Liverpool FC Forum

Bad Bob wrote:Completely agree with the thread opener.  I can't believe some of the nonsense I'm reading about Gerrard around here of late.  Okay, he's not been at his best but some people have him completely written off as a footballer while others are focusing more on character assassination even after the lad's sweated blood for the club his whole career.  It's not on.  In the end, though, most people just see what they want to see and are content with reducing things to crude and simplistic assessments.  It seems that "Gerrard's just playing for the paycheque/WC" has become this season's "Alonso's just a water carrier."

bigmick wrote:Some of the comments on these boards over the last few weeks have made me laugh out loud to be totally honest. Gerrard is "a disgrace", need's a "kick up the erse", needs to be "fecked off out of the team" etc etc. This is the same Gerrard which put a chance on a plate for Torres in the dying seconds yesterday, the same Gerrard which despite being well below his best and patently being short of fitness all season, has STILL been our best player bar none.

All the while we have bodies just filling spaces in the team who are patently below the required standard, a manager who is having a really catastrophic time of things, a completely disfunctional formation which doesn't show anybody in the correct light, but it's all Gerrards fault . The manager should drop him. This is the same manager who wouldn't be at Liverpool and would have been gone years ago had Gerrard not won two cup finals for him and dug him out of the sh!t on countless occasions.

People call others fickle , feck me. "Support the team and the players", do me a favour.

I agree the post bar the manager part. 

I even have read that Gerrard is close to his end as a player.

Quality does not vanish from one season to another. It's not a coincidence that in seasons in which there are injuries, the top players suffer from them and when they do recover, it takes a while.

The context also explains a lot of why Gerrard is not playing well. And sometimes, yes, even Gerrard has poor games for his standards.

But I'm not worried about his game. I'm only worried about him staying here next season. I think he'll be clever and he'll stay. No other english club is an option, and Spain and it's impatience is not for him, thus Barcelona and Madrid can't be targets. The rest of the clubs are too small for him at this time.

Stevie can do no better thing than staying here, no matter if we have Rafa or any manager.

bigmick wrote:Some of the comments on these boards over the last few weeks have made me laugh out loud to be totally honest. Gerrard is "a disgrace", need's a "kick up the erse", needs to be "fecked off out of the team" etc etc. This is the same Gerrard which put a chance on a plate for Torres in the dying seconds yesterday, the same Gerrard which despite being well below his best and patently being short of fitness all season, has STILL been our best player bar none.

All the while we have bodies just filling spaces in the team who are patently below the required standard, a manager who is having a really catastrophic time of things, a completely disfunctional formation which doesn't show anybody in the correct light, but it's all Gerrards fault . The manager should drop him. This is the same manager who wouldn't be at Liverpool and would have been gone years ago had Gerrard not won two cup finals for him and dug him out of the sh!t on countless occasions.

People call others fickle , feck me. "Support the team and the players", do me a favour.

Listen mate there are sadly posters that spit abuse out constantly were certain players are concerned ,and then on the opposite side of the coin there are people who compose well thought out arguments on the same subject in question ,in this case the form of Steven Gerrard ,It strikes me as slightly strange that a player who has pulled up trees in the name of Liverpool Football Club on countless occasions ,should be given a complete bye when it comes to criticism ,or allowed to rest lethargically on his laurels,its ridiculous to say that given the season we have endured that he shouldn't take his share of the blame ,because every single component of that side albeit from the brilliant Pepe Reina is not above a critical assessment and that includes the Manager before I'm accused  of leaving him out of the equation ....

I think the simple fact that it has taken so long for posters to point an accusing finger at Gerrard is testament to the instances you have stated were he has refused to let the team be beaten and has driven us on ,but surely now given his apparent disinterest its obvious a more in-depth analysis needs to be made as to why his attitude is so detrimental to the overall spirit of the team ....

Anyway mate I put a Yankee on the strength of you mentioning Birmingham ,Rafa ,Mourinho ,and Keane in the next thread you started ......... You have let me down fella   

stmichael wrote:

Bad Bob wrote:Completely agree with the thread opener.  I can't believe some of the nonsense I'm reading about Gerrard around here of late.  Okay, he's not been at his best but some people have him completely written off as a footballer while others are focusing more on character assassination even after the lad's sweated blood for the club his whole career.  It's not on.  In the end, though, most people just see what they want to see and are content with reducing things to crude and simplistic assessments.  It seems that "Gerrard's just playing for the paycheque/WC" has become this season's "Alonso's just a water carrier."

Bob, everybody will admit that Gerrard has been a fantastic player for us in the past (the best I've ever seen) but that shouldn't mean his is immune from criticism. We all know what he's done in the past but anybody can see that there's clearly something wrong with his attitude this season.

There's a lot of stuff thrown at Gerrard, but also a lot of nonsense when it comes to defending him. This is a Liverpool captain that twice flirted with Chelsea and once put in a transfer request.... and who this season is playing with a face like a smacked ar$e. Scouser and local lad or not, you get players like Reina, from another country who come in and commit for the rest of their career.

Anybody writing him off as a footballer is talking nonsense though.

