The Official 'Cat amongst the pigeons thread'

[Howard_lfc]

Aye, put him in centremid with too much defensive duties and it ruins the parts of his game that makes his class.

Eggsactly!

[Red Chilli]

This season, with Gerrard on the right, the team has been ****.
With him in the centre we've played some great stuff at times and results are far better.
Can't see why anyone wants to go back to us playing like we did earlier in the season.

[amberan]

433
Finnan Carra Agger Aurelio
Gerrard Sissoko Alonso
Kuyt crouch Bellamy

[Howard_lfc]

433
Finnan Carra Agger Aurelio
Gerrard Sissoko Alonso
Kuyt crouch Bellamy

Who's that 433 lad you've got in goal?

[amberan]

lol...
Reina ;codename 433
lol

[lfc4ever]

Who's that 433 lad you've got in goal?

The Dude's totals in his last 3 games? or is that 136? Equal amount all the same!

[Sir Bob]

I think people are being too negative about what SG can't do for the team rather than concentrate on the positives he offers in the middle.
No player can do everything, not Pele, not maradona & not SG.
You wouldn't criticise Thierry Henry because he's not good in the air, or Ronaldinho because he doesn't always track back.

Is SG the perfect player in the middle, no but he offers one hell of alot. sure he sometimes gets out of position & may leave us a bit exposed at times but thats all massively outweighed by the fantastic attacking options he provides, options that are lessened when he plays out wide.

[Howard_lfc]

I actually thought I'd get ripped for this thread but it's clear that us fans are divided on this issue. For me - it's a non-starter - SG with the shackles off cm defensive duties and a less disciplined 'roaming' role is far more effective than what we're seeing at the moment. He simply isn't as dynamic as we all know he can be. There are times when he's so deep, deeper than xabi, and from that position he's far less effective. Certainly the oppostion would rather see him there - than bursting down the sides/through the middle and linking up with the front men. He can do this from the wide position knowing the middle of the park is relatively well protected with Momo and Xabi there.

[lfcruleus]

This season, with Gerrard on the right, the team has been ****.
With him in the centre we've played some great stuff at times and results are far better.
Can't see why anyone wants to go back to us playing like we did earlier in the season.

Correct me if Im wrong but did we drop more than 2 points at home with him right side? and win all the CL games? Yes away from home we struggled but IMHO that was a formation problem that Rafa is trying to deal with, namely we dont have a left back in the squad that can defend, he is getting round this by using Agger to support a wing back (Aurelio/Riise) away from home. He may stick to this with Momo back, dropping Crouch and playing Gerard, Kuyt and Bellars up front.

[lfcruleus]

deleted

[Harv]

Sorry mate, but thats a shocking post.

I thought i'd stumbled upon a Man U site given some of the ante SG stuff on here. He can't do this, he can't do that etc. He's not as good as this player or that player. i think some people need a reality check. If SG doesn't completely run the game, scoring a couple of 30 yarders people think he's had a bad game.

Against our main rivals he more than hold his own. Name me any player that is going to dominate the likes of arsenal, Man U & Chelsea every game. People go on about alonso & Momo being the best CM pairing but name me a game when either of them has dominated against the other big 3.

SG is one of the best central midfield players in the worl, everybody knows that and thats where he must play for us.

well Momo dominated Arsenal last season at anfield, i dont think i have seen a performance like that for quite some time.....he absolutley destroyed them. He also had a brilliant game during the charity shield, against Ballack, Lampturd and Makalele he showed them all how its done.

[Shaggy]

well Momo dominated Arsenal last season at anfield, i dont think i have seen a performance like that for quite some time.....he absolutley destroyed them. He also had a brilliant game during the charity shield, against Ballack, Lampturd and Makalele he showed them all how its done.

Correct. Momo's performance against Arsenal at Anfield last season will live long in my memory. It was an awesome display.

[Farside]

Gerrard is a box to box player and thrives on having the licence to do just that. Momo's job is to stop other players playing. Momo is very important against the mancs, chelsea, arsenal and other physical teams. We do not need him as much against the likes off watford, reading, fulham and other teams that we are expected to roll over.

[Neil Young]

Why the polar views on the SG matter?
Sometimes on the right sometimes in the middle, dependent on opposition, but not least, on the formation used.

Why the polar views on most matters come to that?

[Frank Leroux]

tentatively tip-toes into his first post....

I'm not sure if this option has been raised previously but might Gerrard be an option for the left as opposed to the right? Allowing him to drift inside onto his favoured foot? And maybe Gonzales/Kewell/A.N. Other on the right?

Gulp!

I'm suggesting this as Wenger seems to prefer this type of set-up at Arsenal. Why does he play Rosicky on the left and Hleb on the right (their respective 'wrong sides')? It would need Alonso to move further up the pitch - not sure if he has the required mobility in him for that though.

Frank.