Liverpool FC Forum

by **Toffeehater** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 8:47 am

TOMKINS: THE RISE OF THE 'SUPERPLAYER'
Paul Tomkins 13 March 2008

We've long had superstars and Superman. Lately there's been superfoods and superbugs. But clearly we can now add ‘superplayers' to the lexicon.

The archetypal superplayer is Steven Gerrard. There are great players in various guises, but for me, the idea of the superplayer revolves around their all-round ability, mixed with their physical attributes and athleticism. It's a concept where you'd pick the perfect elements as if from a genetics laboratory experiment. The superplayer could play in almost any position, such is the wide-ranging nature of his gifts.

These are players who have it all, and can do it all. They can pass, shoot, score, head, tackle; they are quick, strong, tall and have a desire to win that lifts them above similarly gifted individuals who just don't quite shine as brightly.

There have been plenty of great players who don't fit this mould: Kenny Dalglish, the club's very best, for starters. Not the biggest, he wasn't really an athlete either. But if you're that good, that clever, you don't need to be. However, more and more in the modern game, it comes down to possessing athleticism as well as skill and intelligence.

If you have a player like Jamie Carragher, you don't leave him out because he doesn't quite fit the mould. Not the best on the ball, and not super-quick, his reading of the game and his desire to win are such that he is simply a great defender, as he's proved time and again. Sometimes that's all you need. Same with someone like Scholes at Man United –– small, not the quickest, can't tackle, and an asthmatic. But a great footballer over the years. Ditto Fabregas, who's not big and strong, but can still control the midfield.

Around the league I can spot more examples of the modern superplayer: Micah Richards, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rio Ferdinand and William Gallas. Patrick Vieira was an early example. Indeed, Arsenal are leaders in the recruitment of powerful athletes who can also play football, but it's an area that Liverpool are moving into with impressive foresight.

Another superplayer was introduced to the league this season by Benítez, and how grateful we are: Fernando Torres, scorer of an incredible 25 goals from open play this season. He can do it all, and has an excellent mentality to boot.

Last summer I argued with quite a few Reds who felt that Torres wasn't the answer; from understandable arguments that his goalscoring record was not impressive enough (I pointed out that both Shearer and Henry had very weak goalscoring records until the age of 22/23), through to ludicrous suggestions which compared Torres with with fellow Fernando, Snr Morientes –– as if every Frenchman called Thierry is going to be as good as Msr Henry.

But for me, Torres, just like Shearer and Henry, was ready to go up a level or two in the right setting. Torres has skill, strength and pace. I'd previously felt Morientes had the pedigree and Cissé had the raw power necessary to succeed in England, but neither had me as convinced prior to their arrival in the way Torres did. That said, I expected a bedding-in period that meant he might struggle at first.

Perhaps due to not being overplayed early on, when the physical nature takes its greatest toll on a shellshocked individual, he could adjust gradually –– although he was only put on the bench for two league games; he missed more football due to two injuries with Spain. Even now, pundits moronically gasp when he's in the starting line-up.

It cannot be proved, and hence the tiresome tirades of anti-rotation theorists, but if Liverpool did lose ground in those two games Torres didn't start (Portsmouth and Birmingham), then equally you could argue with more logic (but again not conclusively prove it) that we are now seeing the best of Torres because he was sensibly introduced.

Either way, his form has improved from what was already an impressive start. Seven goals in his first 13 league games was pretty good; but now he's on a run of 12 in 12. Now he's used to the demands of English football he can enjoy regular starts, just like Gerrard, Reina and Carragher. Also having started to adapt, Ryan Babel is pushing for the same status.

I'm a big fan of the kind of player Benítez signs. I honestly don't think any manager –– not even Wenger or Ferguson –– has signed a better ratio of successes to failures or had more impressive value for money.

Daniel Agger, signed in 2006, is the perfect defensive superplayer. Despite him being quick, I could only fault him for not having the pace of someone like Micah Richards. But for a young centre-back, Agger has it all. He can defend on the deck and in the air, and he can take the ball into midfield and beyond; and if he doesn't run 50 yards with it, he can pass it there instead. He's also one of the few centre-backs who can score technically great goals with his feet, as seen against West Ham and Chelsea last season, while also scoring a few with his head.

