Liverpool FC Forum

[L-type]

I love how a few weeks back everyone wanted raffa's head, now everyone is defending him tooth and nail, and are willing to throw away our most talented player.  I agree that he should be offloaded, we play better without him, and we need the money to reshape th team

[112-1077774096]

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard has put a downer on things ahead of tonight's match by saying that the club has little chance of winning the Champions League.

Although he could be right, we'd expect a more positive attitude from the skipper at least until after the match is out of the way.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Gerrard said: "Let's be realistic, there are some fantastic teams left in the Champions League. We are just going to try to stay in as long as possible but we realise that maybe it is not our year this year."

The Liverpool skipper has gone on record numerous times saying how important it is for him to play in the Champions League so the club will be hoping to make progress in the hope of persuading him to stay at Anfield.

Gerrard added: "It's big couple of months for Liverpool. We're fighting for the fourth spot for the Champions League for next season but we are still involved in two cup competitions, which are very important.

"We are confident we can upset Chelsea in the Carling Cup final and get to the last eight of the Champions League because, financially, it is big for the club and, personally for myself, it is very good."

i can see positives here but everyone seems to pick out the negatives.

"not OUR year this year"

"It's big couple of months for Liverpool. We're fighting for the fourth spot for the Champions League for next season"

"it is big for the club and, personally for myself, it is very good."

all these steer me towards him expecting himself to be at liverpool next season. a guy resigned to leaving would talk differently

[akumaface]

Is it just a coincidence that our team played admirably after SG stated his comment or when SG is absent. Maybe the rest of the team didn't get their fair share of the credit because whenever we win, people or the press would say it was SG who wins it for us. I guess maybe some players are fed up with this and just want to get some recognition and shown the world we could do without SG. Anyway, SG's comment showed me he has no brain or whatsoever. Let's skin Chelski or Real Madrid as i think we could benefit more for selling him. I think this is probably the best tiime to sell since SG is not getting any younger and I'm certain he will look bad in other team because he no longer is "the man". Good luck though.

[anfieldadorer]

peewee

i can see positives here but everyone seems to pick out the negatives.

"not OUR year this year"

"It's big couple of months for Liverpool. We're fighting for the fourth spot for the Champions League for next season"

"it is big for the club and, personally for myself, it is very good."

all these steer me towards him expecting himself to be at liverpool next season. a guy resigned to leaving would talk differently

In a different perception, you are correct, peewee.

It's also good that we won the game, if SG is intentionally meant his comment to hope for this result; then -being positive, he's a christ, he sacrificed himself for others' good (assuming fans now have a lesser respect for him after his comment).

But what if we had lost? would he be saying: "see?". Moreover, There will probably be sticky marks inside particular -if not all, players' mind that:
"Stevie was right, we are beyond the level required to get through the higher stages of CL"
"Win-or-lose of Liverpool depends on play-or-not gerrard"

[112-1077774096]

there seems to be a lot of abuse of gerrard at the moment, lets put things in perspective.

1. he could have left already but he is still here
2. at no point has he actually said that he wishes to leave liverpool
3. he constantly says he wants to win things with liverpool
4. he always puts in 100% effort even if some of his performances have been below par lately

until he actually says he wants to leave and we actually hear it from his own mouth then lets just enjoy having him play for us

[Alanay]

I don't like the idea of building the squad around him. As if without him, there is no Liverpool team. After all, may be that's the blunder. We should build a squad around everybody so that all of them are willing to give 110%.

[112-1077774096]

I don't like the idea of building the squad around him. As if without him, there is no Liverpool team. After all, may be that's the blunder. We should build a squad around everybody so that all of them are willing to give 110%.

can you actually build a squad around a squad??   

[Bruno Zidane!]

Fancy being one of the players playing last night and knowing that you havent even got the captain backin that your not good enough to win it, he should have been sending those players out with words of confidence, but i think his words may have helped tonight cos a lot of players played like they had something to prove......and wasnt Stevie G one of the players on all the adidas adverts which tagline was for the 2004 world cup "Impossible is Nothing".....Funny how nothings impossible when your gettin a few quid for saying it.
But apart from that i love him and hope he never leaves.

[azriahmad]

In the CL, the football is usually of the highest quality because of the opposition. The ability to play consistently without making major mistakes is a premium quality because the opposition is able to punish almost any mistake and the strikers like schevchenko, eto'o, rolando etc. and other attacking players like deco, ronaldinho, kaka, etcneed only half a chance to make telling strikes. Our outfield players have consistently showed that they lack the required consistency, even at times during the course of one match.

In our goal, we have an error-prone goalkeeper who can gift goals at unexpected moments. To win the CL, one team needs its fair share of luck apart from having the necessary qualities when it mattered. Last season, Porto and Monaco had the luck of the draw during the knock-out stages but they did their fair share of work to reach the final.

So, in that perspective, what Gerrard said is not at all surprising. With Liverpool's form this season, we need a really large dose of luck because we are short on the overall quality stakes due to mostly the players' inconsistency. Why all the fuss? It may just be the media's version of what Gerrard said in a different context.