Gerrard a must or not?

[Arn]

Some statistics when he played from the start or not.

I will list the games he didn't start dating back to the 04-05 season when Rafa took charge of the team. League games only.

04-05

Norwich (H) 3-0
Chelsea (A) 0-1
Fulham (A) 4-2
Charlton (H) 2-0
Blackburn (A) 2-2
Birmingham (H) 0-1
Crystal Palace (H) 3-2
Middlesbrough (A) 0-2
Portsmouth (A) 2-1
Aston Villa (H) 2-1

6 wins 1 draw and 3 losses.

05-06

Blackburn (H) 1-0
Fulham (A) 0-2
Charlton (A) 0-2
West Bromwich (A) 2-0
Blackburn (A) 1-0
West Ham (A) 2-1

4 wins 0 draws 2 losses.

06-07

Wigan (H) 2-0
Portsmouth (A) 1-2
Fulham (A) 0-1

1 win 0 draws 2 losses.

07-08

Sunderland (A) 2-0
Derby (H) 6-0
Portsmouth (A) 0-0
Arsenal (A) 1-1
Fulham (A) 2-0
Birmingham (A) 2-2

3 wins 3 draws 0 losses.

08-09

Aston Villa (A) 0-0
Man U (H) 2-1
Fulham (H) 0-0
Portsmouth (A) 3-2
Man C (H) 1-1
Blackburn (H) 4-0
Arsenal (H) 4-4
Hull (A) 3-1

4 wins 4 draws 0 losses.

09-10

Sunderland (A) 0-1
Man U (H) 2-0
Fulham (A) 1-3
Birmingham (H) 2-2
Stoke (A) 1-1
Tottenham (H) 2-0

2 wins 2 draws 2 losses.

10-11

West Ham (H) 3-0
Tottenham (A) 1-2
Aston Villa (H) 3-0
Newcastle (A) 1-3

2 wins 0 draws 2 losses.

22 wins 10 draws 11 losses.


So we won 51% of the games without him. Top club or not top club on the other side.

He is an excellent player but we can cope without him and has been able to do that the last few years. The statistics show that. He isn't a must on the pitch.

It is what a club must be able to do. Cope when the key players are out. Gerrard is a key player just like Reina and Torres for example. The key is to have a system that works when key player(s) miss the game.

The day one player makes a big difference then we also have a big problem when he is out.

[tsb]

No single player is essential as long as the team is cohesive.

[Chrono]

Lot of effort for nothing

[Imy]

He is a top player and it'd be foolish to even contemplate not having him in the team, especially in light of the current cannon fodder in our squad.

Having said that his holier-than-thou attitude does at times cheese me off, rumours if true that he helped Rafa on his way and Purslow consulted him and Carra in the appointing of Hodgson would not surprise me one bit.

I do believe though, he is our version of Bryan Robson, when he gets old/retires the glory will return.

That said he's a legend, certainly in the top 10 of Liverpool players ever.

[Tee]

He is a top player and it'd be foolish to even contemplate not having him in the team, especially in light of the current cannon fodder in our squad.

Having said that his holier-than-thou attitude does at times cheese me off, rumours if true that he helped Rafa on his way and Purslow consulted him and Carra in the appointing of Hodgson would not surprise me one bit.

I do believe though, he is our version of Bryan Robson, when he gets old/retires the glory will return.

That said he's a legend, certainly in the top 10 of Liverpool players ever.

Gerrard is the best player I have ever seen play for Liverpool. Even at 50% he is by far the best player, technically and creatively, that we have.

[barnes10]

Gerrard is the best player I have ever seen play for Liverpool. Even at 50% he is by far the best player, technically and creatively, that we have.

is the right answer (as long as youre about 20 yrs old)...

The point is, that as Gerrard starts the slow decline (2 top yrs left with his high octane style at best) we have to manage that and make sure the team (results) dont suffer. This means that he's no longer given the roy of the rovers 'everything through stevie' role. as the whole team (results) will suffer because of it.

So, like my name-sake, putting him into CM to pull the strings when he's not the brightest of footballers isnt, imho, the right thing to do. he should stay where he is and work on his skill. or the more controversial, play less often...

so what do we do?

[Mostar]

Gerrard is the best player I have ever seen play for Liverpool. Even at 50% he is by far the best player, technically and creatively, that we have.

In contrast to Carra, Stevie still has few years left in him to perform at the highest level and any short term plans must revolve around him.

[Rich]

Gerrard is best suited to 4-2-3-1, so if we get a manager who'll play that then he's the first name on the team sheet.

[dave edwards]

Gerrard is best suited to 4-2-3-1, so if we get a manager who'll play that then he's the first name on the team sheet.

[vonk]

Best player in our squad by a mile and has been for years. This thread is simply part of Arn's pro-Rafa and anti anyone who dared question him agenda. Close this thread.

[-V-]

We just got absolutely pumped by Newcastle United.

So yes I think we could do with Steven Gerrard back in our team

He may not be anywhere near as good as he was a couple of years ago but he's still ****ing Stevie G

[Roboklopp]

Gerrard is best suited to 4-2-3-1, so if we get a manager who'll play that then he's the first name on the team sheet.

I agee, but does he see it himself though?

[Exiled_red]

Gerrard is a great player of course we're better with him in the team.

The stats you are showing only show one side that we win 51% of games with out him using your list of results for games he didn't play in and looking at the tables for those seasons we can work out how the team does with him in it.

.........................Pl....W....D...L
With Gerrard.......202..110..49..43
Without Gerrard...43....22...10..11

That equates to us winning 54.4% of games with him and 51.1% without him
Also we lose 21.3% of games with him and 25.6% of games without him.

This equates to 1.76 points per game without him and 1.87 points per game with him

So the stats back up that we are a better team with him than without him but the difference isn't huge, so it would suggest we aren't over reliant on him alone.

[Daniel 7]

Put him on the right again. Let Lucas and Meireles gel, solve the Kuyt not fitting the system issue and supply us with quality delivery from that side for Torres to score more goals.

And drop Carragher.

[PTP]

gerrard is a must surely

easily our best player.

I'd be looking at (nothing against lucas here, he's done well at times) in a 4-4-2 - gerrard and meireles in centre mid or a 4-2-3-1 - with something like

-------------lucas-----------meireles-----------

kuyt/maxi----------gerrard--------------cole/babel

----------------------torres---------------

in fact scrap the 4-4-2 suggestion.....that is how we should be lining up every week (obv with a back four and keeper ) and when at home, asking the two wide players to "get forward" as much as possible int an almost 4-3-3