Liverpool FC Forum

by **112-1077774096** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:33 am

good post mick, its all about opinions to be fair, i say gerrard is better in the centre and point to our winning streak, lack of goals conceded and gerrards all round good play as proof that he best served in the centre.

then others can point to his contribution last season on the right (although he was innefective there this season, but then so was most of the team). i really do believe that him being in the centre gives better balance and its that which improved other players performances, they could relax in the knowledge that we have one of th worlds best players in the position where he can do his job properley.

i know i always say it but results dont lie mate (of course there are other factors, but his move to the centre has been a success)

by **bigmick** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:51 am

peewee wrote:i know i always say it but results dont lie mate (of course there are other factors, but his move to the centre has been a success)

On that point mate there is definately no argument. Gerrard moving into the centre has coincided wuith comfortably our best form of the season.

Is the improvement though because of stevie G or because of an easier run of games? I've got to say that given the facts we can fairly safely conclude that Stevie has contributed more from the centre (although by all accounts nowhere near his very best) than he did on the right (where to be honest he was having a very ordinary season and beginning to look disinterested on occasions). The facts certainly don't lie if we interpret them literally. I think it's probably safest to conclude like you mate that it's good we have a bloke who is World Class in two positions.

by **112-1077774096** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:55 am

yes, its a nice dilema to have, however if we play him where is unhappy we may force him away from the club

by **66-1112520797** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:03 am

peewee wrote:yes, its a nice dilema to have, however if we play him where is unhappy we may force him away from the club

Thats bad though, a player especially born and bred in Liverpool. Shouldnt have any qualms about his position. If Rafa asks him to play RM he should for the better of the team, he should not sulk,really after all he is a paid proffesional and earns alot of money. And on top of that it should be a privalidge and a boyhood dream to play for your local team.

But I'm definately in agreement with Peewee on this one, as I have a hunch central midfield is his best position.

by **Leonmc0708** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:11 am

Pennant can trap a ball further than I can kick it - FACT.

by **66-1112520797** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:13 am

Leonmc0708 wrote:Pennant can trap a ball further than I can kick it - FACT.

by **woof woof !** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:16 am

Leonmc0708 wrote:Pennant can trap a ball further than I can kick it - FACT.

Anyone notice that when Cahill scythed him down Pennant jumped up and started giving Cahill a mouthful , until that is Cahill turned around . Pennant immediately shut up and went all moody . :no

Shouldn't start what you can't finish Jemaine , and that applies to most of your runs aswell .

by **66-1112520797** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:19 am

Shouldn't start what you can't finish Jemaine , and that applies to most of your runs aswell .

Christ, is this the lets have a go at Jermaine day or what.

by **Ace Ventura** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:24 am

From what i have seen of him in a red shirt so far he wont be here next season.
There weren't many options to rafa once the price for Alves was hiked up, and he took the only real option.
I was happy when we signed him, as whenever i had seen him he looked really dangerous.
But whats frustrating me is him constantly taking the easy option, rather than have a go at beating his man he either lays it off to Finnan or Gerrard, or swings in a hopeful cross.
Watching Ronaldo yesterday, nearly every time he gets the ball he drives at the full back, the defender then has a job to do. The left back marking Pennant is smoking a big fat cigar because he knows that Pennant wont try and beat him.
I am convinced if we had a fit Kewell and a decent right winger that we would be so many points better off. If Pennant doesnt start playing with some conviction he will be gone in the summer.

by **Sabre** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 12:00 pm

I'm shocked with what I'm reading. Maybe I'm a bit of the happy-clappy brigade.

You all wanted a right winger yesteryear and the year before. Now you've got it. If you want a better Right Winger than Pennant you should look in Sevilla and pay the big money for Navas. Because if you were thinking on Joaquin, for instance, you wouldn't have found a better winger than pennat to be honest. Or perhaps Joaquin is a bit better, but not that much better. My point is Pennant is a great right winger, and any comparison should be made with the best wingers around Europe.

A right Winger is very dependant of the game of the team. As the strikers, the right wingers need service (1). I saw some possitive comments after his great goal the other day. I thought that goal was just an example of his better contribution for the team, because I saw a clear improvement in his form. And this improvement had a lot of to do with the better football Liverpool is doing as of late. Pennant has been used often by Rafa, which IMO is a sign that Rafa is happy with him, because being a firm believer of defensive balance, Rafa wouldn't be playing Pennant so much if he was doing badly. If necessary he would even have put Gerrard on the right again!.

A right winger or left winger, like Navas, Joaquin or Pennant, never leave the people indifferent. Either the crowd loves them, or the crowd says they're shíte. It's a complicated position to play in nowadays football, and there are not as many wingers as there used to be

I'm quite shocked to read Pennant doesn't know to cross well. The inner curl, from outside to inside that he gives to his crosses could be ilustrated in the book of crossing. He's not fast, but do you know any fast winger that put good crosses while running?

In a nutshell, Pennant started slowly. And he's getting better, because the team is better. And he'll be even more important next year, IMHO.