Of course he's not above criticism, mate.  No one is but we've got people saying he should be dropped or that Lucas has been better this season, which, IMO, is nonsense.  As for his body language, he's ALWAYS given off that vibe.  Hell, every year we have this discussion about whether he's sulking, captain material, had a bust up with Rafa etc.  I would have thought people would have moved past reading too much into the furrowed brow of Stevie G by now but evidently not.  I for one am not prepared to say that he's thrown in the towel attitude wise.  The lad has always been fully committed to the cause so, like a few around here still, I'm inclined to interpret a drop off in his all-action style as being down to the ongoing groin injury rather than make a bunch of assumptions about his views on Rafa, his focus on the World Cup or what have you.  So all the amateur Freuds around here can concoct their theories but I'm still giving the captain the benefit of the doubt. 

Benny The Noon wrote:Gerrard this season playing wise has been way way below his normal very high standards and his contribution has been very low compared to previous seasons - this is more than likely down to his injuries but he has looked a shadow of his past in a lot of the games and having niggling injuries all season you can understand and see why .

But another thing though is the way he seems to be acting on the pitch . Many times he just doesnt seem to be putting in his normal energetic effort , non stop harrassing . He has given the ball away many many times and just looked around without fighting to get it back , he seems to be sulking and lazy at times . I dont care if he is fecked off behind the scenes at the manager or the fact his best buddy left or whatever - Once he pulls that shirt on and puts on the capts armband i expect him to be putting 100% effort and work into getting a result for the club . While other players may not have his ability they at least are putting everything into trying to get a result for us .

Also and finally just because gerrard before has played wonderfully for us and helped us win trophies (along with the rest of the team ) it doesnt mean he should escape critisizm when it is justified and recently it is when you see him on the pitch .

bigmick wrote:Some of the comments on these boards over the last few weeks have made me laugh out loud to be totally honest. Gerrard is "a disgrace", need's a "kick up the erse", needs to be "fecked off out of the team" etc etc. This is the same Gerrard which put a chance on a plate for Torres in the dying seconds yesterday, the same Gerrard which despite being well below his best and patently being short of fitness all season, has STILL been our best player bar none.

All the while we have bodies just filling spaces in the team who are patently below the required standard, a manager who is having a really catastrophic time of things, a completely disfunctional formation which doesn't show anybody in the correct light, but it's all Gerrards fault . The manager should drop him. This is the same manager who wouldn't be at Liverpool and would have been gone years ago had Gerrard not won two cup finals for him and dug him out of the sh!t on countless occasions.

People call others fickle , feck me. "Support the team and the players", do me a favour.

   

s@int wrote:

Benny The Noon wrote:Gerrard this season playing wise has been way way below his normal very high standards and his contribution has been very low compared to previous seasons - this is more than likely down to his injuries but he has looked a shadow of his past in a lot of the games and having niggling injuries all season you can understand and see why .

But another thing though is the way he seems to be acting on the pitch . Many times he just doesnt seem to be putting in his normal energetic effort , non stop harrassing . He has given the ball away many many times and just looked around without fighting to get it back , he seems to be sulking and lazy at times . I dont care if he is fecked off behind the scenes at the manager or the fact his best buddy left or whatever - Once he pulls that shirt on and puts on the capts armband i expect him to be putting 100% effort and work into getting a result for the club . While other players may not have his ability they at least are putting everything into trying to get a result for us .

Also and finally just because gerrard before has played wonderfully for us and helped us win trophies (along with the rest of the team ) it doesnt mean he should escape critisizm when it is justified and recently it is when you see him on the pitch .

If he is injured as you seem quite willing to accept, how the feck do you expect him to  "be putting in his normal energetic effort , non stop harrassing " etc.

Injured players should be rested or in Gerrards case allowed to have the operation ..... not asked to play on "for the good of the team". We saw with Kewell what the dangers are of playing on with groin injuries. Better to get it fixed and then have a player who CAN give 100% rather than persevere and have a player struggling and losing both confidence and risking further problems.

No wonder he appears to be sulking, he's probably frustrated that he can't do more , and angry that he is forced to play with his injury because the squad is not strong enough to cope without him.

Benny The Noon wrote:

s@int wrote:

Benny The Noon wrote:Gerrard this season playing wise has been way way below his normal very high standards and his contribution has been very low compared to previous seasons - this is more than likely down to his injuries but he has looked a shadow of his past in a lot of the games and having niggling injuries all season you can understand and see why .

But another thing though is the way he seems to be acting on the pitch . Many times he just doesnt seem to be putting in his normal energetic effort , non stop harrassing . He has given the ball away many many times and just looked around without fighting to get it back , he seems to be sulking and lazy at times . I dont care if he is fecked off behind the scenes at the manager or the fact his best buddy left or whatever - Once he pulls that shirt on and puts on the capts armband i expect him to be putting 100% effort and work into getting a result for the club . While other players may not have his ability they at least are putting everything into trying to get a result for us .

Also and finally just because gerrard before has played wonderfully for us and helped us win trophies (along with the rest of the team ) it doesnt mean he should escape critisizm when it is justified and recently it is when you see him on the pitch .

If he is injured as you seem quite willing to accept, how the feck do you expect him to  "be putting in his normal energetic effort , non stop harrassing " etc.

Injured players should be rested or in Gerrards case allowed to have the operation ..... not asked to play on "for the good of the team". We saw with Kewell what the dangers are of playing on with groin injuries. Better to get it fixed and then have a player who CAN give 100% rather than persevere and have a player struggling and losing both confidence and risking further problems.

No wonder he appears to be sulking, he's probably frustrated that he can't do more , and angry that he is forced to play with his injury because the squad is not strong enough to cope without him.

Then dont play full stop - it didnt seem to be bothering him when he played for england - seemed happy enough to pull on that shirt and armband and work non stop with no sulking .