Liverpool FC Forum

by **destro** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 1:02 am

Maybe the weight of carrying a team on his shoulders is finally getting to him. For every one bad game he has you can point to atleast 7 games where hes been easily our best player.

He was one of the best midfielders in the prem last season his goals and workrate we immense, the other one was....Lampard whos not exactly on fire himself this season, strange that ?

It could just be down to the sick taunts from the bitters that got to him yesterday (as i would have to agree he didnt quite look his normal self) some will say he is a proffesional and should respond in a positive way by taking the game by the scruff of the neck and inspiring us to victory and not let that sort of stuff get to him.But hes still only human.It seems when his personal life is being mentioned or not going smoothly it does have an effect on the way he plays ( the rumours over Alex and then his kid in hospital are just two incidents that stick out)

Is it therefore down to Rafa to take him out of games where he doesnt look mentally up for it ?Is that the sort of thing Rafa would do, its already been mentioned hes not maybe a hands on compassionate kind of manager so who knows. I dont mean the games where he will suffer sick abuse because that just lets the idiots win, im talking about games where its clear he is not up for it.

But saying that there are at least 9 other regular players who should of done more in recent games, and in my opinion SG is one of the last on the list to be critised,although im not saying for one minute hes above it.

As for him leaving, i think he will go........ just after Chelsea sell Lampard to Man U

by **Espionage** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:58 am

destro wrote:

Gerrard had an off day, therefore he must have succumbed to the immense pressure of being our best player and this is why he sucked it up. Chants from the Bitters? Give me a break.

Is it therefore down to Rafa to take him out of games where he doesnt look mentally up for it ?Is that the sort of thing Rafa would do, its already been mentioned hes not maybe a hands on compassionate kind of manager so who knows. I dont mean the games where he will suffer sick abuse because that just lets the idiots win, im talking about games where its clear he is not up for it.

As a manager you cannot take someone like Gerrard off if he looks a bit off for a couple of reasons: the (arguably) best midfielder in the world should be left in if nothing then the fact that he will play better then anyone else even on an off day. You dont drag your captain/best, you let him play through it.

But saying that there are at least 9 other regular players who should of done more in recent games, and in my opinion SG is one of the last on the list to be critised,although im not saying for one minute hes above it.

Strange back-flip you did there. Dont suggest that Gerrard should be subbed if the other 9 players (i assume you didnt say 10 becase you are excluding Reina) have better reasons for being subbed.

by **destro** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:53 pm

Espionage wrote:
destro wrote:

Gerrard had an off day, therefore he must have succumbed to the immense pressure of being our best player and this is why he sucked it up. Chants from the Bitters? Give me a break.
Is it therefore down to Rafa to take him out of games where he doesnt look mentally up for it ?Is that the sort of thing Rafa would do, its already been mentioned hes not maybe a hands on compassionate kind of manager so who knows. I dont mean the games where he will suffer sick abuse because that just lets the idiots win, im talking about games where its clear he is not up for it.
As a manager you cannot take someone like Gerrard off if he looks a bit off for a couple of reasons: the (arguably) best midfielder in the world should be left in if nothing then the fact that he will play better then anyone else even on an off day. You dont drag your captain/best, you let him play through it.
But saying that there are at least 9 other regular players who should of done more in recent games, and in my opinion SG is one of the last on the list to be critised,although im not saying for one minute hes above it.
Strange back-flip you did there. Dont suggest that Gerrard should be subbed if the other 9 players (i assume you didnt say 10 becase you are excluding Reina) have better reasons for being subbed.

Im not saying the chants from the bitters was THE reason im just trying to shed some light on why by his own standards he under-performed and that could well be the reason just as much as saying it was down to the pressure. Its not quite as black and white as that, to say therefore he finally succumbed to the pressure

Its something ive noticed before, as i said when things have not been great in his personal life he has not played well i would say thats more than a coincidence

To say he should play even if hes not fully focused does nothing for him or the team. He cant be picked just on reputation or because he is the captain, and to say he will play better than ANYONE else even on a bad does not say much for the other 10 players that are picked. As good as he is are you really saying a below par steven gerrard is better than any of the other players we have !!

Finally i didnt say he should be subbed ? I am talking about him being criticised, i never mentioned him being subbed before the 9 other players ( and yes i excluded reina ) but maybe i could of explained that a bit better in my original post

by **Cool Hand Luke** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:58 pm

The way that Rafa plays the 4-4-2 there is no doubt for me that Gerrard is more dangerous from the right. In a 4-4-2 both of Rafa’s central midfielders are told to play from behind the ball and be disciplined in terms of how often you can take risks and vacate their position.

The whole point of playing 2 central midfielders who play from behind the ball is to cover your attacking midfielders who will be encouraged to take risks with their positioning.

The question we need to ask is, do we want Gerrard covering for the likes of Pennant and Gonzalez, or do we want Sissoko and Alonso covering for Gerrard while he takes the attack to the other team?

by **Espionage** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:44 am

Cool Hand Luke wrote:The way that Rafa plays the 4-4-2 there is no doubt for me that Gerrard is more dangerous from the right. In a 4-4-2 both of Rafa’s central midfielders are told to play from behind the ball and be disciplined in terms of how often you can take risks and vacate their position.

The whole point of playing 2 central midfielders who play from behind the ball is to cover your attacking midfielders who will be encouraged to take risks with their positioning.

The question we need to ask is, do we want Gerrard covering for the likes of Pennant and Gonzalez, or do we want Sissoko and Alonso covering for Gerrard while he takes the attack to the other team?

Good post. I have always thought that Gerrard will have more success on the right because our midfield combo of Xabi and Momo play quite reserved in their positioning. Going forward only when the fullbacks are not. People tend to forget that the reason why Gerrard cuts in is because Alonso drops back and Finnan comes forward into the right wing position. This was making up for our lack of width last season when Gerrard was on the right. I believe what we were missing at the start of the season was our man Harry on the left. If Gonzalez turns out to be what he should be then we will have one of the meanest midfields in the world.

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