Balague speaks...

[Le Chef]

Are you having a laugh?

Apart from Mascherano and Benayoun, the rest of our midfield is awful. There is no one in there who is suddenly going to blossom just because Gerrard is not playing. What you see is what you get, ie the **** that finished against Reading.

Aquilani is the new Veron. Was never sure that that sort of player could function in the Premier League. Hopefully he will either adapt to the pace, or we will flog him in the summer. I am not even sure of his position. Rafa assured us he would play further forward than aLonso, but if anything he is sitting deep most of the time. I feel a bit sorry for him, but he reminds me more of Cheyrou that anything else at the moment. He may just need time, but we need him to play well now.

Nah, Berbatov is the new Veron, Aquilani will be playing for Juve this time next year and we will have lost around £3m quid on the deal.

[badpiggy]

That's a very strange article and if there is a semblance of truth in some of the assertions then it does appear things are coming to a head.

To be honest I was thinking about Gerrard the other day, and I hate to say it, but now is a good time to decide on his future. We either get romantic and refuse to let him go anywhere, or cash in on a player who is possibly passing his best.

To be honest I've always thought one of our problems is the fact that Gerrard is such a big personality compared to the rest of the team, that the rest of the team simply doesn't know how to play without him, because he is always there calling for the ball and commanding.

He needs bigger players around him, simple as that. But there aren't many.

Dunno, would like to say my heart rules my head on this one.

i know people will say this type of thing is only said by doomongers and pseudo-fans during tough times but i think it's a fair question/point. from my limited knowledge of football i've always wondered what will happen gerrard when that explosive attacking ability becomes diminished. and it might be starting now.

and i think benitez has kinda gone against his own grain by making gerrard captain to kinda throw his ego a bone. i really wish he wasn't he captain to be honest and i always have. carra, xabi even kuyt would have been way more suitable. he has a big personality and that always come with big flaws - some can have a nasty side, some can have personal problems with addictions etc and in gerrards case his ego is augmented by being a moody ****er. tough one to deal with. and we have played well without him before...

****in hell though i weant gerrard to be the man accepting the league trophy for us and rafa to be his manager when it happens but i have this horrible feeling that these 2 possibilities might be mutually exclusive. ffs yet again. really want this season to be over now.

[el matador]

i know people will say this type of thing is only said by doomongers and pseudo-fans during tough times but i think it's a fair question/point. from my limited knowledge of football i've always wondered what will happen gerrard when that explosive attacking ability becomes diminished. and it might be starting now.

and i think benitez has kinda gone against his own grain by making gerrard captain to kinda throw his ego a bone. i really wish he wasn't he captain to be honest and i always have. carra, xabi even kuyt would have been way more suitable. he has a big personality and that always come with big flaws - some can have a nasty side, some can have personal problems with addictions etc and in gerrards case his ego is augmented by being a moody ****er. tough one to deal with. and we have played well without him before...

****in hell though i weant gerrard to be the man accepting the league trophy for us and rafa to be his manager when it happens but i have this horrible feeling that these 2 possibilities might be mutually exclusive. ffs yet again. really want this season to be over now.

when rafa took over the first thing he wanted gerrard to do was to stop running so much because it will eventually lead to burnout and at times he was doing the headless chicken.

Gerrad over the past 5 years has become more efficient at using his energies but the premiership isnt la liga or serie A. Here the football is played at 100% and strength, pace and aggression are very important.

Players have to play at their maximum level and although in the past people used to say that the average age for the 'legs going' in the EPL was 32 ish it might be the case that around the 30 mark players start to feel the pace. maybe the case that Gerrard's best days are behind him simply because his body cant play 50 games a season and he cant get the sharpness with only playing a few games here and there.

I think this is why torres needs to be protected more and the 1 upfront just means that he will get battered every game. We need someone else who is more physically suited to getting a battering (ie carlton cole, heskey or kenwyne jones) than torres.

FFS nobody on this earth would ever dream of taking their ferrari to a banger smash up but its happening with torres week in week out. Hence he misses **** loads of games.