Sabre

(1) If you see a video of the start of the Season you'll see Pennant often trying to dribble too far from the oposition goal. There, a right winger doesn't do harm. You have to activate a winger where he does harm, near the bottom line, and that's what our team is doing better as of late.

by **Ace Ventura** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 12:13 pm

Sabre wrote:I'm shocked with what I'm reading. Maybe I'm a bit of the happy-clappy brigade.

You all wanted a right winger yesteryear and the year before. Now you've got it. If you want a better Right Winger than Pennant you should look in Sevilla and pay the big money for Navas. Because if you were thinking on Joaquin, for instance, you wouldn't have found a better winger than pennat to be honest. Or perhaps Joaquin is a bit better, but not that much better. My point is Pennant is a great right winger, and any comparison should be made with the best wingers around Europe.

A right Winger is very dependant of the game of the team. As the strikers, the right wingers need service. I saw some possitive comments after his great goal the other day. I thought that goal was just an example of his better contribution for the team, because I saw a clear improvement in his form. And this improvement had a lot of to do with the better football Liverpool is doing as of late. Pennant has been used often by Rafa, which IMO is a sign that Rafa is happy with him, because being a firm believer of defensive balance, Rafa wouldn't be playing Pennant so much if he was doing badly. If necessary he would even have put Gerrard on the right again!.

A right winger or left winger, like Navas, Joaquin or Pennant, never leave the people indifferent. Either the crowd loves them, or the crowd says they're shíte. It's a complicated position to play in nowadays football, and there are not as many wingers as there used to be

I'm quite shocked to read Pennant doesn't know to cross well. The inner curl, from outside to inside that he gives to his crosses could be ilustrated in the book of crossing. He's not fast, but do you know any fast winger that put good crosses while running?

In a nutshell, Pennant started slowly. And he's getting better, because the team is better. And he'll be even more important next year, IMHO.

His crossing is ok, but he crosses too often, the defender knows 9 times out of 10 what Pennant is going to do.
He needs to keep the full back guessing, i dont recall one time on Saturday that he ran at the full back and tried to beat him.
It may just be a lack of confidence but its not good enough, wide players need to offer more in terms of goals and creativity.
Variation is the key word, and so far what i have seen he doesnt vary his decision making at all.

by **Sabre** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 12:21 pm

His crossing is ok, but he crosses too often, the defender knows 9 times out of 10 what Pennant is going to do.
He needs to keep the full back guessing, i dont recall one time on Saturday that he ran at the full back and tried to beat him.

Well, it's a fair comment. Sometimes he crosses too much, and sometimes he gives too much power to the cross.

And it's true that he didn't run his pair often against Everton. And well done so! because most of the times the oposition had superiority in numbers, meaning that I hardly saw ONE TIME in which Pennant was really against the other player, there was always a Neverton player near their left back, so dribling wasn't the best option, IMHO, sending an early cross was.

If there was somthing predictable in Neverton game was that we charged too much the game in the middle, and sent deep balls with all the advantage for their defenders. We did most harm when we attacked from the right, and that's what we tried in the latter moments of the game.

My point is that I too see some mistakes of Pennant of course. Alonso made aswell some mistakes, and Gerrard aswell. But if I had to draw a line of Pennant's progress, it would be growing in time!

by **Scott P** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 12:27 pm

If you compare the wings on sat Pennant was ten times better than Riise and this showed by the ball being played right most of the time. Pennant is improving a lot for us and will be here for years to come. He doesnt always need to beat a man to cross the ball as he can whip a ball in given a free foot or two by the defender.

by **woof woof !** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:09 pm

Sabre wrote:My point is Pennant is a great right winger, and any comparison should be made with the best wingers around Europe.

Jeezuz Sabre , could you gave us some warning when you're about to make statements like that ? i almost choked on lunch you got me laughing so hard .

Talk about Hyperbole . :laugh:

(new word for Sabre's english dictionary hyperbole (heye-pur-buh-lee)

An exaggerated, extravagant expression. It is hyperbole to say, “I'd give my whole fortune for a bowl of bean soup or Jermaine Pennant should be considered as one of the best wingers in Europe "

:laugh:

by **JBG** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:20 pm

Pennant: if we ever get big money in a Dubai/US/Thai/Martian takeovers, the position of right midfield will be under severe pressure from a big money signing. Rafa said as much when he bought Pennant last summer, saying that Pennant's move to us was his last shot at the big time. For me this suggests that Rafa has similar feelings on Pennant to most of us: the boy has talent but its about time he applied himself, and if it doesn't work out, it'll be off to a mid table side with him.

In my mind, if Pennant wants to nail down his place, he'll have to up his performances a few notches.

I think we'll see Gerrard redeployed on the right, now that Momo is coming back and its almost certain that Mascherano will be joining us. Like Lando I agree that Mascherano is a superb player who is infinitely better than he showed at West Ham. Suddenly we'll have 4 top quality central midfielders and all four will not be able to play together. I think Alonso, Sissoko/Mascherano and a left sided player, Gerrard is better overall than Alonso/Mascherano/Sissoko, Gerrard, Pennant and a left sided player, and thats what we're more likely than not see in the long term.

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