I'm interested to see how Martin Skrtel, also aged 23, develops. He has the physical attributes –– pace, height and strength –– and has so far looked extremely assured on the ball, but without passing expansively like Agger.

Of course, you can't have an entire team of superplayers; they're just too rare. Much of the time it's about finding combinations to provide a balance. The combined assets of Alonso and Mascherano would make for a superplayer; all they lack is the ability to get a lot of goals. But in a side that contains Gerrard, Torres, Babel and either Kuyt or Benayoun, it's not a problem.

And there's one more Liverpool player I'd definitely put in the category, and a surprise inclusion given his position. For me, Pepe Reina is the ultimate modern goalkeeper. Perhaps a couple of inches shorter than would be ideal to be the complete ‘superkeeper', he has no apparent weaknesses to his game.

Reina's quickness off his line and his outstanding distribution mark him out as something more than just a goalkeeper; in an age when keepers can't pick up the ball, a good custodian can keep possession rather than hump hopeful balls upfield. He becomes the sweeper.

Lucas, who played very well against Newcastle, looks in the right mould, but at present it's hard to judge as he's new to England, and doesn't yet appear to have the physique to be the perfect all-rounder, despite a willingness to get stuck in and a good eye for a pass. Babel has the pace, skill, eye for goal and the perfect physique, but unlike Torres he hasn't got the natural aggression or defensive nous; that said, Benítez has been working on that side of his game, as that's what needs improving. He doesn't need to teach the Dutchman as much about how to attack, which comes instinctively.

Players like Torres, Gerrard and Babel are those you'd pay to watch; but you need players like Carragher, Mascherano and Kuyt to help those you'd pay to watch to shine by providing a solid platform.

I think there's a lot of guff spouted about players playing out of position. Any good centre-back should be able to play as a full-back or holding midfielder. Any good centre-forward should be able to play on the wing, as should any attacking central-midfielder. It doesn't mean it'd be their best position; that's another issue.

But the difference with the superplayer is that he can play ‘two steps removed' from his natural/optimal position. Torres would be a phenomenal right-back if he had a season there; of course, why would you want to do that? Meanwhile, I was at Villa Park and Anfield getting on for a decade ago when Gerrard had outstanding games at left-back and right-back respectively.

More than anything, it's when these superplayers combine that the whole can exceed the sum of already special parts. Part of the reason Liverpool are improving is that Torres and Gerrard, along with Babel, have built up an increasingly strong understanding after six months training and playing together.

Torres' header to Gerrard for the second goal against Newcastle was so simple, yet so deceptively brilliant: it was just right weight and angle for the captain to run onto; then came Gerrard's inch-perfect left-foot pass back to Torres who, like Pele in 1970, sent the keeper the wrong way without even touching the ball. Genius. It was a kind of recent perfection that, along with how they've linked with Babel, has mirrored the best of what Man United have offered with Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney.

All this means that Liverpool have a ‘superspine'. Reina, Agger, Gerrard and Torres are all what I've dubbed superplayers. And Carragher, Alonso and Mascherano, while not quite the all-rounders of the other four, are still top-class, and arguably world-class players.

All I hope is that now the new elements of the team are settled in, and with Agger nearing full fitness, the Reds can continue to go up a level. All of these superplayers are aged between 23 and 27, while Babel and Lucas are just 21 and perhaps capable of making the step up. Maybe in a year or two we'll be talking about a superteam.

Neurosupport in Liverpool

This week is Brain Awareness Week, with UK and worldwide events designed to raise awareness for neurological conditions and how they affect people. And Liverpool, with its Neurosupport facility in the city centre, has a fairly unique support system in place for people who suffer with such illnesses.

For many of the kinds of conditions covered, it's possible to look at a few of the great names at Liverpool Football Club and how they've been seriously affected.

Two of the very best –– Bob Paisley and Billy Liddel –– made their official Liverpool debuts on the same day in 1946, and in another coincidence, both ended their days suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Dementia (of which Alzheimer's is the most common type) affects as many as one in 20 people over the age of 65 and one in five people over the age of 80. In Liverpool, there are estimated to be as many as 7,000 people with dementia.

