Liverpool FC Forum

Kerry07 wrote:

Sir Roger wrote:

Kerry07 wrote:Gerrards comments on Alonso (whom the diabolical lucas has directly filled in for)

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=693666&cc=5739


Gerrard 'devastated' by Alonso exit


Steven Gerrard was "devastated'' when Xabi Alonso left Liverpool and believes the club's current troubles are evidence of the size of the hole Alonso has left in Rafael Benitez's engine room.

Liverpool captain Gerrard, who is currently injured, forged a good understanding with Alonso in midfield and paid him perhaps the biggest compliment by suggesting Alonso's absence has been the "difference in us from last year".

Alonso moved on to Real Madrid in the summer, since when Liverpool have struggled for form in the Premier League and Champions League. It was a move which hit Gerrard hard.

"Devastated, yeah. Devastated. But there was nothing I could do about it,'' he told FourFourTwo magazine. "Xabi said a long time ago that he wanted another chapter in his career and finally he got it and his team-mates and the coaches couldn't stand in his way. We just have to say thanks and move forward without him.''

Liverpool recouped around £30million for 27-year-old Alonso, and spent most of that on bringing replacement Alberto Aquilani to Anfield from Roma. Aquilani missed the first two months of the season due to injury and Liverpool have already lost seven matches.

Gerrard knew it would take Liverpool time to adapt to life without Alonso, who in a deep-lying playmaker role had a vital duty in Benitez's team.

Gerrard said: "It's always going to be different when you lose one of the best players in the world - and people are finally realising that's what he is, on the back of his form for Real Madrid and the difference in us from last year.

"We've got other midfielders here doing a good job but it will take a while before Alonso's out of our system because he was such a top player.''




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Top players such as Gerrard know when a team has been weakened and aint good enough. When players see their team being weakened as happened with the downgrade of lucas coming in directly for Alonso, it leaves them disillusioned... with a "where is this team going"?? mentality. All control that we used to have in midfield with Alonso has gone... its a bag of nerves in there, pinball...loose as f*ck, hence now gets dominated routinely.

Gerrard (and wide men such as kuyt, Benayoun) - no longer get the service from Alonso, the 30 yard plus passes straight to feet that cut through the opposition, that make creating easier... thats all gone, hence Gerrard is more isolated in not getting decent service.... and is depressed as a result.

Gerrard obviously cant see what Rafa sees
Thats why Rafas the manager and he isnt

Rafa obviously cant see what Gerrard sees.

Thats why Gerrard is a player and Rafa aint ever.

Make Gerrard the manager then!

Kerry07 wrote:Gerrards comments on Alonso (whom the diabolical lucas has directly filled in for)

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=693666&cc=5739


Gerrard 'devastated' by Alonso exit


Steven Gerrard was "devastated'' when Xabi Alonso left Liverpool and believes the club's current troubles are evidence of the size of the hole Alonso has left in Rafael Benitez's engine room.

Liverpool captain Gerrard, who is currently injured, forged a good understanding with Alonso in midfield and paid him perhaps the biggest compliment by suggesting Alonso's absence has been the "difference in us from last year".

Alonso moved on to Real Madrid in the summer, since when Liverpool have struggled for form in the Premier League and Champions League. It was a move which hit Gerrard hard.

"Devastated, yeah. Devastated. But there was nothing I could do about it,'' he told FourFourTwo magazine. "Xabi said a long time ago that he wanted another chapter in his career and finally he got it and his team-mates and the coaches couldn't stand in his way. We just have to say thanks and move forward without him.''

Liverpool recouped around £30million for 27-year-old Alonso, and spent most of that on bringing replacement Alberto Aquilani to Anfield from Roma. Aquilani missed the first two months of the season due to injury and Liverpool have already lost seven matches.

Gerrard knew it would take Liverpool time to adapt to life without Alonso, who in a deep-lying playmaker role had a vital duty in Benitez's team.

Gerrard said: "It's always going to be different when you lose one of the best players in the world - and people are finally realising that's what he is, on the back of his form for Real Madrid and the difference in us from last year.

"We've got other midfielders here doing a good job but it will take a while before Alonso's out of our system because he was such a top player.''




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Top players such as Gerrard know when a team has been weakened and aint good enough. When players see their team being weakened as happened with the downgrade of lucas coming in directly for Alonso, it leaves them disillusioned... with a "where is this team going"?? mentality. All control that we used to have in midfield with Alonso has gone... its a bag of nerves in there, pinball...loose as f*ck, hence now gets dominated routinely.

Gerrard (and wide men such as kuyt, Benayoun) - no longer get the service from Alonso, the 30 yard plus passes straight to feet that cut through the opposition, that make creating easier... thats all gone, hence Gerrard is more isolated in not getting decent service.... and is depressed as a result.

Fauxy wrote:Right, time to defend Lucas!

He may not be good enough for liverpool.. not now not ever. But he is working his brazilian @ss off and has been doing so in the past 4 or 5 games. If half of our team put in as much effort as this lad we would probably be fifth.

Today he had the responsibility of going forward. Something which he does not usually do, but he still tried hard and got a few shots away.

roberto green wrote:

Fauxy wrote:Right, time to defend Lucas!

He may not be good enough for liverpool.. not now not ever. But he is working his brazilian @ss off and has been doing so in the past 4 or 5 games. If half of our team put in as much effort as this lad we would probably be fifth.

Today he had the responsibility of going forward. Something which he does not usually do, but he still tried hard and got a few shots away.

Good post, he was actaully good today but will never be good enough for us.

made in UK wrote:

roberto green wrote:

Fauxy wrote:Right, time to defend Lucas!

