Liverpool FC Forum

[Ben Patrick]

If he is out for the whole Christmas period then it's a worry.

People can say he didnt perform in certain games and he may struggle with certain aspects of the game these days.
But this season we have been a massive threat from set pieces because of him and losing that element alone is a huge blow for me.

[devaney]

If he is out for the whole Christmas period then it's a worry.

People can say he didnt perform in certain games and he may struggle with certain aspects of the game these days.
But this season we have been a massive threat from set pieces because of him and losing that element alone is a huge blow for me.

Most assists in the Premiership I think or very close. It will be interesting to see how we cope and how BR deals with the situation. More important than ever though we must have a greater success rate in the transfer market.

[red till i die!!]

even with gerrard in the side we were totally outplayed by arsenal`s and everton`s midfield and infact he was partly at fault for goals in both of those games when he let cazorla run off him and didnt pick up mirallas. that big game player you are talking about isnt there any more i`m afraid.[/quote]

gerrard is not the player he was a few years ago, i know that.
we can argue all day about players who have made mistakes and cost us goals and gerrard is far from the worst in that department.
not one of our other midfield players has come close to him this season for goals or assists, even in terms of chances created he outshines our most creative player in coutinho.
as i said he isnt the player he was but he is still a big player in this team.

[Kenny Kan]

Here we go, captain out for 6 weeks!

SS and RBG will undoubtedly see our midfield improve now. 

[maypaxvobiscum]

He'll be missed.  He's nowhere as good as he was but that's life. Despite that, he's better than any of our midfielders bar Coutinho, which highlights his importance to the team, and the weakness of our other midfielders. I wonder, would any of you in such circumstances, bring Suso back as his short-term replacement?

[supersub]

Here we go, captain out for 6 weeks!

SS and RBG will undoubtedly see our midfield improve now. 

certainly will and it's lucky we have 3 really big away games that we can possibly pick up points from now; would have definitely lost the battle in midfield against Spurs, man city and Chelsea if Stevie G was playing.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

If he is out for the whole Christmas period then it's a worry.

People can say he didnt perform in certain games and he may struggle with certain aspects of the game these days.
But this season we have been a massive threat from set pieces because of him and losing that element alone is a huge blow for me.

set pieces arent enough to justify someone`s place in the heart of our midfield imo.
everton showed yesterday what happens when your midfield is good enough to go toe to toe with the best in the division, at home arsenal have been running rings around teams (including us) but those same players that took the p!$$ out of our midfield like cazorla, ramsey and arteta looked rattled by the strong running of barkley and the industry of mccarthy and co.
players like cazorla and ramsey dont look that impressive when they are forced onto the back foot, defending is not their natural game.
we need to put together a midfield that can go to the likes of the emirates and etihad and do just that.

[SouthCoastShankly]

Here we go, captain out for 6 weeks!

SS and RBG will undoubtedly see our midfield improve now. 

6 weeks?

Not seen any news yet on the prognosis

[Ben Patrick]

Yakka set pieces arent the be all and end all no but if we are scoring so many goals from them they can change games.
What we would give for a goal from a set piece in any 3 of those tricky away games we have coming up.
I also dont believe personally that Gerrard is as finished in the legs department as what most are making out.
I think the fact that he had Lucas next to him in the Arsenal game didnt help.
Allen for me offers far more with his movement and is quicker when pressing as well.

[stmichael]

Big loss but exciting at the same time to see how we get on without him. Now we will see what the team, "going forward" is going to look like.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Yakka set pieces arent the be all and end all no but if we are scoring so many goals from them they can change games.
What we would give for a goal from a set piece in any 3 of those tricky away games we have coming up.
I also dont believe personally that Gerrard is as finished in the legs department as what most are making out.
I think the fact that he had Lucas next to him in the Arsenal game didnt help.
Allen for me offers far more with his movement and is quicker when pressing as well.

gerrard cant play the type of pressing game that rodgers has wanted us to play since he arrived, a midfield of lucas, hendo and allen isnt the answer either because the one thing that forced arsenals much heralded midfield onto the back foot was barkleys ability to pick the ball up an run at players, i think what is clear is that the answer to our midfield problems isnt currently at the club.
when i say gerrard isnt good enough these days doesnt mean i think hendo, lucas and allen are, but at the very least those 3 may make it difficult for the opposition by pressing high up the pitch and not giving them the time and space to pick passes at will which is what happened when we played arsenal and everton.
with gerrard in the team our away form has been awful anyway, we have won just 2 away games all season and they were back in september, we havent won an away game for nearly 3 months
if we had been playing great away from home with gerrard in the side i could understand people being concerned about his absence but the fact is we havent been playing well, infact looking at the way we clung on for dear life against swansea, the way everton and arsenals midfield had us on the back foot, the way we had to scramble to earn a draw against a newcastle side down to 10 men from halfway through the first half and the debacle at hull, maybe it`s high time we tried to do something different away from home because what we have been doing clearly isnt working.

