whats up with stevie?

[JohnDoe]

I think he is a victim of changing positions too often

He's been consistently played as a CM this season. He was a right winger against Pompey for about 5 minutes.

Absolutely not. Xabi and Masher would be so slow in CM. CM is the heartbeat of the team - needs dynamism , drive and determination.

First of all, Mascherano is very quick. Second, it's all nice to hear all those D-words going off and start creaming yourself over the "midfield general" dream that Steven Gerrard might be. But our captain is incapable of pulling our strings when we're in a difficult situation and can offer all what you've mentioned as an attacking midfielder, which is what he has developed into in the last few years.

Xabi Alonso is a much more responsible and composed player and I trust him to find the right pass a lot more than Steven Gerrard, who's awesome but shouldn't be in sole charge of our game. Gerrard is good in the middle only when he's got a pass master next to him.

[G]

Don't think he's fit.His body language is all wrong,pulling out of challenges.He put England first playing those 2 qualifiers and is suffering from it now.If Xabi was fit i don't think he'd have played much lately.

[carrsim]

stevie is not 100% fit imo and hasn't been for ages.

having said that, he is not a dictator like a keane or viera, who set the tempo for their team's play and i don't think he ever has been.

if you want someone to react to something and pull it out of the fire, then stevie is the man. xabi is the kind of player who gets the ball into th esort of places where stevie can do his thing.

at this moment in time he needs games to get his sharpness back, but somehow rafa needs to work out how to shoehorn stevie, masher and xabi into the team

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

stevie is not 100% fit imo and hasn't been for ages.

having said that, he is not a dictator like a keane or viera, who set the tempo for their team's play and i don't think he ever has been.

if you want someone to react to something and pull it out of the fire, then stevie is the man. xabi is the kind of player who gets the ball into th esort of places where stevie can do his thing.

at this moment in time he needs games to get his sharpness back, but somehow rafa needs to work out how to shoehorn stevie, masher and xabi into the team

We were at our best when Alonso and Stevie played together in the middle.

Nothing against Mascherano of course. There will be matches where he'd be very usefull.

[carrsim]

We were at our best when Alonso and Stevie played together in the middle.

Nothing against Mascherano of course. There will be matches where he'd be very usefull.

i'd go along with that to be fair

[Kopite_Colin]

Are you talking to me?
If so, it is your opinion and you are entitled to it.
But personally, I think Alonso keeps things ticking over more smoothly in midfield than Gerrard does. I think Gerrard is more suited to an advanced midfield position than central defensive midfield, which is where Alonso plays.
So, would you prefer Gerrard to be playing the defensive role for England while Lampturd gets all the attacking license?.

No Baz I wasn't - I was responding to Svennis.

Ideally, I want 2 central midfielders to can attack and defend with equal competence. But like I said that's an ideal, which you rarely get. I am happy with 1 deep lying CMer (Alonso / Mascher) and 1 further forward, driving to support the front 2 and the wide men (SG, Momo doesn't have the skill for that role).

Playing SG at RM robs us of that as Momo / Mascher & Xabi aren't capable of that, which leaves us short in that area. Which, imho, is why we look so impotent without SG in that position. The only other option would be to play a combo of 2 deep lying CMers and play a typical "No.10" type player off Torres

[El Jefecito]

Absolutely not. Xabi and Masher would be so slow in CM. CM is the heartbeat of the team - needs dynamism , drive and determination. SG IS off form, but like it or not, we don't have anybody in the squad of sufficient quality to play Att CM like he does. Granted he IS the best RMer at the club - but that's because we're so poor in wide areas, not because SG is great there.

SG is a CMer -always has been, always will be. Play your best players in their best position.

El Jefecito and Xabi have combined well when played together. The pace thing is a red herring, Stevie may be faster, but the ball travels faster than the player. Xabi can get the ball out to our pacy players quicker than Stevie can carry the ball forward.

Play your best players in their best position. Is right. But at the moment SG is not our best midfielder. Drop him altogether if we follow your philosphy.

