Liverpool FC Forum

by **Sabre** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:06 pm

Bad_Bob wrote:Anyway, this all a slight tangent from the original question. As far as Gerrard's best position, I like him just where he is at the moment because he can get the best out of Torres while also offering a hell of an attacking threat himself. There's no better strike partnership in the league.

Spot on your post.

As for the last bit, I havea comment about his current position, call me a purist, or nitpicker, but I don't like the "second striker" name for the role Gerrard plays. Sure, he has more freedom to enter the box, sure, he does a partnership with Torres, but in top games, his role is also about coming to the middle and creating superiority in numbers. I preffer to call his role attacking midfielder, because a second striker as I know them have not many of the tasks Gerrard fulfills in this team, we can easily see Gerrard doing a crunching tackle near our box!

by **loopyliverpool** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:14 pm

He can play pretty much anywhere but is effecting games as much now as at any time in his career and is playing a kind of free roaming attacking midfield role so, I would concur with all that say that is his best position. However, when he was asked to play in a similar role for England he categorically said that this was not his position and he was ineffective. It seems to work for us though!

by **Bad Bob** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:15 pm

Sabre wrote:
Bad_Bob wrote:Anyway, this all a slight tangent from the original question. As far as Gerrard's best position, I like him just where he is at the moment because he can get the best out of Torres while also offering a hell of an attacking threat himself. There's no better strike partnership in the league.

Spot on your post.

As for the last bit, I havea comment about his current position, call me a purist, or nitpicker, but I don't like the "second striker" name for the role Gerrard plays. Sure, he has more freedom to enter the box, sure, he does a partnership with Torres, but in top games, his role is also about coming to the middle and creating superiority in numbers. I preffer to call his role attacking midfielder, because a second striker as I know them have not many of the tasks Gerrard fulfills in this team, we can easily see Gerrard doing a crunching tackle near our box!

Fair enough, mate. I called Gerrard a second striker just to be a bit provocative because, just as he does do things that other "in the hole" strikers don't do (like tackling!

), he also is more than just a midfielder at this stage. I read on footy 365 yesterday that the idea of calling Gerrard a midfielder is as problematic as calling Ronaldo a winger, and I agree. I think Gerrard's current position is a little bit of both and thus defies a conventional label. Don't give a monkey's what we call it, though, I just love seeing him in that role! :nod

by **Sabre** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:19 pm

Ah, we agree there, I love him in the position.

And you're probably right that how we name things is not that important (cue a debate on deep lying playmaker vs holding mid)

by **stmichael** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:25 pm

Nice to hear Redknapp after the game, finally admitting that Gerrard is now a forward. Yeah great observation fully two years after all the fans realised it. :lookaround

by **heimdall** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:26 pm

The current setup is perfect, just imagine if we had someone like Riera (of the last few games) on the right, now that would be fecking scary. :buttrock

by **Sabre** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:28 pm

stmichael wrote:Nice to hear Redknapp after the game, finally admitting that Gerrard is now a forward. Yeah great observation fully two years after all the fans realised it.

Almost all fans

by **account deleted by request** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:32 pm

I think that Gerrards role has changed slightly from the one he played in the second half of last season. Gerrard is playing slightly more advanced now, and is certainly not dropping back as much as he did last season. Torres last season tended to become isolated against good sides , this season he still has Gerrard creating space behind and alongside him. Gerrard is no longer trying to fullfil two roles but is concentrating more on the attacking aspects, and we are playing better for it.

Against sides that park the bus I think we may find that we still need more creativity than even Gerrard and Torres can supply though. Which is why I would like Rafa to concentrate on creative attacking players rather than any other areas in the summer.

by **Salty Sock** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:03 pm

I wouldn't surprising if Gerrard was GK and had a clean sheet

by **stmichael** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:26 pm

s@int wrote:I think that Gerrards role has changed slightly from the one he played in the second half of last season. Gerrard is playing slightly more advanced now, and is certainly not dropping back as much as he did last season. Torres last season tended to become isolated against good sides , this season he still has Gerrard creating space behind and alongside him. Gerrard is no longer trying to fullfil two roles but is concentrating more on the attacking aspects, and we are playing better for it.

Against sides that park the bus I think we may find that we still need more creativity than even Gerrard and Torres can supply though. Which is why I would like Rafa to concentrate on creative attacking players rather than any other areas in the summer.

Yeah I'd agree.

The bottom line is we played with more width against Villa. Riera was playing like a proper winger and hugging the touchline (which he hadn't been in recent games), whilst Kuyt also kept a decent shape.

Whatever the tactics, we're playing with more urgency, ie. at a higher tempo. I think Rafa's realised that after the Boro game we had nothing to lose by adopting a win or bust mentality. And what dividends it's paying off.

by **Scottbot** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:49 pm

Bad Bob wrote:
Sabre wrote:
Bad_Bob wrote:Anyway, this all a slight tangent from the original question. As far as Gerrard's best position, I like him just where he is at the moment because he can get the best out of Torres while also offering a hell of an attacking threat himself. There's no better strike partnership in the league.

Spot on your post.

As for the last bit, I havea comment about his current position, call me a purist, or nitpicker, but I don't like the "second striker" name for the role Gerrard plays. Sure, he has more freedom to enter the box, sure, he does a partnership with Torres, but in top games, his role is also about coming to the middle and creating superiority in numbers. I preffer to call his role attacking midfielder, because a second striker as I know them have not many of the tasks Gerrard fulfills in this team, we can easily see Gerrard doing a crunching tackle near our box!

