we'll see how things go now that Sissoko's out for a lengthy spell. 

Bad Bob wrote:

mattylfc wrote:What do people think about the suggestion of playing Gerrard on the right at home and in 'easier' away fixtures (where he can get forward more) and then putting him back in the middle away from home, certainly against the teams at the top end of the table.

What do people think?

But then who gets dropped, Momo or Xabi (assuming both are available)?

Dropping Xabi and playing Momo and Stevie in the middle has not been tried by Rafa and probabaly for good reason: Momo doesn't have the discipline or total game awareness to be the holding midfielder and we'd be shackling Stevie even more if we asked him to sit back and shield the back four while Momo goes ball hunting.

Dropping Momo and playing Xabi and Stevie has more potential but then we lose Sissoko's ability to break up play and harry the opposition CMs.  This was a big loss on Sunday, as Fabregas had the time and space to create in the middle, while Zenden and Alonso were busy contending with Gilberto, Van Persie and Henry.  Momo makes us a much tougher proposition when he plays in the middle and so dropping him in the big games seems like a mistake.

The other option is to go 4-5-1 with all three in the middle for the big matches.  But, there's significant doubts about our ability to create chances when we do that.  We tried it at Old Trafford to very poor effect already this season, although one might argue that playing Gerrard on the right and Garcia through the middle in that one was the problem.

The bottom line is that Sissoko's emergence as a key performer for us, coupled with Alonso's vital role as the holding midfielder/play-maker-in-chief has, ironically, made it difficult to accommodate the world's best midfielder in the middle of the park. 

I guess we'll see how things go now that Sissoko's out for a lengthy spell.  Maybe, in three months' time, an Alonso-Gerrard CM partnership will have clicked so well that it would be inconceivable to move Stevie back to the right?

mattylfc wrote:

Bad Bob wrote:

mattylfc wrote:What do people think about the suggestion of playing Gerrard on the right at home and in 'easier' away fixtures (where he can get forward more) and then putting him back in the middle away from home, certainly against the teams at the top end of the table.

What do people think?

But then who gets dropped, Momo or Xabi (assuming both are available)?

Dropping Xabi and playing Momo and Stevie in the middle has not been tried by Rafa and probabaly for good reason: Momo doesn't have the discipline or total game awareness to be the holding midfielder and we'd be shackling Stevie even more if we asked him to sit back and shield the back four while Momo goes ball hunting.

Dropping Momo and playing Xabi and Stevie has more potential but then we lose Sissoko's ability to break up play and harry the opposition CMs.  This was a big loss on Sunday, as Fabregas had the time and space to create in the middle, while Zenden and Alonso were busy contending with Gilberto, Van Persie and Henry.  Momo makes us a much tougher proposition when he plays in the middle and so dropping him in the big games seems like a mistake.

The other option is to go 4-5-1 with all three in the middle for the big matches.  But, there's significant doubts about our ability to create chances when we do that.  We tried it at Old Trafford to very poor effect already this season, although one might argue that playing Gerrard on the right and Garcia through the middle in that one was the problem.

The bottom line is that Sissoko's emergence as a key performer for us, coupled with Alonso's vital role as the holding midfielder/play-maker-in-chief has, ironically, made it difficult to accommodate the world's best midfielder in the middle of the park. 

I guess we'll see how things go now that Sissoko's out for a lengthy spell.  Maybe, in three months' time, an Alonso-Gerrard CM partnership will have clicked so well that it would be inconceivable to move Stevie back to the right?

I completely understand what you say and it is completely right.  The thought of dropping Alonso or Sissoko seems crazy, but what i am trying to point out is that in Momo and Alonso we have two top top players but neither are able to break forward with conviction and link up with the forwards.
Its a big dilemma IMO as the easy solution would be to have all three playing which has happened of late but in doing that, Gerrard is the man to play on the right.  This is where the problem comes as he is the one player of the three that is likely to get forward, support the attackers and maybe grab a goal from CM. 

If you play all three you certianly have a stronger midfield with arguably more balance but you cant hide the fact that as a consequence we lack some attacking threat when going forward.

Its Sissokos fault really for signing for us and being an absolute revelation.

My arguement by the way, was purely based on playing the top sides away from home.  In other games, Alonso and Sissoko in CM with Gerrard on the right clearly works but against the big three away from home it just hasnt happened for us, mainly due to the fact that Gerrards role on the right changes.