Time for Benítez to give Gerrard a wide berth

[dom9]

Haha - I wish Andy Gray would read that.

Hhe continually bangs on about this, but seems to have gone strangley quite during the last few weeks.

[Harv]

ID say more like:
Reina
Finnan, Carra, Agger, Aurelio
______Mascher, Alonso______
__Gerrard,___ Kuyt,___ Babel
_________Torres

with Lucas everntually taking Kuyts role

[Harv]

Unless I’m mistaken, we had our best sequence of results and form under Benitez when Gerrard was regularly deployed on the right. He also won Player of the Year the season he spent MOST of his time on the right.

I’m beginning to think he’s too much hassle. He needs indulging (as carlton touched on above), is a bit of prima-donna, thinks he’s “the man, he’s the ****ing man”, seldom produces in his “favoured position” and sulks when asked to play elsewhere.

Maybe this seems very much kneejerk and ungrateful, but I’m beginning to wonder if we should sell him.

*ducks for cover*

it would seem that way.....but its not going to happen, unless he chcks a hissy fit.

The facts dont lie though. He was most effective as a RM.

[redlancer]

At the moment we should IMO put Stevie behind the front player i.e. Torres with licence to roam

Prob with putting him wide right is who evers right back is left exposed and again IMO Finnan doesn't need that now.

Behind the front man of the ilk of Torres Stevie could be the new Kenny with the right coaching.

I'm sure Rafa said from day one that's where he felt his best postion is.

Masser would also allow Alonso to come forward which he has shown he's more than capable off.

[Rashid]

Stevie on the right is a damnign indictment of Rafa's pathetic attempts at buying wingers.

A manager as high profile as ours has conjured up in the way of wingers or wide players is Zenden, Anderson, Leto, Pennant, Nunez and Benayoun. In the same 3 year period fans have begged for us to buy the likes of Simao, Mancini, Quaresma and to an extent Malouda. The contrast between the first lot and the last lot massive. The Mancs have two of Portugals best young wingers already on their books. It can't be that hard...

So lets play the best CM in the world out wide so we can 1. piss him off, 2. cover up the cock ups in signing wide players etc.

[bazza76]

Stevie on the right is a damnign indictment of Rafa's pathetic attempts at buying wingers.

A manager as high profile as ours has conjured up in the way of wingers or wide players is Zenden, Anderson, Leto, Pennant, Nunez and Benayoun. In the same 3 year period fans have begged for us to buy the likes of Simao, Mancini, Quaresma and to an extent Malouda. The contrast between the first lot and the last lot massive. The Mancs have two of Portugals best young wingers already on their books. It can't be that hard...

So lets play the best CM in the world out wide so we can 1. piss him off, 2. cover up the cock ups in signing wide players etc.

Do you want a straightener Rashid

[dww]

it would seem that way.....but its not going to happen, unless he chcks a hissy fit.

The facts dont lie though. He was most effective as a RM.

I think it is more accurate to say that he is most effective when his position is dictated by the opposition and the team around him. When he was willing to let Rafa deploy him however he saw fit to beat a team was when we saw the best of him.

[Cerberus]

Maybe this why Benitez wanted Alves so badly. If there was a pacy, attack minded full back used as an outlet while in possesion after the half-way line, then gerrard could cut inside from the right and take up his favoured position.

Dont get me wrong I like finnan and his reliability in defence, but a better balance in midfield and better attacking support from the fullback would be better imo.

[Shaggy]

Do you want a straightener Rashid

[Red_Polo]

I would agree that his poor form is not to do with his central position. However his poor form has a much bigger impact in the middle as when he doesn't worry the opposition his lack of discipline in the middle becomes more of an issue. I also think that his best partner is Alonso and without him the midfield pairing can become a bit unbalanced, especially when there is no Agger helping them to bring the ball out of defence.

I'm not sure that at the minute Gerrard justifies his place in the central midfield pairing. I would be tempted to either move him to the right or into the more advanced role Kuyt plays at least temporarily.

Well I can't disagree with any of that. I wouldn't have anything against him being put on the right temporarily if others are in better form at CM, or even if the occasion warranted it and Stevie was in good form. He's been very poor this season. Seriously needs to pull his finger out for the good of himself and the team.

