Steven Gerrard – superstar striker

[Shaggy]

Steven Gerrard – one-time midfielder, now one half of the world’s best strike partnership.

Thoughts?

I noticed in the latest England squad that Stevie has been picked as a midfielder, while the likes of Carlton Cole and Emile Heskey clog up the striking positions.

In my eyes it’s clear – Gerrard can no longer be viewed as a midfield player, and all the credit goes to Rafa. On a slight tangent, why doesn’t he get any credit for this? Essentially Benitez has taken the very best midfield player in the country – some might say the world – and turned him into a world class striker. Yet I’ve heard cretins like Jamie Redknapp claim Benitez ‘stumbled into it’. LMFAO!

Gerrrard is a 2nd striker. He plays in the same position as Wayne Rooney, only he’s miles better. More goals, more assists, more drive, more everything. Of course few of us give a **** about England, but Gerrard should play there for his country. Maybe off Peter Crouch or something (remember how well they linked-up together).

Anyway, enough of England. Do you share my view that Gerrard is a striker? Does his conversion free up the room for another centre-midfielder? i.e. GazBaz? We look for two players for every position, and the way I see it is we have Xabi, Mash and Lucas for CM. Obviously Gerrard can play there – in fact he remains England’s best in that position – but he’s a striker now.

Discuss

[Rich]

Hmmm, I don't want him to be a striker. I see him as an advanced attacking midfielder, and he does drop a bit deeper than a 'normal' 2nd striker.

He's terrific though a diamond-standard player.

[Kenneth]

Hmm, doesn't seem right calling him a striker.

[Shaggy]

Hmmm, I don't want him to be a striker. I see him as an advanced attacking midfielder, and he does drop a bit deeper than a 'normal' 2nd striker.

He's terrific though a diamond-standard player.

Bit of a fallacy, that, IMO. Often in recent weeks he's been right up alongside Nando.

Hmm, doesn't seem right calling him a striker.

It doesn't, does it. But IMO he is.

[Craig_H]

He's an attacking midfielder/forward.

[Reece]

He is also England's best RB and RW.

[Rich]

You're entitled to your opinion but he generally sits a touch deeper, it's borderline though. IMO IMO IMO IMO



And you're right about England, he'd be better deployed upfront, allowing Barry and Lampard to play midfield

[BFG]

He's absolutely a striker and an unbelievable one at that. Wouldn't be against him being used as a centre mid in a crisis but he's simply miles better when he's playing off Torres. The impact the two of them have in tandum is irreplaceable.

In fact I'd say centre mid is probably his 3rd most effective position after striker and right mid. If England want to win anything they need to start thinking about a partner upfront for Stevie and forget about getting him to try and make up for Lampard's mediocrity in the middle.

[Shaggy]

He's an attacking midfielder/forward.

Look out for splinters!

[Kenneth]

He's an attacking midfielder/forward.

What a cop out

[Chrono]

The thing is he is a player who is so much more capable than everyone else around him and can influence the game from any area of the pitch. He is someone that needs to be involved in everything and that is why this role suits him so much as he can track back, control midfield and also push on and attack from behind and alongside the striker.

He really is in another class of him own and should go down as one of the all time greats. As mentioned through the thread he could be the best player in the country for virtually all positions on the pitch and in some positions the world. I actually brick it at the thought that he will one day be gone.

[Kenneth]

He's absolutely a striker and an unbelievable one at that. Wouldn't be against him being used as a centre mid in a crisis but he's simply miles better when he's playing off Torres. The impact the two of them have in tandum is irreplaceable.

In fact I'd say centre mid is probably his 3rd most effective position after striker and right mid. If England want to win anything they need to start thinking about a partner upfront for Stevie and forget about getting him to try and make up for Lampard's mediocrity in the middle.

Lampard shows he's not a striker, sort of. Lampard is a midfield player, but were Gerrard to play ahead of him as a 'striker' they'd be too close together.

[Guest]

I think he's a perfect No. 10, meaning in continental terms he just drops off the main striker. But yeah, he's an 'attacker' more than a midfielder IMO, as he scores a lot of goals and can do basically everything better than any other 'normal' player.

In succinct terms he's a modern day Kenny Dalglish, but maybe he's a better player. Don't think Kenny had as good as a scoring record, though not sure about that.

[Guest]

And in Rafa's system I don't think he can be as efficient as a midfield player on a consistent basis. Mascher and Alonso provides him with the platform to do more damage upfront and I think his talents would be wasted in a more deep lying role. He needs to play with freedom and just concentrate on making things happen in the attacking third of the pitch.

[Craig_H]

Look out for splinters!

What a cop out

I'm not sitting on the fence, he just IS both

You couldnt call him a 'striker' IMO, he doesnt lead the line and he drops off.