[Stu the Red]

maybe it`s high time we tried to do something different away from home because what we have been doing clearly isnt working.

Very fair point, but the something different shouldn't have been taking out one of your best players. You only seem to see the game one way most of the time banging on about pressing and massive holes left by our midfield.... your point about putting players like Ramsey etc on the back foot is exactly my point, who is more likely to put them on their back foot?

Can tell you now, Lucas and Henderson certainly don't. If anything, they contribute massively to us being on the back foot.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

maybe it`s high time we tried to do something different away from home because what we have been doing clearly isnt working.

Very fair point, but the something different shouldn't have been taking out one of your best players. You only seem to see the game one way most of the time banging on about pressing and massive holes left by our midfield.... your point about putting players like Ramsey etc on the back foot is exactly my point, who is more likely to put them on their back foot?

Can tell you now, Lucas and Henderson certainly don't. If anything, they contribute massively to us being on the back foot.

but gerrard cant these days either, thats the point, if all else fails the least we can do is graft our @rses off and try to outwork and over run better teams just like what hull did to us. i think thats what we are reduced to now because we just dont have the quality in the middle of the park to take the better teams on toe to toe. whenever we try to take them on toe to toe we`ve been outclassed. i`m not confident that going down the hard graft route will work either but at least lets try it because what we have been doing away from home isnt working and hasnt been working for 3 months.
january cant come soon enough imo, we are desperate for a quality CM.

[Stu the Red]

maybe it`s high time we tried to do something different away from home because what we have been doing clearly isnt working.

Very fair point, but the something different shouldn't have been taking out one of your best players. You only seem to see the game one way most of the time banging on about pressing and massive holes left by our midfield.... your point about putting players like Ramsey etc on the back foot is exactly my point, who is more likely to put them on their back foot?

Can tell you now, Lucas and Henderson certainly don't. If anything, they contribute massively to us being on the back foot.

but gerrard cant these days either, thats the point, if all else fails the least we can do is graft our @rses off and try to outwork and over run better teams just like what hull did to us. i think thats what we are reduced to now because we just dont have the quality in the middle of the park to take the better teams on toe to toe. whenever we try to take them on toe to toe we`ve been outclassed. i`m not confident that going down the hard graft route will work either but at least lets try it because what we have been doing away from home isnt working and hasnt been working for 3 months.
january cant come soon enough imo, we are desperate for a quality CM.

Lucas especially doesn't ever run past the opposition midfielders. When does he ever make an opposing midfielder turn their back on our goal? He never passes a ball in behind the opposition midfield with any purpose either. Gerrard does. Simple as that. His passes lead to goals, his movement leads space being opened up. Gerrard is not as bad as you make out. Playing next to Allen in the last two games proved it. I'd say we outworked West Ham the other day and both midfielders contributed to it, Allen looked after himself which in turn allowed Gerrard to do the same and it worked.

I agree we need a top class midfielder. Even a Cabaye type would be a massive improvement (for what its worth I wouldn't mind him and Tiote) but your posts seem to insist that Gerrard is no longer good enough to play regularly and that's something that I think is incorrect still. Granted he isn't getting any better, but I think at the moment, he's the best we have so he has to stay in there.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Stu the Red

Lucas especially doesn't ever run past the opposition midfielders. When does he ever make an opposing midfielder turn their back on our goal? He never passes a ball in behind the opposition midfield with any purpose either. Gerrard does. Simple as that. His passes lead to goals, his movement leads space being opened up. Gerrard is not as bad as you make out. Playing next to Allen in the last two games proved it. I'd say we outworked West Ham the other day and both midfielders contributed to it, Allen looked after himself which in turn allowed Gerrard to do the same and it worked.

I agree we need a top class midfielder. Even a Cabaye type would be a massive improvement (for what its worth I wouldn't mind him and Tiote) but your posts seem to insist that Gerrard is no longer good enough to play regularly and that's something that I think is incorrect still. Granted he isn't getting any better, but I think at the moment, he's the best we have so he has to stay in there.

there`s probably a place in midfield for gerrard at home against the weaker sides but he isnt athletic enough anymore to play the high intensity, high up the pitch pressing game that we need to use if we are to get anything at all when we travel to the likes of white hart lane, the etihad and stamford bridge.
if we sit back and invite pressure onto ourselves we will eventually concede, this defence that we have now isnt the carragher/hyypia/finnan/riise back four that could go to hostile grounds and absorb pressure from the first minute to the last without giving up a goal.
i honestly believe our only chance of getting a result away against the likes of spurs, city and chelsea is trying to outwork them, i cant see us outplaying them with the midfield we have now.
gerrard or no gerrard if we get 3 points from those 3 games i`ll be amazed given our form against the better teams under rodgers and our away form in general this season.