I agree with The Dude as well. And DWW makes sense as usual.

I think it's all a bit too premature. A lot of conclusions can be made after the poor run.

IF SG were to come back and plays some fantastic games against Everton and Arsenal then what?

It's just too easy to point the finger right now.

[carheex]

i love it how many of the folks who were saying "play Gerrard in the middle" are now thinking, maybe he IS better on the right.

In Rafa's system he is a much more effective player out wide. He doesnt stay out there though, he has the freedom to roam infield.....but the main point is that he's not roaming in the centre of the pitch. He had a cracking season the one before last playing in this role and I really never saw what peoples problem was with it.

Alonso and Masher from now on Rafa

I don't care what any journalist or knee-jerk fan thinks....sticking Gerrard out on the right is wasteful. He's our best central midfielder by miles and having 2 defensive bodies in the middles of the park instead, would make us far too easy to predict - block the wings and we're stuffed.
Yes, Gerrard is out of form but so is everyone else. Shuffling them around and changing tactics is the last thing we need, especially when everyone is crying out for stability.

[zimbo]

To clarify, Gerrard is a fine player. His strengths are manifold: goalscoring ability, pace, power, desire, determination, beginning, to, sound, like, Hansen, on, autopilot, now. But tactical discipline? An ability to dictate the play? An eye for the clever pass - and that means consistently, not just the occasional delivery to feet of a Hollywood ball? No. Nope. Yes - but no. In other words, for all Gerrard's world-class talent, he's simply not a player to place at the heart of a team.

But for his first few years as a regular Gerrard had all of those things in spades. I remember one game at Old Trafford where he totally dominated the whole Man U team, Keane included. He'd be unquestionably Man of the Match week in, week out, was scoring 30 yard screamers from all over the park, and invariably provided the telling through ball to slice open the opposition defence (typically for Owen to feed on).

In Houllier's last season his efforts were close to unnatural, as if it was a personal mission to achieve Champions League qualification regardless of the sometimes questionable quality of some of his teammates. He didn't just dictate the play, he controlled the game from start to finish, so any suggestion that he is not capable of carrying this off is palpably untrue.

However, we've seen this less and less over the last year or so. Which is odd. Because I'd have thought that playing alongside better players would have inspired Gerrard to greater heights. But his impact has been reduced to sporadic bursts of genius rather than prolonged, walking-with-the-gods, inspiration.

I've not given up hope that the Gerrard of old can re-emerge. Whether it's in the centre or on the wing is, in a sense, academic. It's more important that he plays as we know he can, then we can have the debate as to where he can be most effective.

[Red_Polo]

Superb post as always Zimbo Zimbo Zimbo Zimbo Zimbo, Zimbo Zimbo Zimbo Zimbo Zimbo

[CAD]

But for his first few years as a regular Gerrard had all of those things in spades. I remember one game at Old Trafford where he totally dominated the whole Man U team, Keane included. He'd be unquestionably Man of the Match week in, week out, was scoring 30 yard screamers from all over the park, and invariably provided the telling through ball to slice open the opposition defence (typically for Owen to feed on).

In Houllier's last season his efforts were close to unnatural, as if it was a personal mission to achieve Champions League qualification regardless of the sometimes questionable quality of some of his teammates. He didn't just dictate the play, he controlled the game from start to finish, so any suggestion that he is not capable of carrying this off is palpably untrue.

However, we've seen this less and less over the last year or so. Which is odd. Because I'd have thought that playing alongside better players would have inspired Gerrard to greater heights. But his impact has been reduced to sporadic bursts of genius rather than prolonged, walking-with-the-gods, inspiration.

I've not given up hope that the Gerrard of old can re-emerge. Whether it's in the centre or on the wing is, in a sense, academic. It's more important that he plays as we know he can, then we can have the debate as to where he can be most effective.

Ace! Post more, please.

Then I promise to post less

[zimbo]

Superb post as always Zimbo Zimbo Zimbo Zimbo Zimbo, Zimbo Zimbo Zimbo Zimbo Zimbo

You need to see someone about that nasty stutter, mate.

Ace! Post more, please.

Then I promise to post less

Hmmm, 'promise' you say.


I'm kidding of course......