He may not be good enough for liverpool.. not now not ever. But he is working his brazilian @ss off and has been doing so in the past 4 or 5 games. If half of our team put in as much effort as this lad we would probably be fifth.

Today he had the responsibility of going forward. Something which he does not usually do, but he still tried hard and got a few shots away.

Good post, he was actaully good today but will never be good enough for us.

I think you are a bit of a walking contradiction.

One minute you Rate Rafa the next you don't, Lucas played well to day but isn't good enough for us?

Sorry I didn't mean to write it like that I meant he had a good game today but as an over all player consistently will never be good enough for us especially against bigger teams where he looks especially out of his depth.

Rafa yes it appears like I do contradict myself as I said after the Reading match (in the heat of the sh!t I had just seen)he should go but 24 hours later I had calmed down and said we need to back him to the end of the season.


So there

Dundalk wrote:Was brilliant today and our best player in the middle of the park. For all the stick he got he has to be commended for how he took it all and kept his head down. You can forget about dropping him for Aquaman.

You gotta be kidding me mate !

Why would we do that ? Because of the great results while hes been in the side ? Because of his outstanding performances this season ? Does he have more quality than Aquilani ? Better at creating attacking moves and controlling the tempo ?

If anything, we should be putting Aquilani in there to try and get him accustomed to the pace and physicality of the league as soon as possible.. TBH i thought the game against Stoke would have been a good opportunity for Rafa to play him in a more advanced role where he'd be somewhat freed of the defensive duties and given the opportunity to express himself.. Imo we'll definitely need him playing to somewhere near his best towards the end of the season when we start seriously battling it out for 4th spot..

Lucas for me is a squad player.. Has had some good games but has mostly been ineffective in the side.. Havent seen the game today so i cant comment but if he had a good game then credit where its due... On all prior evidence though, it still doesnt mean to me that we should be dropping our 20mill creative central midfield despite Lucas having a good game with no end product to show for..

Dundalk wrote:Ace like it or lump it Lucas has been one of our better performers this season. Im not saying Aqualini shouldn't be in the side, far from it, but what I am saying is that Lucas shouldn't be out of it. I don't think Lucas deserves to be dropped, some of the performances by some of the players have been shocking this season. Lucas has grown into his position and he is in my opinion, one of only a handful of players in our squad who can hold his head up a bit this season

i get what your saying Double Ds, i just dont agree with it 

Thing is, him not being dropped means that one of Mascherano, Aquilani or Gerrard will need to be dropped to accomodate him in the side..

Defensively, Mascherano even on a bad day offers more than the other 3 combined.. Read a statistic the other day where he was top of the tackles made and % of tackle success in the league by quite some distance .. Lucas on the other hand leads the tackles LOST statistics and barely misses out on the fouls conceeded top5 . For me, Lucas doesnt offer that much in terms of defensive assurance (our defensive record speaks for itself) and the fact that he gives away as many freekicks in dangerous areas as he does just goes on to compound the prroblem given our problems with setpieces .

The other spot in the midfield pairing for me has to go to someone who has the passing range and creativity to successfully get the ball through to the attacking players who can provide an impact in the final third... In our side atm, Gerrard seems to be the player best capable of doing so. However, given the fact that Gerrard has done so well in his new role as a second striker, i'd understand the manager's reluctance to put him back there when everyone is fit and ready. Which brings us to our 20mill summer buy. Passing range and creativity are his main strengths.. [He's also good at carrying the ball when given space and provides a goal threat with his long range efforts (yet to show both for Liverpool)].. Lucas to me fails miserably when asked to do this role .. He doesnt have the quality to control thee tempo of the game. Doesnt have the passing ability, range, or creativity to find the attacking players unless they come very deep to recieve the ball, and is simply very average in every other attacking aspect and offers nothing besides hard work to compensate for his shortcomings.
I think his presence in the side has been a MAJOR factor contributing to our poor form this season and while i do commend his work ethic and him trying his best for the club, i truly think that his obvious lack of quality given the position he plays makes him the first name on the team sheet that I'd be looking to replace given the side's inability to control the midfield or dictate the tempo even against much lesser opposition...

Kerry07 wrote:Outclassed by Wolves midfield.

He literally HID tonight.....LITERALLY.

Wheras Xabi would come deep and DEMAND the ball off the defence (so avoiding HOOFBALL) then start an attack by pinging it 30/40 yards to an attacking player.... Lucas hid as usual, so there was no one in midfield taking the ball off Carra and co hence they are playing HOOOOOOOFBALL = which in turn means we have no control of the game, lose possession, it becomes a lottery...the midfield is missing.

Lucas Leiva...PLAYED 30, 1 ASSIST, 0 GOALS... and no passing range.


Until we REPLACE Alonso...the midfield will continue to handicap us. You cannot function with a p*ssweak central midfield and a passenger in Lucas (who expected to be sold back to brasil in the Summer) who contributes nothing. This single downgrade has been "devastating"

Sir Roger wrote:

Kerry07 wrote:Outclassed by Wolves midfield.

He literally HID tonight.....LITERALLY.

Wheras Xabi would come deep and DEMAND the ball off the defence (so avoiding HOOFBALL) then start an attack by pinging it 30/40 yards to an attacking player.... Lucas hid as usual, so there was no one in midfield taking the ball off Carra and co hence they are playing HOOOOOOOFBALL = which in turn means we have no control of the game, lose possession, it becomes a lottery...the midfield is missing.

Lucas Leiva...PLAYED 30, 1 ASSIST, 0 GOALS... and no passing range.


Until we REPLACE Alonso...the midfield will continue to handicap us. You cannot function with a p*ssweak central midfield and a passenger in Lucas (who expected to be sold back to brasil in the Summer) who contributes nothing. This single downgrade has been "devastating"

Aquilani wants the ball