Recently there's been a lot of awareness raised by the excellent Ray of Hope campaign in aid of Parkinson's Disease, with Reds' legend Ray Kennedy the inspiration for both the campaign and for other sufferers.

Emlyn Hughes, arguably the club's greatest ever captain –– and almost certainly its most charismatic –– was diagnosed with brain cancer in August 2003 and passed away 15 months later, at the age of just 57. Each year in the UK about 4,400 people are diagnosed with brain and central nervous system tumours.

And in 2001/02 Markus Babbel was laid down with the potentially-deadly virus Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which kept him out of action for practically the whole season. Guillain-Barré syndrome is a nerve disorder. It is an acute and rapidly progressive inflammation of nerves that causes loss of sensation and muscle weakness. Babbel recovered, but not sufficiently to reach his previously impressive form.

And as someone who also suffers with a neurological condition (ME), it's an issue which is obviously close to my heart.

To quote Neurosupport directly, they “… Exist to provide non-medical advice to people with neurological conditions, their families, carers and friends. This can be anything from finding some jargon-free info in our extensive library to helping sufferers keep jobs and find jobs. We are a charity based in the centre of Liverpool and we help many hundreds of people every year. Neurological illnesses are largely ‘hidden' –– someone with Epilepsy, MS or ME does not often show outward physical symptoms –– and this can cause problems in the perception of often disabling conditions. We're here to help support such people and give them back the confidence to get back into life and work.”

by **stoney** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:17 am

He has a point with the 'superplayer'. Players that can play in other positions with no problem, bar Reina of course.

by **Emerald Red** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:29 am

Drogba and Lampard? How the fuck he deduced these two spoons as "superplayers" is beyond me!

by **The_Rock** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:20 am

Another incoherent and pointless article by thompkins......

What a bore fest...who needs sleeping tablets when you have thompkin's articles.....

Stupid thompkins....Always manipulating stats to suit his taste....

by **66-1112520797** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:24 am

I honestly think he was bored when he wrote that.

by **bigmick** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:32 am

Toffeehater wrote:It cannot be proved, and hence the tiresome tirades of anti-rotation theorists, but if Liverpool did lose ground in those two games Torres didn't start (Portsmouth and Birmingham), then equally you could argue with more logic (but again not conclusively prove it) that we are now seeing the best of Torres because he was sensibly introduced.

Rarely for me I broadly agree with the main body of the post, although as another poster pointed out, Tompkins does descend into the ridiculous somewhat with his inclusion of Lampard in the "super player" bracket. Gerrard I'm fairly certain would make a good centre half, we already know he's a world class right midfielder and probably right back as well, and obviously a superb central midfielder. I'm equally certain that good player though he is, Lampard would be much the best suited to playing only in his own position.

The "sensbile introduction" theory is a classic Tompkins straw clutch. I guess the sensible introduction was always going to include playing Torres in an away midweek tie in the Carling Cup where the entire Reading team took it in turns to kick him into row Z? No for me he and his cohorts would be worthy opf far more respect if they simply accepted that resting Torres at the stage we did, and in the case of Portsmouth at the grounds we did, was a mistake. He's not playing well because he only played the last half an hour instead of the first hour in two matches which took place the best part of six months ago. He's playing well because he's a great player who has got used to his surroundings and is playing with a partner who is on his wavelength.

No doubt somebody will come on here and say "so your saying we should play Torres in every single game then?" and of course I'm not. They'll know I'm not as well, but they'll say it anyway.

Anyway, that silliness and the silliness about lampard aside, I agree with Tompkins. Gerrard is a super player.

by **112-1077774096** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:45 am

i cant believe this guyhas written a book, he has some good points but then spoils them with his inability to find fault with the reds or rafa, in fact does he come on here with the login lando griffin

by **JC_81** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:47 am

Not sure I like the term 'superplayer' and I certainly don't agree with his classification of players like Lampard and even our own Dan Agger as 'superplayers', but I think it is fair to say that athleticism is far more important for footballers in the modern era.

It's simple really, a team of 6 foot plus athletes who are good footballers will always beat a team of just good footballers. In reality a player who has the athleticism to match his top class footballing talent is rare, therefore even the best teams only have 3 or 4 of these players.

