Steven Gerrard – superstar striker

[lfcchris]

This isn't anything related to how great he is. He's also dependent on playing in a great team and he's been the one standing out for a long time in ours, until Rafa came, created a better team and gave him a new lease of life in terms of his position / tactical awareness etc ...

Independently on if he wins a league title or not, for me he's our greatest player of all time. Kenny came into a stable team, one which was dominating the english game. He only had to showcase his talents.

[BFG]

This isn't anything related to how great he is. He's also dependent on playing in a great team and he's been the one standing out for a long time in ours, until Rafa came, created a better team and gave him a new lease of life in terms of his position / tactical awareness etc ...

Independently on if he wins a league title or not, for me he's our greatest player of all time. Kenny came into a stable team, one which was dominating the english game. He only had to showcase his talents.

That's true on the playing side of things but the way Kenny sailed the ship through some of the darkest days in our history shouldn't be forgotten when assesing his greatness.

They're both huge figures in LFC history and so will Rafa be when Fergie retires 4 or 5 Championships short of knocing us off our ****ing perch.

[Neil Young]

I still like Momo being described as a "forward-lying defensive harasser."

We need to invent a good name for Gerrard's position. Something better than "offensive libero" which, although accurate, is open to misinterpretation.

[Guest]

I still like Momo being described as a "forward-lying defensive harasser."

We need to invent a good name for Gerrard's position. Something better than "offensive libero" which, although accurate, is open to misinterpretation.

How about 'loosely fitted attacker cum midfielder' ?

[Neil Young]

How about 'loosely fitted attacker cum midfielder' ?

That sounds like a combination of football, tailoring and pornography.

[red g]

I think without Stevie Gerrard this club would seriously be languishing in mid table now.....if he hadnt come along thats where we would have been imo. Specially 3/4 years ago.....he was head and shoulders above that team, poor bloke has had the likes of diao, biscan etc as his midfielf partners at least now we have some supporting talent.

If Kenny didnt come to this club, well the amount of history that bloke has written himself into is frightening......but then he had some talent round him and we were the best when he came, the best when he left,

Gerrards legacy is he helped us back to be the best again.

[lfcchris]

That sounds like a combination of football, tailoring and pornography.

[Guest]

That sounds like a combination of football, tailoring and pornography.

... and plumbing, which has sexual connotations also.

FFS Neil, we're thread hijackers of the highest order!

[RedReet]

Got to agree with the cop out that is the attacking midfielder/forward.
Striker makes me think of someone leading the line and finishing off moves like your rush, linekers and shearer. I think you need the term striker for this established type of player.

In fact players like Gerrard don't need a category!

Slightly off topic, but when discussing Nando last week, Andy Gray called him a centre forward, then corrected himself saying there is no such thing anymore and called him a striker.

I always had in my head that the likes of Les Ferdinand, Alan Shearer were centre forwards, whereas Folwer or Cole were strikers (probably from whatever manager game was played at the time.)

Anyone else think there is no difference, or agree with Gray that centre forward is an outdated expression (like linesman )?

[Guest]

Slightly off topic, but when discussing Nando last week, Andy Gray called him a centre forward, then corrected himself saying there is no such thing anymore and called him a striker.

I always had in my head that the likes of Les Ferdinand, Alan Shearer were centre forwards, whereas Folwer or Cole were strikers (probably from whatever manager game was played at the time.)

Anyone else think there is no difference, or agree with Gray that centre forward is an outdated expression (like linesman )?

Forward in that sense is someone leading the line I assume, in old English football terms. There's so many different 'shades of gray' on that one that I think even Andy would have got difficulty terming this correctly.

[zimbo]

Good as Gerrard is, Kenny could do things with a football that he (and practically every other player) couldn't dream of.

Engaging in direct comparisons is really a fruitless task, as there are so many differing factors which need to be balanced, making any judgement fairly meaningless.

Having said that, and at the risk of totally contradicting my previous statement, Dalglish is unequivocally the best player I've seen in a red shirt and probably always will be. That's not to decry Gerrard. It's just a measure of how good Kenny was.

[Darkon]

He hasn't got a position really, he has a free role with license to go anywhere.

I noticed for the first time v Villa that he doesn't bother tracking back anymore and saves his energy for when he is on the attack, just like a striker.

Having said that he does still get stuck in from his position further up the pitch and I guess when required he can drop back. If I had to give him any position I would say Attacking Midfielder, just like Kaka at AC Milan.

The bonus of Gerrard is that he offers "Total football", as when Dirk Kuyt came inside v Villa and had a go Gerrard just switched to the right and covered Kuyt. He did this and is capable of doing so with any position on the pitch. He is just immense.

I would agree with that - I don't think he is a striker, he is simply not playing that style of play, nor is he playing consistently that far up the pitch.

He has evolved to be an attacking midfielder with a very free role, and it suits him well.

But he is to involved all over the pitch to be labeled a striker, and his style of play is far from a Torres as well.

[Neil Young]

... and plumbing, which has sexual connotations also.

FFS Neil, we're thread hijackers of the highest order!

But my original post was, for once, pretty much entirely on topic.

All the same when it comes to thread hijacks, I agree, we

[Neil Young]

I would agree with that - I don't think he is a striker, he is simply not playing that style of play, nor is he playing consistently that far up the pitch.

He has evolved to be an attacking midfielder with a very free role, and it suits him well.

But he is to involved all over the pitch to be labeled a striker, and his style of play is far from a Torres as well.

Yes, I don't think I'd call him a striker either. Like I said, "offensive libero" is accurate - if only it wasn't so boring.

[Shaggy]

Striker/forward/offensive libero ...it's just semantics really. 'Attacker' is probably the most succinct and to the point. The point is he is a now a bona-fide attacking player, and one half of the world's most potent front pair.