Fair enough, mate. I called Gerrard a second striker just to be a bit provocative because, just as he does do things that other "in the hole" strikers don't do (like tackling! ), he also is more than just a midfielder at this stage. I read on footy 365 yesterday that the idea of calling Gerrard a midfielder is as problematic as calling Ronaldo a winger, and I agree. I think Gerrard's current position is a little bit of both and thus defies a conventional label. Don't give a monkey's what we call it, though, I just love seeing him in that role!

Must admit i do not view him as a forward or 2nd striler either, I think i will always see him as a midfielder. Not sure which pundit said it at the weekend but they said Gerrard "was unique in his position" and they were spot on with that assessment. Typically, your Deco's, Arshavin's and Aimar's play this position, very subtle players with trickery, vision and guille. Gerrard doesn't really fit into this category, he's blessed with som many sterotypical English qualities, he's big, strong, powerful, dynamic and anything but subtle. As we know he's INCREDIBLY versatile, I wasn't convinced the role he is playing right now (and for the latter part of last season) would be the right spot for him in the long run, the united game at Trafford last season (where he was completely marginalised out of the game) raised suspicions for me BUT he has got better and better at the role. The MOTD team have done a really good job this year with their analysis, highlighting Gerrard's (improving) ability to drift into space, receive the ball, face-up and make things happen. He's got better and better at this tactical aspect of the game and allie this to the fact he is quite unlike anyone else playing the position in world football he's a real headache to any opposing team/manager.

by **Scottbot** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:51 pm

s@int wrote:Against sides that park the bus I think we may find that we still need more creativity than even Gerrard and Torres can supply though. Which is why I would like Rafa to concentrate on creative attacking players rather than any other areas in the summer.

Agree on this.Anyone see Arshavin's last couple of games for Arseanl

£10 million they paid for him, am still gutted.

by **GYBS** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:59 pm

wasnt it 15 mil they paid for him ? yeah gutted as well - we could of got him instead of keane

by **Bad Bob** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:59 pm

Scottbot wrote:
Bad Bob wrote:
Sabre wrote:
Bad_Bob wrote:Anyway, this all a slight tangent from the original question. As far as Gerrard's best position, I like him just where he is at the moment because he can get the best out of Torres while also offering a hell of an attacking threat himself. There's no better strike partnership in the league.

Spot on your post.

As for the last bit, I havea comment about his current position, call me a purist, or nitpicker, but I don't like the "second striker" name for the role Gerrard plays. Sure, he has more freedom to enter the box, sure, he does a partnership with Torres, but in top games, his role is also about coming to the middle and creating superiority in numbers. I preffer to call his role attacking midfielder, because a second striker as I know them have not many of the tasks Gerrard fulfills in this team, we can easily see Gerrard doing a crunching tackle near our box!

Fair enough, mate. I called Gerrard a second striker just to be a bit provocative because, just as he does do things that other "in the hole" strikers don't do (like tackling! ), he also is more than just a midfielder at this stage. I read on footy 365 yesterday that the idea of calling Gerrard a midfielder is as problematic as calling Ronaldo a winger, and I agree. I think Gerrard's current position is a little bit of both and thus defies a conventional label. Don't give a monkey's what we call it, though, I just love seeing him in that role!

Must admit i do not view him as a forward or 2nd striler either. Not sure which pundit said it at the weekend but they said Gerrard "was unique in his position" and they were spot on with that assessment. Typically, your Deco's, Arshavin's and Aimar's play this position, very subtle players with trickery, vision and guille. Gerrard doesn't really fit into this category, he's blessed with som many sterotypical English qualities, he's big, strong, powerful, dynamic and anything but subtle. As we know he's INCREDIBLY versatile, I wasn't convinced the role he is playing right now (and for the latter part of last season) would be the right spot for him in the long run, the united game at Trafford (where he was completely marginalised out of the game) raised suspicions for me BUT he has got better and better at the role. The MOTD team have done a really good job this year with their analysis, highlighting Gerrard's (improving) ability to drift into space, receive the ball, face-up and make things happen. He's got better and better at this tactical aspect of the game and allie this to the fact he is quite unlike anyone else playing the position in world football he's a real headache to any opposing team/manager.

Definitely agree, mate, that Gerrard's a singular footballer that plays the role in a completely different way to the classic No. 10 or ACM. I think S@int's point about his effectiveness being better neutralized by the park-the-bussers is spot on and is linked to this issue. Gerrard thrives when there is space to exploit and his best work in this position often comes on the counter attack, where he and Torres can run the channels and play each other in with intelligent balls into space. He's also devastating when we get the ball in advanced wide positions because he's so adept at checking his run outside the box and lulling his marker to sleep before bursting into the area to latch onto a cross, cut-back or knockdown. So, if there's space to exploit he's very effective. With the park-the-bussers it all gets a bit too congested in there and that's where someone like an Aimar or Riquelme are much more effective. You can see Stevie looking to play intricate, deft little one-twos at the edge of the box but they rarely come off. Maybe with more practice, he'll perfect that aspect of his game too but it's not quite there for him yet. If we can't bring in a top drawer creative No. 10 or jinky winger this window, I'd love us to experiment a bit more with Gerrard interchanging with Benayoun against the park-the-bussers: Stevie drifting out wide on the right and Benayoun moving central to operate in the tight quarters around the "D". I think Gerrard could be counted on to make incisive runs from wide in that situation or, alternatively, to hug the touchline and put some dangerous crosses into the box.

by **Scottbot** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 5:37 pm

Good post mate. I think quite of few of us would love to see Stevie swith to the right hand at times this season, even if the switch took place mid-game to give the opposition a bit of a curve-ball. Spot on with his ability out wide, he always shapes to cross and then cuts inside, everyone knows he is gonna do it but it is so effective it works everytime.

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Stevie gerrard's best position?

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