Of course Tomkins also goes on to suggest that we could successfully convert Torres into a top class right back in one season. I don't necessarily agree with that.

by **Toffeehater** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 12:54 pm

peewee wrote:i cant believe this guyhas written a book, he has some good points but then spoils them with his inability to find fault with the reds or rafa, in fact does he come on here with the login lando griffin

He does have some points and yes i think he defends rafa too much , even when he's wrong

by **muzodziwa** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:38 pm

to be honest, thompkins has been overzealous with his analysis of players and frankly i do not subscribe to this "superplayer" view. I still long to see the Luis Garcias, not a superplayer but a superb play who against physical challenges he still gave us some memorable footballing experiences. Fabregas is not a superplayer, but arguably he is one of the best midfieders in the world. Lionel Messi is not a superplayer, he is a football genius despite the size and height limitations.

Ian Rush was no superplayer but was a prolific goal scorer, the list is endless, which brings me to really think what has been the point of the article. Liverpool does not need a group of superplayers but rather players who can function in a system to achieve. We do not need Torres on the wings because he is a superplayer, but rather he has football intelligence to switch to the wing as play dictates. I do not know if this is a veiled appreciation of the formation that rafa is using and an indirect implication that the problems we have been having are due to a lack of superplayers; if this is so then he fails miserably.

Abdulaye Faye fits the bill of a superplayer, but the reality on the pitch is embarassing, we can site a number of players who are super athletes but it ends there, super athletes and nothing more. Even everton which has a core of non superplayers have done well this season. A footballing mind is precious hence i will not tread monster masch or the pass master Alonso for a superplayer.

I once witnessed a singing contest where the judges selected a group of the most talented individuals and tried to mold them into a band; what a failure it was. We do not even need to look beyond our city take the beetles, there you have it synergy at its best. The Kolo Toures will not stay much in the history books of football even if there are superplayers, but players like Cara will be remembered for having won a European Championship, and yes even players like Fletcher will be remembere for having won the Premiership.

For me then, the mind behind the frame and the skill matters, I think Ryan is a naturally skilled footballer with pace but i think his mental frame currently lets him down which may be improved since he is young; in the same vein i think what differentiates Torres from Berbatov is not that he is so much more skilled or him from Cisse is not the pace but rather his mentality. A young man who has been scoring 14 goals a season in Spain now nearing 30 in England is a case to ponder. His physical attributes have not changed much but rather i think his mental prowess has made it easier to adapt to a new playing environment.

As much as i enjoy Mr Thompkins articles i think this is at best mediocre.

by **Effes** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 3:16 pm

The fella bores me sh!tless - I'd rather read BigMick, less of a ramble (but still a ramble)

by **112-1077774096** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 3:18 pm

Effes wrote:The fella bores me sh!tless - I'd rather read BigMick, less of a ramble (but still a ramble)

yeah you can walk 20 miles or 15 miles, either way you are still knackered

by **The Kid Torres** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 3:25 pm

I usually agree with Tomkins' views but I thought his latest 'superplayer' ramble was, well, exactly that!

I could understand the points he was making but he didn't half make it difficult!

by **taff** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:46 pm

If Im being negative then Gerrard as a superplayer is a problem as he does not have the tactical awareness that other players possess but makes up for this by being super. And Tomkins ignores the fact that its mental weakness that is our main problem and who is our captain.

Ok we have great players and therefore we should be higher up in the league but we are not and why, for me when we win the league we will be like Man Utd in 93 with a weight off our shoulders and will probably win it again the following season but until then I just wish that Tomkins would just once look at the negative things and suggest answers to our problems

by **Toffeehater** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:09 am

taff wrote:If Im being negative then Gerrard as a superplayer is a problem as he does not have the tactical awareness that other players possess but makes up for this by being super. And Tomkins ignores the fact that its mental weakness that is our main problem and who is our captain.

Ok we have great players and therefore we should be higher up in the league but we are not and why, for me when we win the league we will be like Man Utd in 93 with a weight off our shoulders and will probably win it again the following season but until then I just wish that Tomkins would just once look at the negative things and suggest answers to our problems

He's paid to wrtie these stuff , why would he write negative stuff lols . Rose tinted specs

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