Sabre wrote:I agree the spirit of this post, although to be honest, I don't think Rafa will *have to* give him a vote of confidence, I think Gerrard will be at his best soon enough.
I haven't seen England matches and I can't have an opinion about them, in Liverpool, as much as I admit he's not been at his best, he's been far from being shíte or dire.
Sometimes, a player's bad performance is very related to how the team as a collective is playing. In some positions that's even more evident, for instance, I think it's very rare to highlight a winger like Pennant's game, when the collective is not playing well.
Sabre, you’re no doubt right here, but I don’t think it would hurt Benitez to show some support to this players, from what I have read of Rafa he wants players to motivate themselves.
I support this notion of not getting too attached, but Gerrard is a player who needs a pat on the back and words of encourage and the late Bill Shankly, used to provide it to his players and they conquered the British Isles.
Before you mention, that Shankly arrived almost fifty years ago, but humans haven’t changed? We all still go through emotional rollercoaster’s, and Gerrard is no different, a few words of encouragement from Rafa to deflated players won’t hurt.
I hope you are right and Gerrard gets back to his old self soon, but the team also need to improve too, it’s not fair or sensible just to single out Gerrard. Gerrard hasn’t done well for England recently, he has been influential though, but there are signs of a lack of confidence in his play and this needs to change.
You’re right players at times can play poorly when their team mates are too, I don’t know the crux of this, but I’d imagine it’s psychological as well as physical? As I have said, if Rafa can steady the ship, help the players get their confidence back then I am sure Gerrard and the rest of the players (lets not forget them) will get back to business.
This said, if Gerrard keeps having sub-standard performances, then I’d let him warm the bench for a few matches, if he dislikes it tough, if a player wants to play for this club, they have to pull their weight.