[El Jefecito]

stevie is not 100% fit imo and hasn't been for ages.

having said that, he is not a dictator like a keane or viera, who set the tempo for their team's play and i don't think he ever has been.

if you want someone to react to something and pull it out of the fire, then stevie is the man. xabi is the kind of player who gets the ball into th esort of places where stevie can do his thing.

at this moment in time he needs games to get his sharpness back, but somehow rafa needs to work out how to shoehorn stevie, masher and xabi into the team

He's been saying for the past couple of weeks that he is fit. I don't think he is, but it's mental not physical. His head is just not there. He's not confident, he's always blaming everyone else.

He really is a (petulant) boy in a mans body. He needs to man up.

[Kopite_Colin]

Xabi Alonso is a much more responsible and composed player and I trust him to find the right pass a lot more than Steven Gerrard, who's awesome but shouldn't be in sole charge of our game. Gerrard is good in the middle only when he's got a pass master next to him.

You and I need to agree to disagree on this one then. How many times has SG dragged our game together at crucial times from CM - there's at least3 major ones I can think of:

CL 2005 - Olympiakos
CL 2005 Final
FA CUp Final 2006


SG shouildn't be the only CMer who's gfoing to create something in the final third for us. Often the other 3 CMs we have in the suad are far too deep to influence our attacking play. That's one of our fundamental flaws in my book, given our wide areas are so weak.

[El Jefecito]

We were at our best when Alonso and Stevie played together in the middle.
Nothing against Mascherano of course. There will be matches where he'd be very usefull.

In my opinion we've looked best when El Jefecito and Xabi have played together.

[cobain]

Are you talking to me?
If so, it is your opinion and you are entitled to it.
But personally, I think Alonso keeps things ticking over more smoothly in midfield than Gerrard does. I think Gerrard is more suited to an advanced midfield position than central defensive midfield, which is where Alonso plays.
So, would you prefer Gerrard to be playing the defensive role for England while Lampturd gets all the attacking license?.

Alonso waits (sometimes too long) and delivers the pass smoothly ... Gerrard's gung ho too many times I'm afraid and he loses the ball to much because of that

[bazza76]

He's been consistently played as a CM this season. He was a right winger against Pompey for about 5 minutes.
But I am not talking about just this season though, you can go back further than that. It takes longer than a few games to establish yourself in a poistion, Stevie has been asked this season to play DM, AM & RM alot of players at other clubs, players like Scholes, Gilberto, Lampard, Makelelle even Alonso and Mascherano get to play the same position week in week out, I know Stevie has the quality to be flexible, but there is no denying, that it does take your discipline away from certain roles ever so slightly, and these small ever so slightly difference can be enough to make a big difference in a team.

[El Jefecito]

You and I need to agree to disagree on this one then. How many times has SG dragged our game together at crucial times from CM - there's at least3 major ones I can think of:

CL 2005 - Olympiakos
CL 2005 Final
FA CUp Final 2006


SG shouildn't be the only CMer who's gfoing to create something in the final third for us. Often the other 3 CMs we have in the suad are far too deep to influence our attacking play. That's one of our fundamental flaws in my book, given our wide areas are so weak.

What JD is saying, is that SG is an impact player as you've pointed out. BUT he can't run the midfield and hence control the game.

Another slant, SG plays well, xabi makes others play well.

[Kopite_Colin]

El Jefecito and Xabi have combined well when played together. The pace thing is a red herring, Stevie may be faster, but the ball travels faster than the player. Xabi can get the ball out to our pacy players quicker than Stevie can carry the ball forward. .

IMHO, pace is not a red herring. It's the one thing ALL defenders hate. A player driving at them with the ball can be as dangerous as a pacy accurate pass (however long), if not moreso - as it commits defenders to make a decsion to tackle or not to tackle.

With regards to pacy wide players - we don't have any. Certainly not effective ones. That's part of our biggest problem.

Play your best players in their best position. Is right. But at the moment SG is not our best midfielder. Drop him altogether if we follow your philosphy.

If SG's not up to it, and we have a replacement who can play his position, then I would agree - drop him. But the fact is we don't have anyone who can play his position - despite all these Cmers at the club. Lucas MAY be able to do it in the future - but not at the moment.

[Dhav]

Get him off to **** and put him in the Ressies for half a dozen games.
Heartless ****er atm.

WUM